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CONTENTS
16.0 Aims and Objectives
16.1 Introduction
16.2 Trade Unions
16.3 Objectives of Trade Unions
16.3.1 Wages and Salaries
16.3.2 Working Conditions
16.3.3 Discipline
16.3.4 Personnel Policies
16.3.5 Welfare
16.3.6 Employeeemployer Relations
16.3.7 Negotiating Machinery
16.3.8 Safeguarding Organisational Health and the Interest of the Industry
16.4 Functions of Trade Unions
16.4.1 Militant or Protective or Intramutual Functions
16.4.2 Fraternal or Extramural Functions
16.4.3 Political Functions
16.4.4 Social Functions
16.5 Union Structure
16.5.1 Craft Unions
16.5.2 Industrial Union
16.5.3 General Union
16.5.4 Federations
16.6 Growth of Trade Union Movement and Membership
16.6.1 Early Period
16.6.2 A Modest Beginning
16.7 All India Trade Union Congress
16.7.1 Period of Splits and Mergers
16.7.2 Indian National Trade Union Congress
16.7.3 Other Central Unions
16.8 Present Position
Contd...
Human Resource Management 16.9 Let us Sum Up
16.10 Lessonend Activities
16.11 Keywords
16.12 Questions for Discussion
16.13 Suggested Readings
16.1 INTRODUCTION
The term ‘industrial relations’ refers to relationships between management and labour
or among employees and their organisations that characterise or grow out of employment.
(i)
Theoretically speaking, there are two parties in the ‘employment’ relationship – labour
and management. Both parties need to work in a spirit of cooperation, adjustment and
(ii)
accommodation. In their own mutual interest certain rules for coexistence are formed
and adhered to. Over the years, the State has also come to play a major role in industrial
relations – one, as an initiator of policies and the other, as an employer by setting up an
extremely large public sector.
The term ‘industrial relations’ has been defined by different authors in different ways.
Dale Yoder defined it as “a relationship between management and employees or among
employees and their organisations, that characterise and grow out of employment”.
According to R A Lester, industrial relations “involve attempts to have workable solutions
between conflicting objectives and values, between incentive and economic security,
between discipline and industrial democracy, between authority and freedom and between
bargaining and cooperation”.
According to the ILO, “industrial relations deal with either the relationships between the
state and the employers and the workers’ organisation or the relation between the
occupational organisations themselves”. The ILO uses the expression to denote such
matters as “freedom of association and the protection of the right to organise, the
application of the principles of the right to organise, and the right of collective bargaining,
collective agreements, concilitation and arbitration and machinery for cooperation between
the authorities and the occupational organisations at various levels of the economy.
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i. Trade union is an association either of employees or employers or of independent Industrial Relation
workers.
ii. It is a relatively permanent formation of workers. It is not a temporary or casual
combination of workers. It is formed on a continuous basis.
iii. It is formed for securing certain economic (like better wages, better working and
living conditions) and social (such as educational, recreational, medical, respect for
individual) benefits to members. Collective strength offers a sort of insurance cover
to members to fight against irrational, arbitrary and illegal actions of employers.
Members can share their feelings, exchange notes and fight the employer quite
effectively whenever he goes off the track
iv. It includes a federation of trade unions also.
v. It emphasises joint, coordinated action and collective bargaining.
16.3.3 Discipline
Trade unions not only conduct negotiations in respect of the items with which their
working conditions may be improved but also protect the workers from the clutches of
management whenever workers become the victims of management’s unilateral acts
and disciplinary policies. This victimisation may take the form of penal transfers,
suspensions, dismissals, etc. In such a situation the separated worker who is left in a
helpless condition may approach the trade union. Ultimately the problem may be brought
to the notice of management by the trade union and it explains about the injustice meted
out to an individual worker and fights the management for justice. Thus, the victimised
worker may be protected by the trade union. 207
Human Resource Management 16.3.4 Personnel policies
Trade unions may fight against improper implementation of personnel policies in respect
of recruitment, selection, promotions, transfers, training, etc.
16.3.5 Welfare
As stated earlier, trade unions are meant for the welfare of workers. Trade union works
as a guide, consulting authority and cooperates in overcoming the personnel problems of
workers. It may bring to the notice of management, through collective bargaining meetings,
the difficulties of workers in respect of sanitation, hospitals, quarters, schools and colleges
for their children’s cultural and social problems.
These functions include affiliating the union to a political party, helping the political party
in enrolling members, collecting donations, seeking the help of political parties during the
periods of strikes and lockouts.
16.5.4 Federations
These are national level entitles to which plant level unions, craft unions, industrial unions
and general unions are affiliated. These are apex bodies, coordinating the affairs of
various unions in their fold.
The efforts of Indian National Congress resulted in the establishment of Indian National
Trade Union Congress (INTUC) by bringing about a split in the AITUC. INTUC started
gaining membership right from the beginning.
ii. Though the number of unions has greatly increased in the last four decades, the
union membership per union has not kept pace. The National Commission on labour
has stated that only 131 unions had a membership of over 5,000. More than 70% of
the unions had a membership of below 500. Over the years the average membership
figures per union have fallen steadily from about 1387 in 1943 to 750 in 2000.
Unions with a membership of over 2000 constitute roughly 4 per cent of the total
unions in the country.
iii. There is a high degree of unionisation (varying from 30% to over 70%) in coal,
cotton, textiles, iron and steel, railways, cement, banking, insurance, ports and docks
and tobacco sector. White collar unions have also increased significantly covering
officers, senior executives, managers, civil servants, self employed professions like
doctors, lawyers, traders, etc., for safeguarding their interests.
iv. Most of the unions in India are fairly small in size. Postliberalisation, membership
figures have become somewhat pathetic.
Box 16.1: Trade Unions and their Membership
Details 1998 1999 2000
1. No. of registered workers’ unions 61,199 64,040 65,286
2. Number submitting returns 7,291 8,061 7,224
3. Membership of unions submitting 7,229 6,394 5,417
returns (’000)
4. Average membership per union 991 793 749
The 12 million unionised workers in the country are scattered among 12 central trade
union organisations (as against one or two in UK, Japan, USA) with the BMS, INTUC,
AITUC, CITU and HMS among the top five. The membership figures of each such
union, naturally are not very impressive – AITUC had 9.24 lakh; INTUC has 27.06 lakh;
HMS had 14.77 lakh and UTUC 8.3 lakh (Lenin group); and CITU had 17.98 lakh
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Human Resource Management members in 1995. The membership figures have not changed significantly over the years.
Just about 10% of the total workforce in India is unionised. The last membership survey
was carried out in 1989, the results came in 1992 suggesting the supremacy of BMS as
the union having maximum union members in the country – about 31 lakh.
A lot of benefits in the form of representation in various government committees, PSU
boards, wage negotiation committees would be available to the BMS as a result of this
survey. In the 1980 survey INTUC emerged as the topper among the national trade
unions in the country. The survey results of 1989 had been leaked to the press in 1992,
but not officially endorsed by the government till recently. What about the figures of
members claimed by INTUC and others after 1989 survey ? A meeting held on 2.10.1994
did not resolve the conflicting claims of RSS affiliated BMS and Congress supported
INTUC and the stalemate continues!