Factors determining Industrial Relations

[luttu]

Explain the factors determining industrial relations (IR).

[aarthym]

(1) History of industrial relations—No enterprise can-escape its good and bad history of industrial relations. A good history is marked by harmonious relationship between management and workers. A bad history by contrast is characterised by militant strikes and lockouts. Both types of history have a tendency to perpetuate themselves. Once militancy is established as a mode of operations there is a tendency for militancy to continue. Or once harmonious relationship is established there is a tendency for harmony to continue. -
(2) Economic satisfaction of workers—Psychologists recognise that human needs have a certain priority. Need number one is the basic survival need. Much of man's conduct is dominated by this need. Man works because he wants to survive. Thus is all the more for underdeveloped countries where workers are still living under subsistence conditions. Hence economic satisfaction of workers is another important prerequisite for good industrial relations.
(3) Social and psychological satisfaction—Identifying the social and psychological urges of workers is a very important steps in the direction of building good industrial relations. A man does not live by bread alone. He has several other needs besides his physical needs which should also be given due attention by the employer. An organisation is a joint venture involving a climate of "human and social relationships wherein each participant feels that he is fulfilling his needs and contributing to the needs of others. This supportive climate requires economic rewards as well as social and psychological rewards such as workers' participation in management, job enrichment, suggestion schemes, redressal of grievances etc.
(4) Off-the-Job conditions—An employer employs a whole person rather than certain separate characteristics. A person's traits are all part of one system making up a whole man. His home life is not separable from his work life and his emotional condition is not separate from his physical condition. Hence for good industrial relations it is not enough that the worker's factory life, life alone should be taken care of his off-the-job conditions should also be improved.
(5) Enlightened Trade Unions—The most important condition necessary for good industrial relations is a strong and enlightened labour movement which may help to promote the status of labour without harming the interests of management. Unions should talk of employee contribution and responsibility. Unions should exhort workers to produce more, persuade management to pay more, mobilise public opinion on vital labour issues and help Government to enact progressive labour laws.
(6) Negotiating skills and attitudes of management and workers—Both management and workers' representatives in the area of industrial relations come from a great variety of backgrounds in terms of training, education, experience and attitudes. These varying backgrounds play a major role in shaping the character of industrial relations. Generally speaking, well-trained and experienced negotiators who are motivated by a desire for industrial peace create a bargaining atmosphere conducive to the writing of a just and equitable collective agreement. On the other hand, ignorant, inexperienced and ill-trained persons fail because they do not recognise that collective bargaining is a difficult human activity which deals as much in the emotions of people as in their economic interests. It requires careful preparation and top-notch executive competence. It is not usually accomplished by some easy trick or gimmick. Parties must have trust and confidence in each other. They must possess empathy, i.e., they should be able to perceive a problem from the opposite angle with an open mind. They should put themselves in the shoes of the other party and then diagnose the problem. Other factors which help to create mutual trust are respect for the law and breadth of vision. Both parties should show full respect for legal and voluntary obligations and should avoid the tendency to make a mountain of a mole hill.
(7) Public policy and legislation-When Government regulates employee relations, it becomes a third major force determining industrial relations—the first two being the employer and the union. Human behaviour is then further complicated as all three forces interact in a single employee relation situation. Nonetheless, governments in all countries intervene in management-union relationships by enforcing labour laws and by insisting that the goals of the whole society shall take precedence over those of either of the parties, government intervention helps in three different ways: (i) It helps in catching and solving problems before they become serious. Almost everyone agrees that it is better to prevent fires than to try stopping them after they start; (ii) It provides a formalised means to the workers and employers to give emotional release to their dissatisfaction; and (iii) It acts as a check and balance upon arbitrary and capricious management action.
(8) Better education—With rising skills and education, workers' expectations in respect of rewards increase. It is a common knowledge that the industrial workers in India are generally illiterate and are misled by outside trade union leaders who have their own axe to grind. Better workers' education can be a solution to this problem. This alone can provide workers with a proper sense of responsibility which they owe to the organisation in particular and to the community in general.
(9) Nature of Industry-In those industries where the costs constitute a major proportion of the total cast, lowering down the labour costs becomes important when the product is not a necessity and therefore, there is a little possibility to pass additional costs on to consumer. Such industries cannot grant liberal increases in wages or fringe benefits to their workers and have industrial relations different from other type of industries.
(10) Business cycle—Business cycle also affects industrial relations. Industrial relations tend to be good when there is a boom and prosperity abound. During such periods, levels of employment and wages rise which make workers happy. But during recession, there is decline in employment levels and wages. This makes workers unhappy and destroys good industrial relations.