THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA

DEPARTMENT OF ADULT EDUCATION AND EXTENSION STUDIES

INTERNAL MEMORANDUM

INTRODUCTION TO INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

FIRST HAND OUT

1.0 DEFINITION

 There is no standard definition of the term ‘IR’

 It is often used interchangeably with such terms as personnel management,
employee/personnel relations and manpower mgt.
 Although distinctions can be established among these terms, they have one
common goal – the effective use of human resources.

1.1 Some of the definitions of IR are:

 IR can be regarded as a system of rules regulating employment and the ways in
which people behave and relate to each other at places of work. Like other
relationship concepts, it involves relationships between two or more parties. In
this case, it involves employee relationships among themselves and between
employees and management in formal and informal situations.
 It is a specialist area of organizational mgt and study which is concerned with a
particular set of phenomena associated with regulating the human activity of
employment.
 IR means employment relationships.
 IR include relationships between unionized workers, their representatives, and
management in all aspects of labor in an undertaking, regardless of the ownership
or industrial classifications of the undertaking.
 IR refers to the multilateral (many sided) relations between employer, employee
and government
As can be seen, there are as many definitions of IR as there are writers.

1.1.1 The Nature and Scope of IR

 Zambia is an industrial society that is rapidly becoming complex and dynamic,

comprising different groups’ activities and institutional relationships intertwined
with a variety of attitudes and expectations
 To understand the topic of our study, we need to examine the various
relationships that exist in our working society.
 Ordinarily, IR often taken to mean labor relations, is little understood by the
uninitiated
 Worse still, there are other relationships that are confused with IR: labor relations
and employee relations.
 We shall briefly explain the meanings of the three terms:

- IR, labor and employee relations

Industrial relations
 This is a social phenomenon that should be understood in a wider context. IR is
taken to mean, in a wider context, as the relationship that exists between industry
and society.
 The relationship between the two is very important in the life of any nation, as
industry provides the engine for development
 Industry is responsible for the creation of wealth, which through employment and
other means, is distributed throughout society
 Since the ongoing industrial revolution that started in the 1800s in Europe still
requires the intervention of government in the relationship that exists between
society and industry.

Labor relations
 At the individual organizational level, the relationship that exists between the
organization and the workers from the community in which it operates constitutes
what is known as labor relations.
 Dunlop (1958) suggested that labor relations frame consists of four elements:
i) An environmental context
ii) Participants, i.e. employees and their unions, management, and
government
iii) A web of rules that describe the process by which labor and management
interact and resolve their disagreements.
iv) Ideology, e.g. capitalist system
 In the US, labor relations means IR as described above.
 For our study, we should understand IR to refer to industry-society relationship
and labor relationship to refer to organizational/or company-worker relationship.

Employee relationship

 The third confusing expression is employee relations

 In our study this expression will be taken to mean the relationship that exists
between managers and employees at the individual level
 It simply refers to the way that a manager relates to his workers, whether he
directs/consults them when making decisions or whether he has empowered them
to make their own decisions and to consult him when need arises
 Conclusion
 Therefore, we can conclude that IR is all inclusive social phenomenon, which at
the organizational level is known as labor relations and at the management level it
becomes employee relations.
 In the language of mathematics, IR is the universal set that contains subsets of
labor and employee relations.
 Another way to understand these relationships is to consider IR as existing at the
global/national level, labor relations existing at the collective/organizational level
and employee relations existing at the individual level.

2.0 THE CONTEXT OF IR

Context refers to the background or circumstances surrounding a particular event
or situation which may influence or constrain its development.
 IR are conducted within the external context of national, political, economic, the
international influence and the internal context of the organization.
 An organization exists within environments, which maybe internal and external to
it. The main contexts are:

2.1 IR as part of Social Activity

 IR is only one segment of a society’s structure and activity and as such it is
influenced by, and in turn influences other segments of society’s activity: the
economic, social, and political segments are of particular importance. Actions and
changes in these sectors may directly stimulate or constrain specific IR activities
as well as indirectly influence the attitudes of the participants.
 These environments exert an influence at all levels of IR and therefore
organizational issues, conflicts and values are inextricably bound up with those of
the society at large
 IR cannot be separated or insulated from the influence of the society. IR reflects
the prevailing societal feelings, attitudes, aspirations and many other aspects.

i) The political Context

 The political context is formed by the government of the day.
 Some governments will want to curb the power of the trade unions through
legislation and will succeed to some degree.
 Some will be committed to making some changes in the area of trade union
recognition, but others do not intend to make any changes to existing trade unions
legislation.
 An example of the context can be seen from the Zambian situation.
 During the first and second republics, it was enshrined in the law and in practice
that each industry was supposed to have one union, i.e. ZCTU. This encouraged
stability.
 When multiparty democracy was re-introduced in the country, during the third
republic, the law was repealed to allow for the formation of other unions.
 This was a government headed by former trade union leaders who dismantled the
one umbrella trade union arrangement, thereby enabling the formation of
breakaway umbrella union called FFTUZ which operates parallel to the ZCTU.
 In the same case, at the industrial level parallel unions were formed, e.g.
SESTUZ, PETUZ etc.

ii) The Economic Context

 The economic context over the past number of years has been one of recessions
and recovery from recessions to structural adjustment programmes (SAPs) which
vary productivity
 These affect employment by workforce down-sizing becoming a more prevalent
situation in the country.
 In Zambia, loss of jobs arising from liberalization of the economy as a result of
privatization and closing of companies has been a social disaster for IR.
 Perhaps the most significant feature of the changing economic environment from
the IR view point has been the weakening of union activities where unions had
traditionally been strongly organized, i.e. in the manufacturing sector.
 This sector has experienced factory closures and capital-intensive technology at
the expense of labor intensive.
 This has resultantly weakened the power of the trade unions and their ability to
bargain economically.

iii) The Regional Grouping Context

 The influence of international conventions and cooperation agreements signed in
meeting of countries of regional and international bodies have an effect on IR and
bargaining in the organization
 Employee relations in the UK or other member countries are affected by EU
regulations and initiatives
 It seems likely that the conduct of employees relations in any EU country will be
increasingly affected by EU directives such as these concerning works councils,
working hours and permits.
 This is also encouraged in the COMESA treaty and programme of action
 This treaty has suggested that by 2015, there will be free movement of labor that
will be affected by common labor and IR, rules and regulations.

iv) The Intra organizational Context

 The need to take ‘cost out of business’ has meant that employers have focused on
cost of labor, usually the highest and most difficult cost to reduce.
 Hence the ‘lean organization’ movement and large-scale redundancies, especially
in manufacturing.
 There has been pressure for greater flexibility and increased management control
of operations. This situation has had a direct impact on employee relations’
policies and union agreements.
  The widespread introduction of new technology and information technology has
aimed to increase productivity by achieving higher levels of efficiency and
reducing labor costs.
 Organizations are relying more on a core of key full-time staff, leaving the
peripheral work to be done by contractors and the increasing numbers of part
timers of men and women. This has reduced the number of employees who wish
to join unions or remain trade union members.

2.2 Time Related context

 The present is a continuum between the past and the future; consequently, current
IR owes much to its past and the participants’ goals and expectations for the
future.
 At the micro level, the time context may be evidenced in two ways:
i) Today’s problems stem from yesterday’s decisions and its solutions will,
as the environments change, become a problem in the future
ii) The attitudes, expectations and relationships manifested by the
participants are, at least in part, the product of their past individual and
collective experiences
 At the macro level, IR as a whole are subject to adjustment and development as
society itself changes and develops.

2.3 Mass Media Context

 The mass media provides an additional and very significant context for IR by
virtue of their shaping attitudes, opinions and expectations
 As part of the public, unionists and managers have a partial direct experience of
the full range of activities present in society.
 The press plays a very important role in not only informing the public, but also
influencing public opinion on what is happening concerning the welfare of society
or community or organization.

2.4 The IR ‘System’ Context

 These are the roles, relationships, institutions, processes and activities which
comprise the phenomena of IR exist both in a wide variety of industries and
services and at a number of levels ranging from the department and company
levels through the industry level to the national level.
 This creates a pattern of internal influences both horizontally and vertically.

3.0 THE OUTLINE OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS FIELD

 The students who specialize in the IR field may have somewhat greater interest in
the details of common practice. All students of management of people at work
should understand both functional areas and the levels of managerial concerns
which include:
i) General administration of IR – new policies and employee-related
matters with unions need to be communicated and explained to the wider
section of employees
ii) Recruitment, selection and placement – both internal and external
recruitment, and how they are done, are a source of concern to workers
who may react/question as to why and how certain personnel are selected
opposed to the existing practice/tradition. Placement involves experience
and compensation, thus existing employees will query the criteria under
which new people are brought into the company and why they are placed
in certain positions as opposed to others with similar qualifications.
iii) Training and development – when the company has got a good policy
and support for such programmes, a spirit of hard work is cultivated and
the morale of workers is increased. This encourages cooperative spirit and
loyalty of employees to the company. Such programmes go along way in
improving and maintaining harmonious and cordial IR, between workers
and management in the company. Consequently, industrial conflicts are
reduced and productivity rises. Training and development is a vehicle for
upward mobility in hierarchy for ambitious employees.
iv) Labor relations – this includes collection of information in preparation
for collective negotiations and dealing with union representative in the
administration of collective agreements.
v) Compensation administration & collective agreement interpretations
– there must be regular consultations in compensation and collective
agreement, as emolument is what keeps people in employment.
vi) Administration of benefits and services programmes including health
and safety – issues of health, safety and welfare of employees are
essential functions in the management-workers committees. These can
bring about good IR.
vii) Workers Education
Workers need to be educated on work-related issues like labor day, labor
laws and conventions, equal employment opportunities, affirmative action,
rights and obligations through regular seminars and workshops.
viii) Grievance procedure handling
This involves preparation and presentation of cases for mediation or
arbitration by the IR Court and other government agencies.
ix) The Disciplinary procedure
This should be done in a very transparent and fair manner. Whenever
discipline is dispensed, management should indicate the workers rights
and procedure of appeal.
x) Job Design, analysis, and evaluation
The improperly designed jobs can alienate the workers. An alienated
employee may often vent his/her anger on his superior and workmates.
Thus, due attention should paid to job design which affects IR. Further,
job analysis and evaluation are concerned with what the employee’s
responsibility and the requirements of the job holder as well as the rewards
(compensation) accruing to the employee. These are very critical issues
and will certainly affect the IR in both the short and long terms. When
carefully done, job evaluation brings about good labor relations since it
 encourages higher compensation in a job that contributes substantially to
the objectives of the company.

MAIN CONCERNS OF IR DEPARTMENT/SECTION

 Our main concern is on administration of IR and labor relations matters. In
administration of IR the following are issues dealt with:
a) Formulation of IR policy
b) Planning and coordinating IR activities
c) Planning and recommending revision of organization structure
d) Selection, promotion and transfer of IR staff
e) Supervision of IR staff
f) Employee records i.e. records on specific phases of IR programmes and
activities
g) Review and evaluation of IR programmes involving unions
h) Budgeting for IR programmes

 In terms of labor relations the following activities come out:

a) Collection of information for preparing contract negotiations
b) Preparation of company briefs
c) Contract negotiations
d) Contract interpretation and day by day administration
e) Dealing with union representatives in administration of contracts
f) Grievance handling
g) Preparation and presentation of cases for arbitration and mediation by the IRC
and other government agencies
h) Union-management committees e.g. on health and safety

3.1 MANAGEMENT OF PEOPLE AT WORK

 At the centre of IR is the employment and management of people. Indeed, many

enlightened organizations have come to realize that people are their greatest asset
deserving careful selection, training and motivation
 You have got to have the right ones in the right jobs for them and you have got to
be sure employees are being paid fairly and being given opportunities for
promotion. A chief executive is nothing without people.
 Treat people as adults. Treat them as partners; treat them with dignity; treat them
with respect – you must treat your workers as the most important asset.
 It is generally recognized that workers spend most of their work time at a place of
work and therefore the conditions governing their work should be conducive if
they have to work for longer years.
 Workers in a free country accept the leadership of managers, not necessarily out
of respect, recognizing that such managers may have been appointed wrongly and
that they may have appointed themselves to position of leadership
 In the same vein, managers must recognize the need to supervise fairly and
allocate duties to subordinates fairly even though they may not be in good
working relationships.
3.2 WHY HUMAN CAPITAL IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN OTHER
RESOURCES

 An organization has many resources including finance, materials, machines,

equipment, information, technological processes and human resources (people).
 Why human resources are different from other resources and more important:
a) People are the most important resources in the organization, since an
organization cannot exist or do without people.
b) People are each one of them a unique-creation, different from each other and
have different abilities and physical appearances and behavior. This calls for
managers to be tolerant with people in organizations as they have different
attitudes and interests.
c) People belong to many organizations at the same time e.g. family, religion,
workplace, country, club, social status etc, they occupy different leadership
roles and perform different activities all of which influence their behavior.
Each person is complete with all these different roles and activities.
d) People rarely behave rationally i.e. it is not easy to predict precisely human
behavior as people behave according to their ego and their wishes.
e) People have a capability to explain what they do and make choices.

3.3 MAJOR VARIABLES IN INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS SYSTEM

 The management model of IR systems, below, shows three main components i.e.
individual workers, work organization within and without enterprise and
government interacting
 Principal variables in each component are influenced by the basic cultural setting
of every society. Besides, every manager should realize that employment
relationship are dynamic. The three major variables in the model are:
1.) Workers and working careers. Emphasized are personal characteristics of
workers i.e. their attainments, educational levels, skills, attitudes towards
work and common career patterns
2.) Work organization. The size of the organization, the staff mix, lines of
authority and communication, unions, employer associations, work groups or
teams are the main issues
3.) The role of Government. Many agencies of local and central government pal
vital roles in the employment, assistance and regulation of IR
 2. WORK ORGANIZATION

Size and mix,

Specialization
Authority/power
Communication
Union
1. WORKERS
 Mobility
 Career patterns
 Skills
 Attitudes
 knowledge

3. GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION
 Regulating work conditions using laws – legislature
 Providing public employment
 Intervening e.g. IR court – Judiciary
 Representing the IR relationships – Executive

3.4 CORPORATE OBJECTIVES AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

 It is important to relate IR to organizational objectives since objectives will have a

bearing on the members of the organization as they relate to each other vertically
or laterally.
 Objectives are the ends that organizations seek to achieve through its raison d’etre
(reason for existence) and operations
 Objectives help define the organization in its environment i.e. the organization
needs to justify its existence and legitimize itself in the eyes of government,
customers and society
 Objectives help in coordinating decisions since they direct the attention of
employees to desirable standards of behavior.

Some of the objectives that organizations pursue include:

 The continuity of profits
 Attain high productivity
 Employee satisfaction and development
 Quality products and services for customers
 Good corporate citizenship and social responsibility
 Market leadership (e.g. to be first to market with innovation).
 Market share
 Maximization of dividends or share prices for stockholders.
  Service to society

3.5 MODERN EMPLOYMENT GOALS

1) To maintain an even balance of jobs and job holders with enough manpower
working to raise incomes of employees in order to improve their living standards.
2) To help workers now and in the future to have the best most productive and most
happy profitable jobs so that they can be most happy, enthusiastic and effective.
3) To help workers maximize their contributions and reward through training and
development and provision of the best and latest tools and equipment.
4) To ensure careful protection and conservation of all the human capital to avoid its
waste and careless use.
5) To accomplish all the above objectives when workers make their own decisions
with a minimum of supervision and enforced direction.

END