scholarly journals Breaking industrial relations’ stalemate at ABC Ltd.: a strategic rapprochement

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Niharika Gaan
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Union Leader ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
Regional Office ◽  
System Perspective ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Contract Workers ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Depth Interview

Purpose On 12th June 2015, a strike by contract workers was declared at Rampur terminal, All India Business in oil corporation (ABC) Ltd. The strike had disrupted the normal services of the terminal. Under such circumstances, Mr Ravi Sharma (Head human resources of the eastern region, ABC Ltd.) was unable to decide how to save the company from such a disorderly situation without any increased loss of production and manpower cost liabilities. Could Mr Ravi Sharma resolve the issue of strike through an approach of strategic rapprochement when the disruptions made by workers and local miscreants went out of control? Design/methodology/approach In-depth interview in the year 2019 was conducted with the protagonist Mr Ravi Sharma and the trade union members at the regional office of ABC Ltd., Kolkata and Rampur Terminal, respectively, to convert the narratives in the form of a fictitious case study. Four rounds of interviews were conducted by the author to complete the data collection procedure. The company™s-related information was sourced through a secondary database furnished by company™s officials. However, the data about the company, the key characters and other recognizable information have been disguised to preserve the confidentiality of information. Findings The strike was called by the contract workers at Rampur terminal for two primary reasons, namely, wage increase and giving preference to local people for employment whether regular or contract. Mr Ravi Sharma could pacify the unforeseen situation by adopting two-pronged strategies, namely, first, he could successfully gain the confidence of the union leader and secondly, set the environment for the conciliation proceeding so that agreement settled will not be failed to be implemented. Originality/value The case uses a system perspective of Industrial relation proposed by Dunlop (1958) to highlight the interplay between employer, government and trade unions influenced by politics and mafia that determine eventually the industrial peace in the organization.

scholarly journals Brazilian Trade Unions

2009 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 250-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Lang ◽  
Mona-Josée Gagnon
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Union Leader ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Daily Activities ◽  
Heavy Body ◽  
Labour Relations ◽  
Trade Unionism ◽  
Labour Legislation

Many analysts of Brazilian industrial relations share a determinist vision of the country’s trade unionism, according to which the unions maintain a paradoxical yet atavistic relationship with the heavy body of laws that provide them with advantages while limiting their freedom. We tested this vision by conducting field enquiries into the daily activities of two Brazilian unions: the ABC Metalworkers Union and the Seamstress Union for the Sao Paulo and Osasco Region. In this article, we present the results of our case studies and what they reveal about Brazilian trade unionism’s relationship with the labour legislation. We also briefly discuss former trade union leader and current President Lula’s recent attempts to reform the country’s labour relations system.

scholarly journals Public, private or hybrid? Providing care services under austerity: the case of Italy

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 1279-1300
Author(s):  
Lisa Dorigatti ◽  
Anna Mori ◽  
Stefano Neri
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Educational Services ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Care For The Elderly ◽  
Market Factors

PurposeThe paper examines the different trajectories of externalisation and the development of different kinds of welfare mix in three different sub-sectors of socio-educational services: long-term care for the elderly, early childhood services and kindergartens. By integrating the industrial relations and comparative public administration literatures, it analyses the different rationales underpinning contracting-out decisions of Italian local governments.Design/methodology/approachThe paper adopts a multi-method, multi-level approach: quantitative data on the provision of socio-educational services and the nature of the providers are combined with the analysis of 12 case studies of municipalities through 80 semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis.FindingsThe paper argues that differentials in labour regulation across the public/private divide and the consequent possibility to access labour markets characterised by cheaper labour and higher organisational flexibility are a key explanation in local governments' decisions to outsource. Despite labour market factors playing a prominent role, their relevance is significantly tempered by political and social factors and particularly by the strong opposition of citizens, personnel and trade unions to pure market solutions in the provision of such services. However, the centrality of these factors depends on the nature of the services: political sensibility against privatisation proved to be stronger in kindergartens, while services for the elderly were more frequently and less contentiously privatised.Originality/valueThe main contribution is the integration of the two research traditions to analyse patterns of outsourcing in the socio-educational services in Italy, showing that neither of them is able, alone, to explain the different private/public mix characterising different social and educational services.

Industrial relations (Union) issues at Asian Paints Ltd.

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Nikunj Kumar Jain ◽  
Subhashis Sinha ◽  
N.S. Iyer
Keyword(s):  
Graduate Students ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Strategic Management ◽  
Human Resources Management ◽  
Union Leader ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Post Graduate ◽  
Resources Management ◽  
The Impact

Subject area Human Resources Management (HRM), Industrial Relations and Strategic Management. Study level/applicability Post-graduate students or executive post-graduate students, Core course in Human resources Management (HRM), Industrial Relations or Strategic Management or in elective courses in Industrial Relations and Strategic HRM. Case overview The Personnel manager of Asian Paints Ltd., Cuddalore (Tamil Nadu) factory, found himself in a Catch 22 situation when a Union leader of the manufacturing unit refused to work. The Union leader had been transferred from the Quality Assurance department to the Production department. The case describes the sequence of events and the backdrop in which the aforementioned situation had unfolded. Given the circumstances that prevailed in the factory, the personnel manager’s decision was likely to have significant impact on the factory’s output. Expected learning outcomes The student will be able to understand the industrial relations/Union issues in a company and the role of different stakeholders, namely, management, Union, workmen and the government in a conflict scenario. The student will learn the application of principles of natural justice and will be able to evaluate the Industrial Relations (IR) strategy adopted by the organizations to prevent labor unrest at the workplace. The student will understand the impact of critical management decisions on the organization’s performance in an uncertain global environment. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

scholarly journals Industrial relations in Italy in the twenty-first century

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 654-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valeria Pulignano ◽  
Domenico Carrieri ◽  
Lucio Baccaro
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
The State ◽  
First Century ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Classical Source ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
The Government ◽  
Institutional Actors

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the developments which have characterized Italy’s industrial relations from post-war Fordism to neo-liberal hegemony and recent crisis, with a particular focus on the major changes occurred in the twenty-first century, especially those concerning concertative (tripartite) policy making between the government, the employers’ organizations and the trade unions. Design/methodology/approach This study is a conceptual paper which analysis of main development trends. Findings Italy’s industrial relations in the twenty-first century are characterized by ambivalent features which are the heritage of the past. These are summarized as follows: “collective autonomy” as a classical source of strength for trade unions and employers’ organization, on the one hand. On the other hand, a low level of legislative regulation and weak institutionalization, accompanied by little engagement in a generalized “participative-collaborative” model. Due to the instability in the socio-political setting in the twenty-first century, unions and employers encounter growing difficulties to affirm their common points of view and to build up stable institutions that could support cooperation between them. The result is a clear reversal of the assumptions that had formed the classical backdrop of the paradigm of Italy’s “political exchange.” This paradigm has long influenced the way in which the relationships between employers, trade unions and the state were conceived, especially during 1990s and, to some extent, during 2000s, that is the development of concertative (tripartite) policy making. However, since the end of 2000s, and particularly from 2010s onwards national governments have stated their intention to act independently of the choices made by the unions (and partially the employers). The outcome is the eclipse of concertation. The paper explores how the relationships among the main institutional actors such as the trade unions (and among the unions themselves), the employers, and the state and how politics have evolved, within a dynamic socio-political and economic context. These are the essential factors needed to understand Italy’s industrial relations in the twenty-first century. Originality/value It shows that understanding the relationship among the main institutional actors such as the trade unions (and among the unions themselves), the employers and the state and their politics is essential to understand the change occurred in contemporary Italy’s industrial relations.

scholarly journals A problem of embeddedness

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 500-514 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernd Brandl ◽  
Alex Lehr
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Autonomous Agents ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Social Mechanisms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Common Behaviour ◽  
Union Action ◽  
Transnational Trade

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a general micro-theoretical framework that helps to understand the embeddedness of trade unions within the European system of industrial relations, and the consequences of this embeddedness for industrial relations outcomes. First, starting from the paradoxical observation of a trend towards homogeneity within a complex, multi-layered European industrial relations system consisting of heterogeneous and autonomous agents, the paper aims to explicate the mechanisms which produce these similarities. Second, the paper seeks to analyse potential mechanisms for transnational trade union cooperation and, third, it concludes by outlining its applicability as the basis for methodological approaches which enable realistic and policy relevant analyses. Design/methodology/approach This paper is conceptual and focusses on the development of a general micro-theoretical framework which captures European industrial relations actors’ behaviour and outcomes. It integrates theoretical and empirical accounts from differing social science disciplines and from various methodological starting points on trade union action and interaction into one general micro-theoretical framework. Findings Starting from a typology of trade union goals, the authors show how various social mechanisms lead to interdependencies between trade unions and review empirical evidence for their consequences. The authors, then, identify a set of motives for transnational cooperation that would allow outcomes that are in line with trade union objectives. Originality/value Against the background that previous studies on trade union action and cross-national interaction have paid less attention to the puzzling stylised fact that industrial relations outcomes are mimicked by heterogeneous and autonomous agents actors in different countries, the authors address this research gap by developing a novel general micro-theoretical framework for the analysis of transnational trade union action and interaction in order to better understand the underlying causal mechanisms for the common behaviour and outcomes of autonomous actors.

scholarly journals International actors and trade unions during postsocialism and after: the case of Romania

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 692-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dragoș Adăscăliței ◽  
Ștefan Guga
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fiscal Austerity ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Changing Role ◽  
New Evidence

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explain why, in spite having a relatively powerful labour movement at the start of the economic transformation, Romania ended up with a highly deregulated system of industrial relations in the aftermath of the global economic crisis of 2009 and with trade unions which seem incapable to defend their interests. Design/methodology/approach The authors trace the changing role that Romanian trade unions had in national policy making and show that the beginning of 2000s represents a critical point for the power loss sustained by organised labour. Findings The authors argue that a key element for explaining labour’s decline is the growing pressure exercised by various international organisations for the adoption of deregulatory labour market reforms. While during the 1990s this pressure was circumvented by successive governments which peddled back and forth between union wage pressure and fiscal austerity measures, beginning with 2000s, EU accession conditionalities coupled with IMF and World Bank policy recommendations enabled the international deregulation agenda to be implemented without much opposition. Originality/value The paper brings new evidence on the impact of international actors on the Romanian collective bargaining and labour market institutions.

Can productivity be socially embedded? Reflections on some productivity measures of 2000s

2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 354-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruya Gokhan Kocer
Keyword(s):  
Trade Unions ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Graphical Displays ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Empirical Material

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to give an overview of items that are included in recent productivity programmes in various countries and integrate these items with the ideas of virtuous circuit of productivity and socially embedded productivity. Design/methodology/approach – In depth analysis of an illustrative set of productivity measures. The analysis reveals how each measure/programme could make sense to the industrial relations actors. A new conceptual reformulation of analysed measures and programmes. Findings – Bilateral productivity deals between trade unions and employers are not necessarily good from the perspective of national policy making. For this kind of uncoordinated productivity measures, though may be good for individual enterprises, may increase unemployment by pushing other domestic competitors out of the market or compelling them to lay-off workers in a reactive fashion. By drawing on Polanyi, one may argue that it is possible to strike a good balance between productivity concerns and societal interests by embedding the former into the latter. Research limitations/implications – The purpose is to introduce a new conceptualization, thus the empirical material is meant to be illustrative rather than extensive. Originality/value – By using graphical displays and empirical argumentation two new concepts are introduced: first, virtuous circuit of productivity and second, socially embedded productivity.

scholarly journals Big bangs and cold wars

2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 746-760 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Seifert
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Labour Movement ◽  
Push Forward ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Marxist Interpretation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief and partial overview of some of the issues and authors that have dominated British industrial relations research since 1965. It is cast in terms of that year being the astronomical Big Bang from which all else was created. It traces a spectacular growth in academic interest and departments throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and then comments on the petering out of the tradition and its very existence (Darlington, 2009; Smith, 2011). Design/methodology/approach – There are no methods other than a biased look through the literature. Findings – These show a liberal oppression of the Marxist interpretation of class struggle through trade unions, collective bargaining, strikes, and public policy. At first through the Cold War and later, less well because many Marxists survived and thrived in industrial relations departments until after 2000, through closing courses and choking off demand. This essay exposes the hypocrisy surrounding notions of academic freedom, and throws light on the determination of those in the labour movement and their academic allies to push forward wage controls and stunted bargaining regimes, alongside restrictions on strikes, in the name of moderation and the middle ground. Originality/value – An attempt to correct the history as written by the pro tem victors.

scholarly journals The organizational and geographical boundaries of the firm

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grazia Ietto-Gillies
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Industrial Relations ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Strategic Control ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Boundaries Of The Firm ◽  
Regulatory Regimes

Purpose This paper aims to analyse the organizational and geographical (by nation-states) boundaries of the firm and their impact on labour and to develop a theoretical framework in which firms’ boundaries are analysed from the point of view of labour as a main stakeholder in the firm. Design/methodology/approach The paper considers the boundaries in terms of: perspectives (legal/proprietary, responsibility and control); stakeholders (shareholders and managers as well as labour, governments and suppliers) and dimensions (organization of production, geographical/by nation-state and sectoral). The paper analyses various organizational forms of production in terms of control (over labour process and brand), responsibility for labour employed across the value chain and labour bargaining power. The firm is seen in the context of labour as main stakeholder and of strategic control versus the property rights view of the firm. The paper contains references to some real-life cases which support the arguments developed at the theoretical level. Findings In terms of organizational boundaries, the paper analyses hybrid forms of firm organization and their implications for the position of labour. In the context of geographical boundaries, conclusions are drawn on the impact of transnational corporations (TNCs)’ direct activities on labour. Changes in organizational and geographical boundaries are seen as strategic moves that lead to the fragmentation of labour and to the weakening of its bargaining position. There is an analysis of the role of nation-state regulatory regimes in creating opportunities for TNCs’ advantages towards labour. The basic pillars of this theoretical approach are emphasis on labour as a main stakeholder as well as one of the main actors towards whom firms develop strategies and who, in turn, develops countervailing strategies; and the assignation of responsibility for labour over that part of the value chain – which could be the whole of it – over which the firm exercises strategic control. Research limitations/implications More case study work would further support the arguments in the paper and lead to refinements of the theory. Social implications For labour, cross-country strategies are developed, and it is argued that the principal firm should take responsibility for the labour force on the basis of the “control” perspective rather than the “legal/proprietary” one. At the macro level, it could be argued for policies that lead to more homogeneous regulatory regimes across countries and in particular within the EU. There are implications for the strategies of trade unions within and across countries. There is also a call for overcoming academic disciplinary boundaries in research specifically those between economics, business strategy and sociology of labour and industrial relations. Originality/value The work puts labour at the forefront of analysis in the boundaries of the firm. It develops a theoretical framework for this analysis and for its policy implications including policies by trade unions.

The effects of trade unions on economic performance: evidence from Chinese provincial-level data

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Guo ◽  
Patrice Laroche
Keyword(s):  
Panel Data ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
National Level ◽  
Least Square ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Provincial Level ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Economic Regions

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to investigate union effects on wages, employment, and productivity in China. The relationships between unionization and these three economic variables are first tested at the national level and then examined in the eastern, central, and western regions, respectively.Design/methodology/approachProvincial-level panel data from 1994 to 2014 are used in this study, compiled from various Chinese Statistics Year Books, and covering 29 provinces. The Ordinary Least Square is firstly employed to examine union impacts. Then, in view of the endogeneity of unionization, the Two-Stage Least Square estimation with instrument variables is adopted to reexamine union effects. Overidentification tests are conducted, verifying the validity of these instruments.FindingsAt the national level, Chinese unions have significantly positive effects on wages but no significant effect on employment and productivity. In the eastern region, unions are significantly related to increased employment. In the western region, union activity not only significantly promotes wages but also improves productivity. In the central region, unionization has no significant impact. These findings suggest that equipping Chinese unions with a collective and cooperative face can generally help them improve workers' interests. Their effectiveness varies across the three economic regions.Originality/valueCompared with the survey data conducted in certain cities and industries, the provincial-level panel data used in this article have the advantage of capturing the overall effects of unionization. An instrument variable method is used to address the endogeneity issue. After exploring union effects at the national level, this paper focuses on observing the differences in union roles in three economic regions.

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