PART 7

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
 1. Definitions
 Industrial relations refers to “relationships between
management and labor or among employees and their
organizations that characterize or grow out of employment”.

 industrial relations “involve attempts to have workable

solutions between conflicting objectives and values,
between incentive and economic security, between
discipline and industrial democracy, between authority and
freedom, and between bargaining and cooperation.”

 According to ILO, “industrial relations deal with either the

relationships between the state and the employers and the
workers’ organization or the relation between the
occupational organizations themselves.”
Defns---
The ILO uses the expression to denote such
matters as:
◦ freedom of association & the protection of the right to
organize,
◦ the application of principles of the right to organize
and the right of collective bargaining, collective
agreements, concilitation and arbitration & machinery
for cooperation between the authorities and the
occupational organizations at various levels of the
economy.
 Objectives of Industrial Relations
 The fundamental objective of IRs is to maintain sound
relations between employees and employers.
 The specific objectives include:
1. To enhance the economic status of the worker;
2. To regulate the production by minimizing industrial
conflicts through state control;
3. To socialize industries by making the government as an
employer;
4. To provide an opportunity to the workers to have a say in
the management & decision-making;
5. To improve workers’ strength with a view to solve their
problems through mutual negotiations and consultation
with the management;
Objectives----
6. To encourage and develop trade unions in order to
improve the workers’ collective strength;
7. To avoid industrial conflict and their consequences; and
8. To extend and maintain industrial democracy.
 Thus, the maintenance of good human relationships is
the main aim of IRs.
Generally,
◦ Productivity
◦ Cooperation
◦ Develop mutuality
2. What is Collective Bargaining?
 Itrefers to a process by which employers on one hand &
representatives of the employees on the other, attempt to
arrive at agreements covering the conditions under which
employees will contribute & be compensated for their
services.
 Collective bargaining involves discussion & negotiation
b/n the two groups.
◦ It is “collective” b/c both the employer & the employee act as a
group rather than as individuals.
◦ It is known as “bargaining” b/c the method of reaching an agreement
involves proposals & counter proposals, offers & counter offers.
Collective Bargaining Defined
It is a performance of mutual obligation of
employer and representative of employees to
meet at reasonable times and confer in good
faith with respect to wages, hours, and other
terms and conditions of employment, or
◦ the negotiation of an agreement, or
◦ any question arising there under, and
◦ execution of written contract incorporating any
agreement reached if requested by either party, but
such obligation does not compel either party to agree
to proposal or require making of a concession.
Bargaining Unit

Consists of employees (not

necessarily union members)
recognized by employer or
certified by administrative
agency as appropriate for
representation by labor
organization for purposes of
collective bargaining
 Characteristics of bargaining
 Itis a relation of give and take ‘take it or leave it’ when
parties are equal in bargaining power.
◦ But if either of the parties is weak, it may turn out to be ‘giving in’ or
‘giving away’.
 It is a power relationship in which mgt tries to retain its
right to manage & unions to safeguard their interests to
strengthen their hold on the workers.
 It is process of persuasions and reasoning which may enable
parties to arrive at some amicable settlement or agreement.
 Workers generally want to get the maximum & employers
want to give minimum.
◦ If parties want to reach an agreement, they will have to retreat from
the position taken by them and then reach a suitable agreement.
 Forms of collective bargaining
 Conjunctive bargaining, which ‘arises from the absolute
requirement that some agreement – more competitive-
distributive
 Cooperative bargaining, in which it is recognized that
each party is dependent on the other and can achieve its
objectives more effectively if it wins the support of the
other’.
Bargaining Issues
 Mandatory bargaining issues -
Wages, hours, etc.
◦ Refusal to bargain in these areas is a
ground for unfair labor practice charge.
 Permissive bargaining issues - May
be raised but neither side may insist
that they be bargained over
 Prohibited bargaining issues -
Statutorily outlawed (e.g. the closed
shop)
Bargaining Issues
Document that results from collective bargaining
process is labor agreement or contract.
Despite much dissimilarity, certain topics are
included in virtually all labor agreements.
◦ Recognition
◦ Management Rights
◦ Union Security
◦ Compensation and Benefits
◦ Grievance Procedure
◦ Employee Security
3. Discipline and Disciplinary
Action
Discipline - State of employee
self-control and orderly conduct
Disciplinary action -Invokes
penalty against employee who
fails to meet established
standards
 Effective Disciplinary Action
 Addresses employee’s wrongful behavior, not the employee
as a person
 Should not be applied haphazardly
 Disciplinary action is not usually management’s initial
response to a problem
 Normally, there are more positive ways of convincing
employees to adhere to company policies
 Managers need must administer disciplinary action when
company rules are violated.
 Disciplinary policies afford the orgn the greatest opportunity
to accomplish orgnl goals—commonly benefit employees &
managers.
The Disciplinary Action Process
It’sdynamic & ongoing.
The proper application of disciplinary
action fosters acceptable behavior but its
improper/unjustifiable administration of
disciplinary action damages the orgn.
Understanding Disciplinary Action

Word discipline comes from word

disciple
Translated from Latin, it means, to
teach
Intent of disciplinary action should
be to ensure recipient sees
disciplinary action as learning
process.
Approaches to Disciplinary Action

1. Positive discipline
approach-
constructively
corrected without
penalty
Cont’d…
There are four steps to positive discipline.
Counseling: Counseling gives a manager or
supervisor the opportunity to identify employee work
behavior problems and discuss solutions
Written documentation: If employee behavior has
not been corrected, then a second conference is held
between the supervisor and the employee.
Cont’d…
Final warning: When the employee does
not follow the written solutions noted in the
second step, a final warning conference is
held.
Discharge: If the employee fails to follow
the action plan that was developed and
further problem behaviors exist, then the
supervisor will discharge the employee.