DISPUTES AND THEIR

RESOLUTION
By
Dr Saileswar Ghosh
What is an Industrial Dispute?

• Disputes mainly relate to the strife between employers

and their employees.
• According to the Industrial Dispute Act,1947 sec (2(k)),
Industrial disputes mean any dispute or difference
between employers and employers, or between
employers and workmen, or between workmen and
workmen, which is connected with the employment or
non employment or terms of employment or with the
conditions of labor of any person.
Causes of industrial Disputes:

Causes of Industrial disputes may be grouped into four categories :

(A) Wages Demand

(B) Union Rivalry
(C) Industrial Factors
(D) Managements Attitude towards workers
(E) Government Machinery ; and
(F) Other Causes
Industrial Factors :

Under this category, some of the causes of dispute may be :

(i)An industrial matter relating to employment, work, wages,

hours of work, privileges, the rights and obligations of employees
and employers & terms and conditions of employment.

(ii)An industrial matter in which both the parties are directly

and substantially interested.

(iii)Disputes arising out of unemployment, inflation, change in the

attitude of employers and rivalry among unions.
Management Attitude Towards Labor :

(i) Management ‘s unwillingness to talk over any dispute with

their employees.

(ii)Managements unwillingness to recognize a particular trade union ,

delegating enough authority to the representatives etc.

(iii) Unwillingness to negotiation and settlement of disputes.

(iv)Managements insistence to take care of recruitments, promotion etc.

without consulting the concerned employees

(v)Managements unwillingness to provide services and benefits to

its employee's
Government Machinery :

(a)Though there are number of enactments for promotion of

harmonious relations, it is ineffective and unsatisfactory due to
various reasons like their irrelevancy in the context of the challenges
of present industrial climate /culture, incapability of understanding
and answering imperatives of development, improper and inadequate
implementation by many employers.

(b)The governments conciliation machinery has settled a

very negligible number of disputes .
Other Causes :

(i)Affiliation of the trade unions with a political party, where the

latter may instigate the trade unions to conduct strikes, lockouts ,
gheraos etc.

(ii)Political instability, center- state relations, sometimes result into

industrial conflict.

(iii)Other potential factors like corruption in industry and public

life, easy money etc. can also result into industrial
disputes.
 Industrial Disputes

Strikes
Lockouts

Primary Secondary Others

Strikes Strikes
1. General
2. Particula
r
3. Political
4. Bandhs

Sit down, Token

Work Lightening Gherao Hunger
Stay- Stay-in or Picketing
To or Cat- Strikes
away Tool Down or Go - &
Rule Protes
Pen Down Call
Strikes t Boycott
Strikes Slow strikes
Strikes
How to settle the disputes??

Whatever may be the cause of industrial disputes, the consequences

are harmful to all stakeholders- management, employees, economy
and the society . For management, disputes result in loss of
production, revenue, profit, and even sickness of the plant. Employees
would be hard hit as the disputes may lead to lockouts and
consequent loss of wages and even jobs.

Various methods are available for resolving disputes. Most important

of them are :
Collective
Bargaining Arbitration

Code of Dispute
Discipline Settlement
Conciliation

Grievance
Procedure Adjudication

Consultative
Machinery
 Collective Bargaining

According to Dale Yoder, “Collective bargaining is the term used to describe a

situation in which the essential conditions of employment are determined by
bargaining process undertaken by representatives of a group of workers on the
one hand and of one or more employers on the other.”

In the words of Flippo, “Collective bargaining is a process in which the

representatives of a labour organisation and the representatives of business
organisation meet and attempt to negotiate a contract or agreement, which
specifies the nature of employee-employer-union relationship.”
 Issues of collective
bargaining
1. Wages and working conditions
2. Work norms
3. Incentive payments
4. Job security
5. Changes in technology
6. Work tools, techniques and practices
7. Staff transfers and promotions
8. Grievances
9. Disciplinary matters
10.Health and safety
11.Insurance and benefits
12.Union recognition
13.Union activities/responsibilities
14.Management rights
Features of Collective Bargaining
It is a collective process. The representatives of both workers and management
participate in bargaining.

It is a continuous process. It establishes regular and stable relationship between the

parties involved. It involves not only the negotiation of the contract, but also the
administration of the contract.

It is a flexible and dynamic process. The parties have to adopt a flexible attitude
through the process of bargaining.

It is a method of partnership of workers in management

 Types Of Bargaining
Distributive bargaining: Under it, the economic issues like wages, salaries and
bonus are discussed. In distributive bargaining, one party’s gain is another
party’s loss.

Integrative bargaining :This involves negotiation of an issue on which both

the parties may gain, or at least neither party loses.

Attitudinal restructuring :This involves shaping and reshaping some attitudes

like trust or distrust, friendliness or hostility between labor and management.

Intra-organizational bargaining: It generally aims at resolving internal

conflicts. This is a type of maneuvering to achieve consensus with the workers
and management. Even within the union, there may be differences between
groups.
Collective Bargaining Process
• Prepare

• Discuss

• Propose

• Bargain

• Settlement
PROCESS OF CO L LEC TI VE B A R G A I N I N G

The collective bargaining process involve five steps:

Prepare: This phase involves composition of a negotiation team.

Discuss: Both parties decide the rules that will guide the negotiations.
Propose: It involves the initial opening statements and the possible
options that exist to resolve them.
Bargain: Negotiations are easy if a problem solving attitude is adopted. This
stage comprises the time when, what ifs and suppose are set forth and the
drafting of agreements take place.
Settlement: This stage is described as consisting of effective joint
implementation of the agreement through shared visions, strategic planning
and negotiated change.
Levels At Which Collective Bargaining Is Undertaken

Enterprise Or Plant
Level

Industry-Cum-Region wide Agreements

Sectoral Collective Bargaining At National Level

Importance of Collective Bargaining
Importance to employees
• Collective bargaining develops a sense of self respect and
responsibility among the employees.

• It increases the strength of the workforce, thereby, increasing

their bargaining capacity as a group.

• Collective bargaining increases the morale and productivity

of employees.

• It restricts management’s freedom for arbitrary action against

the employees. Moreover, unilateral actions by the employer
are also discouraged.

• Effective collective bargaining machinery strengthens the

trade unions movement.
Importance of Collective Bargaining
Importance to employers

• It becomes easier for the management to resolve issues at the

bargaining level rather than taking up complaints of individual
workers.

• Collective bargaining tends to promote a sense of job security

among employees and thereby tends to reduce the cost of labor
turnover to management.

• Collective bargaining opens up the channel of communication

between the workers and the management and increases
worker participation in decision making.

• Collective bargaining plays a vital role in settling and

preventing industrial disputes.
Importance of Collective Bargaining
Importance to society

• Collective bargaining leads to industrial peace in the country

• It results in establishment of a harmonious industrial climate which

supports which helps the pace of a nation’s efforts towards economic
and social development since the obstacles to such a development can
be reduced considerably.

• The discrimination and exploitation of workers is constantly

being checked.

• It provides a method or the regulation of the conditions of employment

of those who are directly concerned about them.
Code of Discipline

 The code of discipline defines duties and responsibilities of

employers and workers. The objectives of the code are:
1. To ensure that employers and employees recognize each others
rights and obligations.
2. To promote consecutive co-operation between parties concerned
at all levels.
3. To eliminate all forms of coercion, intimidation and violence in
IR.
4. To avoid work stoppages.
5. To facilitate the growth of trade unions.
6. To maintain discipline in the industry.
A Grievance is a type of discontent which must always be
expressed. It can be valid or ridiculous but must grow out of
something connected with company’s operations or policy. It
must involve an interpretation or application of
the provisions of the labor contract. Edwin B. Flippo

The complaints affecting one or more individual workers in

respect of wage payments, overtime, leave, transfer,
promotions, seniority, work assignment and discharge
constitute grievances. The National Commission on
Labor
Grievances arise out of the perceived injustice or unfair
treatment felt by the aggrieved employee.
It is the state or feeling of discontent or dissatisfaction
about any aspect of an organization.
The cause of a grievance may be real or imaginary, serious or
inconsequential, genuine or fake, legitimate or irrational.
A Grievance may be voiced or unvoiced. But it should be
expressed in some form, normally in written form.
It must arise only out of the job of the employee in the
company and not out of family or personal issues.
MANAGERIAL CONDITIONS
 Pay Scale or Wage rates
 Overtime
Benefits – Promotions, Incentives,
Seniority and Discharges.
 Lack of role clarity
Autocratic Leadership style of
supervisors.
Lack regards for collective
agreement.
WORKING CONDITIONS
 Unrealistic
Non availability of proper tool,
machines and equipments for doing
the job.
Tight production standards
Bad working conditions
Poor relationship with the
supervisor.
 Negative approach to
discipline.
PERSONAL FACTORS
 Narrow attitude
 Over ambition
 Egoistic Personality
 Non- cooperative.
Personal Problems outside
factory
1. On Production
 Low quality of production, Low productivity,
Increase in wastage, Increase in cost of
production.
2. On Employees
 Increased absenteeism, Reduction in level of
commitment, Increase in accidents, Reduced level
of employee moral.
3. On Managers
 Strained superior- subordinate relations, Need
for increased supervision/control and follow up,
Increase in unrest.
Observations Grip Boxes

Exit O p e n Door
I nterview Policy
1. OBSERVATION
Knowledge of human behavior is requisite quality of
good manager. From the changed behavior of any
employee , he should snuff the causes of grievances,
without its knowledge to the employee.

2. GRIP BOXES
The suggestion boxes, for instance are placed at
easily accessible spots to most employees in the
organization. The employees can file anonymous
complaints about their dissatisfaction in these boxes.
3. OPEN DOOR POLICY
Most of the organizations still don’t practice this
but open door policy demands that the employees,
even at the lowest rank, should have easy access to
the Chief Executive to get his grievances redressed.

4. EXIT INTERVIEW
These interviews are conducted to know the
reasons for leaving the job. Properly conducted exit
interviews can provide significant information about
the strengths and weaknesses of the organization
and can pave way for further improvements.
The objective of this procedure is to provide an
opportunity for an employee to raise formally an
individual grievance on matters relevant to his/her
employment or conditions of service where the
normal and customary channel of discussion with
their direct supervisor has been unable to resolve the
issue.
STAGE :- 1
The aggrieved employee makes a written or oral
representation to the frontline supervisor, seeking
settlement of his grievance, and if the redressal
efforts fail, the issue goes to the next stage.
STAGE :- 2
In this stage, the labor officer is involved in the
process. He acts as a mediator between the
aggrieved employee and the supervisor in arriving
at a settlement.
STAGE :- 3
Higher levels may involved depending upon the
issue.
 Legally Sustainable
 Mutually Acceptable
 Easily understandable
 Highly flexible
 Sufficiently Knowledgeable
DO :-
 Investigate and handle each case very promptly.
 Talk with the employee, give the person a full hearing.
Require the union to identify specific contractual provisions allegedly
violated.
Comply with the contractual time limits for handling the
grievance.
 Visit the work area of the grievance.
 Determine whether there were any witnesses.
 Examine the grievant personal record.
 Fully examine prior grievance records.
 Hold your grievance discussions privately.
 Fully inform your own superiors.
 DON’T :-
 Discuss the case with the union steward alone.
 Hold back the remedy if the company is wrong.
 Admit to the binding effect of a past practice.
Relinquish (to give up) to the union your rights as a manager.
Settle grievances based on what is fair. Instead, stick to the labor
agreement.
 Bargain over items now covered by the contract.
 Give long written grievance answers.
Trade a grievance settlement for a grievance withdrawal.
 Deny grievances because of management pressures.
 Agree to informal amendments in the contract.
Enables the management to know the pulse
of its employees.
Provides a channel to the aggrieved to
express their grievances.
Provides clues about the behavior and
attitude of the managers and supervisors
towards their subordinates.
Gives an assurance to the employees about
the existence of a mechanism for the prompt
redressal of their grievance.
 Keep up the morale of the employees.
Grievance Procedure

 Grievance is any discontent or dissatisfaction, arising out of employment

relationship, which an employee thinks , believes or feels to be unfair,
unjust or inequitable.
 A grievance procedure is a formal process which is preliminary to
arbitration, which enables the parties involved to attempt to resolve their
differences in a peaceful and orderly manner.
 It enables the company and the trade union to investigate and discuss the
problem at issue without in any way interrupting the peaceful conduct of
business.
 When the grievance redressal machinery effectively, it
satisfactorily resolve between labor
works most of the disputes
management. and
Arbitration

 Arbitration is a procedure in which a neutral third party studies the

bargaining situation, listens to both the parties, gathers information and
then makes recommendations that are binding on both the parties.
 Arbitration is effective means of resolving disputes because it is :
1. Established by the parties themselves and the decision is acceptable
to them.
2. Relatively expeditious when compared to courts and
tribunals.
Conciliation

 Conciliation is a process by which the representatives of workers and

employers are brought together before a third party with a view to
persuading them to arrive at an agreement by mutual discussion between
them. The third party may be an individual or a group of people. The
third party may also be called as mediators.

 The ID Act, 1947and other state enactments authorize the governments to

appoint conciliators charged with duty of mediating in and promoting the
settlement of industrial disputes.
Conciliation

 Conciliation officer: an authority appointed by the government to

mediate disputes between parties brought to his notice; enjoying the
powers of a civil court. He is supposed to give judgment within 14 days
of the commencement of the conciliation proceedings.

 Board of conciliation: The Board is an adhoc, tripartite body having the

powers of a civil court created for a specific dispute(when the conciliation
officer fails to resolve disputes within a time frame, the board is
appointed)

 Court of enquiry: In case the conciliation proceedings fail to resolve a

dispute, a court of enquiry is constituted by the government to investigate
the dispute and submit the report within six months.
Adjudication

 Adjudication means a mandatory settlement of an industrial dispute by

a labor court or a tribunal. Generally, the government deems a dispute for
adjudication depending on the failure of conciliation proceedings.
 Section 10 of the Industrial Act, 1947, provides for reference of a dispute
to labor court or tribunal.
 Disputes are generally referred to adjudication on the recommendation of
the conciliation officer who had dealt with them earlier. The government
has a discretionary powers to accept or reject recommendations of the
conciliation officer. It is obvious that once is referred for adjudication ,
the verdict of a labor court or tribunal is binding on both the parties.
 This is the most significant instrument of resolving disputes. But, it
has been criticized because of the delay involved in resolving conflicts.
Consultative Machinery

 Consultative machinery is set by the government to resolve conflicts. The

main function is to bring the parties together for mutual settlement of
differences in the spirit of co-operation and goodwill.
 A consultative machinery operates at plant , industry , state and national
levels. At plant level, there are works committee and joint management
councils. Being bipartite in character, works committee are constituted as
per the provisions of industrial Disputes Act, 1947 and joint management
councils are set up following the trust laid down in the Industrial Policy
Resolution,1956. At the industry level, there are wage boards and
industrial committee.
 Labor advisory boards operate at the state and at the all India level
there are Indian labor conference and the Standing labor committee.
The bodies operating at state and national level, are tripartite in character
STRIKES, LOCKOUTS, LAYOFFS &
RETRENCHMENT
Strikes

 Strike is one of the oldest and the most effective weapons of labor in its
struggle with capital for securing economic justice.
 Strike has been defined in Section 2 (q) of the Industrial Disputes Act as
—
“Strike means a cessation of work by a body of persons employed in
any industry acting in combination, or a concerted refusal, or a refusal
under a common understanding, of any number of persons who are or
have been so employed to continue to work or to accept
employment.”
 Two main ingredients of strike are
 Cessation of Work
 Concerted Action
Lockouts
 Section 2(1) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 defines “Lock-out” as
the closing of a place of business of employment or the suspension of
work, or the refusal by an employer to continue to employ any number
of persons employed by him.
 It is declared by employers to put pressure on their workers. It is
counterpart of a strike.
 Lockout may happen for several reasons. When only part of a trade
union votes to strike, the purpose of a lockout is to put pressure on a
union by reducing the number of members who are able to work.
 Every employer has the option to lock out workers, if – a dispute has
been referred to a council or the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation
and Arbitration (CCMA); a certificate that a dispute remains unresolved
has been issued; 30 days have elapsed since the referral; and
Lockouts

 II ) 48 hours’ written notice of a strike is given to

a. the employer; or
b. a council (if the dispute relates to a collective agreement to be
concluded in a council); or
c. to an employers’ organization (if the employer is a member of
an
organization that is a party to the dispute); or
 III) 48 hours’ written notice of a lockout is given to
a. the trade union; or
b. to the workers (if they are not trade union members); or
c. a council (if the dispute relates to a collective agreement to be
concluded in a council)
Layoffs

 Layoff implies temporary removal of an employee from the payroll of the

organization due to circumstances beyond the control of the employer.
 It may last for an indefinite period. But the employee is not terminated
permanently and is expected to be called back in future. The employer
employee relationship does not come to an end but is merely suspended
during the period of layoff. It is temporary denial of employment.
 The purpose of layoff is to reduce the financial burden on the
organization when the human resources cannot be utilized profitably.
Layoffs

 Under Section 2(KKK) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, layoff is

defined as “the failure, refusal or inability of an employer, on account of
shortage of coal, power or raw materials or accumulation of stocks or
breakdown of machinery or by any other reason, to give employment to a
workman whose name appears on the muster rolls of his industrial
establishment and who has not been retrenched”.
 Layoff is restored in cyclical and seasonal industries. In mines workers
are laid off due to excess of inflammable gas, flood, fire and explosion.
Retrenchment

 Retrenchment means permanent termination of service of an employee

for economic reasons in a going concern.
 The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 defines retrenchment as the
“termination by the employer of the services of workman for any reason
other than termination of services as punishment given by way of
disciplinary action, or retirement either voluntary or reaching age of
superannuation, or continued ill-health or the closure and winding up of a
business”.
Retrenchment

 The Act lays down the following conditions for retrenchment.

 1.The employee must be given one month’s notice in writing indicating
the reasons for retrenchment or wages in lieu of such notice.
 2. The employee must be paid compensation equal to 15 days for every
completed year of service.
 3. Notice in the prescribed manner must be served on the
appropriate Government authority.
 4. In the absence of any agreement to the contrary, the worker employed
last must be terminated first.
THANK YOU