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Xaviers
Institute of Business Management Studies
Industrial relations and Labour Law
Note: (i) There are two Sections A and B.
(ii) Attempt any five questions from Section A. Each question
carries 8 marks each
(iii) Section B is compulsory and carries 15
marks each case study.
SECTION A
Question: 1. What are the constitutional
directives in the field of labour laws? The labour laws have reached new
dimensions with the advent of the doctrine of welfare state. Discuss.
Answer :
Question: 2. Attempt any two of the following:
(a) What are the safety measures under the
Factories Act, 1948?
Answer :
(b) What are the obligations of the principal
employer and contractor under the Contract labour (Regulation and Abolition)
Act, 1970?
Answer : The
liabilities of a principal employer under the Contract Labour Act are examples
of vicarious liability on owners of establishments. The Contract Labour Act
provides respite and recourse to contract labour from non-payment of wage by
allowing them access to the principal employer in the event of a default by the
contractor.
A
“principal employer” as defined under the Act covers any person responsible for
the supervision and control of the establishment. In the case
(c) What are the occupations and processes
where child labour is prohibited under Child Labour Act, 1986?
Answer : The
Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act, 1986 is one the most debated
acts regarding children in India. It outlines where and how children can work
and where they can not. The provisions of the act are meant to be acted upon immediately
after the publication of the act, except for part III that discusses the
conditions in which a child may work. Part III can only come into effect as per
a date appointed by the Central Government (which was decided as 26th of May,
1993).
The
act defines a child as any person who has not
Question: 3. What is a "trade union"
under the Trade Unions Act, 1926? What is the procedure for registration of a
trade union under the Act?
Answer : A
Trade Union is a combination, whether temporary or permanent, formed for
regulating the relations not only between workmen and employers but also
amongst workmen or between employers and employers.
The Trade Unions Act, 1926
provides for
Question: 4. Discuss the various provisions
laid down under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 for settlement of Industrial
disputes.
Answer :
Question: 5. Examine the main features of the
Payment of Wages Act, 1936. What are the provisions for deduction from wages?
Are they sufficient?
Answer : In
the initial stages of industrialisation, workers had to suffer from exhorbitant
delays in payment of wages, arbitrary deductions and other unfair practices on
the part of employers. Delay in the payment of wages, deductions of two days
wages-for one day's absence, heavy fines for small omissions and commissions,
were quite common. Irregularities committed by employers were brought to the
notice of the Royal Commission of Labour in India. In the report submitted in
1931, the Commission pointed out wide prevalence of such unfair practices in
regard to the payments of wages due to workers such as non-payment
Question: 6.
(a) What are the benefits payable under the
ESI Act, 1948? Give details.
(b) What are the provisions regarding payment
of gratuity to employees under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972? Explain.
Question: 7. Write short notes on any three of
the following:
(a) Main features of the Maternity Benefit
Act, 1961
(b) Salient features of the Provident Fund
Scheme, 1952
(c) Notice of change (Section 9-A)
(d) Special features of labour laws
(e) Principles of natural justice
Question: 8. Discuss the role of Indian
Constitution in evolving labour policy. Identify the impact of ILO on
industrial relations.
Answer : Labour law is the area of law which signifies the
relationship between a worker, trade union and government at large. It plays a
major important role in protecting the rights of labour, their union, their
wages, and moreover building a link between government and workers. It is a
protective code for laborers, workers, and employees as well, to make them
aware of their rights and also, to establish a standard law regarding labour
Question: 9. Briefly explain how internal
affairs of the union are managed. Describe the new roles of trade unions.
Answer : Trade
unions are organisations. They have their structure, policies, rules,
activities, communication system, and leadership. They interact with the
environment and strive to respond to its pressures / challenges not for mere
survival, but to remain effective organisationally. Thus, managing trade unions
is a challenging task. Unlike the business organisations, trade unions as
organisations, cannot purchase the compliance of the members through monetary
rewards alone. They have to ensure that both the
Question: 10. Define collective bargaining.
Describe the types of collective bargaining citing suitable organization
examples.
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SECTION B
1. Theft or
Ignorance
Read the case given below and answer the
questions given at the end.
CASE
On March 25, 1996 at about 6.45 PM, the Duty
Officer (Security), Kumar, at the Work gate informed Rathod, Electrical
Engineer on telephone that one Narayan, supervisor of his department has been
caught red-handed at the Works gate while attempting to steal one small
electric motor and certain other spare parts used in the Electrical Dept.
Rathod was requested to come to the Security Control Room, where a preliminary
enquiry was to be held.
During the preliminary enquiry, it came to
light that Narayan, Personnel No. 5824, Foreman, came to the Works gate at 6.15
PM on his Suvega auto cycle bearing registration no. BRX 1421 (the number was
not clearly visible). The works guard on duty, Krishna Bahadur asked Narayan to
stop and open the tool-box that was hanging on the right side of the rear
wheel. When it was opened, only one empty Tiffin-box was found. Since the
driver's seat appeared to be thicker and of unusual size, the works guard
enquired about the same from Narayan, and not being satisfied with the reply,
gave it a jerk. It was found that Narayan had constructed one box under the
seat where a 0.50 hp motor and eight 5 amps switches belonging to the company
were concealed.
On being asked, Narayan replied that he had
attended a break-down after 5 PM in the Mill and replaced one 0.50 hp motor.
The motor that was recovered was the defective one but he could not return it
as the store-issuer had already left for home after his duty which ended at 5
PM. He thought he would return the motor next day, as he had done many times in
the past. He, however, could not explain why he was carrying the 5 amps
switches. Nor did he give any satisfactory reason for not keeping the materials
in the tool-box that was visible from outside, rather than where these were
kept. On checking up at the Security Control Room, it was found in the presence
of Narayan that the electric motor recovered was in working condition.
As per the Company's Certified Standing Order
No. 23 (iii), 'theft, fraud, or dishonesty in connection with company's
business or property' is misconduct.
Questions:
Question: (a) Does this case deserve
suspension, pending enquiry?
Answer : As per Indian employment
laws, an employer has the right to suspend an employee pending enquiry, however
such a suspension should be for good reasons. The suspension pending enquiry
can be effected for smooth conduct of enquiry or to enable the management to
collect evidence or keeping in mind discipline in the factory. However, it is
imperative under Indian employment law that there should be sufficient reasons
for suspending an employee when enquiry against him is pending.
As
per Indian employment law, an employee is entitled to subsistence allowance
during the period of his suspension. The quantum of subsistence allowance is
determined by the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 if
applicable. The said Act provides for Subsistence Allowance as under;
Question: (b) Advise the Works Manager on the
steps for handling the above case.
Answer : Once you’ve investigated
and concluded that an employee has been stealing, either assets or data, take
the following steps:
1.
Make sure your evidence is strong. Video is preferred, but witnesses can also
work. Gather facts and compile documentation; audit computer files, financial
records; preserve evidence, such as documents, computer files and e-mails; and
maintain a chain of custody to prove the evidence wasn’t tampered with.
2.
Document all steps and summarize your interviews. The investigative report may
be important in the event of any subsequent legal action. Evaluate whether to
administer a lie detector test. The Federal Employee Polygraph Protection Act
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2. Norman (I)
Limited
Read the case carefully and answer the
questions given at the end:
Norman (I)
Limited
THE COMPANY
The first wall tile manufacturing plant in
India was established by Kay Pee in 1963 at Thane in Mumbai under the name
Norman Tiles. The company was using the brand name 'Norman', a leading
international tile manufacturer, Norman International Limited and was paying
royalty for the same. The Norman International Limited owned 49% equity in this
venture since its inception. With growth in sight the company set up another
manufacturing unit at Rampur in the state of Uttar Pradesh with an investment
of Rs. 85 million in the year 1981. Initially, at Rampur unit the company was
carrying out only partial operations with semi-finished products being supplied
by Thane unit. It was only in 1984, that the company started carrying out full
operations at the Rampur unit. Since the market for ceramic tiles started
expanding, the company expanded its operations accordingly. The process of
manufacturing wall tiles was such that it needed unskilled manpower barring few
fitters and electricians. Accordingly, the company hired 400 workers mostly
uneducated and unskilled from nearby villages. Few of them were taken for the
fitter and mechanic positions. Apart from these, there were sixty staff members
looking after the other support functions. The workers were paid low wages and
were employed on temporary basis at the beginning and till 1986 most of them
were not made permanent. The human resource department was headed by R.C. Jain,
who was an experienced professional and was with the firm since its inception.
THE GENESIS
In 1986 the company ventured into floor tile
manufacturing and set up another facility at Rampur unit. This plant was
semi-automatic as compared to the wall tile plant which needed manual
operations. The machinery of floor tiles unit was bought from Italy and due to
the nature of process some experienced workers were shifted from wall tile
facility. Slowly, two distinct groups of workers emerged based on the nature of
their job and subsequent skills required. First group was that of unskilled
workers mostly associated with manual operations and the second group was that
of skilled workers looking after technical operations. The second group was
paid higher wages than the first group. This disparity led to discontentment
among workers but in the absence of union, it never came out as an organized
reaction. The first such organized attempt was made by workers in 1988, but a
prompt and harsh action from management aborted the workers bid to form union.
However, this event drew management's attention towards workers grievances and
management helped workers to form a union in 1989. The union was named
"Bhartiya Crystallization Mazdur Sangh". However, since most of the
workers barring few technical ones were uneducated, they were unaware of roles
and responsibilities of union.
The management started negotiations with the
newly formed union and the first wage settlement agreement was signed on
January 19, 1990. In this agreement, though the management agreed to increase
wages to the extent of Rs. 250 per month, it linked wages to production
targets. After three months of this agreement, the union leader left the
organization to join government service. The union was left leaderless. After
some time the workers started voicing their concern about the target-linked
wages, but in the absence of a leader their concerns could not get a voice. It
was at this point that some external labour leaders started inciting the
workers. A gate meeting was organized to exploit the situation on September 21,
1990. After this incident the industrial relations situation further worsened
and led to a go-slow movement by workers in January 1991. This affected the
productivity of the plant severely. Due to the absence of union leadership,
management too found it difficult to control the situation, since external
leaders influence was very much visible and company's HR manager R.C. Jain
refused to talk to the outsiders. He remained adamant and left the job in March
1991 and the go-slow by the workers continued. In another development the
incumbent HR manager Arun Joshi, who took over after Jain left converted
variable DA to a fixed DA rate. Since, at that time inflation was spiraling and
the rate of DA, elsewhere, was high, the workers refused to accept this
provision. Ultimately, under pressure from external leaders as well as workers
of the firm, Joshi withdrew the fixed DA and accepted the variable DA
provision.
In the meantime, K.N. Trivedi took over as the
unit head on May 5, 1991. Before joining this plant, he had served the Indian
Air Force for seventeen years and was a strict disciplinarian. The
organizational situation demanded quick action to stop go-slow because the
company had market share of forty per cent in both the tile categories and the
demand for tiles was still going up. The management did not want to lose a
single day's production. In a calculated move the management suspended thirty
five workers who were on a go-slow. This was for the first time that any worker
was suspended from the plant which instilled a sense of fear in the minds of
the workers. As a result of this, workers started working and the productivity
of the plant started showing Meanwhile, the management had terminated some of
the suspended employees who later on moved to the labour court against
management's action on the presumption that labour courts are generally
sympathetic to the workers. At the same time, Trivedi started dialogue with the
external leaders to end the stalemate. The external leaders put pressure on the
management to reinstate the suspended workers. Management agreed to make
permanent those employees who were working with the company since its inception
and did it with immediate effect. Suspension of some of the workers was also
cancelled. Though these efforts helped management in streamlining the
production, the attitude of the workers could not be changed totally. The
ownership spirit amongst workers could not be developed.
The situation took another ugly turn in
February, 1992 when the workers who were suspended earlier tried to create
disturbances in the plant. The discontent was further fuelled by bad food
provided to the workers in the unit’s canteen in March, 1992. Ultimately, this
led to formation of a new union "Bhartiya Yuva Sanitary and Crystallization
Mazdur Sangh". This union was not affiliated to any national labour union.
However, the leaders were under the influence of Bhartiya Mazdur Sangh (BMS).
This union submitted a charter of demands to the management. The demands
included grain loan which was a contentious issue because the company had never
given any grain loan to the workers. The demands were not accepted by the
management. The workers gheraoed Trivedi but the management did not accede to
the demands and called the police to intervene.
On March 17, 1992 the workers went on strike
on the call of the union without giving any prior notice. The management
terminated seventeen workers during the strike. The strike continued till May
5, 1992. The workers were not paid any wages during the strike period. Since
the workers were low wage earners, they were unable to continue the strike for
a longer period. The management used the situation to their advantage and
accepted only minor demands of sanctioning an advance of Rs. 500 to the
workers. The workers accepted the management decision and were willing to
restart production. Management re-employed the suspended workforce gradually
over a period of fifteen-twenty days. Since, the workers did not receive wage.
For the strike period. they had realized the importance of their employment.
In October, 1993 the second agreement was
signed between management and the union. Between October, 1993 and December,
1996 the productivity and industrial relations were improved. In 1996 the
organization started receiving export orders for its products. The quality
requirements for the export orders were stringent. Therefore, the organization
decided to go in for ISO 9000 certification for their Rampur plant. The
management realizing the importance of workers involvement in ISO 9000
certification process started training workers on a continuous basis in June,
1996. The in-house training emphasized on housekeeping, general hygiene of the
workers, standard operation procedure and awareness about all kinds of losses.
As a result of continued efforts, ISO 9002 certification was received by the
plant in January, 1997. Meanwhile, the third wage agreement was signed between
the management and the union for a period of three years in January, 1997. To
reinforce the training process, HRD cell with well-equipped in-house training
tools was developed in January, 1998. Training programmes focused on shop-floor
excellence and total Productive maintenance (TPM). Quality manual for internal
use was also developed. The goals for 2000-2001 for the plant were devised as
under:
• Laying
of natural gas pipeline
• ISO
14000 certification
• Control
of losses
• Reduction
in personnel expenditure
• Team
building training
The Rampur plant of Norman had come a long way
since its inception. In the words of Trivedi "despite all the bottlenecks
we have achieved a satisfactory level of productivity. We still intend to
continue doing so by various means. However, I want to build this plant as a
community where each member's commitment with the plant remains high. This can
only be achieved by inculcating the ownership value. We sincerely believe that
this can only be developed by creating a community of Norman in which every
member is ensured of a minimum standard of living with all basic amenities and
worry free life away from work. We intend to do so by providing medical,
educational and vocational training facilities for their families, thereby
developing trust between the management and the workers".
Questions:
Question: (a) Does formation of trade unions
help organizations improve industrial relations?
Answer : Trade
or labor unions have been around since the 1930s to resist through equal
bargaining power the domination of employers over employees and to represent
workers’ interests in the employment relationship. It is through union efforts
that workers benefit from better pay and working conditions, and that they are
treated with dignity and respect at work. The importance of trade unions cannot
be overstated even though membership has been on a steady decline
Collective Bargaining
Labor
unions developed to grant employees equal bargaining power with their
employers, who traditionally had the ability to exclusively set the terms and
conditions of work and pay. Unions represent workers within a given industry in
negotiations with their employers. Since the union comprises a group of
workers, it has a greater voice than if employees were dealing with employers
individually. For example, unions are credited with abolishing sweatshops and
child labor in the United States because they pushed for these practices to
end. The National Labor Relations Act guarantees employees’ right to bargain
collectively through their chosen labor union representatives. Unions can
organize strikes,
Question: (c) The strategy to instill fear in
the minds of workers to improve their productivity was in the interest of the
organization, Discuss.
Answer : Discipline
in an organization is intended to promote a minimum acceptable behavior by
employees. It is defined in terms of adherence to the company rules,
regulations, systems, and processes. Discipline ensures smooth functioning and
helps in creating a healthy business environment. Indiscipline and misconduct
of employees affect all stakeholders including supervisors, fellow employees,
customers and even the vendors/ suppliers.
Business Environment:
Examine
if the following issues related to
Question: (d) In your view, what action should
have been taken by the management at various stages to improve
labour-management relations?
Answer :
·
Design
economic incentives so employees at all levels of an organization can benefit
from them. There's a natural tendency for management to focus most heavily
on senior-level economic incentives. While this is completely understandable,
it's best not to neglect substantive incentives for lower-level employees...
that is, if you expect them to be vigorously committed to an enterprise's
success. To the argument that this will be unduly costly, a program has to be
carefully structured, of course, so additional payouts reflect clearly defined
revenue and/or earnings targets.
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3. Geetha
Laboratories
Read the case carefully and answer the
questions given at the end.
Geetha Laboratories Private Limited was
established by Mohan Ramnath in 1988 at Chennai. He, a soft spoken gentleman,
was Ph.D. in chemistry, who did not believe in working under pressure. The
company was a small scale unit manufacturing non-patented antimalarial
medicines. The company had 6 days per week working making 26 working days per
month and was running smoothly. In 1978, CITU supported union came into
existence. The industrial relations started deteriorating making it difficult
for the company to survive. In 1988 Ramnath decided to enter into partnership
with three other partners, Chandan Keshav, Bharat Pathak and Veenu Ramachandran
to overcome the difficulties faced by him. The company came to be known as
Geetha Laboratories Limited. Even after this the industrial relations did not
improve till 1990 and it was during this period that 14 workers were sacked. In
1990 Ramnath decided to sell his shares to Emission Pharmaceuticals, a
multinational, though other partners continued. Now, the company was called
German Drug House (GDH). During this period CITU withdrew support to the union
and Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) came into the picture. An average increment of
Rs. 225 was given to all workers and industrial relations improved to some
extent.
IMPLA Pharmaceuticals Limited was another
non-patented antimalarial bulk drug manufacturing giant having units at Pune,
Mysore, Hyderabad, Coimbatore and Corporate office at Baroda. It wanted to have
monopoly in the ant malarial drug manufacturing by taking over GDH. But before
taking such a step. They wanted to assess the internal condition of the
company. Therefore, in January 1994 Vishal Shrivastava, qualified chartered
accountant was inducted as Director by purchasing a requisite number of shares
of the company. In September, 1994 after IMPLA was convinced about the
favorable conditions of GDH it formally took over the company. At that time the
manpower strength of the plant was 210 in which 130 were workers and 80 were
executives and staff members. After taking over, IMPLA made many changes and
the major ones were:
(i) They increased the salaries of executives
and staff of the unit to reduce the gap in the pay structure of the executives
and staff of this unit and their other units.
(ii) They invested Rs. 3-4 crores for up
gradation of the plant.
(iii) They shifted from 6 days working per
week to 7 days working per week to improve the productivity and enhance
cost-effectiveness of the unit.
The shift from 6 days to 7 days working
without any financial gains made workers resist the change. At this juncture,
Sumeet Joshi, Corporate Manager (lR) intervened and promised the workers that
they would be paid for 30 days instead of 26 days, but Ravi Shriman, Director
(Personnel) and Vishal Shrivastav, CM (Operations) refused to agree to this
since they were not involved when Sumeet Joshi made the commitment. The promise
was not fulfilled which further complicated the problems. The issues kept on
Lingering for 6 months. No decision could be taken because of the difference of
opinion among senior executives. In June, 1995 the workers gheraoed Vishal
Shrivastav to pressurize the management to take the decision. They were
successful to some extent as it led to the agreement of management with workers
that financial benefits would be given with retrospective effect of 4 years
making it one additional year over and above 3 years of normal agreement. They
were asked to give a notice of change which the workers could not give till
December, 1995 because of disagreement among themselves It was felt at this
point of time by Shrivastav that plant should have an Assistant Manager
(personnel) instead of having Personnel Officer. Ajit Dubey, Assistant Manager
(personnel) was appointed in October, 1995 but even this appointment took 3-4
months because of discord in opinions of Shrivastav and Shriman.
In December, 1995 the workers gave a notice of
change demanding an increase of Rs. 2200 per month. In January, 1996 a notice
of change was given by management. In February, 1996 the negotiations started
and continued till July, 1996. Shrivastav, Rajkumar, the new Corporate Manager
(IR), Ajit Dubey and Kishore were to represent the management side and nine
members of the union were to represent the Workers, besides V.D. Agarwal the
General Secretary of BMS.
The first two rounds of meeting did not lead
to any outcome as none of the parties were ready to budge. This made V.D.
Agarwal withdraw as he was fed up with the rigid stand of the union leaders.
The third meeting was held without Agarwal
wherein the union leaders came down to Rs. 1, 200 from Rs. 2, 200 p.m. The
minutes of the meeting were jotted down but the union leaders refused to sign.
Taking advantage of the occasion, Dubey and Shrivastav had a secret meeting
with Agarwal in a hotel. Agarwal advised the representatives of the management
to maintain a low key for a few months to crack down the workers aspirations as
they had very high expectations. It was observed by Dubey that there were
perceptual differences between senior and junior union leaders. Taking cue from
this, Dubey adopted a policy of divide and rule and took into confidence
Devilal, the senior union leader and had a secret meeting with him to explore
the last settlement amount and apprised him that the management could go only
up to Rs.450. He also took Janak Singh, the junior union leader into confidence
and convinced him that management was not going to bend before their demands
and as such the workers were going to be the ultimate sufferers. Besides this,
Dubey spread the message that no wages would be given retrospectively.
The next day meeting resumed in which union
representatives came down to Rs. 750 (because of the pressure from the workers)
beyond which they were not ready to come down. It was decided that instead of
having meeting with all the members, only two members, one senior union leader,
Devilal and one junior union leader, Janak Singh would sit in the negotiations.
Immediately a meeting among Shrivastav, Rajkumar, Devilal and Janak Singh was
held and it was resolved that Rs. 575 average per month would be given for 4
years retrospectively. An MOU was drafted by the legal consultant at the
corporate office and was duly signed by Shrivastav, Rajkumar, Dubey and all the
union representatives. In the evening a dinner was hosted in which all the
negotiators were invited. When the papers were sent to R. Shriman, he objected
to the MOU on two points.
First, the other plants were having 30 days
pay system leading to less average pay per day and in Chennai plant it was to
be given for 26 days leading to higher average per day. Second the milk
allowance given for overtime at Chennai unit was higher than other units. It
look Shrivastav and Rajkumar two months to convince Shriman about the agreement
and thereafter, implementing the same. A total amount of Rs. 14 to 15 lakhs was
given to all the 160 workers within a week as arrears and the issue was
settled.
Questions:
Question: (a) Was it right for V.D. Agarwal to
withdraw half way during the negotiations?
Answer : It
depends on the negotiation
Question: (b) Identify the tactics used by management
in the case. Are they justified?
Answer : They
shifted from
Question: (c) Should Director (Personnel) have
raised objections after MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) was signed? Give
reasons.
Answer : He
objected to the MOU
Question: (d) In view of the information given
in the case, suggest the strategies that could have made IMPLA Pharmaceuticals
a more progressive organization.
Answer : They
wanted to assess the internal condition of the company. Therefore, in January
1994 Vishal Shrivastava, qualified chartered accountant
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4. V. J. Textiles
Read the case carefully and answer the
questions given at the end.
V.J. Textiles is a leading industry having a
workforce of more than 1200 employees, engaged in the manufacture of cotton
yarn of different counts. The company has a well-established distribution
network in different parts of the country. It has modernized all its plants,
with a view to improve the productivity and maintain quality. To maintain good
human relations in the plants and the organization as a whole, it has extended
all possible facilities to the employees. Compared to other mills, the
employees of V.J. Industries are enjoying higher wages and other benefits.
The company has a chief executive, followed by
executives in-charge of different functional areas. The Industrial Relations
Department is headed by the Industrial Relations Manager. The employees are
represented by five trade unions - A, B, C, D and E (unions are alphabetically
presented based on membership) - out of which the top three unions are
recognized by the management for purposes of negotiations. All the unions have
maintained good relations with the management individually and collectively.
For the past ten years, the company has been
distributing bonus to the workers at rates more than the statutory minimum prescribed
under the Bonus Act. Last year, for declaration of rate of bonus, the
management had a series of discussions with all recognized unions and finally
announced a bonus. This was in turn agreed upon by all the recognized unions.
The very next day when the management prepared the settlement and presented it
before the union representatives, while Unions A and C signed the same, the
leader of Union B refused to do so and walked out, stating that the rate of
bonus declared was not sufficient. The next day Union B issued a strike notice
to the management asking for higher bonus. The management tried its level best
to avoid the unpleasant situation, but in vain. As a result, the members of
Union B went on strike. They were joined by the members of Union D.
During the strike, the management could probe
the reason for the deviant behavior of Union B leader; it was found that leader
of Union A, soon after the first meeting, had stated in the presence of a group
of workers, "lt is because of me that the management has agreed to declare
this much amount of bonus to the employees; Union B has miserably failed in its
talks with the management for want of initiative and involvement". This
observation somehow reached the leader of Union B as a result of which he felt
insulted.
Soon after identifying the reason for Union
B's strike call, the Industrial Relations Manager brought about a compromise
between the leaders of Unions A and B. Immediately after this meeting the
strikers (members of Unions B and D) resumed work and the settlement was signed
for the same rate of bonus as was originally agreed upon.
Questions
Question: (a) Was the leader of Union A
justified in making remarks which made the leader of Union B feel offended?
Answer : Yes
During the strike, the management could probe the reason for the deviant
behavior of Union B leader; it was found that leader of Union A, soon after the
first meeting, had stated in the presence of a group of workers, "lt is
Question: (b) What should be management's long
term strategy for avoiding recurrence of inter-union differences on such
issues?
Answer : 1.
Industrial Relationship In the words of Lester: "Industrial relations
involve attempts at arriving at solutions between the conflicting objectives
and values; between the profit motive and social gain; between discipline and
freedom, between authority and industrial democracy; between bargaining and
Question: (c) If you were the Industrial
Relations Manager what would you have done had the Union B resorted to strike for
a reason other than that mentioned in the case
Answer : If
a trade union has been certified and no collective agreement is in force, the
trade union may give the employer written notice of its desire to bargain or
the employer (or employer's organization) may give written
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