Causes of poor Industrial Relations

• Mental inertia on the part of management and labour

• Inadequate welfare facilities
• Unhealthy working conditions
• Indiscipline
• Lack of proper human relations skills on the part of supervisors and other
managers
• Desire on the part of workers for higher bonus
• Inappropriate introduction of automation without providing right climate
• Unduly heavy workloads
• Unfair labour practices, like victimization and undue dismissal
• Retrenchment dismissals and lockouts on the part of management and strikes
on the part of workers
• General political and economic environment such as rising prices, strikes by
others and general indiscipline
 Establishing a Sound Industrial Relations
System
• Recognition by the employer that the workers are a part of a
team working towards common objective
• Fair redressal of employee’s grievances with regard to working
conditions, facilities, attitudes of supervisors and other rights
• Payment of fair wages and adequate wage structures as well as
establishment of satisfactory working conditions
• Adoption of a policy which ensures to the workers an
equitable share of the gains of increased productivity
• Introduction of a suitable system of employees education at all
levels as well as providing them with appropriate equipment
where necessary
• Training in IR and HR to workers, technical staff and at all managerial
levels
• Sufficient communication to keep the employees informed about
decisions which affect their interests
• Establishment of an atmosphere of participation whether through
joint committees or other methods.
• Management should have harmony as a goal.
• Uniform applicability of the policy and procedures for all
• Maintain direct two way communication between management and
employees
• Need to maintain a systematic data base on all aspects of HRM to
ensure objectivity in managerial actions
 Industrial Conflict/Disputes
• Industrial conflict is a general concept..when it
acquires specific dimensions, it becomes an
industrial dispute.
• Acc to Industrial disputes Act 1947, “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 labour of any person”
Classification of Industrial disputes
• Interest disputes/Economic Disputes: They
relate to the determination of new terms and
conditions of employment for general body of
workers. Disputes originate from trade union
demands or proposals for improvements in
wages, fringe benefits, job security or other
terms and conditions of employment.
• For settlement of interest disputes recourse must
be made to bargaining power, compromise etc.
• Grievance disputes/Rights Disputes: They involve individual
workers only or a group of workers …who protest against an act
of management that is considered to violate their rights. The
grievance arise basically on such questions as discipline and
dismissal, the payment of wages and other fringe benefits,
working time, overtime, promotions, demotion, transfer rights
of seniority, job classification problems etc. Grievances might
arise over the interpretation and application of collective
agreements and in that case they are called interpretation
disputes.
• For settlement of Grievance disputes the relevant provisions,
contracts, work rules and laws or customs are referred to.
• Unfair labour practices: The most common unfair labour practices in industrial
relations are attempts by the management of an undertaking to discriminate
against workers. Other unfair practices might concern with interference,
restraint or coercion of employees for any reason.
• The Industrial Disputes Act 1947 is more specific about the unfair labour
practices. Following constitute unfair labour practices:
• 1. To interfere with, restrain from or coerce workmen in the exercise of their
right to organize, form, join or assist a trade union or to engage in concerted
activities for the purposes of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or
protection i.e.
a) Threatening workmen with discharge or dismissal if they join a trade union
b) Threatening a lockout or closure if TU is organized
c) Granting wage increases to workmen at crucial periods of the TU organization
with a view to undermine the efforts of the TU at organization
2. To dominate, interfere with or contribute support, financial or
otherwise, to any trade union, i.e.
a) An employer taking an active interest in organizing a TU of his or her
workmen
b) An employer showing partiality or granting favour to one of several
trade unions attempting to organize his or her workmen
3. To establish employer-sponsored TUs of workmen
4. To encourage or discourage membership in any TU by discriminating
against any workman
5. To discharge or dismiss workmen
c) By way of victimization
d) Not in good faith but in the arbitrary exercise of the employer’s rights
e) By falsely implicating a workman in a criminal case on false evidence
6. To abolish work of regular nature being done by workmen and to give
such work to contractors
7. To transfer a workman malafide from one place to another under
the guise of following management policy
8. To insist upon individual workmen, who are on legal strike, to sign
a good conduct bond as a precondition to allowing them to
resume work 9. To show favouritism or partiality to one set of
workers regardless of merit
10. To employ workman as ‘badlis’, casuals or temporaries and to
continue them as such for years
11.To discharge or discriminate against any workman for filing
charges or testifying against an employer in any enquiry or
proceeding
12. To recruit workmen during a strike which is not an illegal strike
13.Failure to implement award, settlement or agreement
14. To indulge in acts of force or violence
15. To refuse to bargain collectively, in good faith with the
recognized TUs
16. Proposing or continuing a lockout deemed to be illegal
under this Act
• Recognition disputes/Recognition disputes: This type of
dispute arises when the management of an undertaking
or employer’s organization refuses to recognize a trade
union or the purpose of collective bargaining .
 Impact of Industrial Disputes
The Economy/Nation/Public/Society:
• They disturb the economic, social and political life of a country
• Industrial disputes may assume national proportions affecting the entire
community
• Result in a huge wastage of man days and dislocation in the production work
• A strike in a public utility service like water supply, power and gas supply units,
postal, telegraph or telephone services, railways, roadways etc disorganizes
public life and throws the economy out of gear
The Workers:
• The workers are also affected as they lose the wages for the strike period.
• Sometimes workers lose their employment, are prosecuted, given severe beating
and are repressed by the police.
• Unsuccessful strikes, besides inflicting financial loss on workers, demoralize
them, make them disappointed and shake their confidence in trade unions.
The Employers:
• They suffer heavy losses due to stoppages of production,
reduction of sales and loss of markets
• They have to incur huge expenditure on crushing strikes,
engaging strike breakers and blacklegs maintaining a police force
and guards, organizing counter demonstrations, processions and
meetings.
• They need to protect plant and machinery and spend a lot to
undertake publicity and espionage.
• Loss of mental peace, respect and status in the society, goodwill
in the market cannot be commuted in terms of money.
Vicious circle of unhealthy Industrial
Relations

Unhealthy
Industrial Relations

Misutilization of
Loss in
Capital
productivity
investment

Non-Fulfillment of
Targeted Growth
 Causes of Industrial Conflicts
• Industry related factors:
1. Dismissal or non-employment of any person
2. Registered agreement, settlement or award
3. Demarcation of the functions of an employee
• Management related factors:
1. Management generally not willing to talk over any dispute with the
employees or their representatives
2. The management’s unwillingness to recognize a particular trade union
3. Even when trade unions are recognized to some extent the employers
hesitate to delegate enough authority which could enable them to
negotiate properly
4. The lack of worker’s participation in various aspects like recruitment,
promotion, transfers, merit awards etc.
• Government related factors:
1. The changes in economic policies
2. Ineffective and unsatisfactory working of various laws and enactments
due to the reason that :
• Most of the labour laws have lost their relevance in the context of
changed industrial climate
• Improper and inadequate implementation of labour laws by most of the
employers
• Inherent difficulties in monitoring the working of various labour laws
• Trade Union factors:
1. Trade union movement highly influenced by politics
2. Tense Inter-union rivalry among less important and dominant trade
unions invariably sparks off disputes
 Causes of Industrial Conflict
Economic Causes Political Causes Social Causes
Wages Political instability
Low morale in society
Bonus Affiliation of political
Social values and norms
Overtime parties with unions
Rich vs Poor disparity
Payment Class divisions

Technological Psychological
Causes Causes of Causes
Conflict in individual and
Unsuitable technology Industrial organizational objectives
Difficulty in technology
adoption Disputes/Conflict Motivational problems
Resistance to change Personality clashes
Fear of unemployment Attitudinal problems

Market Legal Causes

Situation Inadequacy of legal
Rising prices machinery
Shortage in supply
 Manifestations of conflict
Manifestation of Organized Manifestation of individual and
Group Conflict Unorganized Conflict
Manifestations of Manifestations of
Workers Management
Unions Management
1. Unorganized 1. Autocratic
1. Non-Cooperation 1. Unwillingness
supervision of 2. Over-strict
to negotiate withholding
efforts discipline
2. Arguments 2. Termination
2. Intentional waste 3. Unnecessary
3. Hostility 3. Demotion
and inefficiency firing
4. Stresses and 4. Lay-offs
3. Labour Turnover 4. Demotion
tension 5. Lockouts
4. Absenteeism 5. Lay-offs
5. Unwillingness to
complaints 6. Lockout
negotiate
6. Resentment 5. Instances of
7. Absenteeism breaking of rules
8. Work-to-rule 6. Strike
9. Demonstration,
Morcha, Gherao
10. Loss of Production
Source: Kornhauser,A,Dubin and Ross, A.M.,
11. Strike “Industrial Conflict”, McGraw Hill, 1954, p.14
Conflict Resolution/Settlement of Disputes
(Next Session)
Non-Statutory Government
Methods Statutory Measures Machinery

Collective Arbitration
Bargaining
ID Act
Code of 1947 Conciliation
Discipline

State Acts
Grievance Adjudication
Procedure

Workers Consultative
Participation Machinery