Industrial Disputes Research Articles

Trade Openness and Labour Market Unrest: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing Industry

This paper examines the impact of import competition on industrial disputes in Indian manufacturing. Theoretically, import competition is expected to improve the efficiency of bargaining in the labour market by reducing the incidence of industrial disputes. Impact on two dimensions of disputes, namely number of disputes and number of persons’ days lost in disputes, by segregating them into strikes and lockouts are analysed. Import competition is found to be reducing the number and extent of industrial disputes and the impact is quantitatively significant. The paper discusses the implications of the findings.

A Study to Analyze Provision of Arbitration and Conciliation in Labour Legislations in India

In this paper the focus of the research is arbitration and conciliation in industrial dispute and its legal provisions. As we see in the current scenario industries are booming and have reached their paramount stage of development and still continue to grow. However with the development industrial disputes have also increased. The disputes and conflicts between the employees and the employers have caused adverse effects to the commercial development of these industries. With globalization and increase in complexities the responsibilities have shifted to the state to find an amicable way where the disputes are resolved quickly and efficiently with consuming a lot of cost. Thus here the alternative dispute resolutions came in the play; the legislation had enacted these provisions to solve the same. Here in this paper we will look into the provision of ADR in labour legislation and also see recent judgments, amendments and the different aspects of arbitration and conciliation in the labour legislation in India.

Termination of Employment-Based on Efficiency in Indonesian Company

The different interest between employer and employee is potentially causing Industrial Dispute between them. Industrial Disputes is dominated by Termination of Employment (laid off) dispute; one of the reasons is company efficiency. Based on that matter, it needs to be studied regarding its legality, procedure, employees’ rights and the pattern of Industrial Dispute Settlement regarding laid off through company efficiency. Based on these problems, several conclusions can be drawn. Firstly, Termination of Employment must be based on a valid reason under the law. Secondly, Termination of Employment due to company’s efficiency can only be done on the condition that the company permanently closed. Thirdly, in the case of termination of employment for company efficiency, the company must pay attention to the employee’s rights in the form of compensation based on consideration of wages and the employee’s duration of work. Fourthly, the pattern of Industrial Dispute Resolution that can be adopted by the parties is bipartite, tripartite and Industrial Relation Court.

LEGAL POSITION OF DOUBLE EMPLOYMENT IN MALAYSIA

Double employment is a situation where an employee holds double paid jobs, either as an employee or as being self-employed. The issue of double employment has been subject to discussion and even has brought to industrial dispute between employer and employee which require the judicial intervention. While some employers allow their employees to engage in double employment, there are few legislations clearly prohibit this practice. In Malaysia, as to date there is no specific law regulating double employment by employees. This article aims to analyse the position of double employment in Malaysia.

Labour Market Regulation and Manufacturing Employment: A Study of Organized Manufacturing Sector Across Indian States

Labour regulation varies across different states in India. Using the state-level labour amendments of the Industrial Dispute Act (IDA), Besley and Burgess (Q J Econ 119:91–134, 2004) classified states as pro-worker and pro-employer states. Bhattacharjea (Indian J Labor Econ 49(2):211–232, 2006; Working paper, Center on Democracy, Development, and The Rule of Law Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Stanford University, 2009) criticized Besley and Burgess’s (2004) paper both in terms of its methodology and in terms of its overall coding of the labour regulation index. The current paper uses the Besley and Burgess’s (2004) methodology, classifies states as flexible and inflexible based on the state-level amendments of the IDA and looks into the issue of manufacturing employment for the three-digit manufacturing industries across Indian states. Data on industrial outputs and employment were extracted from ASI three-digit manufacturing industries for the period from 1980–1981 to 2006–2007. The employment function was estimated for both total workers (measured as ‘total persons engaged’) and production workers (measured as ‘workers’) as dependent variables regressed on the labour market regulation index. The variables are found to be stationary under panel unit root tests. Controlling for industry-fixed and year-fixed effects, we found stringent labour regulation to adversely affect manufacturing employment. We did not find enough evidence to support the hypothesis that labour-intensive industries are worst affected from rigid labour laws. The results are found to be robust under dynamic panel estimation.

The Myth of the Asturian Radical Miner during the Decarbonisation

The world economy, in the 20th century, went through several energy transitions from charcoal to natural gas, and currently there is a transition to a low-carbon future. The international community is actively promoting the idea of decarbonization, which implies a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. Although the current level of technology development does not allow abandoning the use of traditional energy sources, a general Western European tendency has already emerged to gradually abandon coal energy, driving the coal industry into another deep crisis. Coal mining is at the heart of the economic and social development of Asturias, and the miners' labor movement was the main social and political pillar of the region throughout the 20th century. Industrial disputes with mining companies and the government, high-profile miners' strikes and radicalism as an important component of the professional identity of miners around the world throughout the 20th century, have created the mythological image of the radical miner. This is the most militant segment of the labor movement, and the influence of the miners' trade unions has turned miners into leaders of leftist movements in many countries. The difficult and dangerous nature of work in an unfavorable environment connects the world history of coal mining with the trade union organizations of miners, the development of mining culture, which at the present time is already considered as an intangible heritage, and since the last third of the 20th century, with the corporate social responsibility of mining companies. Using the method of media analysis, a study of the current situation in the coal industry of Asturias and the vitality of the myth about the radical miner was carried out. Undoubtedly, decarbonization complicates the situation in the coal industry, but the task of the trade unions is precisely to minimize risks for people, to increase the possibility of maintaining wages, retraining, and finding new jobs. Drawing the attention of the state to these problems can help prevent social explosions and harmonize relations in society. But in modern conditions, miners, whose future is ambiguous, no longer possess that mythologized vital force, as it was in the 20th century, but rather depend on the efficiency of communications of the state, mining companies and trade unions.

Striking a Bargain: Narrative Identification of Wage Bargaining Shocks

We quantify the effects of wage bargaining shocks on macroeconomic aggregates using a structural vector auto-regression model for Germany. We identify exogenous variation in bargaining power from episodes of minimum wage introduction and industrial disputes. This narrative information disciplines the impulse responses to a wage bargaining shock of un-employment and output, and sharpens inference on the behaviour of other variables. The implied transmission mechanism is in line with the theoretical predictions of a large class of search and matching models. We also find that wage bargaining shocks explain a sizeable share of aggregate fluctuations in unemployment and inflation, that their pass-through to prices is very close to being full, and that they imply plausible dynamics for the vacancy rate, firms’ profits, and the labour share. JEL Classification: J2, J3, E32, C32

Layoff and Lockout: An Analysis under Industrial Disputes Act, 1947

Layoff and Lockout: An Analysis under Industrial Disputes Act, 1947

Contract Labor and Firm Growth in India

India's Industrial Disputes Act (IDA) of 1947 requires firm with more than 100 workers to pay large costs if they shrink their employment. Since the early 2000s, large Indian manufacturing firms have increasingly relied on contract workers who are not subject to the IDA. By 2015, contract workers accounted for 38% of total employment at firms with more than 100 workers compared to 20% in 2000. Over the same time period, the thickness of the right tail of the firm size distribution in formal Indian manufacturing plants increased, the average product of labor for large firms declined, the job creation rate for large firms increased, and the probability that large firms introduce new products rose. We provide evidence that these outcomes were caused by an increased reliance on contract labor among large establishments. A model of firm growth subject to firing costs suggests the rise of contract labor increased TFP in Indian manufacturing by 7.6%, occurring all through a one-time reduction in misallocation between large and small firms with negligible change in the long-run growth rate.

Topic: Layoff and Lockout: An Analysis under Industrial Disputes Act, 1947

Topic: Layoff and Lockout: An Analysis under Industrial Disputes Act, 1947

Contract Labor and Firm Growth in India

India's Industrial Disputes Act (IDA) of 1947 requires firm with more than 100 workers to pay large costs if they shrink their employment. Since the early 2000s, large Indian manufacturing firms have increasingly relied on contract workers who are not subject to the IDA. By 2015, contract workers accounted for 38% of total employment at firms with more than 100 workers compared to 20% in 2000. Over the same time period, the thickness of the right tail of the firm size distribution in formal Indian manufacturing plants increased, the average product of labor for large firms declined, the job creation rate for large firms increased, and the probability that large firms introduce new products rose. We provide evidence that these outcomes were caused by an increased reliance on contract labor among large establishments. A model of firm growth subject to firing costs suggests the rise of contract labor increased TFP in Indian manufacturing by 7.6%, occurring all through a one-time reduction in misallocation between large and small firms with negligible change in the long-run growth rate.

Possibilities of workplace mediation in the European Union

The world of labor market and industrial relations is a field where conflicts and disputes are inevitable characteristics of the operation, regardless of the form of employment. Also, labor disputes appear both from an individual aspect, where the disputants are the employer and the employee, and in a collective respect, where the disputes take place between the employer(s) and the collective of the workers, typically represented by an employee organization (union) or a works council. 
 When a conflict or a dispute cannot be resolved through negotiation, the law offers dispute resolution mechanisms for the participants. Therefore, several legal mechanisms have been evolved in order to resolve disputes, starting from the classical form of litigation, where a court determines the end of the dispute by its judgement, and other alternative forms of dispute resolution, such as arbitration, mediation and conciliation, where the parties can reach a decision or a settlement outside of the judicial system of the state.
 EU Member States have introduced various legislative rules for labor dispute resolution covering all manner of individual and collective disputes. ADR schemes are also supported by the ILO, as the ILO Recommendation No. 92 (1951) suggests that voluntary conciliation should be made available to assist in the prevention and settlement of industrial disputes between employers and workers. Within the aegis of the European Union, several instruments have emerged with the attempt to elaborate the basic principles for the operation of ADR schemes in the context of cases between businesses and consumers. The Directive 2013/11/EU on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes (the “ADR Directive”) and Regulation (EU) No 524/2013 on online dispute resolution for consumer disputes (the “ODR Regulation”) ensured that consumers could turn to quality alternative dispute resolution entities for all kinds of contractual disputes with traders, and established an EU-wide online platform for consumer disputes that arise from online transactions with traders.
 Workplace mediation is widely and successfully utilized in the USA for solely employment purposes both in the private and the public sector. Also, in the United States is a “employment at will” doctrine prevails, that basically means – unless stipulated to the contrary by the parties – the employment relationship can be terminated with immediate effect without any justification (just cause), thus workers do not have access to legal remedies as in the EU where the statutory laws provide a broad protection against arbitrary or unjust termination. Mediation, however, provide an effective solution for employees and workers, even if situated outside the protective scope of labor law.
 While the role of customer/consumer ADR and mediation is increasing throughout the whole European Union, workplace and employment mediation still constitutes a “grey zone”. In many of the legal instruments of the EU and also in several products of the national legislations, consumers and workers are treated with the same legal awareness, thus protective laws compensate their weaker position in their legal relationships, but as far as the utilization and access of dispute resolution schemes are concerned, a significant but not always reasonable differentiation can be detected. Also, while mediation is an available tool for individual employment matters, still has not been utilized considerably, and remained an instrument only to resolve mostly collective conflicts. Therefore, the aim of this paper to present various styles of mediations from a comparative perspective, to express their biggest advantages and to highlight the areas where mediation could be more suitable to use in the context of the individual disputes of the workplace.

Trade Unions and Their Impact on Productivity: A Review of Sri Lankan Context from 1995 to 2015

There are many factors that cause trade union actions such as problems related to organizational culture, management and administrative issues, problems related to working conditions, demand for higher salaries and other benefits by the employees and political influences. As a result of these trade union actions, lots of working hours may lose and it could badly affect the productivity of the organization. This study was conducted with a view to make a review on trade unions and their impact on productivity in Sri Lankan context for the period of years 1995-2015. 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka recognizes Freedom of Association and Freedom to join and form trade unions as fundamental rights of every citizen of Sri Lanka. Industrial Disputes act (No. 43 of 1950) of Sri Lanka states different methods to resolve Industrial disputes such as Collective agreements, Conciliation, and Arbitration. According to the statistics of Labour Department of Sri Lanka, many industrial disputes occurred in the period of 1995-2015 and government intervened to settle many of them. Thousands of employees involved in those industrial disputes and plenty of man days lost as a result on annual basis during the period of 1995-2015. Therefore the author came to the conclusion that industrial disputes impacted a lot in a negative way for the productivity of labour force in Sri Lanka and hence it affected badly for the economy of Sri Lanka during the period of 1995-2015.

Scenario of industrial dispute in Jammu and Kashmir

The present endeavour focused on the industrial dispute scenario in J&K state and with special emphasis on the causes of disputes in the cement industry in J&K. The study found that over the period of time there has been gradual decline observed in the number of disputes in J&K but it has been experienced from the statistics that Jammu division is showing the presence of more disputes than other districts of the state. In addition to this, the study highlighted the issues namely recruitment, promotion and wages as the responsible factor for the causes of disputes in cement industry in J&K state. To create a harmonious relationship in the organisations, the policy makers and management should take into consideration the people at younger age group with fair level of experience and qualification so as to make efficient output by utilization the most important assets of the organizations. The policy maker should take into consideration proper follow up for the disputes that come under the different acts and try to make the settlement machinery more effective and powerful so that the disputes are settled very effectively and efficiently. Keywords: Industrial Dispute, Recruitment, Promotion, Wages and Allowances, Settlement Machinery.

Moral re-armament: toward a better understanding of the society-corporation relationship before the emergence of “corporate social responsibility”

PurposeThis study aims to introduce moral re-armament’s (MRA) role as a mediator in several labor/management disputes in industries primarily in the 1940s and 1950s. In this study, MRA was guided by a social responsibility framed in language that was a precursor to corporate social responsibility (CSR). This study features the case of the Miami-based airlines serving Latin America, who had experienced the longest airline labor strike to that date.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, both artifacts and literary interpretations are used to inform an institutional-theory-based approach to a broad social movement, one player in that movement and its impact on an industry. Actions at one time can be shown to relate to activity and behavior at another time (Wadhwani and Bucheli, 2014). Thus, this paper has combined these perspectives in the approach to historically examine a precursor phenomenon of CSR.FindingsMRA’s approach shared some methods, such as story-telling, with modern change management. This paper proposes that other methods that were important for that historical context played a significant role in MRA’s success. Today, these methods are no longer used. These include “intimacy” (MRA employees lived with members of labor and management while they were mediating), “theater” (they showed plays to all of those involved) and confessional sharing (their training was mostly a series of testimonies by those who previously were combative, but became collaborative when they accepted MRA’s principles).Originality/valueThis historical case may inspire those promoting CSR to expand their methods to have even greater success today.

The Power of Mediator Suggestions in Mediating the Settlement of Pancasila Industrial Relations Disputes Outside the Court

One of the settlements of disputes outside the court, mediation is understood as a settlement that is non-judgmental, fast, inexpensive, and provides access to the disputing parties to obtain justice or a satisfactory settlement by means of a win-win solution. The role of an industrial relations mediator is urgently needed to achieve harmonious industrial relations. The mediator becomes a point of contact who plays an active role in settlements outside the court. The strength of the mediator's suggestion in mediation is something that greatly determines the continuity of the settlement process because it can be a dispute resolution up to the Industrial Relations Court (PHI) if the negotiation and the mediator's written recommendation are not accepted by one or both parties. In a formal claim to the Industrial Relations court, a written recommendation is part of the minutes of industrial relations dispute settlement. A written recommendation only has power if a collective agreement is made and is registered with the PHI to get the power to be implemented. Deliberation to reach a consensus through mediation settlement with a written suggestion as one of the settlement methods in Law Number 2 of 2004 concerning Industrial Relations Dispute Settlement has not been optimally implemented as long as it is not registered with PHI to have permanent legal force. Keywords: Mediation; Pancasila; Industrial Relations Disputes.

Juridical Implications of the Industrial Relations Court Verdict Which Is Not in Accordance with Article 103 of Law No. 2 of 2004 Concerning Settlement of Industrial Relations Disputes

The symbiosis of mutualism between laborers and employers is a process of social interaction in human life in an effort to meet the diverse needs of life, so to be able to meet all these needs humans are required to work. A worker or laborer is someone who works for someone else with a salary, or also anyone who works for a wage or other forms of remuneration. Employers or Employers are individuals, employers, legal entities or other bodies that employ workers by paying wages or other forms of remuneration. The mechanism for resolving industrial relations disputes is carried out with two mechanisms, namely the no litigation mechanism consisting of the bipatrite and tripatrite mechanism and the litigation mechanism which is carried out by submitting an application for industrial relations disputes to the Industrial Relations Court.

IMPACT OF INDUSTRIAL UNIONS STRIKE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES IN NIGERIA

The Nigerian University system, which is designed and packaged to be a fulcrum for national development has witnessed so much industrial unrest. Strikes of various and reasons have become a normal phenomenon in growing inconsiderate policy making relationship between the government and academia. Though it is stipulated in the constitution that strikes can be used as avenues to express public opinion which can bring positive changes, and the frequency of industrial crisis/disputes has affects the standard and products of public Universities in Nigeria despite highly improved inputs and this situation is mirrored effectively in the Nigerian economy. This paper reviews the impact of industrial unions strike on the performance of public universities in Nigeria. The study revealed that the problem of industrial relations in the Nigerian University system were found to be lack of education of some labour leaders, the rigid structure of relationships, lack of flow of communication, management and government meddling with union affairs, frequent trade disputes, under funding and inadequate teaching facilities. Political factors were also discovered as some of the causes of industrial disputes within the university system. These affect student academic performance and generally loss of productivity in economic sector of Nigeria. The study recommended that both union leaders and management representatives should from time to time embark on training to understand the workings of industrial relations.

After the 1910 Eight-Week Lockout: ‘Flächentarifvertrag’ in the German Construction Industry

The greatest industrial dispute before the First World War in Germany, a national lockout in the construction industry, lasting eight weeks and involving up to 245,000 workers, ended with a defeat of the German Construction Employers’ Federation - Deutscher Arbeitgeberbund für das Baugewerbe - on 18 June 1910 after a tripartite process of arbitration. This industrial dispute about a new national framework contract - Flächentarifvertrag - on collective employment relations and bargaining in the construction industry heralded a new stage in labour-capital relations. It led to a substantial unification and concentration of workers’ organizations and divided the employer’s organization, benefiting, on the one hand, the sectoral labour unions to the detriment of local unions, and, on the other, the joint-stock corporations to the detriment of smaller, individually owned companies.

Enablers of the Collective Bargaining in Industrial Relations: A Study of India’s Industrial Policies Through ISM and MICMAC Analysis

Industrial disputes result in a loss of work days, resources and also put a lot of pressure on employers, employees and the Government. Collective bargaining as a bipartite process is an effective mechanism to resolve disputes through the negotiation between employee and employer representatives. The study aims to identify the ‘enablers’, i.e. factors that permit and encourage collective bargaining in an industry. Through this study, the researchers have attempted to identify the nature of the relation and linkages between the factors identified. The research was undertaken in three major parts. In the initial part of the study, the enablers were identified through extant literature review. These factors were then validated with basic statistics in the second part of the research. In the final part, Interpretative Structural Modelling and MICMAC analysis was performed to arrive at a model highlighting the nature of relationship between the identified factors. Case studies on collective bargaining practices were studied to further validate the enablers. The ISM model for the enablers of collective bargaining had four levels, from the model awareness about law emerged as the most important enabler. MICMAC analysis further classified the enablers and disablers as driving, dependent, linkage and autonomous factors. The research is unique as it attempts to propose a model through the expert opinion on industrial relations manager, trade union representatives, employees’ representatives, management and experts from academia. To the researcher’s knowledge, there has been no significant contribution in the area of proposing a model for the enablers of collective bargaining through ISM and MICMAC. The researchers have also studied case studies related to the practices of collective bargaining in industries. The identified and validated factors would be useful to stakeholders in collective bargaining to design policies to ensure the effectiveness of the process.