Q.

18

The shortcomings or the weakness of the trade union

movement in India are as follows:
1. Lack of Balanced Growth

Trade unions are often associated with big industrial houses. A vast
majority of the working population is without any union backing. The
entire agricultural sector is highly unorganized in India. The
agricultural workers are subject to all kinds of exploitation. The
same is true with respect to those working in small scale and
cottage industries. Lack of balanced growth of trade unions in all
sectors is one of the major weakness of the trade union
movement in India.
2. Low Membership

Trade unions , with the exception of few have low membership. This
is because many employees are not willing to join unions although
they are ready to enjoy the benefits arising out of the union actions.
The reasons for the hesitation of employees to join unions include,
among others, the need to take pat in strikes and such other
programmes, fear of pay cut and fear of punishment.

3. Poor financial Position

Low membership is one of the reasons for the poor financial position
of the unions. Moreover, the subscription payable by every member
is kept low. Some members may not even make a prompt payment
of the small amount of subscription. These are also not very many
sources from which unions can get funds. They may probably
depend on contributions from philanthropists. The poor financial
position can only weaken the trade union movement.

4. Political Control

Most popular trade unions in India are affiliated to certain political

parties. These political parties are only keen on making every
grievance of the working class a political issue to attain political
gains. As a result the problem only gets wide publicity and remains
unsolved.

5. Multiplicity of Unions

Often there exists more than one union within the same industry
each backed by a political party. These various unions have
conflicting ideology. If one union comes out with a strike proposal
another union may work against it. As a result, none of the unions is
actually able to solve the problems of the workers.

6. Inter-Union Rivalry

The existence of many unions within a particular industry paves way

for what is called inter-union rivalry. These unions do not work
together for the cause of the workers. Each union may adopt a
different approach to the problem. The inter-union rivalry may
become a more serious problem of the workers. As a result, the
employees are unable to derive the benefits of collective bargaining.

7. Lack of able Leaders

Another barrier to the growth of trade unions is the lack of able

leaders. Some union leaders give a strike call even for petty
problems that can easily be resolved through talks. On the other
hand, there are leaders who have secret pact with the management.
They get bribes from the government and work against the interests
of the employees. Some leaders don’t convene a meeting of the
general body at all even when a crisis develops. They take unilateral
decisions that are thrust on the employees.

8. Lack of Recognition

Most management is not prepared to recognize trade unions. This

happens because of any of the following reason.

 The existence of low membership that reduces the bargaining

power of the union.
 The existence of more unions within the same industry.
 Inter-union rivalry.
 The indifferent attitude of the employees themselves towards
trade unions.
9. Opposition from Employers

Apart from the fact that most employers are not prepared to
recognize trade unions, they also do not let their employees from a
union. This the employers are able to achieve by adopting certain
punitive measures like intimidating employees victimizing union
leaders, initiating disciplinary action against employees indulging in
union activities and so on. Some employers also start rival unions
with the support of certain employees. Sometimes, they may go to
the extent of bribing union leaders to avert a strike or such similar
show of protest by employees. The employers fail to understand
that the union enables the employees to express their grievances in
a democratic manner and can also be used as a means of promoting
better labor management relationships.
10. Indifferent Attitude of the Members

Union leaders alone cannot be blamed for the weakness of the trade
union movement. The indifferent attitude of the members of certain
unions is also a barrier. Some members do not even make a prompt
payment of the subscription amount. The treasurer of the union has
to go behind them, remind and persuade them to pay the
subscription that is often a very small amount. There are on the
other hand, members who do not attend the general body meetings
nor do they bother to know what is discussed in such meetings.
There are still others who do not take part at all in any of the
programmes of the union organized to press the demands of the
employees like slogan shouting procession, demonstration, hunger
strike etc. Members generally expect the office-bearers to do all that
is necessary to achieve the demands.

Q 19
Meaning: It refers to all those workers, who are employed in manufacturing units, i.e., the
workers employed in large scale, village & small scale industries are considered industrial
labour in general sense.0

Characteristics:
1) Illiteracy: A large proportion of industrial workers in India are illiterates & ignorant. So they
cannot understand the problems confronting the economy in general & industries in
particular. They do not even understand their own problems.
2) Lack of Discipline: There is no discipline among the industrial labours in India Indiscipline,
absenteeism without any reasons. Moving from one job to another etc, are very common.
3) Majority Characters: Industrial labour in India is migratory in character. Most of the laborers
in industries are drawn from villages & are cages to return to their homes during their busy
agricultural seasons.
4) Lack of Organisations: The industrial labour in India is not united, but is divided & sub –
divided on the basis of language, region, caste, etc. They are unable to organize
themselves. Consequent upon that most of the trade unions are controlled by outsiders.
5) Low Efficiency: The efficiency of industrial labour in India is very low. Their productivity is
also very low. Lack of education, training, research medical facilities, etc, are reasons for
low productivity.
6) Poverty: The industrial labours in India are very poor. Their salary, standard of living &
productivity are very low. They are unable to generate interest in their work because of
poverty.
7) Superstitions: Most of the industrial labour in India are superstitions & tradition – bound.
They believe in fatalistic & Meta physical things. They have irrational outlook.
8) Large Scale Absenteeism: It is another important feature of industrial labour. They remain
absent without any reason.
9) Ignorant of Roles & Regulations: A good proportion of our industrial workers are ignorant
of rules & regulation.
10) Bad Habits: The industrial labourers in India are addicted to bad habits. They are involved in
unhealthy practices. As a result, their efficiency & mental discipline are badly affected.

Q 15b

Collective bargaining includes not only negotiations between the employers and unions but also
includes the process of resolving labor-management conflicts. Thus, collective bargaining is,
essentially, a recognized way of creating a system of industrial jurisprudence. It acts as a
method of introducing civil rights in the industry, that is, the management should be conducted
by rules rather than arbitrary decision making. It establishes rules which define and restrict the
traditional authority exercised by the management.

Importance to employees

 Collective bargaining develops a sense of self respect and responsibility among the
employees.

 It increases the strength of the workforce, thereby, increasing their bargaining capacity as
a group.

 Collective bargaining increases the morale and productivity of employees.

 It restricts management’s freedom for arbitrary action against the employees. Moreover,
unilateral actions by the employer are also discouraged.

 Effective collective bargaining machinery strengthens the trade unions movement.

 The workers feel motivated as they can approach the management on various matters
and bargain for higher benefits.

 It helps in securing a prompt and fair settlement of grievances. It provides a flexible

means for the adjustment of wages and employment conditions to economic and
technological changes in the industry, as a result of which the chances for conflicts are
reduced.
 Importance to employers

1. It becomes easier for the management to resolve issues at the bargaining level rather
than taking up complaints of individual workers.
2. Collective bargaining tends to promote a sense of job security among employees and
thereby tends to reduce the cost of labor turnover to management.

3. Collective bargaining opens up the channel of communication between the workers and
the management and increases worker participation in decision making.

4. Collective bargaining plays a vital role in settling and preventing industrial disputes.

Importance to society

1. Collective bargaining leads to industrial peace in the country

2. It results in establishment of a harmonious industrial climate which supports which helps
the pace of a nation’s efforts towards economic and social development since the
obstacles to such a development can be reduced considerably.

3. The discrimination and exploitation of workers is constantly being checked.

4. It provides a method or the regulation of the conditions of employment of those who are
directly concerned about them.

Q 14a

Reasons for Employee Turnover and Absenteeism Problems

It has been argued that the most probable reason is poor control by organizations.

However, see below for the reasons given by Leigh Branham.

Your organization may not have established clear policy guidelines on turnover and
absenteeism.

Supervisors may misinterpret policies whereby they verbally allow subordinates to go on

leave without written approval or using vague words that have more than one
interpretation.

Superiors may allow subordinates to have extended lunch breaks, for example, or to go
home before the scheduled time without any reasonable excuse.

In addition, managers may allow employees who had been absent without permission to
offset the days of absence from the annual leave.

This shows that policies are either non-existent or vague and poorly enforced.

Apart from poor management of turnover and absenteeism, other reasons include:

 jobs dissatisfaction
 low personal motivation and drive
 alcoholism and substance abuse
 relationships problems with supervisors and / or other employees
 work pressure
 influence from other problem employees
 personal and / or family problems
 personality problems

Effective management of these matters can minimize turnover and absenteeism

problems. However, it is not possible to eliminate them altogether.

Q 13a

Any group of nine or more persons can form a Trade Union. However
no Trade Union of the workmen shall be registered unless at least 100% or 100, which ever is less,
persons engaged or employed in the Establishment or industry with which it is connected are the
members of such trade union on the date of making of application for registration. The minimum age
limit for membership of a Trade Union is 15 years unless the rules of a particular trade union provide
for higher age limit. However for being an office bearer the person has to be above 18 years of age

The application cannot become invalid merely on the grounds of withdrawal of such members after the
same has been made, even if upto half of the total number of the persons who have made the
application have ceased to be associated or have given notice in writing to the Registrar dissociating
themselves from the application.

Q 12a
Industrial Disputes:
Industrial disputes refer to the differences between the employers and workers in an industry. These
disputes take various forms of protest. From the workers side the forms of protest are strikes, gheraos,
demonstration, etc. from the employer’s side the forms of protest are retrenchment, dismissal, lockouts
etc.

Causes of Industrial Disputes:

The main causes of industrial disputes are:

(i) Wages:
Low wages of industrial workers constitute a major cause of industrial disputes in the country. Wages
have not been rising in proportion to the rise in prices. This has forced the labourers to demand higher
wages, consequently leading to disputes.
(ii) Bonus:
The demand for bonus or increase in bonus has been the second major cause of industrial disputes. The
workers feel that they should have a greater share in the profits of the industrial concern. Non-
acceptance of this fact by the employers has been a source of friction among the employers and the
workers.

(iii) Working Conditions:

The demand for improvement in working conditions such as lesser working hours, security of job, better
safety measures in the factory, leave, canteen, gratuity facilities, etc., are also responsible for many
industrial disputes.

(iv) Other Causes:

Among other causes that lead to disputes are failure of employers to recognise trade unions, conflict
between rival unions for representation, insult to trade union leadership by the employer, introduction
of rationalisation in the factory, the fear of retrenchment of workers, sympathetic strikes with fellow
employees in other establishments, general discontent and sense of frustration among labourers,
political issues etc.

Q10

Good-faith process between an organization's managementand a trade

union representing its employees, for negotiating wages, working hours, working
conditions, and other matters of mutual interest. To the management, this process
presents (usually) one set of people to negotiatewith; to the employees, it gives greatly
enhancedbargaining-power. Collective bargaining is the fundamentalprinciple on which
the trade union system is based.

Q9

Specific complaint or formal notice of employee dissatisfaction related

to adequacy of pay, job requirements, work conditions, other aspects of employment, or an alleged violation of a collective
bargaining agreement.

Q8

The ratio of the number of employees that leave a company through attrition, dismissal, or resignation during a period to
the number of employees on payroll during the same period.

Q4

A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the responsibilities of, or proper practices for, an
individual, party or organization. Relatedconcepts include ethical, honor and moral codes, as well
as halachic and religious laws.

Q3

A trade union is anorganization of workers who have come together to achieve common goals
such as protecting the integrity of its trade, achieving higher pay and benefits such as health care
and retirement, increasing the number of employees an employer assigns to complete the work,
safety standards, and better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains
with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts (collective
bargaining) with employers. The most common purpose of these associations or unions is
"maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment".[1] This may include the negotiation
of wages, work rules, complaint procedures, rules governing hiring, firing and promotion of workers,
benefits, workplace safety and policies.

Q1

Labour law mediates the relationship between workers (employees), employers, trade unions and
the government. Collective labour law relates to the tripartite relationship between employee,
employer and union. Individual labour law concerns employees' rights at work and through
the contract for work. Employment standards are social norms (in some cases also
technical standards) for the minimum socially acceptable conditions under which employees or
contractors are allowed to work. Government agencies (such as the former US Employment
Standards Administration) enforce labour law (legislative, regulatory, or judicial).