Industrial Relations

What is Industrial/Labour Relations?

The continuous relationship between a defined
group of employees and management.
The relationship includes:
The

negotiation of a written contract concerning

pay, hours, and other terms and conditions of
employment.
The interpretation and administration of this
contract over its period of coverage.

 Types of Industrial Relations Organizations

Craft Unions: unions that represent skilled craft
workers.
Labour/Trade Unions: unions that represent all
workersskilled, semi-skilled, and unskilled
employed along industry lines.
Employees Associations: organizations that
represent various groups of professional and
white-collar employees in establishments or
industries.
Employers Associations: organizations that
represent all employers in industries.

 What is a Trade Union?

A union is an organization of workers, acting
collectively, seeking to promote and protect its
mutual interests through collective bargaining.
Why Employees Join Unions?
Employees generally join trade unions to satisfy
needs that are important to them including:
Socialization

and group membership

Communication link to management
Fair compensation
Greater job security
Safe and healthy working conditions

 Formation of Trade Union

All workers in an establishment have the right to
form trade unions under the provisions of IRO
1969. But no worker is allowed to become the
member of more than one trade union.
A trade union must be registered. But a trade
union must have a minimum membership of 30
percent of the total number of workers
employed in the establishment to qualify for
registration.

 Formation of Trade Union

The registration of a trade union involves an
elaborate, formal procedure.
A duly registered trade union is issued with a
certificate of registration by the Registrar.
A registered trade union is a body corporate
with a separate legal entity.
Any two or more registered trade unions may
form a federation of unions and register it under
the provisions of IRO 1969.

Collective Bargaining
What is Collective Bargaining?
Process by which the representatives of the
employer meet and attempt to work out a
contract with the representative organization of
employees called the Collective Bargaining
Agent (CBA).
Collective Bargaining Agent: means the trade
union of workers in relation to an establishment
or industry which is the agent of the workers in
the establishment or industry in the matter of
collective bargaining.

 Collective Bargaining Agent

If an establishment has only one registered
trade union with its members not less than onethird of the total worker employed in the
establishment that trade union will work as the
CBA.
But if an establishment has more than one
registered trade unions one of them will be
elected as CBA for a 2-year term through a
secret ballot arranged by the Registrar.

 Settlement of Industrial Dispute

Industrial dispute: any dispute or difference
between two parties (such as the employer and
the workers) in regard to wages, working hours,
working conditions, or other terms and
conditions of employment.

 Settlement of Industrial Dispute

Such industrial disputes are settled through a
series of instruments which include:

Negotiation
Conciliation
Arbitration
Strike and lockout
Labour court
Labour appellate tribunal