LECTURE 3

PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Collective Bargaining
Collective bargaining involves negotiations between two or three
parties, for example between employers and workers or their
representatives (such as unions) to determine substantive rules on
▪ compensations and benefits
▪ procedural rules (due processes and procedure for resolving
disagreement over the implementation of the employment contract.
E.g. grievance and disciplinary procedures and rules for handling conflicts)
within the framework of the employment relations.
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Collective Bargaining
• In industrial relations, the state through government also participates
either as an employer or as a regulator or referee (or a conciliator)
between management and labour.
• A key purpose of collective bargaining is to protect the interests of
the parties by entering into an agreement.
• Flaunders (1970), defined collective bargaining as a social process
that ‘continually’ turns disagreements into agreements in an orderly
fashion.
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Collective Bargaining
• It can be regarded as an exchange relationship between employers and
employees through the agency of a trade union.
• It is means by which trade unions offset / balances the inequalities of the
bargaining power between the employers and the employees in the labour
market
The use of threats as prelude to or during collective bargaining
• Article 153 of the Labour Act 2003 Act 651, makes it an obligation for the parties to negotiate in
good faith.
• The use of threats in collective bargaining can create more antagonism although there are other
potential advantages.
• Threats by parties in employment relations, however, do not permit the establishment of goodwill
and trust, which are necessary ingredients for industrial peace and economic growth in Ghana.
PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Nature (features) of Collective Bargaining
▪ It is not equivalent to collective agreements.
There may
therefore be a collective bargaining without a collective
agreement.
▪ It is a method for improving the terms and conditions of
employment of workers, often on the basis of equalizing
them across industries.
▪ It is a method which disenables the tendency of unequal
bargaining position between employers and employees.
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Nature (features) of Collective Bargaining

• The process is bipartite, but in some developing
countries the State plays a role (making it tripartite) in
the form of a conciliator where disagreements occur,
or may intervene more directly (e.g. by settling wage
guidelines) where collective bargaining impinges on
government policy.
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Bargaining Power
• Bargaining power is the ability to induce the other side to make a
decision that it would otherwise not make.
• Bargaining power is inherent in any situation where differences
have to be reconciled (Singh, 1989)
• Power is the crucial variable which determines the outcome of
collective bargaining (Fox and Flaunders, 1969)
E.G. Compare and contrast the bargaining powers of these 3 unions
in Ghana: GNAT, GMA, UTAG with Govt as their employer.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Forms of Collective Bargaining
Chamberlain and Kuhn (1965) noted two basic forms of collective
bargaining.
1. Conjunctive Bargaining
2. Cooperative Bargaining
• Conjunctive or Distributive Bargaining is a form of collective bargaining
where both the parties (the employee and the employer) try to maximize
their respective gains. It is based on the principle, “my gain is your loss,
and your gain is my loss, until agreement is reached.
• In Cooperative or Integrative Bargaining, both the employee and the
employer sit together and try to resolve the problems of their common
interest and to reach an amicable solution.
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Process of Bargaining
• Ghana Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) article 99(1) provides that a trade
union applies to the Chief Labour Officer for a bargaining certificate
to be certified as the trade union to conduct negotiations on behalf of
the classes of workers it represents .

• The trade union appointed in the certificate issued and the employer
of the workers of the class to which the certificate relates are
authorized to provide representatives who shall constitute a standing
negotiation committee to negotiate on matters referred to it. Labour
Act 2003 Act 651 article 10(1)
PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Process of Bargaining
• The standing committee shall make rules and regulations. It
shall also have the power to form sub committees.
• Labour Act 2003, Act 651 article 103(1) states that an officer or
a member of a trade union who is duly appointed by his or her
trade union may conduct negotiations on any matter connected
with the employment or non employment or terms of
employment of any worker who belongs to the class of workers
specified in the certificate.
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Advantages of Collective Bargaining
• Collective bargaining agreements often institutionalize settlement of
disputes through dialogue.
• Collective bargaining is a form of participation. Both parties participate
in deciding what proportion of the ‘cake’ is to be shared by the parties
entitled to a share.
• Collective bargaining agreements sometimes renounce or limit the
settlement of disputes through strike action or lock out. Therefore it can
have the effect of guaranteeing industrial peace for the duration of the
agreements, either generally or more usually on matters covered by the
agreement.
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Advantages of Collective Bargaining
• Collective bargaining is an essential feature in the concept of social
partnership towards which labour relations should strive. Social partnership in
this context may be described as a partnership between organized employer
institutions and organized labour institutions designed to maintain non-
confrontational processes in the settlement of disputes which arise between
employers and employees.

• Collective bargaining has valuable by-products relevant to the relationship

between the two parties. For instance, a long course of successful
engagements leads to the generation of trust. It contributes towards some
measure of understanding by establishing a continuing relationship.
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Advantages of Collective Bargaining
• Collective bargaining usually has the effect of improving industrial
relations. This improvement can be at different levels. The
dialogue tends to improve relations at the workplace between
workers and the union on the one hand and the employer on the
other.
• It also establishes a productive relationship between the union and
the employers’ organization where the latter is involved in the
process.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Conflict and Industrial Disputes
• In industrial relations, conflicts occur when differences between
employees or trade unions and management exist and affect
productivity.
• Conflict is a disagreement between management and employees that
could lead to industrial action / dispute.
The Ghana Labour Act 2003, (Act 651) defines an “industrial dispute” to mean any
dispute between an employer and one or more workers or between workers and
workers which relates to the terms and conditions of employment, the physical
condition in which workers are required to work, the employment and non-
employment or termination of or suspension of employment of one or more workers
and the social and economic interests of the workers’’
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Industrial Action
• Defined by Rose Ed (2004) as stoppages of work, instigated both
collectively and individually by employees or trade unions on the one
hand, or more rarely by management on the other.
• Itis a concerted action taken by employees to put pressure on
employers to accede to a demand, usually work related, but
sometimes of a political or social nature.
• Industrial actions are sanctions imposed by employees (normally
acting through a trade union) against an employing firm in
furtherance of an industrial dispute.
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Industrial Action
• Actions normally begin with co-operation, meaning that workers will only
perform those duties specified in the contract of employment and will refuse to
use their initiative.
• Next the unions may instruct members deliberately to obstruct management by
raising trivial grievances, declining to undertake demarcated tasks, and insisting
on all contractual rights no matter how petty they are.
• The workers may ban overtime, refuse to cover sick colleagues and ultimately
go on strike.
• Employers too can exert pressure by withdrawing cooperation, insisting that
procedural agreements be followed to the letter, refusing workers’ request for
overtime etc.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Strikes and Lockouts
What is Strike?
• Strike is any action by two or more workers acting in concert,
which is intended by them to restrict in any way the service they
normally provide to the employer or diminish the output of such
service, with a view to applying coercive pressure upon the
employer (Obeng Fosu, 2002)
• This includes those activities commonly called a work-to-rule, a
go-slow or a sit-down strike.
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Strikes and Lockouts

Purposes of Strike
Employees embark on strike for various reasons:
• To obtain an improvement in pay or working conditions. E.g. UTAG going
on strike for this reason.
• To resist worsening in terms and conditions of employment: employees
normally undertake strike for this reason to proactively protest against future
worst conditions in their terms of employment.
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Purposes of Strike
• To register dissatisfaction with some action that management
has taken or intends to take.
• To bring the employer to the negotiating table: when
employers refuse to negotiate with the trade unions, strikes are
used as the last resort to pull the employers to the negotiating
table. Some researches have concluded that the only language
that employers understand is strike.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Forms of Strike
• Official Strike: these are strikes called by a certified trade union of the workers concerned.
Unofficial strikes are called by local employees’ representatives without union backing.

• Sympathy strike: this is where workers in one firm demonstrate their solidarity with striking
employees in another firm even though their own employer is not involved in the dispute.

• Constitutional strike: these strikes take place only when all agreed management/union negotiating
procedures have been exhausted. They are legal and acceptable form of strike. Unconstitutional
strikes occur in breach of agreed procedure between management and union.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Forms of Strike
• Lightning Strike: these strikes are called without notice and lasts for a short period.

• Wildcat strikes: these are unofficial lightning strikes taken by workers without the
authorization of their trade union officials.

• Political strikes: these are intended to influence the government rather than
employers.

• General strike: this involves a simultaneous withdrawal of labour by workers in all

industries in all parts of the country. It is a strike action by they critical mass of the
labour force from multitude of workplaces in a city or country. It could be for a
political or economic goal or both.
PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Forms of Strike
• Sick-out (or sick-in): All, or a significant number of union members call in sick
on the same day. They haven’t broken any rules, because they just use sick leave
that was allotted to them. However, the sudden loss of so many employees all on
one day can show the employer just what it would be like if they really went on
strike.
• Slow-down: All the union employees continue coming to work on time, and they
continue to perform their jobs, but they do them more slowly. The resulting drop
in production hurts the employer, but again, the employees aren’t actually
breaking any rules. This is sometimes called Partial Strike.
• Sit-down strike: the employees show up to their place of employment, but they
refuse to work. They also refuse to leave, which makes it very difficult for
anyone to defy the union and take the workers’ places.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
How to report on a Strike
When reporting on a strike action undertaken, the following
information should be applied.
1. Date and time of strike action
2. Industry involved
3. Number of persons involved
4. Cause of strike action
5. Action taken
6. Result of the action taken
7. Number of man-days lost
PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

How to calculate Man-Days Lost in Strike

• Let number of men involved in the strike be N=10

• The normal working hours be H=8
• The number of hours lost be h=4

The number of man-days lost = N*h

H
= 10*4
8
= 5 days
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Prohibition of Strike or Lockout In Respect of Essential
Services
• An employer carrying out or a worker engaged in, an essential service
shall not resort to a lockout or strike in connection with or in
furtherance of any industrial dispute involving the workers in the
essential service.
• The Ghana Labour Act 2003 (Act 651) defines “essential services” to
include areas in an establishment where an action could result in a
particular or total loss of life or pose danger to public health and safety
and such other services as the Minister for employment and Social
Welfare may by legislative instrument determine.
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Prohibition of Strike or Lockout In Respect

of Essential Services
• In case of Essential services, the parties shall endeavour to
settle the dispute within three days.
• If after three days the disputes remain unresolved, the parties
within twenty four hours must refer the dispute to the
National Labour Commission for settlement by compulsory
Arbitration by members of the Commission.
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Criticisms Against Strikes
Strikes and Strikers have been criticized on philosophical
grounds that strikes:
1. Represent the abuse of economic freedom and a return to the ‘law of
jungle’
2. Encourages retaliations and harmful exercise of power
3. May have to be paid for by other groups less privileged than those
organizing the disruptive action.
4. Are a direct challenge to economic and social stability and as such
inappropriate in democratic countries.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Criticisms Against Strikes
However,
1. Strikes are the only language understood by some management
2. Collective bargaining is meaningless unless the union has the ultimate
sanction of calling a strike
3. The possibility of a strike action keeps management on its toes.
4. Strikes are the expressions of individuals freedom rather than a violation of
it.
5. Strikes restores the balance of power as management posses the financial
and physical resources.
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Employers reaction to Strike

Some of the measures employers use in their response to strike:
1. Physical protection of the employers’ property (keys, vehicles, computers etc.)
2. Rescheduling of maintenance programmes so that plant and equipment can be
serviced and repaired while employees are on strike.
3. Invocation of legal action against the union(s) calling the strike.
4. Reallocation of tasks among workers not involved in the strike action
5. Establishment of a small team of senior managers to coordinate the firm’s
responses to strike.
6. Issue of formal warnings to strikers advising them that they are in breach of
contract, if the strike is deemed by management to be illegal
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Picketing
• Picketing is the action whereby workers stay outside of a place of work with intention
to persuade other workers not to enter the place of employment during labour unrest.
• The Ghana Labour Act (Act 651 )s 171(1) states that ‘ it is lawful in furtherance of a lawful strike
or lockout for any person to be present at or near not less than ten meters away from his or her
workplace or former workplace or place of business of the employer or former employer, for the
purpose of peacefully communicating information or peacefully persuading any other person not
to enter the workplace or place of business, work or deal in or handle the employers’ product or do
business with the employer’.
• Picketing is lawful at and beyond ten meters distance away from the workplace of the
worker during a lawful strike or lockout.
• It is however, unlawful if it is conducted at less than ten meters away from the
workplace.
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Lockout
• This is management’s equivalent of a strike.
• It can only occur legally when an existing labour agreement has expired and there
is truly an impasse in contract negotiations.
• Lockout means the closing of a workplace, suspension of work by an employer or
refusal by an employer to employ to re-engage any number of his or her workers,
in consequence of an industrial dispute.
What justifies a Strike or Lockout Action?
• It can be seen from the above definition of Industrial Dispute that a Strike or
Lockout Action can only be embarked upon in respect of dispute of interest or
conflict of interest and dispute of rights, conflict of rights or issues of rights.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Settlement of Disputes
• The parties to an industrial dispute are under the obligation to negotiate in
good faith, with a view to reaching a settlement of the dispute, in accordance
with the dispute settlement procedures established in the Collective
Agreement or Contract of Employment.
• Duty to negotiate in good faith means an obligation place on both employers
and unions to:
1. Actively participate in deliberations with the intent to find a basis for
agreement.
2. Put sincere effort to reach a common ground.
3. Create binding agreements on mutually acceptable terms.
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Settlement of Disputes
• However,
1. Employer must supply information that union requires to represent its
constituents in collective bargaining
2. Information requested by both parties must be relevant
3. Financial information about the company must be provided when employer
claims hardship in meeting union demands.
4. Information must be delivered promptly and in workable form.
5. Information must be supplied on all matters related to mandatory bargaining
items.
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Settlement of Disputes
• The following are indications of bad faith on part of the employer:
1. Employer’s attempt to reach agreement with employees directly instead of
with the union.
2. Employer’s refuses to put agreement in writing.
• However, obligation to bargain does not compel either party to agree to a
proposal or to make a concession.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Negotiation
• Negotiation Procedures
Negotiation in good faith
1. Parties to the industrial dispute shall negotiate in good faith in the first
instance to resolve the dispute in accordance with the dispute settlement
procedures established in their respective Collective Agreement or
Contracts of Employment.
Time for concluding negotiations
2. The negotiation shall be concluded within seven working days after the
occurrence of the dispute.
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Negotiation
• Negotiation Procedures
Records of negotiation process
3. (a) the parties shall keep written records of the negotiation process and the outcome signed by
both parties.
(b) where the parties cannot agree to sign a consensus record together , each party may
present its own record duly signed.
Failure to resolve dispute by negotiation
4. If the dispute remains unresolved after seven working days, either the party shall refer to the
Commission for the appointment of a mediator.
Failure to exhaust procedures in Collective Agreement
5. Where the Commission is satisfied that the parties have not exhausted the procedures established
in the Collective Agreement or have not agreed to waive those procedures, the Commission shall
order the parties to comply with those procedures within the time determined by the commission.
PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Mediation Procedures
• Complaint to be in writing
6. The complaint shall submit a written complaint to the Commission or complete the
Form ‘A’ (Complaint Form) specified in the schedule to these Regulations and submit it
to the Commission.
• Time within which to respond to complaint
7. (a) the commission shall within three working days serve the other party with a copy of
the complaint and request the other party to the dispute to respond to the complaint in
writing within fourteen working days after the receipt of the Commission’s request.
(b) where a party to the dispute fails to respond to the request of the commission within
the stipulated period of fourteen working days, the commission shall send a final notice to
the party concerned to respond within a further seven working days after which the
commission shall proceed to determine the case.
PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Mediation Procedures
• Choose of mediator
8. After the receipt of the response in regulation 7, the commission shall provide the
both parties with the list of mediators for the parties to make a selection of
mediator or mediators.
• Appointment of mediator
9. The commission shall appoint the mediator or mediators jointly chosen by the
parties to mediate in the dispute.
• Failure to agree on choice of mediator
10. Where the parties to a dispute fail to agree on a choice of mediator the commission
shall, within two working days, appoint a mediator or mediators to mediate the dispute.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Mediation Procedures
• Time within which to conclude mediation
11.The mediation shall be concluded within fourteen days after the date of
appointment of the mediator.
• Dispute settled through mediator
12.(1) where at the end of the mediation there is a settlement of the dispute, the
terms of the settlement of shall be recorded and signed by the mediator and the
parties to the disputes.
(2) a copy of the signed terms of settlement of shall be lodged with the
commission.
• Binding settlement
13. The settlement referred to in regulation 12 shall be binding on the parties.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Mediation Procedures
• duty to co-operate in mediation efforts
14.The parties to the mediation process shall co-operate in the mediation efforts.
• Failure to settle through mediation
15.Where there is no settlement at the end of the mediation process, the mediator
shall immediately declare the dispute the as unresolved and refer the dispute to
the commission within three working days for voluntary arbitration.
• Conflict of interest
16.(1) a mediator shall disclose in writing any interest of whatever nature in
dispute referred for mediation
(2) upon consideration of the interest by the commission, the mediator may be
changed unless the parties to the dispute consent in writing to retain the mediator.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Voluntary Arbitration
Reference to voluntary arbitration
• Where the dispute is referred to the commission under the regulation 15, the commission
shall, with the consent of the parties, refer the dispute to the arbitrator or an arbitration
panel for voluntary arbitration.
Failure to agree on choice or arbitration
• Where the parties to voluntary arbitration fail to agree on the appointment of an arbitrator
or an arbitration panel, the commission shall, within the three working days, appoint an
arbitrator or arbitration panel.
Disclosure of interest
• An arbitrator shall disclose in writing any interest of whatever nature the arbitrator may
have in dispute referred for voluntary arbitration.
• Upon consideration of the interest by the commission, the arbitrator may be changed
unless the parties to the dispute consent in writing to waive this option.
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Voluntary Arbitration
Time within which to submit statement of issues or question in dispute
• Within three working days after the appointment of an arbitrator or arbitration
panel, the parties to an industrial dispute shall submit to the arbitrator in
writing a statement on the issue or question in dispute signed by one or more
of the parties or their representatives.
Failure or refusal to sign a statement of issues or questions in a disputes
• A statement may be submitted without the party’s signature if the party fails
or refuses to sign that statement.
• This shall state that, the other party has failed or refused to sign the statement
and the commission shall authorize the arbitrator to proceed with the
arbitration despite the fact that only one person has signed the statement of
issue.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Voluntary Arbitration
Failure to appear before an arbitrator
• If a party fails to appear before the arbitrator or arbitration panel after the expiration of
seven working days after being notified, the arbitrator or panel shall proceed to hear and
determine the dispute.
Time within which to conclude voluntary arbitration
• Shall be concluded within fourteen working days after the date of appointment of the
arbitrator or arbitration panel or within the extra time determined by the commission.
Voluntary arbitration award binding
• The decision of the arbitrator or majority of the arbitrators shall be binding on the parties.
Arbitration award to be communicated
• The arbitrator or panel shall within seven working days of the last sitting make an award
and communicate the award to the parties and the commission within seventy-two hours.
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Compulsory Arbitration
Compulsory Arbitration by the Commission
• If a dispute remains unresolved within seven working days after the
commencement of a strike or lockout, the dispute shall be settled by a compulsory
arbitration of the commission.
Content of notice to be served by the commission
• Where a dispute is referred to the commission, it shall serve a notice on the parties
a. Stating what in its opinion the unresolved issues are between the parties, and
b. Asking the parties whether they agree to those issues.
• The parties shall respond within three working days.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

Compulsory Arbitration
Composition of Compulsory Arbitration Panel
• Made up of three members of the commission, one member each representing
government, organized labour and employers organization.
Time within which to conclude compulsory arbitration
• A compulsory arbitration process shall be concluded within fourteen working
days after service of notice.
Compulsory arbitration award binding
• The award of the majority of the arbitrators in a compulsory arbitration shall
be binding on the parties.
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Compulsory Arbitration
Publication of compulsory arbitration award in Gazette
• A compulsory arbitration award shall immediately on completion to be
published in the gazette and other state media by the commission and copies
shall be given to the parties to the dispute.
Appeals against compulsory arbitration award
• Appeals against a compulsory arbitration award shall lie to the Court of
Appeal on questions of law only, within seven working days after the
publication of the award.
 PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Resolution of Disputes for Essential Service Providers
Disputes resolution in Essential Services
• Parties to an industrial dispute in essential service shall endeavour to settle the
dispute within three days after the occurrence of the dispute by negotiation.
Referral to the Commission after failure to resolve dispute
• If the dispute remains unresolved after the expiration of the three days, the parties
shall within the next working day refer the dispute to the commission for
settlement by compulsory arbitration.
Compulsory Arbitration by the Commission
• After the referral of the dispute, a compulsory arbitration panel will be set up to
settle the dispute by compulsory arbitration within fourteen working days.
PROCESS OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Resolution of Disputes for Essential Service Providers
Notice of the intention to strike or lockout
• Where the parties fail to agree to refer a dispute for voluntary arbitration
Time within which strike or lockout action can be undertaken
• After the expiration of the seven working days from the date of the notice and not at anytime
before the expiration of the period.
Effective date of notice of strike or lockout
• The seven working days referred to shall begin to run from the date of receipt of the notice by the
commission.
Prohibition of strikes or lockout in respect of essential services
• An employer carrying on or a worker engaged in an essential service shall not resort to a strike or
lockout.
Cooling-off period
• A party to an industrial dispute shall not resort to strike or lockout during the period when
negotiations, mediation or arbitration proceedings are in progress.
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Conclusion
• The fundamental purpose of employment relations is to achieve productivity
through harmonious working relations among the parties in the industrial
relations.
• There is however, no known system that is conflict free.
• The presence of good employment relations is not to avoid conflicts entirely
but rather to create efficient machinery for their prompt and fair solution.
• Employment relations in Ghana take cognizance of organized workers
engaged in formal sector to the negligence of un-unionized worker in the
formal and informal sectors.
• It is about time that the informal sector is brought into the lime so far as
employment relations is concerned.