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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING: CONCEPT AND IMPACT IN INDIACollective bargaining has been defined by different experts in different ways. Nevertheless, it istreated as a method by which problem of wages and conditions of employment are resolved peacefullyand voluntarily between labour and management. However, the term collective bargaining is opposedto individual bargaining1.Sometimes, it is described as a process of accommodation between two conflicting interests Here,power stands against power.The I.L.O. defines collective bargaining:"As negotiations about working conditions and terms of employment between an employer, or a groupof employers, or one or more employers' organisations, on the one hand, and one or morerepresentative workers' organisation on the other with a view to reaching agreement."This definition confines the term collective bargaining as a means of improving conditions of employment. But in fact, collective bargaining serves something more.Perlman aptly stated,"Collective bargaining is not just a means of raising wages and improvingconditions of employment. Nor is it merely democratic government in industry. It is above alltechnique, collective bargaining as a technique of the rise of a new class is quite different ...... fromthe desire to displace or abolish" the "old ruling class"... ... to gain equal rights as a class ... ... toacquire an excessive jurisdiction in that sphere where the most immediate interests, both material andspiritual, are determined, and a shared jurisdiction with the older class or classes in all otherspheres.2´ COLLECTIVE BARGANING in India has been the subject matter of industrial adjudication since long andhas been defined by our Law Courts. In

Karol Leather Karamchari

Sangathan v. Liberty Footwear

Company3 the Supreme Court observed that,³Collective bargaining is a technique by which dispute asto conditions of employment is resolved amicably by agreement rather than coercion."According to the Court, the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 seeks to achieve social justice on the basis of collective bargaining. In an earlier judgment in Titagarh Jute Co. Ltd. v. Sriram Tiwari , the CalcuttaHigh Court clarified that this policy of the legislature is also implicit in the definition of µindustrialdispute'.In

Ram Prasad Viswakarma v. Industrial Tribunal

4the Court observed that, "It is well known howbefore the days of µcollective bargaining', labour was at a great disadvantage in obtaining reasonableterms for contracts of service from its employer. As trade unions developed in the country andCollective bargaining became the rule, the employers found it necessary and convenient to deal withthe representatives of workmen, instead of individual workmen, not only for the making or

modification of contracts but in the matter of taking disciplinary action against one or more workmenand as regards of other disputes."In

harat Iron Works v.

hagubhai

alubhai Patel

5, it was held that ³Collective bargaining, being theorder of the day in the democratic ,social welfare State, legitimate trade union activities, which mustshun all kinds of physical threats, coercion or violence, must march with a spirit of tolerance,understanding and grace in dealings on the part of the employer. Such activities can flow in healthychannel only on mutual cooperation between the employer and the employees and cannot beconsidered as irksome by the management in the best interests of itsbusiness.Dialogue with representatives of a union help striking a delicate balance in adjustments andsettlementof various contentious claims and issues."These definitions only bring out the basic element in the concept i.e., civilized confrontation betweenemployers and employees and the whole process is regulated by statutory provisions.POSITION OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN INDIACollective Bargaining machinery essentially is a reflection of a

particular social and political climate.The history of the trade union movement shows that union are affiliated to one or the other politicalparties. As a result most of the trade unions are controlled by outsiders. Critic says that the presenceof outsiders, is one of the important reasons for the failure of collective bargaining in India.6

utsiders in the Process of Collective bargaining:-

The Trade Unions Act, 1926, permits outsiders to be the office bearers of a union to the extent of half the total number of office bearers. So, it permits one to be the leader of the union who does notactually work in the industry. Sometimes a dismissed employee working as a union leader may createdifficulties in the relationshipbetween the union and the employer. Nevertheless, experience shows that outsiders who have littleknowledge of the background of labour problems, history of labour movement, fundamentals of tradeunionism and the technique of theindustryand with even little general education assume the chargeof labour union and become the self-appointed custodian of the welfare of workers. The employers,therefore, have been reluctant to discuss and negotiate industrial matters with outsiders, who have nopersonal or direct knowledge of day to day affairs of the industry.Accordingly employees refuse recognition to the unions which are either controlled by the politiciansor affiliated to a particular political party or controlled by a particular individual. Government cannotmorally compel employers to accord recognition to unions without driving out the politicians fromthem. The State must outright ban "outsiders" from the trade union body. Further, provision forpolitical funds by trade unions should be eliminated, since it invariably encourages the politicians toprey upon them. The National Commission on Labour has overlooked this aspect. The Commissiondoes not favour a legal ban on non-employees for holding the union office. It says that withoutcreating conditions for building up the internal leadership, a complete banning of outsiders would only

make unions weaker. The Commission hopes that Internal leadership would develop through theireducation and training. Accordingly the Commission suggests proportion of the outsiders and theworkers in a union executive. On realising the problems of outsiders in the Union, the IndustrialRelations Bill, 1988 proposes to reduce the number of outsiders to two only.

Politicization of Trade-Union Movement in India:-

It is well known that the trade-union movement in India is divided on political lines and exists onpatronage of various political Parties. Most of the trade-union organizations have aligned themselveswith a political party with whom they find themselves philosophically close. It is because of this thatthe Indian National Trade Union Congress is considered to be the labour wing of congress, whereasH.M.S. is considered to be the labour wing of Socialist party. Bhartiya Majdoor Sangh pledges itsallegiance to B.J.P. and C.I.T.U. has the support of C.P.I. (M). It is also the case with the AITUC whichhad started as a national organization of workers but subsequently came to be controlled by theCommunist Party of India and is now it's official labour wing. Political patronage of trade-unions hasgiven a new direction to the movement whose centre of gravity is no longer the employees orworkmen. The centre has shifted towards it leadership whose effectiveness is determined by theextent of political patronage and the consequent capacity to obtain the benefit. This shifting centre of power is the necessary consequence of political parties search for workers votes, which they seek byconferring benefits on them. Since the public sector which is really the instrumentality of the State,has emerged as the biggest employer in this country, the collective bargaining -between the unionpatronized by the party-in-power and the employer has become an important methodology. It isbecause of this process that agreements conferring benefits are signed even in those units wherefinancial losses are mounting. It is also our experience that in spite of wage increase end improvedconditions of service, there has been no corresponding improvement in production or the productivity.Also,most of the losses are being passed on to the consumers by increasing prices of the products. Itis in this context that Justice Gupta has, in his, 'Our Industrial Jurisprudence" made the followingobservations:³If our experience is any guide, it reveals that Ievel of increase in wages etc., ( in publicsector undertaking )is now decided by the Bureau of Public Enterprises which takes into considerationonly the Political impact and 'Consumer resistence' as two dominant factors. This is the reason whythe prices of almost all products of necessity like coal, iron and steel, cement, sugar etc. have beenconstantly increasing. A survey of pending and decided industrial disputes of the last 10 years revealsthat there was virtually no industrial dispute regarding wage structure or bonus in any industry of some significance.There are also not many collective bargaining agreements which have tried to link wages withproductivity. Clearly,therefore, the basic idea of µsharing the prosperity' which developed because of our commitment to the cause of 'social justice' is no longer current and the expected end product of the process of ' social justice ' is no longer expected. "7The process of collective bargaining is not likely to succeed unless the threat of strike/lockout is therein the back-ground. Strike and lock-out are the weapons used by both the parties daring the collectivebargaining process. Without having these weapons at hands, neither of the party to the dispute candefeat the claim of the other. The peculiar feature of our country while compared to the advancednations of the world is that the economic conditions of the workers is very poor and as a result theycan not afford a long-standing strike.