Industrial Relations

Industrial Relations (IR)

 IR is concerned with the relationship between

management and workers and the role of
regulatory mechanism in resolving any industrial
dispute.

 i.e., IR is concerned with the rules and norms that

govern conditions of employment, to protect the
interests of the employed and the employers and
to regulate the ways in which employers treat their
employees
 What does IR cover?

 Grievance and Disciplinary actions

 Collective Bargaining
 Machinery for resolving industrial
Disputes
 Labour legislation
 Parties to IR

 Employees/Employee Associations
(AITUC, INTUC, BMS, etc)

 Employers/Employer Associations
( CII, FICCI,NASSCOM, SIMA, SIEMA etc)

 Government/Courts and Tribunals

 What is a Trade Union?

 Trade Unions is a combination, whether

temporary or permanent, formed
 (i) for regulating the relation between
- employees and employers,
- employees and employees
- employers and employers
 Why Organize?

 Fear of job loss

 Improved wages, working hours and working conditions
 Non-economic issues
 Indian Trade Union History

 Over a 100 years old(2001-centenary)

 Formation after Post World war scene awakening
working class and success of strikes
 AITUC set up in 1920
 AITUF in the end of 1920
 Trade Union Act, 1926
 After Independence, because of ideological
differences it led to the formation of INTUC(1947)
and HMS(1948)
 Presently a large multiplicity of Unions
 Indian Trade Union Movement
today
 10% of total workforce unionized, of which 70% are from
organized sector especially the government controlled
corporations
 There may be more than 1,00,000 unions in India today
 Decline in the membership in Unions due to disinvestment
in PSU’s, voluntary retirement schemes, conflicting
affiliation of political parties affiliation, lack of belief in the
political parties etc
 Emergence of Independent Unions (unaffiliated to political
parties)
 Professionalism in Unions
 Democratizing Unions
 What is collective
bargaining?

Collective bargaining The process through

which representatives of management and
the union meet to negotiate a labor
agreement.
 Good Faith

 Good faith bargaining is the cornerstone

 Both parties communicate and negotiate
 The following are not good faith methods:

Surface Unwillingness to Inadequate proposals

Dilatory Imposing
bargaining
Withholding compromise and demands
Bargaining without a
tactics conditions
information required intent of agreeing
 Bargaining Items (Cont.)

Mandatory Permissible Illegal

Wages Retirement Threatening

Hours of benefits discharge or
employment Facilities dismissal
Overtime Benefits Discriminatory
Pensions during overtime treatment of
employees
Vacation
Opening
closed factory
using unfair
means
 Trade Union

 Trade Union is a continuous association of wage earners for the

purpose of maintaining & improving conditions of their working
lives.
- Webbs

 A combination, whether temporary or permanent, formed primarily

for the purpose of regulating the relations between workers &
employers, or for imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of
any trade or business & includes any federation of two or more
unions.
- Trade Union Act, 1926
 Challenges in formation of TUs in ITES Sector

 The ITES-BPO sector is exempted from application of the Apprentice Act.

This exemption provides the sector with the opportunity to engage large
number of workers as apprentices without any obligation to absorb them
as regular workers or provide them with any social security benefits

 The state governments of Karnataka, Tamilnadu, Maharastra, etc. have

exempted IT establishments and IT-enabling services from the provisions
of the Shops and Commercial Establishments Act related to working
hours; and from prohibitions in the Act against night work for women and
young people, subject to employers providing transport and security for
those working at night

 West Bengal’s IT Policy allows BPO/ITES employers’  ‘self-certification’ of

their compliance with important labour legislations like the Minimum
Wages Act, Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, Workers'
Compensation Act, and Employees State Insurance Act
 Challenges in formation of TU in ITES Sector

 The IT Policy of Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh

exempts ITES from routine inspections in relation
to compliance with labour and pollution
regulations

 In 2009, the Karnataka government provided

exemption to IT/ITES and software establishments
from the provisions of Industrial Employment
(Standing Orders) Act 1946 for two years. This Act
provides for strict enforcement of provisions on
classifying workers, their working hours and shifts, the
wages payable, etc.
 Challenges in formation of TU in ITES Sector

 Haryana Labour Policy declared the IT and ITES sector as

Public Utility Services in 2006

 Moreover, more and more IT and ITES units are now moving in
the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) where all the activities are
declared as Public Utility Services under the Industrial Disputes
Act; for workers in Public Utility Services, a legal strike is almost
impossible. About 50% of SEZs are especially for IT and ITES.

 As of September 2010, the Government of India has approved

734 SEZs to be established in different states of India.
 Unionization efforts in ITES sector

 UNITES Pro (Union for Information Technology & Enabled

Services Professionals): This is claimed to be a trade union for IT
and Enabled Services professionals, formed in 2004. It is an
independent union, but recently it was reported that UNITES is
trying to get affiliated with INTUC. UNITES Pro has chapters in
Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kochin.

 West Bengal Information Technology Services Association

(WBITSA): This union is floated by CITU (Centre of Indian Trade
Unions- the trade union wing of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist)- the ruling party in West Bengal).
 Unionization efforts in ITES sector

 Centre for BPO Professionals (CBPOP):  This initiative

established two service centers recently, one in
Hyderabad and the other in Bangalore with the support
of UNI Apro, aiming to establish contact with,
convince, connect with and finally consolidate
such networks of professionals into trade unions

 CBPOP generally works for building awareness among

BPO workers and networking among them. It is said
that CPBOP is now in the process of registering the
trade unions at the state level.