Answer 1

Industrial Relations: In the field of industrial relations, "industry" refers to a

productive activity in which a person or group of people participates, and "relations"
refers to the interactions between an employer and an employee. The workers'
representation might come from a grouping of employees. The study of labour
relations is known as industrial relations. contact between employers and workers is
optimized and can be efficiently controlled. It mostly addresses issues pertaining to
work, such as collective bargaining, trade unions, labour legislation, and labour
management interactions.

The industrial relations scenario has been perceived differently by different

practitioners and theorists. It has been explained through various perspectives and
approaches.
Perspectives of industrial relations: The concept of industrial relations is
explained through three different views, which are-

Pluralist Perspective

Unitarist Perspective

Radical Perspective

1. Pluralist: According to this viewpoint, the organization is made up of several

subgroups, each of which has its own unique goals. The management and the
trade unions are two important groupings. Persuasion and coordination are
more the focus of management's function. The trade union is regarded as an
authorized employee representation. Conflict is not seen negatively by the
pluralist approach but rather as a chance to change the situation via collective
bargaining.
2. Unitarist: According to this viewpoint, the organization is like a happy family
where the management and employees collaborate to achieve shared goals.
This viewpoint is paternalistic since it demands devotion from every worker.
Trade unions are not seen as a necessary component of an organization from
a unitarist standpoint. It emphasizes favourable working environments and
 relationships. It places a strong focus on dialogue and engages employee
debate about business goals. This viewpoint emphasizes the need of
compensating employees depending on their performance.

3. Radical: Marxist method is another name for this viewpoint. It holds that
inequalities in income and power are a result of the capitalist system and
society. It views trade unions as a defence mechanism against the
exploitation of workers by capital and conflicts as inevitable. Industrial
disputes are seen from a radical viewpoint as conflicts between classes.

These viewpoints are evolving to reflect the shifting socioeconomic realities of the
globe as a result of the growing globalization and liberation of the market economy.
More jobs, security, and improved working conditions are necessities for people
everywhere. To adapt to changing situations, it is necessary to update the labour
laws. The idea of industrial relations has been influenced by a number of academic
fields, including law, behavioural science, and social science.
Approaches to Industrial Relations: Many approaches have been used to try to
describe the idea of industrial relations. Some of these methods are-
1. Psychological approach: This is the conventional approach to labour relations,
where management and employees see one another psychologically.
Conflicts arise when people have negative impressions of one another.
Numerous economic and non-economic elements, including educational
levels, openness in communication, values, objectives, status, recognition,
and security, have an impact on these impressions. To develop harmony at
work, both sides must adjust their mindsets.

2. Sociological approach: Industrial relations are influenced by social factors

such as workplace rationality, beliefs, traditions, and acceptance of the
change. Additional social elements that have a substantial impact on
perceptions include housing, transportation, family structure, and stress.

3. Human relations approach: Human resource in the workplace affects

industrial relations. Their desires for freedom of speech, movement, and
expression have an impact on how they see the world and behave. Conflicts
are unavoidable if the boss treats employees carelessly and without regard for
their feelings. Employers must comprehend and take into account employees'
needs and motivators, such as job satisfaction, engagement, and recognition,
in order to prevent and manage these disputes.

4. Dunlop’s approach: This method has the name of its creator, Harvard
University Professor John T. Dunlop. Industrial relations were described by
him as a system made up of specific players at a workplace. The system also
consists of the ideology, environment, and norms that control the actors at
work. The market, budget, power centres, and work environment are all parts
of the context that influence the actors.

5. Oxford approach: Flanders promotes the Oxford method. He views a firm as a

social system with a relationship-based organizational structure. The study of
institutions of workplace laws, such as work rules, wage structures, grievance
processes, and trade unions, is known as the field of industrial relations. The
Oxford method focuses on side issues like technology, market, and ideology
 as well as the political process of collective bargaining. The Oxford method is
typically thought of as being a limited method.

6. Action theory approach: This strategy places a strong focus on using

negotiation to settle disputes. The actors concur to use collective bargaining
as a means of dispute resolution and cooperation.

7. Weber’s social action approach: This strategy places a focus on the ability to
influence the setting of the bureaucratic environment and work organizations.
It examines how political, organizational, and technological developments
have affected trade union procedures and structures, as well as how workers
see their approach to unions and the relative strength of political parties,
employers, and the government.

People view the industrial relations environment differently depending on their own
personal experiences. Industrial relations are seen as involving class antagonism by
some, mutual cooperation by others, and conflicting interests of numerous groups by
still others. Due to the fact that they offer the theoretical foundation for most of the
HRM positions, HR managers are required to be familiar with these various
approaches.

Answer 2
Trade union: A trade union is a group of employees organized to get a variety of
advantages at work. Higher pay, better welfare benefits, fewer hours worked, and
better working conditions are a few examples of these advantages. Using the
combined power of their member workers, trade unions bargain on these concerns.
As a result, unions defend their members' social, political, and economic interests.
Trade unions carry out a variety of tasks, including interacting with employers to
discuss labor-related matters, workplace reforms, and member concerns. Any
contract reached with the employers is enforceable against the union's members.
According to the Trade Union Act of 1926, a trade union is a temporary or long-term
group of employees established with the goal of policing workplace interactions
between employers and employees, or between employers and employees. Trade
unions are "an organization made up mostly of employees, for whom negotiating
wage rates and working conditions for its members is its principal activity," according
to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Development of trade union in India: While under British colonial authority, the
trade union movement first emerged in India, however it developed rather slowly
compared to other nations. The development of trade unionism in India may be
divided into the following three phases:
1. The First Phase (1850 to 1900): The labourers' living conditions were very
poor during this time. The capitalists paid the employees pitiful pay since they
were solely concerned with their bottom line. The Indian Factories Act,
implemented by the British government in India in 1881 to eliminate
competition from Indian manufacturers, increased the price of Indian-made
items relative to British-made ones. In addition, child labour was prohibited by
the British government. Many strikes occurred during this time.

2. The second Phase (1900 to 1946): The All India Trade Union Congress was
the first national trade union to be established in 1920. (AITUC). Several trade
unions soon started to develop. They soon expanded and became well-
organized businesses. Their rapid expansion has its roots in the well-known
Satyagraha campaign, which Mahatma Gandhi spearheaded. Several unions
took part in his strike.

3. Post-Independence phase (1947-…): The country's division had an impact on

the trade union movements in Bengal and Punjab. Four trade unions were in
operation in India in 1949. These were:

• All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)

• Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC)
• Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS)
• United Trade Union Congress (UTUC)
India has seen several unions come together to solve a shared concern since
gaining independence. These include the devasting 1974 rail strike and the 1982
Great Bombay textile strike. After 1991, however, it appears that the public supports
such strikes less. Also receiving more attention is informal labour. This is because
unorganized labour is in such a vulnerable position. There has been an upsurge in
membership from the unorganized sector at all major trade unions.
Instead of being ad hoc or strike committees, trade unions now have a legal
existence in India. They've now been successful in integrating themselves into
contemporary civilisation permanently. The unions have created their fundamental
principles and philosophies with the help of Central Union Federations, and they
have also given their members a sense of direction.
In recent years, unions have become much more important in the labour movement.
The government and enterprises alike are now alerting them to any labor-related
problems. At the state and federal levels, labour unions are also important in
developing policies and ideas. Numerous unions emerged in the post-independence
era for a variety of reasons, including political loyalty.
Labor unions are currently in a position to influence public policy and labour
regulations as a result of their high level of importance. Through the creation of
efficient channels for communication between the two parties, employees and
management have been able to collaborate on a variety of issues. The growth of
labour unions in India and the importance of labour unions in modern industrial
society have decreased interest in politics. Political unionism's pattern is evolving in
various ways.
There are currently up to 9000 trade unions in India, including some that are not
officially recognized. Trade union development and presence are not uniform. Trade
unions are widely used in the organized industrial sector, while they are seldom ever
used in the unorganized and agricultural sectors.Heavy industries including railroads,
textiles, coal, ports, iron and steel, tobacco, cement, and finance are rife with unions.
More than 70% of all unions have a membership of little more than 500 people. Only
131 unions have a membership of more than 5000.

In conclusion, to address the needs and issues of the labour force, the history of the
trade confederation movement has changed throughout time. There is widespread
agreement that trade unions are crucial to the development of our country,
particularly in the fields of industry and social welfare. Our thriving economy is based
on democratic ideals and is distinguished by a setting that provides expression to the
genuine concerns and aspirations of labour unions while protecting investor interests
and facilitating ease of doing business. A strong and active labour union and the
growth of trade unions in India may be able to combat widening income gaps,
unfavourable working conditions, and a disregard for workers' rights.

Answer 3(a)
AITUC: The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) is India's first and oldest union
federation. The Communist Party of India is connected to it. AITUC has 14.2 million
members in 2013, according to preliminary figures from the Ministry of Labor. Lala
Lajpat Rai served as its inaugural president when it was created on October 31,
1920.
It was the main trade union organization in India until 1945 when unions started to
organize along party lines. It was founded in Bombay by Lala Lajpat Rai, Joseph
Baptista, N. M. Joshi, Diwan Chaman Lall, and a small number of other individuals. It
has been linked to the Indian Communist Party ever since.
The World Federation of Trade Unions was founded by the AITUC. Today, its
institutional archives are kept in the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library's Archives in
Delhi's Teen Murti House.
INTUC: A national trade union in India is called the Indian National Trade Union
Congress (INTUC). The International Trade Union Confederation is one of its
affiliates, and it was established on May 3, 1947. The Ministry of Labour's preliminary
figures shows that INTUC was India's largest trade union in 2013, with 33.95 million
members. The INTUC Founding Conference was opened by Acharya JB Kripalani,
who was then the President of the Indian National Congress.
Mahatma Gandhi gave the founding fathers advice, and in their wisdom, they
decided to allow the INTUC to work as an arm of the Congress while maintaining its
own identity and constitution.
The goal is to create a social structure that supports the holistic development of each
of its members, promotes the development of the human personality in all of its
facets, and goes to great lengths to gradually eradicate social, political, or economic
exploitation and inequality, the profit-driven nature of the economic activity, and any
form of anti-social concentration.

Answer 3(b)
BMS: The Indian Workers' Union, or Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, is a labour union in
India. On July 23, 1955, Dattopant Thengadi formed it.
 According to the BMS, there are more than 10 million members. Provisional figures
from the Ministry of Labor indicate that 6,215,797 people were members of the BMS
in 2002. There isn't an international trade union confederation to which the BMS
belongs. It belongs to the Sangh Parivar and is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's
labour branch. BMS protested against the anti-labour measures of Congress's
Narasimha Rao administration; leftists backed the Deve Gowda and Gujral
administrations. BMS had to resist the anti-labour measures while the NDA
Government, which included included "friends" of BMS, was in office. Curre,ntly
under the Modi Government, a statewide demonstration against PSU privatization
had been scheduled for on June 10, 2020.

HMS: The Socialist Party founded the Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) in 1948,
however, there aren't many direct ties between the two organizations. One of India's
least ideological and most practical labour union federations is this one. The
International Confederation of Free Trade Unions is a member organization of the
HMS.

The HMS was established on December 29, 1948, in Howrah, West Bengal, by
socialists, supporters of the Forward Bloc, and independent unionists. Basawon
Singh (Sinha), Ashok Mehta, R.S. Ruikar, Maniben Kara, Shibnath Banerjee, R.A.
Khedgikar, T.S. Ramanujam, V.S. Mathur, and G.G. Mehta were some of the
organization's founders. Ashok Mehta was chosen as general secretary, while R.S.
Ruikar was chosen as president. The Royal Indian Federation of Labor and the Hind
Mazdoor Panchayat, which were established in 1948 by socialists who were quitting
the AITUC's increasing communist dominance, were both absorbed by HMS. HMS
said in March 1949 that there were 380 connected unions with a total of 618,802
members. Provisional figures from the Ministry of Labor show that 3,342,213 people
were members of HMS in 2002.

Source: textbook