REFLECTIVE PAPER

SUBJECT: INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

LECTURER: GUYTN OTTLEY

COURSE CODE: HMGT 0302

GROUP MEMBERS: MCKAYLA WILLIAMS 20200359

JAEL ROMANO 20180320

LISA SAMAI 20200181

ASHLEY BERNARD 20190300

MELANIE SAMAROO 20190311

JIVANI SAMLAL 20190590

 Edwards argued Industrial relations has been established and there was no reason to
abandon it once the remittance was properly understood. Also, that the focus is the
regulations of employment relationship which is shaped by legal, political, economic, social
and historical context. Ackers similarly argues that it should concern itself with the
employment relationship in every fact, cover the full relations between employers or
managers and the people they pay to work for them, even though its focus is collective social
relations at work. Blyton and Turnbull preferred the term ‘employee relations’ and argued
that the focal point remains the collective aspects of relations between workforce and
management. The dual problems of social welfare and order so that the concern is not simply
the efficiency of organizations, control of labour and conflict resolution, but the interests of
workers, the conditions of their labour and the remuneration of their efforts.
Industrial relations have varied definitions and can be interpreted differently by many, we
have described it as the management of the association linking employees and employers
within an organization. A functionable relationship is formed between employees, employers,
organizations, trade unions and the government to ensure that feasible working conditions
and stipulated salaries are being maintained by the employer, though legislation has been
enforced based on critically analysed situations to guarantee that both employee rights and
regulations for trade unions are being preserved. We believe that the relevance of industrial
relations is used to safeguard for the interests of the employees and management by
preventing one of them from getting a strong hold over the other. Management should not
have dominance over the employees, and neither should the employees have dominance over
their managers.
Employees should be able to express their concerns and management should attend to those
concerns however, that does not mean that employees should take advantage of management
by bringing up excessive concerns and expecting management to deal with them all. It aids to
develop and secure mutual understanding and a good relationship among all the players in the
industrial set-up. Thus, industrial relations would help to create a positive and friendly
environment in the organization by maintaining industrial peace and harmony by preventing
conflicts. Lastly, it should improve the standard of living of the average worker by providing
basic and standard amenities such as a safe workplace, proper equipment and a liveable
salary.
There are three main approaches to Industrial Relations which are the Unitary, Pluralistic and
Marxist.

Unitary Approach assumes that the organization is, or should be, an integrated group of
people with a single authority/loyalty structure and a set of common values, interests and
objectives shared by all members of the organization. Management’s prerogative is regarded
as legitimate, rational, and accepted and any opposition to it whether formal or informal,
internal and external is seen as irrational. The underlying assumption, therefore, is that the
organizational system is in basic harmony and conflict is unnecessary and exceptional: it’s
not a them and us situation.

Pluralistic Approach views society as being ‘post capitalist’, a relatively widespread

distribution of authority and power within the society, a separation of ownership from
management and a separation, acceptance, and institutionalization of political and industrial
conflict. It assumes the organization is composed of individuals who coalesce into a variety
of distinct sectional groups, each with its own interests, objectives, and leadership either
(formal or informal). The organization is multi-structured and competitive in terms of
groupings, leadership, authority, and loyalty.

Marxist Approach focuses on the nature of the capitalist society surrounding the
organization. It argues that conflict is the source of societal change and without it the society
would be stagnant. Conflict arises primarily from the disparity in the distribution of and
access to economic power within the society, the main disparity being between those who
own capital and those who supply the labour. The nature of the society’s social and political
institutions is derived from this economic disparity and reinforces the position of the
dominant establishment group, this conflict in whatever form is merely an expression of the
underlying economic conflict within the society.

In this paper, there is no one perspective/ approach that we identify with. Each approach,
Marxist, Pluralistic and Unitary would be thoroughly examined and expressed throughout the
paper to showcase how each part of the Industrial Relations Act, may impact society,
employers, employee, trade unions and government.
Industrial Court

Section 4: This speaks to the creation of the Industrial court and speaks on the legitimacy of
it and be recognized by the official seal by all courts. It consists of two divisions that both
hold a chairman and no less than two members that could be appointed to whichever division
the President of Trinidad and Tobago wishes. The Industrial court is a fusion of two separate
divisions of persons that come together to make decisions based on disputes brought forward
by employers, the minister and trade unions representing employees.

Section 5 (1): This section states that the President of Trinidad and Tobago shall determine
the salaries to be paid to the appointed members for the specified three-to-five-year tenure
however, there is the Chief Personnel Officer (CPO), an unbiased party although they may be
apart of the government, there are set specifications that need to be met by persons to acquire
certain salaries. The CPO determines the stipulated salaries of which members of any
organization is to be paid, from clerk typist to President. There is a loyalty structure amongst
appointed members, Chief Justice, and President as they all have common interests and set
values. The management prerogative of the President would see that the opposition of the
CPO is irrational deeming this a unitary approach.

Section 7 (1): The court can determine whether to hear trade disputes as well as register
collective agreements, shouldn’t all cases brought before the industrial court be treated with
fairness as it may deserve a hearing. Although some disputes may be irrelevant and
unnecessary, each case should get a hearing.

Section 11: The Court may proceed to hear and determine a trade dispute in the absence of
any party in the matter if they fail to appear before the Court and has failed to do so. The
court can order someone affected by an order or award, or anyone who the court considers to
join a party in the proceeding as conditions that are set by the Court. This is so that all
possible paths are looked at for just a hearing and fair determination of a trade dispute or any
other matter. This looks at the court including more than just the main parties in the dispute in
order to get a just and fair decision, but also other aspects that can aid in the context or
content of the dispute. This demonstrates the fair and equitable stand that the Court attempts
to rule at every hearing. Fairness and equity are one of the core concepts for which Industrial
Relations is built on, and this process ensures that rulings are handled in this manner. It also
demonstrates how different values, views and interests are utilized in order to make a
decision, also how the court is being rational in cases where persons may fail to appear for
their hearing or where they believe they may need more insight on the dispute.

Section 12: The court or any member exercising the jurisdiction must make all suggestions in
order to do all things right and proper for the reconciling parties in any matter before the
Court, the President or in his absence the Vice-President of the Court, who determined
a matter be resolved through conciliation and members are put forward to do this, but if the
conciliation fails to result in the settlement of the dispute, the member who took such steps
shall not sit or continue to sit as a member exercising jurisdiction to hear and determine such
a dispute. This is where the failure of successful conciliation suggestions can lead to a change
in the social standing of the court as they would now have their rights removed from such a
dispute. It can be deemed a harsh consequence for failing to carry out the duties on the board
of the court.
Part IV

Section 43: Within a collective agreement it should have the procedures relating to avoiding
and settling disputes and must be for a period that is no less than 3 years but no more than 5.
Subsection 5: There cannot be a provision that allows for only a member of a particular trade
union to benefit, or not being able to utilize any section of this Act or collective agreement in
its full authenticity or if there is a clause saying that an employer must employ or favour
persons from a specific trade union whether it be for employment, promotion, termination, or
retrenchment. This can be viewed through the perspective that conflict is inevitable and
rational and therefore agreements cannot be subjected to a segregated group of people within
an organization. It is also a very beneficial clause to employees and members as it ensures
that there is no bias or favouritism present when a favourable ruling is made to a company
and speaks to the rationality of the Court.

Section 46: The court may reject or register a collective agreement. If amendments are made,
then it can be registered with the consent of all parties as it may be considered necessary. It
can also be subjected to conditions that the court may deem necessary, or they can refer it
back for more negotiation by the parties on terms they refuse to register and if this further
negotiation does not work, then the court may register it with the alterations they deem just.
This shows that the Court always holds the higher power as even if a collective agreement is
agreed upon by the parties, they can still change, adjust, refer, and subject it to certain
conditions they deem fit and just. This also illustrates the Court’s priority of ensuring that
collective agreements benefit and involves all parties to avoid any disparities among
members.

Section 47: All terms and conditions of a registered collective agreement is required for all
parties to follow but only directly enforceable in the court. This also plays into section 46
where the court is the main authoritative figure in carrying out and enforcing of the decisions
made. All these clauses show how determined the Court is at ensuring collective agreements
are handled fairly and without prejudice and bias. The main function of the Industrial Court
as it pertains to collective agreements is to ensure fairness and equality hence the reason for
these sometimes harsh and rigid procedures.

Part V

Section 51: As per this section once a trade dispute is not resolved or determined, it can then
be reported to the Minister. However, it can only be reported by an employer, the recognized
majority union, and in cases where there is no recognized majority, then any trade union of a
worker or workers associated with the dispute in good standing. This allows for not only the
employer to be able to report a matter to the Minister but also allows for a trade union to also
pursue a matter on behalf of an employee, and this is not seen as an intrusion by the trade
union but a good consensus in regulating employee to employer relation in terms of an
unresolved dispute. This speaks to the trade union being accepted within economic and
political relations with respect to the employer.

Subsection 3: A trade dispute cannot be reported to the Minister if six (6) months has passed
since the dispute has begun unless the Minister wishes to extend the time period in which it
can be reported if he finds it just. The minister is seen as a single authoritative figure as he is
allowed to make decisions he deems just and fit without being questioned or contradicted.
This may be a bit unfair in some circumstances as time delays may be because of any one of
the parties and not all. In these instances, the other party may lose out on the opportunity
based on the negligence of the counterparty.

Section 54: Where there is any question or difference between the employer and trade union
in which the dispute includes the re-employment, non-employment, reinstatement suspension,
employment of any worker, then either of the parties and / or the Minister can take the
application to the court, where the court can determine a decision through a summarized
version. The decision made by the court is final and binding on all parties included. This
relates to conflict being centred from the perspective of employees around personal
circumstances such as their job security, while management is more focused on the efficiency
and profitability of the organization. This clause ensures that employees who feel strongly
about these personal circumstances are given an opportunity for their positions to be heard. It
also reflects on how conflict arises based on different views of loyalty structures or
competitive advantage throughout employee and employer relations.

Section 65: If at any point industrial action is taken or threatened and is considered by the
Minister to be a threat to national interest, then he can apply to the court for the dispute to be
stopped and the court would then make the decision based on what they deem best for
national interest. This shows that the court holds maximum power especially in terms where
they feel like national interest is being threatened. This also shows that even though the
Court’s priority is on equality among managers and employees, there is some level of control
that needs to take place between the two parties. While they encourage free action and
speech, it must be done in an orderly and controlled manner and must not at any time be a
cause for concern towards the nations interest.

Section 69: When the legislation was made, it was made to benefit the government directly as
they would have implemented a systems approach. According to Wood, the Systems
Approach is viewed in two ways, as a rule making process other than having a relationship
between employee, employer, trade union and government whilst the other view is that the
rules would be the output of the system to govern and regulate the conduct of the industrial
relation system. The government made this rule to ensure that they would remain dominant
establishment to ensure that if conflict arises within the society they can control, this shows a
Marxist approach as they seek to discourage economic power within the society of the
essential, public, fire, prison, and teaching services along with the employees of the central
bank.
Under the Industrial Court Act section 7 (1), I can see an issue where there is a Marxist
Approach. With a Marxist Approach, society focuses on what should and should not be
brought forward, likewise, in this section, the court determines whether they would listen to
the case being presented or not. In doing so, not all cases are heard and there will be constant
conflict in organizations who are being treated unfairly.

Under the Trade Disputes Act subsection 3, I can see an issue where there is a Marxist
Approach. With the Marxist Approach there is a position of dominance, likewise, in this
subsection it is seen where the minister is the dominant while all other parties are submissive.
In doing so, even if one of the parties are in the wrong, the other party will also have to bear
the consequences.

Under the Trade Disputes Act section 54, I can see an issue where there is a Marxist
Approach. With the Marxist Approach, it shows where employers are focused on their
production and how fast they can increase their profits, likewise, in this section, it is seen
where employers have little or no time with employees as the are focused on the efficiency
and profitability of the organization. In doing so, conflicts between the employer and
employee are less likely to be resolved in a timely manner.
REFERENCES

 Industrial Relations Act – Laws of Trinidad & Tobago. Chapter 88:01.

 Industrial Relations Theory and Practice – 4th Edition.

Michael Salamon