Evolution of Labour Relations

September 09, 2009

Origins of IR
Under feudalism we had a master and serf

relationship Serfs were bound to the service of the lord or landowner and remained attached to them If the ownership of the land changed the serfs were transferred to the new owner In return they received the protection of the landlord The serfs were not slaves in that they were not owned by the lord and they had freedom of movement However their economic freedoms were often limited and they were bound to the landlord

Origins of IR
Two

predominant forms of work feudalism: Agriculture / serfdom Craftsman / independent labourer

under

(There also existed the master craftsman, who

worked independently and created useful items, for example: furniture, ox wagons, boats, and this was sold in the market)
Under

feudalism there was no Industrial Relations per se

Origins of IR
The change from feudalism to capitalism saw the

emergence of IR as a discipline To understand the emergence of industrial relations we have to understand the evolution of work under capitalism The change from feudalism to capitalism was marked by the Industrial Revolution
This process began in the 14th & 15th century in Britain The full impact of this was felt in the middle of the 18th

and the 19th century

Craft work and agricultural work were the major

form of production Then began the relationship was between landowner and tenants and between craftsman and apprentice

Origins of IR
Industrial Revolution changed the nature of

work, forms of work organisation and nature of production The first stage of the reorganisation of production was bringing together many craftsman under one roof
This is referred to as the stage of cooperation

The craftsman, for various reasons, were

deprived of their tools and brought together by the factory owner under one roof
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Origins of IR
The next stage was the stage of

manufacturing This is when work tasks are broken down or fragmentised and division of labour is introduced (e.g. making a chair) The factory owners attempt to increase productivity by removing some of the skills of the craft work by breaking down work into simpler steps
This process is called de-skilling
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Origins of IR
The craftsman is still in charge of the work and

has skill but his skill is being eroded and simplified The artisan is now being transformed into a worker and this changes the social relation between the factory owner and the worker. Two processes begin to take place at this stage:
The first is de-qualification where the skills of the

artisan is broken down. This takes away control of the work from the worker. The second is hyper-qualification of a few individuals who in turn are in charge of systematically fragmentizing the work of the masses. They are also involved in adapting the

Origins of IR
Craft workers and their apprentice were placed under a

single roof.
This was the formation of the factory Skilled work was slowly broken down We enter the world of mass production

This is the world of large factories Seen is the movement of people from villages and rural

areas to the cities in search of employment - Migration

People uprooted from their traditional way of life and

traditional forms of work Creation of a new class of people: proletariat or working class
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Origins of IR
Society now becomes divided between the

working class on the one hand and owners and managers on the other hand Human beings now have to sell their labour power in order to survive thus arose the concept of wage labour We now enter the era of mass employment and also soon mass unemployment In the area of work we find new patterns of work organisations emerging
Emergence of the assembly line and dull repetitive

work In 1914 Henry Ford introduced the assembly line (via conveyer belts)

Origins of IR
Ford fixed the worker at one place and made the

object of work (or product) flow This meant more control over the labour of a worker This also allowed for control over the rate with which work was produced the concept of productivity

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Origins of IR
We also see the emergence of Taylorism or

Scientific Management
What Taylor did was measure the amount of work

done by a worker in a given period of time His aim was to scientifically determine the best way of performing a task
Taylor attempted to do two things:
Increase the amount of work within a specific period

productivity Simplify work by breaking it down into simpler part deskilling In order to achieve his tasks Taylor conducted a series of time and motion studies
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Origins of IR
The aim of Taylor was to fragment work down to

its most basic motion His experiments lasted over 26 years Taylors work need to be understood within the context of the great depression, mass unemployment, falling profitability and social upheaval

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Origins of IR
Reaction to Taylors work came in the form of the

Human Relations Movement Taylor was criticised for being over-rational and dehumanising Between 1927 1932 a series of experiments were conducted at the Hawthorne Works of the Western Electric Company in Chicago, led by Elton Mayo

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Origins of IR
What these experiments established was that

work conditions and monetary incentives did not have a direct relation to output and behaviour What it found instead was that informal work organisation and work groups had an effect on output and behaviour Elton Mayo who conducted the experiments argued that the worker should be seen as a human and social being.
This gave rise to the Human Relations School.

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Origins of IR
He promoted the idea of training managers and

administrators in social skills that would allow for the maintenance of spontaneous co-operation in industry This was the beginning of the Human Relations School (HRS)
The HRS was criticised for misunderstanding the causes

and nature of industrial conflict

The HRS was also criticised for ignoring trade unions

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and IR It was out of the criticism of Mayo and his HRS that studies into industrial relations grew In 1948 the Institute of Industrial Relation Research was founded in the USA

Understanding IR
IR starts off with the employment relationship
This starts as soon as a person is willing to accept

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compensation for in exchange for work employment contract This relationship has a legal dimension that is governed by Labour Legislation The legal nature of the employment relationship means there are rights and obligations on both sides Management for example has to pay wages and salaries, provide leave, safe working conditions and other duties defined in the law & not to unjustly discriminate against workers

Understanding IR
Employees are obligated to obey legitimate work

related instructions, to be honest and to promote the business of the employer The employment relationship is embodied in the contract of employment, and is an individual relationship between employer and employee It has legal protection Industrial relations usually involves employees as one group and employers as another group

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Decisions affecting IR
Decisions taken by employers and managers that

affect industrial relations:

For e.g. the opening or closing down of a workplace Introducing new technology or work organisation Allocating a specific distribution of profits

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What IR is about?
IR is about understanding the processes through

which disagreement and disputes are generated In other words we need to look at the way employers and employees interact that leads to problems and conflict Within this context we need to look at relations around the control of work

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Understanding IR
Control of work is central to a study of IR

Further we need to understand the sources as

well as the consequence of industrial conflict Not only do we need to know where conflict come from but we also need to know what are the results of conflict
For e.g. dissatisfaction with respect to wages

leads to poor work performance

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The Labour Relationship

The employer is not interested in the employee:
Except in the way this person can labour How hard and fast the person can work The skills and the abilities of the person This creates the division between those who work

and those who own and manage

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