Industrial Relations

Industrial relationmeans the relationship between

employers and employees in course of employment
in industrial organizations.
Industrial relation is used to denote the collective
relationships between management and the worker.
IR is used to cover such aspects of industrial life as
trade unionism, collective bargaining, workers
participation in management , discipline and
industrial disputes.
Definition:According to J.T. Dunlop, Industrial
relations are the complex interrelations among
managers, workers and agencies of the government

CONCEPT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

The understanding between employees and management in
an industrial organisation is commonly called industrial
relations.
According to Dale Yoder, IR is a designation of a whole field
of relationship that exists because of the necessary
collaboration of men and women in the employment
processes of industry.
IR is concerned with the systems and procedures used by
unions and employers to determine the reward for effort and
other conditions of employment, to protect the interests of
the employed and their employers and to regulate the ways
in which employers treat their employees.

CONCEPT OF INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS
IR can be defined as a coin having two
faces: co-operation and conflict. This
relationship undergoes starting with
co-operation soon changes into conflict
and after its resolution again changes
into co-operation. This changing
process becomes a continuous feature
in industrial system and makes IR
concept as dynamic and evolving one.

Evolution of Industrial Relations

in India
The post reform
decade
(1992-till now)

The productivity-,
Efficiency-.
Qualityorientation phase
(1981-1991)

The protective
phase
(1947-1956)

The
consolidation
Phase
(1956-1965)

Conflict Ridden
Interventionist
phase
(1967-1980)

Evolution of IR In
India :Pre-Independence
:
Hired and Fired
Poor Employment wages
Due to strikes and disturbances,
government enacted the Trade Dispute
Act, 1929. (based on British Industrial
Court Act 1919. but there was no
machinery for settling dispute.)
In 1938, Bombay government enacted
Bombay Industrial relations Act. First
time with machinery (Industrial court)

IR in Post-Independence
period
Enactment for Industrial Dispute Act, 1947.
Setting up of Indian Labour Conference
(ILO), a tripartite body to look into IR
problems in India. (co-operation between
government, labour and organization)
Many Labour Laws enacted to protect
industrial workerduring 1947 to 1956.
In 1956 emphasis shifted from legal
enactment to voluntary arrangements

 Establishment of work committees, joint

management councils, recognition of
unions,workers participation schemes
1966,National Commission of labor was
appointed by the government to look
into labor matters and make
recommendations. It submitted the
report in 1969. The recommendations
were never implemented though few
were in the implementation stage.

 A conference called the Industrial

Truce Resolution took place in 1947,
and foresaw the establishment of the
Minimum Wages Act, Factories Act,
and Employees State Insurance Act
in 1948. This ensured peace between
labor and industry.

MAIN ASPECTS OF INDUSTRIAL

RELATIONS
Promotion and development of
healthy labor- management relations.
Maintenance of industrial peace and
avoidance of industrial conflict.
Development
and
industrial democracy.

growth

of

SCOPE OF INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS
Labour relations, i.e. relations between
labour union and management.
Employer- employee relations,i.e.
relations between management and
employees.
The role of various parties in
maintaining industrial relations.
The mechanisms of handling conflicts
between employers and employees, in
case conflicts arises.

OBJECTIVES OF INUSTRIAL
RELATIONS
Establish and foster sound relationship
between workers and management by
safeguarding their interests.
Avoid industrial conflicts and strikes
by developing mutuality among the
interests of concerned parties.
Keep, as far as possible, strikes,
lockouts at bay by enhancing the
economic status of workers.

OBJECTIVES OF IR
Provide an opportunity to the workers to
participate in management and decision making
process.
Raise productivity in the organization to curb the
employee turnover and absenteeism.
To improve the bargaining capacity of the
workers through trade unions.
To ensure discipline in the organization and in
the industry.
Improvement of economic conditions of workers.

OBJECTIVES OF IR
To safeguard the interests of the labor and
the management by preventing one of the
players from getting a strong hold over the
other.
To develop & Secure mutual understanding
& good relationships among all the players
in the industrial set-up.
To maintain industrial peace & harmony by
preventing industrial conflicts.

OBJECTIVES OF IR
To improve the standard of living of the
average worker by providing basic and
standard amenities.
To increase productivity by minimizing
industrial
conflicts
and
maintaining
harmonious industrial relations.
To provide a basic framework for the
management & the employees to resolve
their differences.

IMPORTANCE OF IR
Foster industrial peace.
Promote industrial democracy.
Benefit to workers.
Benefit to management.
Improve productivity.

PARTIES TO IR
Employees
Employers
Government

Various Approaches proposed by the

industrial relations scholars as per
their research

Unitarist perspective
In unitarism, the organization is perceived as an
integrated and harmonious whole with the ideal of
"one happy family", where management and other
members of the staff all share a common purpose,
emphasizing mutual cooperation. Furthermore,
unitarism has a paternalistic approach where it
demands
loyalty
of
all
employees,
being
predominantly managerial in its emphasis and
application.
Consequently, trade unions are deemed as
unnecessary since the loyalty between employees
and organizations are considered mutually exclusive,
where there can't be two sides of industry.

Pluralist perspective
In pluralism, the organization is perceived as being
made up of powerful and divergent sub-groups,
each with its own legitimate loyalties and with their
own set of objectives and leaders. In particular, the
two predominant sub-groups in the pluralist
perspective are the management and trade unions.
Consequently, the role of management would lean
less towards enforcing and controlling and more
toward persuasion and co-ordination. Trade unions
are deemed as legitimate representatives of
employees, conflict is dealt by collective
bargaining and is viewed not necessarily as a bad
thing and, if managed, could in fact be channelled
towards evolution and positive change.

DUNLOPS APPROACH
Dunlop defines an industrial relations system in
the following way:
An industrial relations system at any one time in
its development is regarded as comprised of
certain actors, certain contexts, an ideology,
which binds the industrial
relations system together, and a body of rules
created to govern the actors at the workplace and
work community.

THE INDUSTRIAL
SOCIOLOGY APPROACH
G. Margerison, an industrial sociologist, holds the
view that the core of industrial relations is the
nature and development of the conflict itself.

the ACTION THEORY

APPROACH
The action theory approach takes the collective
regulation of industrial labour as its focal point.
The actors operate within a framework, which can
at best be described as a coalition relationship.

THE HUMAN RELATIONS

APPROACH
In the words of Keith Davies, human relations
are the integration of people into a work
situation that motivates them to work together
productively,
cooperatively
and
with
economic,
psychological
and
social
satisfactions. According to him, the goals of
human relations are:
(a) to get people to produce
(b) to cooperate through mutuality of interest
(c) to gain satisfaction from their relationships.

THE GANDHIAN APPROACH

Workers should seek rebred of just and
reasonable demands through collective actions.
Trade unions should decide to go on strike taking
ballot authority from all workers, and remain
peaceful using non violent methods.
Workers should avoid strikes to the extent
possible.
Strikes are to be the last resort
Workers should take recourse to voluntary
arbitration where direct settlement fails.

CONFRONTING CHALLENGES
FACED BY IR

NATURE OF WORK
A good work i.e., work interesting to the
employee fosters good IR. This result in job
satisfaction. On contrary, a work not
interesting to the employee breeds bad or poor
IR.

DISSATISFACTORY
COMPENSATION
Employees works for compensation i.e., wages
and salaries. Often, compensation as low and
working conditions as poor viewed by
employees become an important reason for
poor IR. This worsen relationship between
employees and management.

NON CONDUCIVE
ORGANISATIONAL CLIMATE
A conducive an supporting organizational
climate helps employees integrate themselves
with organization and enjoy a feeling of
confidence and the opposite creates mistrust
between employees and organization.

EMPLOYERS FLEXIBILITY
In general, the requirements of modern
business include more flexible management
and work organization, focusing on creating a
smarter and more motivated work force and
culturally sensitive management techniques

DYFUNCTIONAL TRADE
UNIONS
Trade unions are meant to protect the interests
of its members. The unions are used as a
means to serve the purposes of a few leaders
rather than working in the wider interest of the
employees.

HOW TO BUILD SOUND IR

Developing Trust Between Labor and Management
Existence of Sound and Democratic Trade Unions
Maintenance of Industrial Peace
Continuous Feedback and Monitoring
Professional Approach

NEED FOR INTEGRATED

SYSTEMS
There is need for an integrated systems
approach which would emphasis a direct
relationship between the personnel
management and industrial relations subsystems and objectives of the company. The
day to day individual and collective grievances
negotiations with unions at shop level is like an
effective preventive maintenance system which
should be the principal ingredient of any
industrial policy.

NEED FOR INTEGRATED

SYSTEMS
This in turn will determine the firm` s ability
to handle periodic and non- recurring crises,
whether in the shape of work stoppages,
strikes or wage disputes. In a democracy, there
are and there have to be situations involving
friction and even conflict, but an enlightened
manager and a responsible union will work out
systems to resolve such situations and
conflicts.

Key Concepts in IR
Collective Bargaining
The ILO Defines
Voluntary negotiation between
employers or employers organizations
and workers organizations, with a
view to the regulation of terms and
conditions of employment by collective
agreements.

Strike
Collective suspension of work,
agreed upon by a number of workers
with the purpose of reaching a
certain end.

Lock-Out

Recognition of Trade Union

An organization have many registered
trade unions but the recognition of the
union is decided by the employer. The
word recognition is not motioned in the
Trade Union Act 1926. Law is silent
about it.
But for healthy IR, employer should
recognize TU and negotiate with them

WHAT IS INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS?

IR is a relationship between management and

employees or among employees and their
organizations, that characteristics and grow out of
employment.

IR may be defined as the complex of inter-relations

among workers, managers and government.

CHARACTERISTICS OF IR:

An outcome of relationship in industry.

It create rules and regulations to maintain piece and

harmony.

Important parts of IR are employees and their

organization, employer and their association and
government.

It has a role of management, union and government.

OBJECTIVE OF IR:

To promote and develop labor management relation.

To regulate the production by minimizing industrial

conflicts

To provide opportunity to workers to involve in

decision making process with management.

To encourage and develop trade unions in order to

improve the workers' strength.

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS MACHINERY IN

INDIA:

Preventive Machinery
Trade Union
Joint Consultation
Work Committee
Joint Management
Council
Standing Orders
Grievance Procedure
Code of Discipline

Settlement Machinery
a) Conciliation
1. Conciliation Officer
2. Board of Conciliation
3. Court of Inquiry
b) Voluntary arbitration
c) Compulsory Arbitration
1. Labor Court
2. Industrial Tribunal
3. National Tribunal

THE INDUSTRIAL DISPUTE ACT, 1947.

DEFINITION:
The industrial dispute means any dispute or difference
between:(i) Employers and employers
(ii) Employers and Workmen or
(iii) Workmen and workmen, which is connected with
Industrial disputes may be said to be disagreement or
controversy between management and labor with respect to
wages, working conditions, other employment matters or
union recognition.

TYPES OF INDUSTRIAL
DISPUTES

Interest disputes: arising out of deadlocks in negotiation for

collective bargaining.
Grievance disputes: may pertain to discipline, wages,
working time, promotion, rights of supervisors etc. also some
times called interpretation disputes.
Unfair labor practices: those arising out of right to organize,
acts of violence, failure to implement an award, discriminatory
treatment, illegal strikes and lockouts.
Recognition disputes: over the rights of a TU to represent
class or category of workers.

PROHIBITION OF STRIKES AND

LOCK OUTS
According to SEC 22 (1) No person employed with a
public utility service shall go on strike in breach of
contract Without giving the employer notice of
strike, within six weeks before the strike. Before the
expiry of date of strike specified in such notice.
According to SEC 23; No employee of any industrial
establishment shall go on strike during the period
when proceedings in any disputes case is going on or
when final judgment is awaited .

INDUSTRIAL DISPUTE
RESOLUTION MECHANISM:
Industrial
Undertaking

Works Committee

Conciliation officer
CG/State Govt.
Board

Tribunal
Labour court

Arbitral Tribunal

AWARD

46

SETTLEMENT WITHOUT STATE

INTERVENTION:
There are two ways in which the basic parties to an
industrial dispute- the employer and the employeescan settle their disputes.
Collective bargaining
Voluntary arbitration

SETTLEMENT UNDER THE

INFLUENCE OF THE STATE:

VOLUNTARY ARBRITATION
It is commonly viewed as less expensive and faster than
resolving a dispute in court.
An arbitrator may be a single person or a panel.
Sometimes, however, the parties may agree to submit the dispute
to an arbitrator but at the same time, reserve their right to accept
or reject the award when it comes.

Amendments to Industrial Disputes

Act, 1947:
1. In case of individual dispute of workman related to
discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or termination by
any means, now the workman has the right to approach
labour court directly without waiting for conciliation
proceedings and Govt. reference.
But he has to wait for three months for this direct action
from the date of filling his application before conciliation
officer if the Govt. is not able to complete the reference
process within three months.
Earlier there was no such direct option available to
workman to approach labour court.
(Except in some states like Karnataka where State
govt. has provided for direct approach to Labour court
within 6 months of termination)

2. Such workman in case of individual dispute has to file claim

within time limit period of three years. Earlier there was no
such limitation period prescribed under the ID Act.
3. Wage ceiling of supervisor has been enhanced from Rs.1600/- per
month to Rs. 10,000/- per month, which means now any person
working in any industry doing any manual, unskilled, skilled,
technical, operational, clerical or supervisory work drawing
wages up to Rs. 10000/- will be a workman. Earlier this limit was
up to Rs.1600/-By this amendment the coverage of workman has
been increased and more people are covered now under the Act.

4. Definition of appropriate Govt. has been amplified. Now for the

industry, corporation, PSEs owned or controlled by the Central
Govt., the appropriate Govt. would be Central Govt.
5. In case of industry under the control of State Govt., appropriate
Govt. would be State Govt.
6. Earlier to amendment only judicial officers were eligible to
become the Judges (Presiding Officers) of labour court/ tribunal.
Now with this recent amendment the Dy. Labour
Commissioners/ Joint Labour Commissioners with degree of
Law & having 7 years of experience can also become labour
court/ tribunal judges.

7. Every industry employing 20 or more workmen is now under legal

obligation to constitute and have a grievance redressal machinery
in place in the organization to resolve the workers dispute at the
first level. Earlier it was not legally essential. The related
provisions which were brought in the ID Act in 1984 were never
enforced.
8. Now a provision has been made to execute the labour court/
tribunal decision. Earlier there was no such provision in the Act
and even after decision of the labour court/ tribunal there was no
machinery to enforce its execution on the employer. Now the
labour court/ tribunal shall transmit its award to concerned civil
court which shall execute the award as if it is a decree passed by
the court.