Meaning, Nature, Scope of Industrial Relations
Industrial relations can be defined as sum total of relationships in an organisation among individuals and groups of employers and employees. It includes labour relationships,employees relationships, human relationships and relationships among managerial employees relating to work.Although, traditionally industrial relations has been construed only as labour relations but growing industrialisation and complexities of business have compelled experts in the field of human resource management to take a total view of the environment.
With the growing number of unions among white collared employees and equally vehement response from Officers Associations, the study of industrial relations is becoming more and more complicated and difficult. At times, the? all join hands with each other to pressurise top management for seeking redressal of their common demands like salary increase, DA payment, bonus etc.
Industrial Relations, Systems and Models
J. T. Dunlop defined industrial relations as the complex of inter-relations among managers, workers and agencies of the government. J. Henry Richardson put it as an art of living together for the purposes of production.H. A. Clagg has defined industrial relations as the study of workers and their trade unions, management, employees association and the state institutions concerned with regulation of employment.Dale Yoder mentioned that industrial relations is the process of management dealing with one or more unions with a view to negotiate and subsequently administer collective bargainingagreement or labour contract.
Infact, John T. Dunlop has given system theory to explain the concept of industrial relations and the parameters within which it had to operate itself.According to the theory, employees and their unions, management & their associations and government & its agencies are the three main player of this game which interact with each other in different types of social, economic, political and technological circumstances. It is also influenced by the changes taking place at the national and international level. The concept is explained with the help of Figure .
Trade Unions and Employers Organisations in India
Though trade unions are collection or association of individual employees with a view to regulate the relations between workmen and workmen, between workmen and management by restricting the trade practices. Depending upon the composition of union, its leadership, level of awareness of its members and sincerity of,its purpose will determine to a great extent the success of its mission. The origin of trade union movement in our country has made unions over-dependent on political parties and politicians for its survival and success.
Unfortunately, most of the trade unions are being exploited for the ulterior motives of the political parties or to build up the political career of the leader of the union even after more than 50 years of independence. Unlike developed countries where a trade union leader has to sacrifice his political career if so desired by his union, in our'country a leader can sacrifice the trade union to fulfil his political ambition. The percentage of employees who are members of any trade union itself is very poor. Even in organised sector, large numbers of employees a_re not members of any union, primarily because they feel that unions are not playing effective and constructive role. Moreover, by becoming member of the union, they loose sympathy and support of the management because quite a sizeable number of employers in India do not take it very kindly if their employees become members of trade union.The dilemma of the employee is to be or not to be the member of the trade union as in fither case they are not sure of the security of their job. In large public sector and overnment sector undertakings, the environment has changed significantly due to -1ultip1icity of trade unions. The employees at times do not want to become the member f any trade union as by becoming the member of one union, they do not want to earn the lispleasure of other unions.
Personal ego of the leaders, their personal vendetta, inter-union rivalry, excessive politicisation of unions, lack of awareness among leaders as well as among members, the poor fund position, tendency of taking maximum personal benefit on the part of office bearers and the members are some of the common malice. Rather than serving the cause of trade union selflessly and relentlessly, it is doing more harm to employees apart from killing the institution of trade union. An honest, sincere and hardworking employee today finds himself in a position of total helplessness as neither management nor trade unions are protecting w d promoting his cause. Formation of trade unions on the caste, linguis'tic and regional basis is a new phenomenon which is emerging very fast and superseding other established trade unions in the industry. It is needless to mention that such unions will do more harm to their members in the long run by making the acceptability of their members more difficult by other employee. Such unions are encouraged in a big way by politicians for their own vested interest to provide them in roads into the company and to enable them to enlarge their political base. It is for working class to understand their motive and not to allow themselves to be exploited.
The leadership has to develop from within themselves so that there is total trust and understanding between the leader and the members. This will also help leader and members in representing their problems on day to day basis to the management. The communication which is the essence of industrial relations has to be established first between the leader and the members, then only it can be expected to improve between management and trade unions. Large membership base is not only essential for the systematic and efficient w i n g of trade unions as an employees institution but it also helps management in recognising the trade unions as representative of employees for the purposes of effective and efficient collective bargaining.Although the number of workers in organised sector of industry, trade and commerce is much less than the number of workers in unorganised sector yet they have achieved much better working conditions and conditions of work in their comparison. This is so because in absence of proper organisation under the banner of a trade union, management continues to exploit them by even denying the basic facilities of minimum wage, proper working conditions etc. which are its statutory obligations. Each union in the organised sector should take up the cause of unorganised workers in its close vicinity or neighbowhood as its social responsibility. Before adopting this social cause, the trade unions have to fight out for large number of casual, temporary and contractual employees who are working in their own company against the provisions of existing labour laws.
Historical Growth of Industrial Relations and Current Status in India
The basic framework of industrial relations in India has been determined by Indian Labour Conference, a tripartite representative body consisting of the representative of all the central trade unions, representatives of employers through their trade associations and representative of the state labour department and central labour department. In its 15th session in July, 1957, it discussed in great details the growing problem of indiscipline in the industry and arising out of this are large number of cases pending before Conciliation Officers, Labour Courts and Industrial Tribunals. It was decided in the above meeting to constitute a sub committee which was later on known as Standing Labour Committee to discuss these issue and submit its recommendations to the Indian Labour Conference for its consideration. Accordingly, Standing Labour Committee submitted its recommendations in the form of a draft proposal after the matter was discussed in its Oc!ober, 1957 meeting. However, this draft proposal was formally adopted and approved in May, 1958, meeting of Indian Labour Conference in the form of "Code of Conduct" for employers as well as for trade unions. It was implemented w.e.f. 1st June, 1958, by the Employers Associatio~is Central Trade Unions.The code of discipline was nothing but a set of self-imposed rules with a view to discipline the conduct of employers as well as of trade unions and to have congenial and harmonious industrial relations in the company.
The following were the major provisio~is under code of disc~pline :
(a) Franliilg of standing orders by all tliose undertakings employing more than 100 workmen and its extension to small undertakings.
(b) Set up of grievance redressal committee in every co~npany to redress the grievances of the employees.
(c) Recognition of majority trade union in the co~npai~y as the sole bargaining agent and encourage collective bargaining and bip'utite settlen~ents.
(d) Special facilities to Ule recognised trade union to strengthci~ the institution of trade union and development of il~ternal leadership.
(e) Reference of all such industrial disputes of the con~pany wl~icll camlot be settled lhrough bipartite negotiations, to the arbitrator or the board of arbitrator.
(f) Scttlemei~t ot' irational arbitration board to facilitate and encourage arbitration in the compallies.
(g) Unfair labour prrlctices for the self-discipline and conduct of inanagement 'md trade unions.
(h) Voluntary
sa~ctions against those malagenlent ruld trade unions who do not follow Ule ccxle of conduct by boycotting and giving them adverse publicity.Although, inspite of acceptance by Central Trade Unions clllcl All India EmployersAssociations, code of discipline was not observed by most of the industries in India as a result of which the entire period of 60's and 70's continued as the penod of industrial confrontation, but it substantially developed the concept of "mdustrial relatio~ls" for the Indian ~ndustries. B o h illa~lagen~ent and the trade u ~ ~ i o n are s guided by ~ t various
provisions in day-lo-day goverllance of industrial relations 111 the industry. Current Status of Industrial Relations in India.The major industrial relations problems of the industries are lack of appreciation of trade unions and their activities by management, autocratic style o f functioning of the most of the managenlent, too much interference by the government and its agencies in controlling the relations. The above mentioned factors have to be analysed at microscopic level as per following details for a proper understanding of major industrial relations problems.
Trade Unions
Poor membership. lack of coimiitment & devotion alllong meinbers m d leaders,political leadership, poor rate of subscription and poor collection result i n precarious financial position of trade unions. Lack of awareness about its duties and rights, lack 01' proper guidance and advise for strengthening and developing trade union ;IS rlli institutioil are some of h e common causes for its poor functioning.
Management
Management suffers fro111 lack of vision: nlissioil and philosophy, i~~adecluate policies & its discriminatory application, lack of professionalis~n anlong managers.The loyalty and sincerity of tlie management to individuals in top mrulage~nent rather tlim to the company. autocratic style of functioning, undcriiliiiing the role and inlportance of trade unio~ls and lack of participative work culture are responsible for current unsatisfactory state of affairs. government Govenlnlei~t interferes excessively through a large iluinber of legislation and poor implementation ot various labour laws, etc. Its inefficient and corrupt machinery is incapable of resolv~ng industrial disputes and often delays imparting justice to the aggrieved party.
Industrial relations can be defined as sum total of relationships in an organisation among individuals and groups of employers and employees. It includes labour relationships,employees relationships, human relationships and relationships among managerial employees relating to work.Although, traditionally industrial relations has been construed only as labour relations but growing industrialisation and complexities of business have compelled experts in the field of human resource management to take a total view of the environment.
With the growing number of unions among white collared employees and equally vehement response from Officers Associations, the study of industrial relations is becoming more and more complicated and difficult. At times, the? all join hands with each other to pressurise top management for seeking redressal of their common demands like salary increase, DA payment, bonus etc.
Industrial Relations, Systems and Models
J. T. Dunlop defined industrial relations as the complex of inter-relations among managers, workers and agencies of the government. J. Henry Richardson put it as an art of living together for the purposes of production.H. A. Clagg has defined industrial relations as the study of workers and their trade unions, management, employees association and the state institutions concerned with regulation of employment.Dale Yoder mentioned that industrial relations is the process of management dealing with one or more unions with a view to negotiate and subsequently administer collective bargainingagreement or labour contract.
Infact, John T. Dunlop has given system theory to explain the concept of industrial relations and the parameters within which it had to operate itself.According to the theory, employees and their unions, management & their associations and government & its agencies are the three main player of this game which interact with each other in different types of social, economic, political and technological circumstances. It is also influenced by the changes taking place at the national and international level. The concept is explained with the help of Figure .
Trade Unions and Employers Organisations in India
Though trade unions are collection or association of individual employees with a view to regulate the relations between workmen and workmen, between workmen and management by restricting the trade practices. Depending upon the composition of union, its leadership, level of awareness of its members and sincerity of,its purpose will determine to a great extent the success of its mission. The origin of trade union movement in our country has made unions over-dependent on political parties and politicians for its survival and success.
Unfortunately, most of the trade unions are being exploited for the ulterior motives of the political parties or to build up the political career of the leader of the union even after more than 50 years of independence. Unlike developed countries where a trade union leader has to sacrifice his political career if so desired by his union, in our'country a leader can sacrifice the trade union to fulfil his political ambition. The percentage of employees who are members of any trade union itself is very poor. Even in organised sector, large numbers of employees a_re not members of any union, primarily because they feel that unions are not playing effective and constructive role. Moreover, by becoming member of the union, they loose sympathy and support of the management because quite a sizeable number of employers in India do not take it very kindly if their employees become members of trade union.The dilemma of the employee is to be or not to be the member of the trade union as in fither case they are not sure of the security of their job. In large public sector and overnment sector undertakings, the environment has changed significantly due to -1ultip1icity of trade unions. The employees at times do not want to become the member f any trade union as by becoming the member of one union, they do not want to earn the lispleasure of other unions.
Personal ego of the leaders, their personal vendetta, inter-union rivalry, excessive politicisation of unions, lack of awareness among leaders as well as among members, the poor fund position, tendency of taking maximum personal benefit on the part of office bearers and the members are some of the common malice. Rather than serving the cause of trade union selflessly and relentlessly, it is doing more harm to employees apart from killing the institution of trade union. An honest, sincere and hardworking employee today finds himself in a position of total helplessness as neither management nor trade unions are protecting w d promoting his cause. Formation of trade unions on the caste, linguis'tic and regional basis is a new phenomenon which is emerging very fast and superseding other established trade unions in the industry. It is needless to mention that such unions will do more harm to their members in the long run by making the acceptability of their members more difficult by other employee. Such unions are encouraged in a big way by politicians for their own vested interest to provide them in roads into the company and to enable them to enlarge their political base. It is for working class to understand their motive and not to allow themselves to be exploited.
The leadership has to develop from within themselves so that there is total trust and understanding between the leader and the members. This will also help leader and members in representing their problems on day to day basis to the management. The communication which is the essence of industrial relations has to be established first between the leader and the members, then only it can be expected to improve between management and trade unions. Large membership base is not only essential for the systematic and efficient w i n g of trade unions as an employees institution but it also helps management in recognising the trade unions as representative of employees for the purposes of effective and efficient collective bargaining.Although the number of workers in organised sector of industry, trade and commerce is much less than the number of workers in unorganised sector yet they have achieved much better working conditions and conditions of work in their comparison. This is so because in absence of proper organisation under the banner of a trade union, management continues to exploit them by even denying the basic facilities of minimum wage, proper working conditions etc. which are its statutory obligations. Each union in the organised sector should take up the cause of unorganised workers in its close vicinity or neighbowhood as its social responsibility. Before adopting this social cause, the trade unions have to fight out for large number of casual, temporary and contractual employees who are working in their own company against the provisions of existing labour laws.
Historical Growth of Industrial Relations and Current Status in India
The basic framework of industrial relations in India has been determined by Indian Labour Conference, a tripartite representative body consisting of the representative of all the central trade unions, representatives of employers through their trade associations and representative of the state labour department and central labour department. In its 15th session in July, 1957, it discussed in great details the growing problem of indiscipline in the industry and arising out of this are large number of cases pending before Conciliation Officers, Labour Courts and Industrial Tribunals. It was decided in the above meeting to constitute a sub committee which was later on known as Standing Labour Committee to discuss these issue and submit its recommendations to the Indian Labour Conference for its consideration. Accordingly, Standing Labour Committee submitted its recommendations in the form of a draft proposal after the matter was discussed in its Oc!ober, 1957 meeting. However, this draft proposal was formally adopted and approved in May, 1958, meeting of Indian Labour Conference in the form of "Code of Conduct" for employers as well as for trade unions. It was implemented w.e.f. 1st June, 1958, by the Employers Associatio~is Central Trade Unions.The code of discipline was nothing but a set of self-imposed rules with a view to discipline the conduct of employers as well as of trade unions and to have congenial and harmonious industrial relations in the company.
The following were the major provisio~is under code of disc~pline :
(a) Franliilg of standing orders by all tliose undertakings employing more than 100 workmen and its extension to small undertakings.
(b) Set up of grievance redressal committee in every co~npany to redress the grievances of the employees.
(c) Recognition of majority trade union in the co~npai~y as the sole bargaining agent and encourage collective bargaining and bip'utite settlen~ents.
(d) Special facilities to Ule recognised trade union to strengthci~ the institution of trade union and development of il~ternal leadership.
(e) Reference of all such industrial disputes of the con~pany wl~icll camlot be settled lhrough bipartite negotiations, to the arbitrator or the board of arbitrator.
(f) Scttlemei~t ot' irational arbitration board to facilitate and encourage arbitration in the compallies.
(g) Unfair labour prrlctices for the self-discipline and conduct of inanagement 'md trade unions.
(h) Voluntary
sa~ctions against those malagenlent ruld trade unions who do not follow Ule ccxle of conduct by boycotting and giving them adverse publicity.Although, inspite of acceptance by Central Trade Unions clllcl All India EmployersAssociations, code of discipline was not observed by most of the industries in India as a result of which the entire period of 60's and 70's continued as the penod of industrial confrontation, but it substantially developed the concept of "mdustrial relatio~ls" for the Indian ~ndustries. B o h illa~lagen~ent and the trade u ~ ~ i o n are s guided by ~ t various
provisions in day-lo-day goverllance of industrial relations 111 the industry. Current Status of Industrial Relations in India.The major industrial relations problems of the industries are lack of appreciation of trade unions and their activities by management, autocratic style o f functioning of the most of the managenlent, too much interference by the government and its agencies in controlling the relations. The above mentioned factors have to be analysed at microscopic level as per following details for a proper understanding of major industrial relations problems.
Trade Unions
Poor membership. lack of coimiitment & devotion alllong meinbers m d leaders,political leadership, poor rate of subscription and poor collection result i n precarious financial position of trade unions. Lack of awareness about its duties and rights, lack 01' proper guidance and advise for strengthening and developing trade union ;IS rlli institutioil are some of h e common causes for its poor functioning.
Management
Management suffers fro111 lack of vision: nlissioil and philosophy, i~~adecluate policies & its discriminatory application, lack of professionalis~n anlong managers.The loyalty and sincerity of tlie management to individuals in top mrulage~nent rather tlim to the company. autocratic style of functioning, undcriiliiiing the role and inlportance of trade unio~ls and lack of participative work culture are responsible for current unsatisfactory state of affairs. government Govenlnlei~t interferes excessively through a large iluinber of legislation and poor implementation ot various labour laws, etc. Its inefficient and corrupt machinery is incapable of resolv~ng industrial disputes and often delays imparting justice to the aggrieved party.
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