INDUSTRIAL CONFLICTS

All the issues refer to collective bargaining may not be settled to the satisfactions of both the parties. Such issues result in Industrial Conflicts.

DEFINITION OF DISPUTE / CONFLICT

According to the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, Section 2(k), Industrial dispute means any dispute or difference between employers & employers, or between employers & workmen or between workmen & workmen, which is connected with the employment or non employment or term of employment or with the conditions of labour of any person.

CAUSES OF INDUSTRIAL CONFLICTS

It is not easy to identify a single factor as a cause of industrial conflicts as multifarious causes blended together result in industrial disputes. Deep seated & more basic causes of disputes can be identified through in depth probe, though surface manifestations appear to be responsible for conflicts. The relative importance of these causes, when more than presents, is often very difficult to gauge. According to Mukherjee, The development of capitalistic enterprise, which means the control of the tools of production by the small entrepreneur class has brought to the fore the acute problem of friction between management & labour throughout the world. Causes of industrial conflicts may be grouped into four categories, Industrial factors, Managements attitude towards workers, Government machinery & Other causes.

TYPES OF INDUSTRIAL CONFLICT Strike

A strike is a spontaneous and concerted withdrawal of the labour from production temporarily. It is a collective stoppage of work by group of workers for pressuring their

employer to accept certain demands. The industrial disputes act 1947 has define a strike as an assertion of work by a body of persons. employed in industry acting in combination, or a concerted refusal or a 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. Strikes are of several types, Sympathetic strike When a strike is undertaken to show sympathy with workers in other industries, it is called as sympathetic strike. General strike It is a strike by all or most of the unions in a industry or a region Unofficial strike It is a strike undertaken without the consent of the unions. Sectional strike It is refusal of a section of a given class of workers to perform their normal duties. Bumper strike It is a strike when the unions plan to paralyze the industry, firm by firm, the order being chosen by the union. Such strikes are supported by the contributions of those who are still in work. Sit down strike (also called stay-in, tool down, pen down strike) It is a strike in which workers cease to perform these duties but do not leave the place of work. Slow-down strike Known as a go-slow tactic the workers do not stop working but put brakes to the normal way of doing things. Lightning strike Out of provocation, workers may go on strike without notice or at very short notice. There is an element of surprise in such cat-call strikes. Hunger strike To gain sympathy from the public & get noticed by the employer, workers may decide to forego food for a specified period. Small batches of workers may also go on

a relay hunger strike in a sequential order. Such non-violence protests generally bring moral pressure on employers to iron out the differences with quickly.

Lock-outs
Lock-out is the counterpart of strike. It is a weapon available to the employer to close down the factory till the workers agree to resume work on the conditions lead down by the employer. The industrial Dispute Act of 1947 defined it as the closing of a place of an employment, or the suspension of work or the refusal of an employer to continue to employ any number of persons employed by him. If it is impossible to meet the demand of workers, employers may decide to go for lock-out. He may also draw the shutter down so as to bring psychological pressure on the workers to agree to his condition or face closure of the unit.

Gherao
Gherao means to surround. In this method a group of workers initiate collective action aimed at preventing members of the management from leaving the office. This can happen outside the factory premises too. The persons who are gheraoed are not allowed to move for a long time, sometimes without food or water. The National Commission on Labour, while refusing to accept it as a form of industrial protest, opined that Gherao tend to inflict physical duress (as against economic pressure) on the persons affected & endanger not only industrial harmony but also create problems of law & order.

Picketing & Boycott

In picketing workers carry / display signs, banners & play card (in connection with the dispute) & prevent others from entering the place of work & persuade others to join the strike. Boycott aims at disrupting the normal functioning of an enterprise. Through forceful appeals & negative behavioral acts, striking workers prevent others from entering the place of work & persuade them not to cooperate with the employer.