UNIT II

INDUSTRIAL CONFLICTS

INDUSTRIAL CONFLICTS

Industrial dispute;
Industrial disputes means any dispute 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
labor of any person.
Features of Industrial conflicts:
1. A significant trend seen in the conflicts is the frequency with
which management met, labour pressure by the management
pressure of lockout.

2. Most of the strikes are political strikes, i.e they are not caused by any
industrial dispute as such. Among these are included physical restraint
(bandh, ghareo, dharna etc.) go slows and work-to-rule. All these practices
show the dimensions of conflict in industrial relations are growing.
3. Another significant fact is that lock-outs accounts for a sizable number of
manday's lost. Such lock-outs are more frequent in the eastern region.
CAUSES OF INDUSTRIAL CONFLICTS:
1. Industrial Factors.
2. Managements attitude towards workers.
3. Government Machinery.
4. Other Causes

Industrial Factors:
i) Industrial matters relating to employment, work, wages, hours of
work, previliges, rights and obligations of employees, terms and conditions
of employment.
ii) Disputes often arise because of the population explosion and rising
unemployment.
iii) The increasing prices of essential commodities.
iv) The attitude and temperament of industrial workers

Management related factors:

i) Disinterest of management to discuss with the workers and
their representatives.
ii) Managements unwillingness to recognize a particulate trade
union.
iii)Unwillingness of management to delegate required
authority to its officials for the purpose of discussing with
trade unions.
iv) Disinterest of the management in involving the workers in
decision making.

 Government related factors:

The changes in economic policies create
many dispute situations. For instance,
Policies of liberalisation and privatisation has
caused many strikes in the country.
Ineffective or unsatisactory working causes
conflicts like improper implementation of
labour laws, Inherent difficulties in monitoring
the working various labour laws.

Though the government enacted a number of legislations,

government machinery is not successful in implementing
the machinery due to:
i) Their irrelevancy in the context of the challenges of present
industrial climate.
ii) Inability to understand and answer imperatives of
development.
iii)Inability to check employers in implementing labour laws.
iv) A little confidence of employees and employers in
governments conciliation machinery.
v) Inability of governments conciliation machinery in doing its
job effectively.

Other Causes:
Affiliation of trade unions with political party and political
leadership of trade union.
Political instability, poor center-state relations etc.
Other political reasons like character crisis , values etc..

Classification of Industrial Disputes

Interest dispute/economic dispute/conflicts
of interest:
Dispute that arise out of deadlocks in the
negotiations for a collective agreement

Grievance /Rights disputes/legal

disputes/conflicts of rights:
Disputes that arise from day-to-day workers
grievances or complaints

 Disputes over Unfair labour practices:

The disputes arising from acts of interference with
the exercise of the right to organize.

Recognition disputes:
Disputes over the right of a trade union to
represent a particular class or category of
workers for purposes of collective bargaining.

Impact of Industrial disputes

They disturb economic, social and political
life of a country.
Industrial dispute result in a huge wastage
of mandays and dislocation in the
production work
They lose the wages for the strike period.
To meet day-to-day expenses, debts have
to be incurred, employment is lost and
future prospects become dim.

 Industrial dispute also affect the national

economy.
The employers suffer heavy loses not only
through stoppages of production, reduction
in sales and loss of markets but also in the
form of huge expenditure incured on
crushing strikes, engaging strike-breakers
and blacklegs maintaining the police force
and guards.
The public/society properties are damaged
and industrial unrest creates law and order
problems.

Strike:
Strike is a cessation of work by a body of persons employed in any
industry , acting in combination or a concreted refusal under a common
understanding, of a number of persons who are or have been so employed
to continue to work or to accept employment.
Primary Strikes:
Primary strikes are generally against the employer with whom the
dispute exists. They take the forms of stay away strikes, sit-in, sit-down,
pen down, tools down, go slow, work-to-rule, token or protest strike,
lightening or wildcat strike, picketing or boycott.

Stay Away Strike:

In this strike, workmen stay away the work place. They organize
rallies, demonstrations etc.

Stay-in Strike:
In this strike, workmen come to the place, they stay at workplace but
dont work.
Tools-Down Strike;
Here, the strikers lay down their pens or tools and refrain from doing
their work.
Lightening or Wild cat Strike/cat-call strike:
Here, the strikers strike the work without any prior notice or with a
shortest notice.
Token or Protest strike:
It is a very short duration and is in the nature of signal for the danger
ahead.

Go-Slow:
Here the workers intentionally reduce the speed of work.
Picketing:
It is an act of posting pickets and implies machinery or patrolling of the
workmen in front of the premises of the employer.
Boycott:
It aims at disrupting the normal functioning of the enterprise.
Ghareo:
It is a physical blockade of a target either by enrichment, intended to block the
egress and ingress from and to a particular office , workshop etc.
Hunger Strike:
This strike is resorted to either by the leaders of the union or by some workers
all at a time or in small batches for a limited period or upto the period of settlement
of disputes.

Secondary Strike:
Secondary strikes are against a third party. These strikes are sympathetic strikes.

Other Strikes;
These strikes are in the form of general, particular, political and bandhs.

PREVENTION OF STRIKES:
The following suggestions are given to prevent strikes.
i) It should adopt a well-defined, precise, clear and progressive personnel policies
aiming at the maintenance of good industrial relations in the undertaking.
ii) It should ensure an effective administration and timely implementation of these
policies.
iii) It should adopt fair and reasonable recruitment, promotion and wage policies and
ensure their proper implementation.
iv) It shall evolve and adopt a suitable and speedy grievance procedure for redressal
of the grievance of the workers

v) It should give recognition to a representative union and should have

pragmatic approach towards union activities.
vi) It should ensure joint consultation at different levels and encourage
collective bargaining for the resolution of the differences between them.
PREVENTIVE MEASURES OF INDUSTRIAL CONFLICTS:
It is broadly outlined as given below
Labour Welfare Officer
Tripartite and Bipartite Bodies
Standing Orders
Grievance Procedure
Joint Consultation
Collective Bargaining
Strong trade unions
Labour Co- Operation and Profit Sharing
Joint Consultations

SETTLEMENT OF CONFLICTS:
Methods of settlement of Industrial Conflicts include
1. Investigation
2. Mediation
3. Conciliation
4. Voluntary Arbitration
5. Compulsory Arbitration
Investigation:
This is conducted by a board or court appointed by the government. It
may be voluntary or compulsory. If the investigation is conducted on
an application by either or both the parties it is voluntary. If the
government appoints a court of enquiry to investigate the dispute it is
compulsory.

Conciliation:
Conciliation is a process by which representatives of both workers and
employers are brought together before a third party with a view to
persuading them arrive at some sort of settlement.
QUALITIES OF A CONCILIATOR:
1. Interdependence and impartiality
2. Physically and psychologically fit
3. He must have the ability to get along with all the people.
4. He must give an impression of expression, responsibility, clearheadedness, and mature judgement.
5. A Conciliator should have friendly personality, a sense of humour,
specially for releaving tensions of joint discussions.
6. He should be fully familiar with the law and regulations concerning
industrial relations and the settlement of industrial disputes.

7. He should be well trained in different aspects of management process.

8. He must have ability and versatility to form judgements.
Role of the Conciliator:
Role of conciliator may be given under the following heads
1. As a Discussion Leader
2. As a Safety Valve
3. As a Communication Link
4. As an innovator
5. As a sounding Board
6. As a protector
7. As a fail-safe device
8. As a stimulator
9. As an Advisor.

10. As a face-saver
11. As a promoter of collective bargaining.
Criticisms Against Conciliation:
1. The work of conciliation is often delegated to state government officers
who are already overburdened and cannot do full justice in the matter.
2. Most of the conciliation officers are young and inexperienced.
3. Conciliation proceedings are often abused and misused by the parties.
4. Conciliation is often looked upon by the parties as merely a hurdle to
be crossed for reaching the stage.
5. Outside interference is has been common in the working of this
machinery. Manager grudge that political pressure is brought on them
and conciliation issues to settle the machinery in favour of
workers.Unionists on the other hand, quip that political pressure is
exercised t0 safeguard the employers interest.

Suggestions fire Effective Functioning of Conciliation:

1. First need for making conciliation machinery is to free it from any political
and administrative interference.
2. The conciliation machinery should be invested with adequate and more
powers so that the parties could be forced top arrive at a conclusion which is
binding and not only recommendatory in nature.
3. The mutual images of parties towards each other need to be improved.
4. Conciliation should be introduced in all the industries in spite of their public
utilities or otherwise.
5. The workload of machinery has to be periodically assessed.
6. The conciliation officers can be made more effective by i) prescribing proper
qualifications for a conciliation officer and improving his qualities by proper
selection and training, ii) enhancing their status for dealing with persons
who appear before them, iii) delegating appropriate authority to these
officers and iv) minimizing political interference

VOLUNTARY ARBITRATION:
If the two parties to the dispute fail to come to an agreement, either by
themselves or with the help of a mediator or conciliator agrees to
submit the dispute to an impartial authority, whose decision, they are
ready to accept.
The essential elements of voluntary arbitration are
The voluntary submission of dispute to an arbitrator
The subsequent attendance of witness and investigations.
The enforcement of an award may not be necessary.
Advantages of Arbitration:
Arbitration has the particular advantage of bringing the dispute
settlement procedure down to the level of the parties to dispute
It is more flexible than other procedures and can be adjusted to the
views, desires and experience of parties and circumstances of the
undertaking or industry.

 Enables the arbitrator to acquire a much greater familiarity with the

characteristics of the particular industry 0r undertaking concerned than most

courts or tribunals.
The procedure is relatively expeditious when compared to ordinary courts or
labour tribunals. It cuts down delays and results in prompt settlement of
differences.
It is informal in character and on that account as well as because the

disputes are handled by the parties themselves often without resource to

lawyers, it tends to be less expensive than other procedures.
Awards are capable of implementation without any grudge on the part of
both the parties at dispute and do not lead to furthur chances of litigation .
It helps building up a sound base for healthy industrial relations, mutual

understanding, and cooperation.

Disadvantages of Arbitration:
1. Judgement is often arbitrary all ill-advised as the arbitrators
are not well-versed in the economic and technical aspects of
industry.
2. Arbitrators are often biased against labour and their award is,
therefore, usually not in favour of the labor.
3. Delay often occurs in arriving at the award and settlement of
disputes.This leads breakdown in the morale of the members.
4. Though arbitration is an essential element in the creation of
better labor management relations, its availability may lead
to less dependence on negotiation and conditions imposed by
a third party may be resented.

COMPULSORY ARBITRATION
Compulsory arbitration is one where the parties are required to
arbitrate without any willingness on the part. Any one of the
parties, may apply to the appropriate governments to refer the
dispute to an adjudication machinery.
Under compulsory arbitration, the parties are forced to arbitration
by the state when:
i) The parties fail to arrive at a settlement by voluntary method.
ii) When there is national emergency which requires that the
wheels of production should not be obstructed by frequent
work stoppages.
iii) the country is passing through grave economic crisis.

iv. There is a grave public dissatisfaction with the existing

industrial relations.
v. Parties are ill- balanced.
vi. Public interest and the working conditions have to be safe
guarded and regulated by the state.