Industrial Disputes

• Industrial conflict is a rather general concept.

• The various terms, such as "industrial
dispute", "labour dispute", or "trade dispute"
are used in different countries to identify the
differences between employers and workers.
• According to the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947,
Section 2(k), "Industrial disputes mean any
dispute or difference between employers and
employers, or between employers and
workmen or between workmen and workmen,
which is connected with the employment or
non-employment or terms of employment or
with the conditions of labour of any person.”
 Distinction between a Grievance and a
Dispute
1. Grievance is the early stage of a dispute. If
ignored by the management and allowed to
grow, it later on turns into a dispute.
2. Grievance can be even unexpressed. But a
dispute can never be unexpressed. It comes
into existence only after it has been raised by
the employees with the management.
• 3. There does not exist any statutory
machinery for settling grievances.
• But there is the Industrial Disputes Act which
lays down elaborate machinery for the
settlement of disputes.
 Classification of Industrial Disputes

(a) Disputes that arise out of deadlocks in the

negotiations for a collective agreement,
popularly known as interest disputes

(b) Disputes that arise from day-to-day workers'

grievances or complaints, popularly known as
grievance disputes.
• (e) Disputes over the right of a trade union to
represent a particular class or category of
workers for purposes of collective bargaining,
simply referred to as recognition disputes
• (c) Those arising from acts of interference with
the exercise of the right to organize, or acts
commonly known as unfair labour practices
 Impact of Industrial Disputes

• The consequences of industrial disputes are very far-

reaching, for they disturb the economic, social and
political life of a country.
• so in the case of strikes, the adverse effects are not
confined to the employees.
• An industrial dispute in basic industries is like a big
stone thrown into a pond causing ever-widening waves
till the entire pond is affected. Naturally, the workers,
the employers, the consumers, the community and
the nation suffer in more than one way.
1. Industrial disputes result in a huge wastage of
man-days and dislocation in the production work.
2. A strike in a public utility service like water
supply, power and gas supply units, posts and
telegraphs or telephone service, railways or
roadways, or any system of public conservancy or
sanitation, defence establishments, hospitals and
dispensaries, etc., disorganises public life
3. The workers are also badly affected in more
than one ways. They lose the wage for the
strike period. To meet day-to-day expenses,
debts have to be incurred, employment is lost
and personal hardship, mental agonies and
tensions develops
4. The employers suffer heavy losses, in the
form ofthrough stoppages of production,
reduction in sales and loss of markets
5. The public/society, too, is not spared,
industrial unrest creates law and order
problems, necessitating increased vigilance on
the part of the state
 Causes of Industrial Disputes

(A) Industry-related factors;

(B) Management-related factors;
(C) Government-related factors; and
(D) Other factors.
 (A) Industry-Related Factors:

• (i) Under this category, some of the-causes of a

dispute may be: The industry-related factors
pertaining to employment, work, wages, hours of
work, privileges, the rights and obligations of
employees and employers, terms and conditions of
employment, including matters pertaining to:
• (a) Dismissal or non-employment of any person;
• (b) Registered agreement, settlement or award; and
• (e) Demarcation of the functions of an employee.
 (B) Management Related Factors:

• The management-related factors that lead to

disputes are:
• (i) Management generally is not willing to talk
over any dispute with the employees or their
representatives or refer it to "arbitration"
even when trade unions want it to do so.
• (ii) The management's unwillingness to
recognize a particular trade union
 (C) Government-Related Factors:

• The various Government-related factors that

breeds disputes are as under:
• (i) The changes in economic policies also
creates many disputing situations.
• For instance, policies of liberalisations and
privatisation has caused many strikes in the
country.
• (ii) Though there exists a plethora of enactments for
the promotion of harmonious industrial relations,
yet their ineffective or unsatisfactory working
causes conflicts a few instances of which are:
• (a) Most of the labour laws have lost their relevance
in the context of the changed industrial
climate/culture;
• (b) Improper and inadequate implementation of
labour laws by most of the employers; and
 (D) Other Causes:
• (i) The trade union movement is highly
politicalised. Quite often, politicians and
political parties "engineer" strikes, gheraos
and bandhs to demonstrate its political
strength.
• (ii) The political instability and the strained
Centre-State relations are reflected in
industry, resulting in industrial conflicts.
• (iii) Other potential factors, such as rampant
corruption in industry and public life
• (iv) Inter-union rivalry among less important
and dominant trade union invariably sparks off
disputes
 Forms of Industrial Disputes

• Strikes, lockouts and gheraos are the most

common forms of disputes.
 Strikes – Meaning, definition & Characteristics

• In the words of C.W. Doten, "Strikes are

merely symptoms of more fundamental mal
adjustments, injustices and economic
disturbances."
• Peterson views a strike as "a temporary
cessation of work by a group of employees in
order to express their grievance or to enforce
a demand concerning changes in work
conditions.”
Section 2(q) of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, defines strike as
under:

• "Strike means a cessation of work by a body

of persons employed in any industry acting in
combination, or a concerted refusal under a
common understanding of any number of
persons who are or have been so employed
to continue to work or to accept
employment".
 Essential Ingredients of Strike

• In view of this definition, a strike postulates four

main elements, namely,
(i) There should be an 'industry' within the
meaning of Section 2(j) of the Industrial Disputes
Act, 1947 in which the striking persons should be
employed,
• (ii) Plurality of workmen,
• (iii) Cessation of work or refusal to do wok, and
• (iv) Combined or concerted action.
• "Cessation of work" implies that mere absence
from work is not sufficient but that cessation of
work or refusal to work should be the result of
concerted action on the part of workmen for the
purpose of enforcing a demand.

• In such a stoppage, even for a short period, say,

for two to four hours, will fall under the
definition of "strike".
 Kinds of Strikes

• Primary and Secondary strikes.

• Primary strikes are generally aimed against
the employer with whom the dispute exists.
They may take the form of a stay-away strike,
stay-in, sit-down, pen-down or tools-down
strike; go-slow and work-to-rule; token or
protest strike; lightning or catcall strike;
picketing or boycott.
• Secondary strikes are strikes in which the pressure is
applied not against the primary employer with
whom the primary workers have a dispute but
against some third person who has good trade
relations with him which are severed and the
primary employer incurs a loss.
• Such strikes are popular in the USA but not in India
because here the third person is not believed to have
any locus standi so far as the dispute of workers with
their employer is concerned.
 (a) Types of Primary Strikes

• (1) Stay away Strike: In this type of strike,

workmen simply do not come to the work
place during the prescribed working hours.
Instead, they organise rallies and
demonstrations with a view to drawing the
attention of the employer to their grievances
• (2) Sit-down and Stay-in Strike: A sit-down strike is
said to have occurred whenever a group of
employees or others interested in attaining certain
objectives in a particular business take possession of
property of that business, establish themselves in
the plant, stop its production and refuse access to
the owners or to others desiring to work.
• It is a strike in the traditional sense to which is
added the element of trespass on the part of strikers
upon the property of the employer.
(3) Tools-Down Strikes- Such types of strikes are
resorted to by factory workers and office
employees respectively. In such a strike, the
strikers lay down their tools or pen and refrain
from doing work though they remain on the
job in the workplace.
(4) Token or Protest Strike: It is of a very short duration
strike and is in the nature of a signal for the danger
ahead.
Such a strike is really accompanied by threats of a
strong dose of direct action on the part of workmen,
and their purpose is simply to inform the employer
about the feelings of the employees against any
decision taken by him.
The purpose is to exert moral persuasion rather than to
precipitate a crisis.
(5) Lightning or Cat-call Strike: This type of
strike is suddenly announced, generally by
way of surprise without notice or at very short
notice, and thereafter the issues in dispute are
discussed.
(6) Go-Slow:
Deliberate delaying of production by workmen
pretending to be engaged in the factory and is
one of the most pernicious practices that
discontented or disgruntled workmen
sometimes resort to.
"The go-slow" is a technical word which is used to
describe the tactics of workers when they
Intentionally reduce the speed of work
• (7) Picketing and Boycott: Picketing is an act
of posting pickets and implies marching or
patrolling of workmen in front of the premises
of the employer, carrying and displaying signs,
banners, and placards (in connection with the
dispute) for the purpose of preventing others
from entering the place.
• (8) Gherao: It is a physical blockade of a target
by encirclement, intended to block the egress
and ingress from and to a particular office,
workshop, factory or residence or forcible
occupation. The target may be a place or a
person or persons, usually the managerial or
supervisory staff of an industrial
establishment.
• (9) Hunger Strike: A hunger strike is resorted
to either by leaders of the union or by some
workers, all at a time or in small batches, for a
limited period or by all workers en masse at
some stage of the dispute, the purpose being
to create sympathy of the employer and to
attract the attention of the public.
 When Are Strikes Justified?

• All strikes are not justified, nor are all strikes

unjustified.
• There are some requirements, which must be
fulfilled before it can be claimed that a strike is
justified.
 It should be launched only for economic
demands
• such as basic pay, dearness allowance,
increment, leave and other fringe benefits
which are the primary objectives of a trade
union.
• But if a strike is launched for political or other
reasons and not for any trade union objective,
it would be unjustified.
 The demands of workmen should be
reasonable and legitimate
• The demands of workmen should be
reasonable and legitimate so that there is a
prima facie justification for the demands, i.e.
the demands should not be raised frivolously
or for ulterior reasons.
• For Eg., When demands are excessive and
unreasonable.
• When existing facilities are summarily
withdrawn, or when the provident fund is
closed and ration benefit withdrawn, a strike
would be justified.
• If there is any unfair labour practice on the
part of management a strike is justified.
When there is no response from the
management in spite of referring a demand
and issuing a reminder, a strike is justified.
 Illegal Strikes - When Do They Amount to Misconduct?

• The Industrial Disputes Act mentions the

circumstances in which a strike is illegal and
makes illegal strikes punitive (punishable).
• In India, strikes in contravention of the provisions of
Sections 22,23 and 24 of the Industrial Disputes Act are
illegal.

• A strike in a public utility service without a six weeks

notice to the employer, or a strike conducted within 14
days of giving such notice or before the expiry of the date
of the strike period specified in the notice, or any
conciliation proceedings before a conciliation officer, and
seven days after the conclusion of such proceedings, is
illegal under Section 22 of the Act.
• Section 23 provides for general prohibition of strikes
and lock-outs which are applicable to all industrial
establishments, i.e., both Public utility and non
public utility services. According to this section no
workman who is employed in any industrial
establishment shall go on strike and no employer of
any such workman shall declare a lock-out-
• (i) during the pendency of conciliation proceedings
before a Board and seven days after the conclusion
of such proceedings;
• (ii) during the pendency of proceedings before
a Labour Court, Tribunal or National Tribunal
and 2 months after the conclusion of such
proceedings;
• (iii) during the pendency of arbitration
proceedings before an arbitrator and 2
months after the conclusion of such
proceedings
• If the workers employed in a public utility
service are represented by two unions, and
those under one union go on a strike while
conciliation proceedings between the
employer and the other union relating to any
matter common to all the workers are
pending, the strike shall be illegal, and
punishable under Section 26 of the Act.
 Lockouts

• Ordinarily, the term, "lockout" refers to the

action of an employer in temporarily closing
down or shutting down the undertaking or
refusing to provide its employees with work
with the intention of forcing them either to
accept the demands made by them or to
withdraw the demands made by them on him.
 Under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947: Section 2 (l)

• A "lockout means the closing of a place of

business or employment or the suspension of
work, or the refusal by an employer to
continue to employ any number of persons
employed by him."
• Thus a lockout is:
• the closure of an industrial undertaking because
of the existence of or apprehension of an
industrial dispute, violence and damage to
property .
• It is the suspension of employment in so far as
the employer refuses to give work to the
workmen until they yield to his demand or
withdraw the demands made on him:
• A lockout is an antithesis/counterpart of a
strike. Just as the employees by going on a
strike, so the employer has a weapon against
the employees to lock them out of his
premises and not allow them to return to
work.
• But the following do not constitute a lockout.
• (a) Prohibiting an individual employee is not a
lockout.
• (b) Termination of employment by
retrenchment does not amount to a lockout.
Provisions of Industrial Disputes Act relating to prohibition of Lock
outs

• Under Section 22 of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 no

employer carrying on any public utility service can lock-out
any of his workmen-
(i) without giving them notice of lock-out within six weeks
before lockout; or
(ii) within fourteen days of giving such notice; or
(iii) before the expiry of the date of lock-out specified in any
such notice as aforesaid; or
(iv) during the pendency of any conciliation proceedings before
a Conciliation Officer and seven days after the conclusion of
such proceedings.
• Section 23 provides for general prohibition of strikes
and lock-outs which are applicable to all industrial
establishments, i.e., both Public utility and non
public utility services. According to this section no
workman who is employed in any industrial
establishment shall go on strike and no employer of
any such workman shall declare a lock-out-
• (i) during the pendency of conciliation proceedings
before a Board and seven days after the conclusion
of such proceedings;
• (ii) during the pendency of proceedings before
a Labour Court, Tribunal or National Tribunal
and 2 months after the conclusion of such
proceedings;
• (iii) during the pendency of arbitration
proceedings before an arbitrator and 2
months after the conclusion of such
proceedings