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Industrial Relations and LabourLaws
Dr A Jagan Mohan Reddy
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Introduction
Industrial Relations commonly denotesemployee- employer relations
I Rs are born out of employmentrelationship in an industrial setting
Industrial Relations concerned with peoplewho are the base of the industry
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What is IR?
IR means Relationshipthat emerges out of dayto day working and
association of labourmanagement
In wider sense it alsomeans, the relation
between an employeeand an employer in thecourse of running of anindustry
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Definition of IR
WHOLE FIELD OF RELATIONSHIP THAT
EXISTS BECAUSE OF THE NECESSARY
COLLABORATION OF MEN AND WOMENIN THE EMPLOYMENT PROCES OF ANINDUSTRY
Dale Yolder[1982]
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Background of IR
People leaving forms livelihoodProgressive, sophisticated class
Govt stepping in harmonious IRsNew techniques of production
Therefore Labour employer relationsbecomes complex clear understanding rewarding experience.
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Evolution & Growth of IR
A) Pre-Independence Era
Conditions of Employment and Wageswere very poor
No laws to protect the interests ofworkers except the Employers &
Workmen (Disputes) Act, 1860 whichused to settle wage disputes.
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B)After First World War
IR concept assumed a new dimension Workers resorted to violence& employers
to lockouts Strikes, Lockouts & Disturbances.As a result Government enacted Trade
Disputes Act, 1929, to ensure the earlysettlement of Industrial Disputes.
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C)After Second World War
India faced many problems after II WorldWar, such as:
Rise in Cost of living Scarcity of Essential Commodities
High Population growth rate
Massive Unemployment Increasingly Turbulent industrial relations
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D) Post-Independence Era
Enactment ofIndustrial Disputes Act, 1947for permanently settling industrial disputes
Setting up ofIndian Labour Conference, a
Tripartite body to look into IR problems. Enactment of many labour laws to protectthe interests of industrial workers
Offered other solutions like, recognition ofunions, grievance procedure for workers,workers participation schemes etc.
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How IR picked up
Institutionally, industrial relations was founded by JohnR. Commons when he created the first academic
industrial relations program at the University ofWisconsin in 1920.
Early financial support for the field came from John D.
Rockefeller, Jr. who supported progressive labor-management relations in the aftermath of the bloodystrike at a Rockefeller-- owned coal mine in Colorado.
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Objectives of Industrial Relations
Congenial Labor Management relations Regulate the production by minimizing industrial
conflict thereby contributing to Economic Progress
Workers to have a say in Decision Making Encourage and Develop Trade Union Avoiding Industrial Conflicts
To boost the Discipline and Morale of Workers
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Players in Industrial Relations
There are Three Major players in I Rs
1. Management / Employers
2. Labour /Workers /Employees3. Government / RegulatorThe Main Objective of IRs
To maintain harmonious relationsbetween all the three major players and
To contribute to economic prosperity of
the country.
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Employee Improve their Condition of Employment
Views in any Grievances
Exchange views and ideas with Management
Share in Decision Making
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Trade Unions
To redress the bargaining power of Individual
worker.
To secure improved terms and conditions of
employment.
To secure improved status for the worker in his or
her work.
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EmployerThe Employer see IR as
Creating and Maintaining EmployeeMotivation
Obtaining Commitment from Workforce
Achieving High Levels of Efficiency
Negotiating Terms and Conditions of
Employment
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Government
The Govt. regulates the relationship between
the Management and the Labour and seeks
to protect the interests of both the groups.
The Authority of the Courts to settle legal
disputes.
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IR covers some of the followingAreas
Collective Bargaining : Negotiation about working conditions and terms
of employment between employer and employee to reach an
agreement
Role of Management, Unions and Government
Machinery for Resolution of Industrial Disputes :Works Committee ,
Conciliatory officer( settlement) ,labor courts etc.
Grievances, labor welfare and security
Trade unions, workers participation
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Difference Between IR&HRM
Dimension Human Resources Mgmt. Industrial Relations
Parties Two: Employee, Employers Four: Employers, Employees, TradeUnion & Govt.
Contact Individual employee contacts immediatesupervisor
Employees contact even the TopMgmt. as a group
Concern Overall Mgmt. of all Resources includingworkers, staff, executives, top mgmt.and even suppliers and customers
Relations between Actual Work forceand Mgmt. of Org.
Mode of Resolving Grievance and Disciplinary Procedure Collective Bargaining and other
forms of industrial conflicts
Purpose Accomplishment of org, goals Maintain Harmonious Relationsbetween Employers and Employees
Scope Whole includes IR as well Concerned with relations betweenemployees and employers.
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Causes of Poor Industrial
Relations Uninteresting nature of work :Due to AutomationRole of Workerreduced
Political Nature of Unions : inter union rivalry, multiple unions, politicalparties involvement
Poor Wages : Inequity in Wages , complicated wage system
Occupational Instability : Do not want changes in the job-fear ofinsecurity
Resistance to change, frustration and social cost , multiplier effect (totalloss)
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Approaches to IR:Systems Approach
Systems framework by John Dunlop
Actors
Environmentalcontents
Ideology
input
bargaining
Conciliation
arbitration
process Rules
settlement
output
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Actors:Managers, Workers and Government agencies
Actors influenced by several Forces in Environment
technology, markets and power relations in society
Ideology: Though there is conflict among the actors butthere is also a shared ideology and compatibility of ideas
which help to resolve conflict by framing rules
The network or web of rules
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Unitary Approach
The organisation is, or should be, an integratedgroup of people with a single authority/loyaltystructure and a set of common values, interestsand objectives shared by all members of theorganisation.
Management's Prerogative (i.e. its right to manageand make decisions) is regarded as legitimate,rational and Accepted.
Conflict is perceived as disruptive and as a result
of agitators, interpersonal friction andcommunication breakdown. Opposition to it (whether formal or informal,
internal or external) is seen as irrational
Trade Unions are deemed as unnecessary
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Pluralist Approach
Based on assumption that organization iscomposed of individuals who make up distinctsectional groups , each with its own interests ,objectives and leadership.
The two predominant sub-groups in thepluralistic perspective are the management andtrade unions.
The role of management would lean less towardsenforcing and controlling and more towardpersuasion and co-ordination. But focus will be on ofregulating work relationships-balance of power betweenmanagement and trade unions.
Conflict is necessary ,but it can be and needs to be managedand resolved
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Radical Perspective
This view of industrial relations looks at the nature of the capitalistsociety, where there is a fundamental division of interest betweencapital and labour, and sees workplace relations against thisbackground..
This perspective sees inequalities of power and economic wealth ashaving their roots in the nature of the capitalist economic system.
Conflict is seen as inevitable and trade unions are a natural
response of workers to their exploitation by capital. Whilst theremay be periods of acquiescence, the radical view would be thatinstitutions of joint regulation would enhance rather than limitmanagement's position as they presume the continuation ofcapitalism rather than challenge it.
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Trusteeship
Proposed by Mahatma Gandhi
Company Accepts its total responsibility andmanagement role becomes that of balancing all theclaims upon the company.
Inherent responsibility to its consumers, workers,shareholders, and the community
Greater good
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Industrial Relations Today
By many accounts, industrial relations today is incrisis.
In academia, its traditional positions are
threatened on one side by the dominance ofmainstream economics and organizationalbehavior, and on the other by post-modernism..
In policy-making circles, the industrial relationsemphasis on institutional intervention is trumpedby a neo-liberal emphasis on the laissez fairepromotion of free markets.
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Industrial Relations Today contd
In practice, labor unions are declining and fewercompanies have industrial relations functions..
The number of academic programs in industrial relationsis therefore shrinking, and scholars are leaving the fieldfor other areas, especially human resource managementand organizational behavior.
The importance of work, however, is stronger than ever,and the lessons of industrial relations remain vital. Thechallenge for industrial relations is to re-- establish theseconnections with the broader academic, policy, and
business worlds
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Gruesome killing of LalitChoudhary,CEO&MDof Graziano
Transmission India Pvt ltd in 2008 Murder of VP-HR of Pricol
All these sequel to sacking-looming crisis.
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Suggestions to Improve IRs
Both Management and Union shoulddevelop constructive attitude towards
each other.All basic policies and procedures relating
to IR should be clearly communicated to
all i.e., free flow of communication. Right kind of Union Leadership
Share more..
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Sound Industrial Relations Systemcontd..
A sound industrial relations system is one in whichrelationships between management and employees (and
their representatives) on the one hand, and betweenthem and the State on the other, are more harmoniousand co-operative than conflict and creates anenvironment conducive to economic efficiency and themotivation, productivity and development of the
employee and generates employee loyalty and mutualtrust.
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Sound Industrial Relations System contd..
Industrial relations itself may again be described
as being concerned with the rules, processesand mechanisms (and the results emanatingthere from) through which the relationshipbetween employers and employees and their
respective representatives, as well as betweenthem on the one hand and the State and itsagencies on the other, is regulated
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Sound Industrial Relations Systemcontd..
Industrial relations seek to balance the economicefficiency of organizations with equity, justiceand the development of the individual, to findways of avoiding, minimizing and resolvingdisputes and conflict and to promoteharmonious relations between and among the
actors directly involved, and society as a whole.
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Role of Players:
Governments Role In IR
The essential challenge for governments in theregion in the face of globalization is to seek toencourage and regulate foreign participation innational economic development in a manner
that promotes balanced growth with equity..
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Employers Roles In IR
Proactive and preventive, the need for sound
workplace relations which emphasise theimportance of improved cooperation andconsultation and effective negotiation to addressworkplace issues, thereby avoiding (or, at least,limiting) industrial disputes and providing a basisfor achieving sustainable improvements in
enterprise performance.
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Workers & Unions Role In IR
A form of unionism which focuses on working withemployers (and their organizations) in implementingstrategies to improve enterprise
competitiveness and the quality of work throughimprovements in work organization, labour managementProactive and strategic in approach Relations and Skillsdevelopment
Avoid restrictive in nature (e.g, seeking, by variousmeans, to limit change).
The development of effective unionism (and, indeed, oftrade union movements everywhere) is contingent onthe recognition and application of the rights of freedomof association, to organize and to bargain collectively
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Constitutional Frame Work of IndustrialRelations
Directive Principles of State Policy Equal Pay for Equal Work for men and women Article
39(d)
Health and Safety of workers Article 39(c) Right to Work-Article 41 Just and Humane Conditions of Work and for Maternity
Relief-Article 42 Living Wage and Decent Standard of Life of laborers--
Article 43 Participation of Workers in the Management of
undertakings or industrial establishments by suitablelegislation or otherwise-Article 43A (42nd Amendment)
L l F k f IR
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Legal Framework of IR
Labour Laws & IR Industrial Disputes Act 1947 Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act
1946 Trade Unions Act 1926 Factories Act 1948 Contract Labour (Regulation And Abolition) Act
1970 Payment of Wages Act 1936 Equal Remuneration Act
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Labour Laws & IR Payment Of Bonus Act 1965
Payment of Gratuity Act 1972 Employees Compensation Act 1923 Karnataka Industrial Establishments
(National And Festival Holidays Act)19631963
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Remember Dorabji Tatas statement.
The concern for the welfare of the laboringclasses must be one of the first cares ofevery employer. Any betterment of theirconditions must proceed more fromemployers downward rather than forced upby demands from below, since labor,contended, well housed, well fed andgenerally well-looked after, is not only anasset and an advantage to the employer but
serves to raise the standard of industry andlabor in the country DORABJI TATA
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COLLABORATIONNOT CONFRONTATION
A. Avoid Negative Orientation:
Opposition
Opposition leads to suspicion Suspicion leads to aggression
Aggression leads to a deadlock
Confrontational Mindset:
Counterpart= Adversary Difference= Conflict Resources= Weapon
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B. Adopt Positive Orientation:Opposition
Opposition leads to cooperation Cooperation leads to partnership Partnership leads to Settlements
Collaborative Mindset:
Counterpart= Partner
Differences= Opportunities Resources= Incentives to Cooperate.
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In short, for sound IndustrialRelations,
we need:
Participation
Coordination
Understanding
Openness
Explicitness
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Thank You