Introduction to Industrial

Relations
As an employee of a unionized company you are required to
discuss the impact of the three perspectives of industrial
relations on the workers

The way we perceive industrial relations determines, to a large extent, not only
how we approach and analyze specific issues and situations but also how we expect
others to behave, how we respond to their actual behavior and the means we adopt
to influence or modify their behavior. Each participant has a different perception
on reality which will influence his or her behavior and actions.
Industrial Relations Theory and Practice 4th Edition Michael Salamon pg 4

DVH Limited is a paper manufacturing company registered in Trinidad and Tobago.
The management of DVH Limited believe that its Human Resource Department is quite
capable of handling all human resource issues through regular team-building sessions,
performance-based incentives, employee skills training, and a health and safety policy.
Recently the employees of DVH Limited began requesting that they become unionized
so as to protect their rights, as they felt that the company was not always acting in the
best interest of its workers. After much protest and deliberation, management has
agreed to allow the employees to become unionized, and they are now all members of
the Workers and General Trade Union. This is the first time a Collective Agreement will
be developed for the workers. Sean Penn is a mechanical technician at DVH Limited
and he is also the shop steward.
Industrial Relations is a dynamic entity which continues to take its shape from several
activities and disciplines. In particular, an organizations approach to Industrial
Relations is largely determined by the overriding perspective that it adopts, whether it
be Unitary, Pluralistic or Marxist and how that perspective is manifested in the
workplace. Employees also bring their own perspective to the workplace and often
times it differs from that of the employer; leading to conflict, dissatisfaction and lowered
productivity. The key is to find a meeting place where, employers and employees share
and/or understand each others perspective and can respectfully co-exist.
As its name implies, The Unitary Perspective stresses common, basic, shared,
accepted objectives through-out the organization. Everyone is in agreement and
working towards the same goals and everyone shares in the rewards that are accrued
as a result of this attainment. The underlying premise is that the organization comprises
of an integrated, like-minded group of people who agree to a single, authority structure
and an accepted set of common values, interests and objectives are shared by all
members of the organization. Subscribers to this perspective believe that conflict is
counter-productive, unnecessary and aberrant and should not be encouraged. Further,
they argue that since all are working harmoniously towards the same goals then conflict
will only arise as a result of frictional factors such as: clashes of personalities, poor
communication by management on its plans and decisions, and agitators that do not
have the organizations best interest at heart.
DVH Limited subscribes to many of the ideologies outlined in the unitary perspective
and sees the Union as a detracting instigator of conflict. The Union is insisting on
having a clearly defined grievance procedure outlined in the Collective Agreement so as
to ensure that everyone is treated equally and fairly whenever a grievance occurs
however management does not believe that conflict/grievances is a big issue and
certainly do not support any outsider advising them as to how to deal with their issues.
They believe that most conflict is as a result of poor social relations and that their
regular team-building session is enough to deal with whatever conflict may occur. DHV
Management believes that they should be free to make all decisions regarding the
organization with or without consulting their workers; as it is their divine right to do so
but they are willing to improve communication by holding monthly staff meetings to keep
employees abreast of what management deems as necessary. DHV strongly feels that
their Human Resource Management strategy is adequate for dealing with all of their
employee issues. Management believes that they are free to use all legal coercion
tactics to maintain order in the organization and that workers understand that
management always knows best and always act in the best interest of all.
Sean Penn and the Union believe that DHV Limited is archaic in their perspective on
Industrial Relations and that their authoritarian, paternalistic approach is counter-
productive and does not adequately give the workers a voice or take their rights into
consideration. Additionally, both Penn and the Union argue that not all conflict is
negative or as a result of poor communication, but rather, differences in interest form
the basis of most conflict between employee and employer and these differences are
not addressed adequately by the Human Resource Management strategy. They wish to
propose a more collective approach to how the organization is run, where workers at all
levels are treated in the same fashion rather than the individualistic management-
employee interactions that currently occur and result in similar employees sometimes
being treated very differently, based on purely subjective management criteria.