PERSPECTIVES ON INDUSTRIAL

RELATIONS
Unitary
 The organization is an integrated group of people
with a single authority structure;
 Conflict – is irrational and caused by employee
dissatisfaction or lack of understanding
 Management- resolves conflict by taking strong
action; does not have to consult with employees.
 Trade Unions – an intrusion from outside the organization,
competing with management for power and employee loyalty.

Industrial Relations & Law- Lecturer:Tutor H. Harley

(Utech),Jamaica
PERSPECTIVES ON INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS
Pluralistic
 In society there is a wider distribution of power;
Owners are different from Managers
 Complex tensions and claims in the organization have
to be managed in the interest of maintaining a viable
structure.
 Conflict – is natural and inevitable arising from
inherent tensions between various sectional groups.
 Trade Unions are accepted as legitimate means by which
employees may express their interests, influence management
decisions and achieve their objectives.
PERSPECTIVES ON INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS
 Marxist
 The disparity in the distribution of and access to
economic power creates conflict between those who
own capital and those who supply their labour.
 Conflict – Arises in society an the basis of the
economic and social divisions between those who own
and manage the means of production and those who
only have their labour to sell
 Trade Unions – Are an inevitable employee response to
capitalism. Trade Unionism is seen as political activity aimed
at the development of the working class.
ACTORS IN INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS
The major actors in the arena of Industrial relations are:
 Employers/Management
 H R Practitioners/ Lawyers/ Min. of Finance.
 Employees/Unions or Associations
 Staff Associations/Employers Federation
 Government
 Parliament/Ministry of Labour/ IDT.
LEVELS IN THE INDUSTRIAL
RELATIONS SYSTEM
 Local:
 Management ans Union/association negotiate
 Conciliation:

- Ministry of labour facilitates settlement of disputes

 Arbitration:
 Final settlement of disputes – (IDT/Tribunal)
 IMPORTANT ROLES OF
GOVERNMENT
To put in place the legislative and regulatory arrangements and institutions that will facilitate
effective, efficient and harmonious relations between Management and workers in organizations
and the country as a whole.

Economic role:
– enhance stability, security facilitating productivity in the economy
 Social:

- a determination of the kind of society the Govt. wishes to create.

Neutral role:
– Intervention in the national interest. neither for the Union nor the
Employer
Question - (What is national interest; who determines it)

Conciliation & Arbitration – Ministry of Laboour/ IDT.
FUNCTIONS OF TRADE UNIONS

 Power – Protect and support employees by providing collective

strength in an organization
 Economic – To maximize wages and employment of their members
 Job regulation – Protect their members from arbitrary management
actions
 Social Change – Reduce the disparity between capital and labour
 Members Services – securing special privileges for members
(Training, loss of pay benefits???)
 Self fulfillment – Securing opportunities for members to participate
in decision making process