The term Industrial Relations comprises of two terms: Industry and Relations.

Industry refers to any productive activity in which an individual (or a group of individuals) is (are) engaged. By relations we mean the relationships that exist within the industry between the employer and his workmen.Industrial relations and personnel management are almost synonymous term with

the only difference the former places emphasis on the aspect of employer relationship rather than on the executive policies and activities that are set up to foster good relations. - E.F.L. Brec

1. Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC): One of the important points of the constitution of Indian National Trade Union Congress is that every affiliated union has to agree to submit to arbitration every individual dispute in which settlement is not reached thorough negotiations. There must be no strikes till other means of settlement are exhausted 2. Hind Mazdoor Sangha (HMS) : The socialists in the Congress disapproved not only the Communist run AITUC but also the Congress-sponsored INTUC, particularly because it advocated compulsory arbitration as a method of resolving industrial disputes. 3. United Trade Union Congress (UTUC): The dissidents from the Socialist Leaders Congerence held at Kolkatta in December, 1948 proceeded to establish yet another federation of trade unions in April-May 1949 under the name of United Trade Union Congress. .
Why do workers join trade unions? Workers might join a trade union because They believe that there is strength in number and they will be listened to when they in a group. To negotiate a better pay, more holidays and less hours of work. To pressurise the employer to provide them with a healthier and safer working environment. Improved benefits for retrenched workers To get the benefits of advice, financial support and welfare activities carried out by Trade Unions. Many workers may also join a trade union because there is a closed shop policy.
. Larger Voice Workers' Rights campaign against injustices in the workplace, Trade Unions can help to change government policy

Trade union definition: The Trade Union Act 1926 defines a trade union as a combination, whether temporary or permanent, formed primarily for the purpose of regulating the relations between workmen and employers or between workmen and workmen, or between employers and employers, or for imposing restrictive

condition on the conduct of any trade or business, and includes any federation of two or more trade unions.

Causes of Poor Industrial Relations Perhaps the main cause or source of poor industrial relations resulting in inefficiency and labour unrest is mental laziness on the part of both management and labour. Management is not sufficiently concerned to ascertain the causes of inefficiency and unrest following the laissezfaire policy, until it is faced with strikes and more serious unrest. Even with regard to methods of work, management does not bother to devise the best method but leaves it mainly to the subordinates to work it out for themselves. Contempt on the part of the employers towards the workers is another major cause. However, the following are briefly the causes of poor industrial relations: 1. Mental inertia on the part of management and labour; 2. An intolerant attitude of contempt of contempt towards the workers on the part of management. 3. Inadequate fixation of wage or wage structure; 4. Unhealthy working conditions; 5. Indiscipline; 6. Lack of human relations skill on the part of supervisors and other managers; 7. Desire on the part of the workers for higher bonus or DA and the corresponding desire of the employers to give as little as possible; 8. Inappropriate introduction of automation without providing the right climate; 9. Unduly heavy workloads; 10. Inadequate welfare facilities; 11. Dispute on sharing the gains of productivity; 12. Unfair labour practices, like victimization and undue dismissal; 13. Retrenchment, dismissals and lock-outs on the part of management and strikes on the part of the workers; 14. Inter-union rivalries; and 15. General economic and political environment, such as rising prices, strikes by others, and general indiscipline having their effect on the employees attitudes.

Objectives of Industrial Relations 1. To bring better understanding and cooperation between employers and workers. 2. To establish a proper channel of communication between workers and management. 3. To ensure constructive contribution of trade unions. 4. To avoid industrial conflicts and to maintain harmonious relations. 5. To safeguard the interest of workers and the management. 6. To work in the direction of establishing and maintaining industrial democracy. 7. To ensure workers participation in decision-making. 8. To increase the morale and discipline of workers. 9. To ensure better working conditions, living conditions and reasonable wages. 10. To develop employees to adapt themselves for technological, social and economic changes. 11. To make positive contributions for the economic development of the country. Scope The scope of industrial relations includes all aspects of relationships such as bringing cordial and healthy labour management relations, creating industrial peace and developing industrial democracy. The cordial and healthy labour management relations could be brought in by safeguarding the interest of the workers; by fixing reasonable wages; by providing good working conditions; by providing other social security measures; by maintaining healthy trade unions; by collective bargaining.

The industrial peace could be attained by setting industrial disputes through mutual understanding and agreement;

by evolving various legal measure and setting up various machineries such as Works Committee, Boards of Conciliation, Labour Courts etc.

The industrial democracy could be achieved by allowing workers to take part in management; and by recognition of human rights.

HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF TRADE UNIONS IN INDIA Trade union as per Trade Union Act 1926 Any combination formed primarily forthe purpose of regulating the relations between workmen and employers or workmen andworkmen or employers and employers or for imposing restrictive conditions on theconduct of any trade or business and includes any federation of two or more tradeunions. From the above definition it is clear that Trade union is not just an association of theworkmen of a factory or a trade or a business but also can be formed by officers andmanagers. Trade union movement in India was started and led by philanthropists and social organizations and not by the workers. Bombay Presidency - by servants of India society Eastern India - by Brahmo Samaj South India centered around Madras - by Theosophical Society Trade union is a direct product of Industrialization and a very recent development. InIndia, the foundation of modern industry was laid between 1850 and 1870. Prior to thattrade was confined to individuals and families like craftsmen and artisans. They hadexpertise and specialized skills which was inherited by their offsprings. After Industrialrevolution, these people started losing their individual identities and had to join factories to earn their livelihood and compete with mass production. There was a psychological dislocation as they were losing their identities. Indian trade union movement can be divided into three phases. The first phase falls between 1850 and 1900 during which the inception of trade unions took place. During this period of the growth of Indian Capitalist enterprises, the workingand living conditions of the labour were poor and their working hours were long.Capitalists were only interested in their productivity and profitability. In addition to longworking hours, their wages were low and general economic conditions were poor inindustries. In order to regulate the working hours and other service conditions of theIndian textile labourers, the Indian Factories Act was enacted in 1881. As a result,employment of child labour was prohibited. Mr. N M Lokhande organized people like The second phase of The Indian trade union movement falls between 1900 and 1947.

this phase was characterized by the development of organized trade unions and political movements of the working class. It also witnessed the emergence of militant trade unionism. The First World War (1914-1918) and the Russian revolution of 1917 gave a new turn to the Indian trade union movement and organized efforts on part of the workers to form trade unions. In 1918, B P Wadia organized trade union movements with Textile mills in Madras. He served strike notice to them and workers appealed to Madras High Court because under Common Law, strike is a breach of law. In 1919, Mahatma Gandhi suggested to let individual struggle be a Mass movement. In 1920, the First National Trade union organization (The All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC)) was established. Many of the leaders of this organization were leaders of the national Movement. In 1926, Trade union law came up with the efforts of Mr. N N Joshi that became operative from 1927. The third phase began with the emergence of independent India (in 1947), and the Government sought the cooperation of the unions for planned economic development. The working class movement was also politicized along the lines of political parties. For instance Indian national trade Union Congress (INTUC) is the trade union arm of the Congress Party. The AITUC is the trade union arm of the Communist Party of India. Besides workers, white-collar employees, supervisors and managers are also organized by the trade unions, as for example in the Banking, Insurance and Petroleum industries.

Problems of Trade Union

The following are some of the most important problems of the trade unions in India: 1. Multiplicity of Trade Unions and Inter-union Rivalry 2. Small Size of Unions 3. Financial Weakness 4. Leadership Issues

5. Politicalisation of the Unions 6. Problems of Recognition of Trade Unions

Multiplicity of trade unions

Multiple rival unionism is one of the great weaknesses of the Indian trade union movement. Multiple unions are mainly the result of political outsiders wanting to establish unions of their own, with a view to increasing their political influence. . Inter-union rivalry Another vexing problem is that of intra-union rivalry. Trade rivalry is acute and pervades the entire industrial scene in India. Practically every important industry, there exists parallel and competing unions, e.g. on the Indian Railways, there are two parallel Federations the Indian Railway Mens Federation and Indian National Federation of Railway-men.
Small Size of unions

The small size of unions create problems such as: Lack of funds to help its members. Lack of ability among the leaders and members. Low bargaining power. Rivalry between the unions Lack of unity among workers.

Financial weakness

The financial weakness of the union may be attributed to the small size of union and poor ability of its members to contribute. The other reasons are low subscriptions and irregular payments of subscriptions by the members.
Leadership issues

Another disquieting feature of the trade unions is the outside leadership, i.e. leadership of trade unions by persons who are professional politicians and lawyers and who have no history of physical work in the industry. There are several reasons for this phenomenon, namely. The rank and the file are largely illiterate as such they cannot effectively communicate with the management;

The unions lack of formal power tends to put a premium on the dharismatic type of the leader, usually a politician, who can play the role of the defender of the workers against the management; For ensuring a measure of equation of power in collective bargaining where the workers are generally uneducated and have a low status.

The commissions own estimate was that outsiders in the unions executive bodies would be about 10%, much less than the number legally permitted. It makes the following recommendations to deal with the problem of outside leadership: Ex-employees of an industrial enterprise should not be treated as outsiders; Intensification of workers education; Penalties for victimization and similar unfair labour practices such as would discourage the growth of internal leadership; Intensification of efforts by trade union organizers to train workers in union organisation. Limiting the proportion of outsiders in the union execute; Establishing a convention that no union office-bearer will concurrently hold an office in a political party.

Hence, leadership should be promoted from within the rank and file and given a more responsible role. Initiative should come from the workers themselves through the launching of a vigorous programme for Workers Education. This will enable them to participate in the decision-making and managing the union affairs effectively.
Problems of recognition of trade unions

This is one of the basic issues in our industrial relation system because employers are under no obligation to give recognition to any union. In the initial stages, the attitudes of the employers towards the trade unions have been very hostile. The employers many a times have refused recognition to trade unions either on the basis that unions consist of only a minority of employees; or that two or more unions existed. Measures For Improving Industrial Relations
The following measures should be taken to achieve good industrial relations: Strong and Stable Union: A strong and stable union in each industrial enterprise is

essential for good industrial relations. The employers can easily ignore a weak union on the plea

that it hardly represents the workers. The agreement with such a union will hardly be honored by a large section of workforce. Therefore, there must be strong and stable unions in every enterprise to represent the majority of workers and negotiate with the management about the terms and conditions of service. Mutual Trust: Both management and labor should help in the development of an atmosphere of mutual cooperation,
confidence and respect. Management should adopt a progressive outlook and should recognize the rights of workers. Similarly, labor unions should persuade their members to work for the common objectives of the organization. Both the management and the unions should have faith in collective bargaining and other peaceful methods of settling disputes.

Workers Participation in Management: The participation of workers in the management of the industrial unit should be encouraged by making effective use of works committees, joint consultation and other methods. This will improve communication between managers and workers, increase productivity and lead to greater effectiveness.

Mutual Accommodation. The employers must recognize the right of collective bargaining of the trade unions. In any organization, there must be a great emphasis on mutual accommodation rather than conflict or uncompromising attitude. One must clearly understand that conflicting attitude does not lead to amicable labor relations; it may foster union militancy as the union reacts by engaging in pressure tactics. The approach must be of mutual give and take rather than take or leave. The management should be willing to co-operate rather than blackmail the workers.

Sincere Implementation of Agreements. The management should sincerely implement the settlements reached with the trade unions. The agreements between the management and the unions should be enforced both in letter and spirit. If the agreements are not implemented then both the union and management stop trusting each other. An environment of uncertainty is created. To avoid this, efforts should be made at both ends to ensure the follow up of the agreements.

Sound Personnel Policies: The following points should be noted regarding the personnel policies. The policies should be:

Formulated in consultation with the workers and their representatives if they are to be implemented effectively.

Clearly stated so that there is no confusion in the mind of anybody.

Implementation of the policies should be uniform throughout the organization to ensure fair treatment to each worker.

Governments Role: The Government should play an active role for promoting industrial peace. It should make law for the compulsory recognition of a representative union in each industrial unit. It should intervene to settle disputes if the management and the workers are unable to settle their disputes. This will restore industrial harmony.

Progressive Outlook: There should be progressive outlook of the management of each industrial enterprise. It should be conscious of its obligations and responsibilities to the owners of the business, the employees, the consumers and the nation. The management must recognize the rights of workers to organize unions to protect their economic and social interests.

Factors Guiding Code Of Conduct The code of discipline and conduct communicates to the employees, the expected behavior and the professional responsibilities. The significance of code of conduct is that each employee should behave and perform in a way that preserves the company values and commitments. The code expects employees to conduct business with integrity and honesty. Moreover, it expects the employer to be an equal opportunity employer. The Code of Conduct policy of a company is determined on the basis of following factors: 1.Honesty and integrity: The organization expects the employees to observe honesty and integrity and such conduct should be fair and transparent. The employees should show truthfulness in actions throughout their tenure in the organization. 2. Disclosure of information: The employees should not disclose the company information to third parties and other outside organizations. However the employers should reveal the various policies of the organization to their employees and make them aware about the code of conduct and other policies. 4. Harassment: The work environment should be free from all kinds of harassments, especially sexual harassments and verbal harassments. No physical harassments like hitting or pushing are acceptable on part of employees. Outside employment: Employees should not indulge in to any kind of concurrent employment without the prior knowledge of employer.

5. Conflict of interest: An employee should not indulge into other professions or services or other interests which might conflict with the interest of the company. This means personal interests should not overshadow organizational interests. 6. Confidentiality: Employees should protect companys confidential information. The financial records and unpublished data should be kept within the organizations and should not be spread outside the organization.

7. Equal opportunity employer: This factor expects the employer to be an equal opportunity, that is, no discrimination should be done on the basis of caste, color, race, gender, religion or physical disabilities. 8. Misusing company resources: Employees should not misuse company resources, intellectual property, time and other facilities. They are provided to them for business purposes and thus, should be used in a cost effective way.

9. Health and safety: An employer should provide a safe and healthy work environment to its employees. Proper cleanliness and lightening should be provided. A health and safety committee can be set up by the employer consisting of representatives of workers as well. 10. Payment and gifts: The employees should neither accept nor offer any kind of illegal payments, donations, remuneration and gifts from outsiders. Contents of the Code The Code lists 50 specific industrial relations practices under four broad areas for cooperation, namely: responsibilities employment policy collective bargaining and Communication and consultation.

The three popular approaches to IR are unitary approach, pluralistic approach and Marxist approach. UNITARY APPROACH

Under unitary approach, IR is grounded in mutual cooperation, individual treatment, teamwork and shared goals. Workplace conflict is seen as a temporary aberration, resulting from poor management, from employees who do not mix well with the organisations culture. Unions cooperate with the management and the managements rights to manage is accepted because there is no "we-they" feeling. The underline assumption is that everyone benefits when the focus is on common interest and promotion of harmony. Conflict in the form of strikes is not regarded as necessary but destructive. Advocates of the unitary approach emphasise on a reactive IR strategy. They seek that negotiations with employees. Participation of government, tribunals, and unions is not sought or are seen as been necessary harmonious employee relations. PLURALISTIC APPROACH The pluralistic approach totally departs from the unitary approach. The pluralistic approach perceives: 1. Organisations as coalition of competing interest, where the managements role is to mediate amongst the different interest groups. 2. Trade unions as legitimate representatives of employee interests. 3. Stability in IR as the product of concessions and compromises between management and unions. Legitimacy of the management authority is not automatically accepted. Conflict between the management and workers is understood as inevitable and in fact, is viewed as conductive for innovation and growth. MARXIST APPROACH

Marxist, like the pluralistic, regard conflict between employers and employees as inevitable. However, pluralists believe that the conflict is inevitable in all organisations. Marxists see it as a product of the capitalist society. Adversarial relations in the workplace are simply one aspect of class conflict. The Marxist approach focuses on the type of society in which an organisation functions. Conflict arises not just because of competing interest within the organisation, but because of the division within society between those who own or manage the means of production and those who have only their labour to offer. Industrial conflict is thus seen as being synonymous with political and social unrest.