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Definitions:
The concept of WPM is a broad and complex one. Depending on the socio-political environment and
cultural conditions, the scope and contents of participation change.
International Institute of Labour Studies: WPM is the participation resulting from the practices
which increase the scope for employees’ share of influence in decision-making at different tiers of
organizational hierarchy with concomitant (related) assumption of responsibility.
John Leitch: In the words of the John Leitch “the organization of any factory or other business
institution inti a little democratic state with the representative government which shall have both the
legislative and executive phases.
ILO: Workers’ participation, may broadly be taken to cover all terms of association of workers and
their representatives with the decision-making process, ranging from exchange of information,
consultations, decisions and negotiations, to more institutionalized forms such as the presence of
workers’ member on management or supervisory boards or even management by workers
themselves (as practiced in Yugoslavia).
The main implications of workers’ participation in management as summarized by ILO:
• Workers have ideas which can be useful;
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• Workers may work more intelligently if they are informed about the reasons for and the
intention of decisions that are taken in a participative atmosphere.
Importance:
1. Higher Productivity: The increased productivity is possible only when there exists fullest co-
operation between labour and management. It has been found that poor labour management relations do
not encourage the workers to contribute anything more than the minimum desirable to retain their jobs.
Thus participation of workers in management is essential to increase industrial productivity.
2. Greater Commitment: An important prerequisite for forging greater individual commitment is the
individual’s involvement and opportunity to express himself. Participation allows individuals to express
themselves at the work place rather than being absorbed into a complex system of rules, procedures and
systems. If an individual knows that he can express his opinion and ideas, a personal sense of individual
knows that he can express his opinion and ideas, a personal sense of gratification and involvement takes
place within him. I am sure you will agree that participation increases the level of commitment and the
employees start relating to the organisation.
3. Reduced Industrial Unrest. Industrial conflict is a struggle between two organised groups, which
are motivated by the belief that their respective interests are endangered by the self-interested behaviour
of the other. Participation cuts at the very root of industrial conflict. It tries to remove or at least
minimise the diverse and conflicting interests between the parties, by substituting it with cooperation,
homogeneity and common interests. Both sides are integrated and decision arrived at are mutual rather
than individual.
4. Improved Decisions. I am sure that you will agree that communication is never a one way process,
Also note that it is seldom, if ever, possible for managers to have knowledge of all alternatives and all
consequences related to the decisions which they must make. Because of the existence of barriers to the
upward flow of information in most enterprises, much valuable information possessed by subordinates
never reaches their managers. Participation tends to break down the barriers, and makes the information
available to managers. To the extent such information alters the decisions, the quality of decisions is
improved.
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5. Human Resource Development. Participation provides education to workers in the management of
industry. It fosters initiative and creativity among them. It develops a sense of responsibility. Informal
leaders get an opportunity to reinforce their position and status by playing an active role in decision-
making and by inducing the members of the group to abide by them.
6. Reduced Resistance to Change. Last but not the least, it should be noted that changes are arbitrarily
introduced from above without explanation. Subordinates tend to feel insecure and take counter
measures aimed at sabotage of changes. But when they have participated in the decision making
process, they have had an opportunity to be heard. They know what to expect and why. Their resistance
to change is reduced.
• Both parties should have a genuine faith in the system and in each other and be willing to work
together. The management must give the participating institution its right place in the
managerial organization of the undertaking and implementing the policies of the undertaking.
The labor, on the other hand, must also whole heartedly co-operate with the management
through its trade unions. The foremen and supervisory cadre must also lend their full support so
that the accepted policies could be implemented without any resentment on either side.
• Participation should be real. The issues related to increase in production and productivity,
evaluation of costs, development of personnel, and expansion of markets should also be brought
under the jurisdiction of the participating bodies. These bodies should meet frequently and their
decisions should be timely implemented and strictly adhered to. Further,
o Participation must work as complementary body to help collective bargaining, which
creates conditions of work and also creates legal relations.
o There should be a strong trade union, which has learnt the virtues of unit and self-
reliance so that they may effectively take part in collective bargaining or participation.
o A peaceful atmosphere should be there wherein there are no strikes and lock-outs, for
their presence ruins the employees, harms the interest of the society, and puts the employees
to financial losses.
o Authority should be centralized through democratic management process. The
participation should be at the two or at the most three levels.
o Programs for training and education should be developed comprehensively. For this
purpose, Labor is to be given education not to the head alone, not to the heart alone, not to
the hands alone, but it is dedicated to the three; to make the workers think, feel and act.
Labor is to be educated to enable him to think clearly, rationally and logically; to enable him
to feel deeply and emotionally; and to enable him to act in a responsible way.
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(I) (iv) Scope and ways of participation (Forms):
One view is that workers or the trade unions should, as equal partners, sit with the management and
make joint managerial decisions.
The other view is that workers should only be given an opportunity, through their representatives, to
influence managerial decisions at various levels.
In practice, the participation of workers can take place by one or all the methods listed below:
1. Board level participation
2. Ownership participation
3. Complete control
4. Staff or work councils
5. Joint councils and committees
6. Collective Bargaining
7. Job enlargement and enrichment
8. Suggestion schemes
9. Quality circles
10. Empowered teams
11. TQM
12. Financial participation
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Excessive job specialization that is seen as a by-product of mass production in industries, leads to
boredom and associated problems in employees.
Two methods of job designing – job enlargement and job enrichment – are seen as methods of
addressing the problems.
• Job enlargement means expanding the job content – adding task elements horizontally.
• Job enrichment means adding `motivators’ to the job to make it more rewarding. This is WPM
in that it offers freedom and scope to the workers to use their judgment. But this form of
participation is very basic as it provides only limited freedom to a worker concerning the method
of performing his/her job.
The worker has no say in other vital issues of concern to him – issues such as job and income
security, welfare schemes and other policy decisions.
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10. Empowered Teams:
Empowerment occurs when authority and responsibility are passed on to the employees who then
experience a sense of ownership and control over their jobs. Employees may feel more responsible, may
take initiative in their work, may get more work done, and may enjoy the work more. For empowerment
to occur, the following approach needs to be followed as compared to the traditional approach:
Element Traditional Organization Empowered Teams
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This method involves less consultations or even joint decisions. Performance of the organization is
linked to the performance of the employee. The logic behind this is that if an employee has a financial
stake in the organization, he/she is likely to be more positively motivated and involved.
Limitations of participation:
Technology and organizations today are so complex that specialized work-roles are required.
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• This means employees will not be able to participate effectively in matters beyond their
particular environment. Everybody need not want participation.
• The role of trade unions in promoting participative management has been far from satisfactory.
• Employers are unwilling to share power with the workers’ representatives. Managers consider
participative management a fraud.
In spite of all these efforts, only the government and the academicians have been interested in
participative management. But participative management is staging a comeback. The compulsions of
emerging competitive environment have made employee involvement more relevant than ever before.
Managers and the managed are forced to forget their known stands, break barriers, and work in unison.
Managers and workers are partners in the progress of business.
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Conclusion
Management should be prepared to give all information connected with the working of the industry and
labor should handle that information with full confidence and responsibility. The workers should
become aware of their responsibilities. The leaders should initiate this in them. Similarly, the top
management should make the lower echelons to show a new attitude in the light of the new relationship.
CASE STUDIES
Workers' Participation at TISCO
Since Tata Iron and Steel Company are the pioneers in establishing joint consultation in India, it is
worthwhile to look at workers' participation at TISCO.
Closer association of employees with management at TISCO began in 1919 and was formalized in
August 1956. The purpose was to promote increased productivity, provide a better understanding to the
employees of their role and importance, and to satisfy the urge for self expression. The scheme as set up
at TISCO consist f a three-tiered system with joint department councils (JDCs) constituted at the
departmental level. Next, joint works councils (JWC) for the entire work, and at the top the joint
consultative council of management (JCCM). The specific functions of these three bodies were as
follows:
JDCs were “to study operational results and production problems, advice on the steps deemed necessary
to promote and rationalize production, improve productivity and discipline and economize cost.
Promotion of welfare and safety, encouragement of suggestions and improvement of working conditions
also fell within their purview.”
JWCs were “to discharge special function of reviewing every month the working of JDCs and other
committees such as Suggestion Box Committee, Safety Committee, Canteen Managing Committee, etc.”
JCCM was given the task of advising management on production and welfare and also looking at matters
referred to by JDCs and JWCs
In order to ensure that these committees did not overlap the functions of other committees, separate task
groups were formed. Special courses were offered to prepare both management and union representatives
to effectively utilize the facility. TISCO's experience with workers' participation has been satisfactory.
From 1957 to the middle of 1972 JDCs have discussed a total of 14,104 suggestions of which 70.3 per
cent have been implemented. These suggestions have covered a wide range of topics and issues, but the
most important point to remember, perhaps, is that the councils have been successful in involving
workers equally in the process of production.
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WORKER PARTICIPATION
Review of Judy Mailer (1992) – Conflict & Co-operation; case studies in worker participation
(Johannesburg: Ravan Press).
Bill Freund
If there is a distinctive call within the socialist project in South Africa that comes out of South African
experience, it is the call for worker participation. Few, if any, demands for nationalization or any sort of
restructuring of the firm, lack such a call. This stems to a large extent from the experience of the trade
union movement in the 1980s, from the emphasis that it has laid on worker democracy and on the
challenge to management prerogative on the shop floor. To some degree, this pressure has been met by
a reformist response from South African management, which this book attempts to assess.
As Judy Mailer explains in this useful study, sensitivity to the issue of worker participation is not due to
the force of South African politics alone as to a more basic contradiction in industrial capitalism
generally, one that is becoming rapidly more salient as the industrial character of production shifts in
the late-twentieth century. Capital 'needs to organize the forces and relations of production in a way that
develops the social productivity of labour as much as it alienates it' (p5). Just as the slave system came
up against the impossibility of the whip getting workers to produce with any efficiency or
involvement so capitalism is now coming up against the limits of what the Taytorist regime can extract
in terms of its own needs for extended accumulation. For capital, the challenge lies in finding a means
of involving workers in their own exploitation in such a way as to create a co-operative structure where
authority is diffused and involvement maximised without giving away real power. For labour, the
challenge is increasingly one to find ways of using the openings in new techniques and structures that
will benefit workers and genuinely democratise power. Mailer feels there can be no rejection of this
challenge: 'labour needs to take advantage of capital's contradictory needs in the workplace so as to
benefit workers' (pl4). Most of this book consists of three case studies, well-enough known in the
business literature but all of which the author has researched herself, which tend to demonstrate the
limited possibilities thus far of worker participation in the South African context. Jabula Foods, an
unprofitable and probably overmanned producer of basic dried foodstuffs on the east Rand, is the most
negative example of the three. Worker participation here is artificial and superficial. Management
interest in participation is reduced by the nature of the plant and labour process which offers little scope
for empowerment of workers through enskilling. Worker views of management are extremely harsh and
best expressed in terms of knock-out struggle. A strongly supported union is constantly engaged in
challenges over the basic content of work, not unmarked by violence. Management are very anxious to
destroy 100 TRANSFORMATION 20 (1992) union power and continue to rely significantly on white
skilled and supervisory labour which is deeply antagonistic to union militancy. In this context, head
office plans for worker involvement in production can have little purchase even though ownership links
Jabula to the generally more liberal Premier group.
Volkswagen S A benefits from the sophistication of a very successful international operation. Some
aspects of consultation and involvement have been enacted effectively at the Uitenhage plant while
acceptance of trade unionism as a permanent feature of society is more widespread amongst
management However, conflictual relations are still heavily dominant and attempts to imitate the
smooth flow of goods and people which has given the Japanese car industry such an international edge
have not amounted to much. Although pay is good by local standards and there is a tendency for
workers to stay on the job for many years, workers have to support a wide number of dependents,
diffusing their prosperity enormously and the character of NUMS A democracy tends to empower the
most politically militant and active who know how to make a meeting work in their interests.
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Management in the end see the union as the chief 'stumbling block' to creating a rational production
system and there is some co-operation but little love lost between what clearly remain two antagonists.
It makes a superb case study of the very contradictions that Mailer highlights and would repay a much
longer investigation.
Finally, Mailer discusses the unusual case of Cashbuild where worker participation has been quite
successful. Cashbuild is a network of autonomous shops that sell building materials to a mainly
township clientele outside the main urban centres. Its workforce is small and very differentiated
between sales and labouring staff; trade union involvement is of little or no importance. High language
of participation in Cashbuild has a distinctively South African and paternalist ring but it has achieved
some acceptance amongst workers for a variety of participatory structures. Perhaps most crucially,
workers seem to accept the idea of the pay packet being related to the success of the branch they work
in. Mailer is reluctant to celebrate Cashbuild's success, given her strong union commitment and the
reality that management power is not seriously affected by the participatory structures in Cashbuild, but
is probably on strong ground in pointing to the limited applicability of such a model to the industrial
forum. Nonetheless, the Cashbuild way probably is as close a model to a South African prototype of Far
Eastern production culture as one could find. Mailer has done a valuable service in looking at industry
in a way that statistical analyses of economic trends would never succeed in doing. She exposes the
shallowness and contradictions in management participation strategies on the one hand and the deep,
even violent gulf that exists between capital and labour in many contexts. She suggests that the way
forward is a slow and rocky one, although she necessarily has to factor out the question of political
change at the top. But it is a way that has to be forged if South Africa's uncompetitive industries,
operating with far too little diffusion of managerial and technical skills, not geared to mass market
consumption and at first sight textbook examples of the stark class conflict envisioned in The
Communist Manifesto, will learn to operate more effectively in the sphere of world competition.
TRANSFORMATION 20(1992) 101
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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
ILO has defined collective bargaining as, negotiation about working conditions and terms of
employment between an employer and a group of employees or one or more employee, organization
with a view to reaching an agreement wherein the terms serve as a code of defining the rights and
obligations of each party in their employment/industrial relations with one another.
Collective bargaining involves discussions and negotiations between two groups as to the terms and
conditions of employment. It is called ‘collective’ because both the employer and the employee act as a
group rather than as individuals. It is known as ‘bargaining’ because the method of reaching an
agreement involves proposals and counter proposals, offers and counter offers and other negotiations.
Importance:
Collective bargaining includes not only negotiations between the employers and unions but also
includes the process of resolving labor-management conflicts. Thus, collective bargaining is,
essentially, a recognized way of creating a system of industrial jurisprudence. It acts as a method of
introducing civil rights in the industry, that is, the management should be conducted by rules rather than
arbitrary decision making. It establishes rules which define and restrict the traditional authority
exercised by the management.
Importance to employees
• Collective bargaining develops a sense of self respect and responsibility among the employees.
• It increases the strength of the workforce, thereby, increasing their bargaining capacity as a
group.
• Collective bargaining increases the morale and productivity of employees.
• It restricts management’s freedom for arbitrary action against the employees. Moreover,
unilateral actions by the employer are also discouraged.
• Effective collective bargaining machinery strengthens the trade unions movement.
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• The workers feel motivated as they can approach the management on various matters and
bargain for higher benefits.
• It helps in securing a prompt and fair settlement of grievances. It provides a flexible means for
the adjustment of wages and employment conditions to economic and technological changes in
the industry, as a result of which the chances for conflicts are reduced.
Importance to employers
• It becomes easier for the management to resolve issues at the bargaining level rather than taking
up complaints of individual workers.
• Collective bargaining tends to promote a sense of job security among employees and thereby
tends to reduce the cost of labor turnover to management.
• Collective bargaining opens up the channel of communication between the workers and the
management and increases worker participation in decision making.
• Collective bargaining plays a vital role in settling and preventing industrial disputes.
Importance to society
• Collective bargaining leads to industrial peace in the country
• It results in establishment of a harmonious industrial climate which supports which helps the
pace of a nation’s efforts towards economic and social development since the obstacles to such a
development can be reduced considerably.
• The discrimination and exploitation of workers is constantly being checked.
• It provides a method or the regulation of the conditions of employment of those who are directly
concerned about them.
Distributive bargaining:
It involves haggling over the distribution of surplus. Under it, the economic issues like wages, salaries
and bonus are discussed. In distributive bargaining, one party’s gain is another party’s loss. This is most
commonly explained in terms of a pie. Disputants can work together to make the pie bigger, so there is
enough for both of them to have as much as they want, or they can focus on cutting the pie up, trying to
get as much as they can for themselves. In general, distributive bargaining tends to be more competitive.
This type of bargaining is also known as conjunctive bargaining.
Integrative bargaining:
This involves negotiation of an issue on which both the parties may gain, or at least neither party loses.
For example, representatives of employer and employee sides may bargain over the better training
programme or a better job evaluation method. Here, both the parties are trying to make more of
something. In general, it tends to be more cooperative than distributive bargaining. This type of
bargaining is also known as cooperative bargaining.
Attitudinal restructuring:
This involves shaping and reshaping some attitudes like trust or distrust, friendliness or hostility
between labor and management. When there is a backlog of bitterness between both the parties,
attitudinal restructuring is required to maintain smooth and harmonious industrial relations. It develops
a bargaining environment and creates trust and cooperation among the parties.
Intra-organizational bargaining:
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It generally aims at resolving internal conflicts. This is a type of maneuvering to achieve consensus with
the workers and management. Even within the union, there may be differences between groups. For
example, skilled workers may feel that they are neglected or women workers may feel that their
interests are not looked after properly. Within the management also, there may be differences. Trade
unions maneuver to achieve consensus among the conflicting groups.
1. Prepare: This phase involves composition of a negotiation team. The negotiation team should
consist of representatives of both the parties with adequate knowledge and skills for negotiation.
In this phase both the employer’s representatives and the union examine their own situation in
order to develop the issues that they believe will be most important. The first thing to be done is
to determine whether there is actually any reason to negotiate at all. A correct understanding of
the main issues to be covered and intimate knowledge of operations, working conditions,
production norms and other relevant conditions is required.
2. Discuss: Here, the parties decide the ground rules that will guide the negotiations. A process
well begun is half done and this is no less true in case of collective bargaining. An environment
of mutual trust and understanding is also created so that the collective bargaining agreement
would be reached.
3. Propose: This phase involves the initial opening statements and the possible options that exist to
resolve them. In a word, this phase could be described as ‘brainstorming’. The exchange of
messages takes place and opinion of both the parties is sought.
4. Bargain: negotiations are easy if a problem solving attitude is adopted. This stage comprises the
time when ‘what ifs’ and ‘supposals’ are set forth and the drafting of agreements take place.
5. Settlement: Once the parties are through with the bargaining process, a consensual agreement is
reached upon wherein both the parties agree to a common decision regarding the problem or the
issue. This stage is described as consisting of effective joint implementation of the agreement
through shared visions, strategic planning and negotiated change.
Collective bargaining consists of negotiations between an employer and a group of employees that
determine the conditions of employment. Often employees are represented in the bargaining by a union
or other labor organization. The result of collective bargaining procedure is called the collective
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bargaining agreement (CBA). Collective agreements may be in the form of procedural agreements or
substantive agreements. Procedural agreements deal with the relationship between workers and
management and the procedures to be adopted for resolving individual or group disputes.
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• The trade union movement and also CB agreements became popular after Indian independence. Moving
from agreements at the plant level, such agreements spread to industries such as chemicals, petroleum,
tea, coal, oil and aluminum.
• In ports and docks, banking and insurance, collective agreements were arrived at, right at the national
level.
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