...Industrial relations is a post-industrial revolution term that replaced the expression "master-servant" used to define the relationship between a worker and an employer. Contemporary industrial relations still refers to the employment relationship and the business unit that manages the employment relations, personnel or human resources. It often includes labor unions as parties to that relationship. The main objective of industrial relations is to improve the economic conditions of workers in the current economic climate. The value added outcomes that can result from good industrial relations include improved morale and commitment, fewer grievances, productivity increases, and better control of labour costs. (Waiganjo, 2012) However there are three theories on how this can be obtained: unitarism, pluralist and radical perspectives. Each of these perspectives takes a different approach to the workplace and the roles of the parties involved; but not all will be effective in today’s evolving labour market. If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work With your enemy. Then he becomes your partner. - Nelson Mandela The unitarist approach to industrial relations is one of mutual benefit; the management and other members of staff are presumed to share a common purpose emphasizing mutual cooperation. (Waiganjo, 2012) This approach to working relationship promotes the virtues of teamwork, where everyone strives to reach a common objective. Many Canadians take...
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...1. Labour or Industrial Relations. The term labour relations, also known as industrial relations, refers to the system in which employers, workers and their representatives and, directly or indirectly, the government interact to set the ground rules for the governance of work relationships. It also describes a field of study dedicated to examining such relationships. The field is an outgrowth of the industrial revolution, whose excesses led to the emergence of trade unions to represent workers and to the development of collective labour relations. A labour or industrial relations system reflects the interaction between the main actors in it: the state, the employer (or employers or an employers’ association), trade unions and employees (who may participate or not in unions and other bodies affording workers’ representation). The phrases “labour relations” and “industrial relations” are also used in connection with various forms of workers’ participation; they can also encompass individual employment relationships between an employer and a worker under a written or implied contract of employment, although these are usually referred to as “employment relations”. There is considerable variation in the use of the terms, partly reflecting the evolving nature of the field over time and place. There is general agreement, however, that the field embraces collective bargaining, various forms of workers’ participation (such as works councils and joint health and safety committees) and mechanisms...
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...immigrants, recruitment and management of individuals gained vitality. Managers were higher than the employees. This system created a gap between the labour force and the management. Social welfare approached in the early HRM helped the immigrants to get adjusted to their jobs and to 'American' way of life. The programs was assigned to ensured an increase in productivity. In the 1790s, employees empower considerably and increased at a quick pace .In the 1800s and 1900s the advent of Labour Union led HR department more capable in politics and diplomacy. HR department has management, labour unions, and Frederick W. Taylor's (1856-1915) theory of 'Scientific Management'. In 1902, National Cash Register was formed to handle employee grievances, record keeping, wage management and other employee-related functions. In 1913, the US Department of Labour promoted the welfare of employees. In 1920s and 30s, the impact of the Hawthorne studies enhanced the physical work conditions for employees changes from workers' efficiency to efficiency through work satisfaction. In 1938, the Fair Labour Standards Act provided security and helped increased the standard of the employees. Since then, the welfare of workers have more new and efficient laws. Therefore, human relations became a prominent feature of organizational behaviour. The National Labour...
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...A Critical Review of Nancy B. Kiyonaga, 2004, Today is the Tomorrow -You Worried About Yesterday: Meeting the Challenges of a Changing Workforce. New York: Public Personnel Management publications, Vol. 33/4/ 361. Introduction The demographic dynamics, economic and social consequences of aging workforce in the developed nations particularly Europe and United States presents significant challenges for the coming decades. In the recent times this topic has developed a sense of urgency and is receiving much attention from researchers, policy-makers and the popular media. Without a pro-active approach and appropriate action, the sustainability of social and economic security would be at stake and a labour and skill shortage will become a global issue. European policies have increasingly started to focus on raising the labour-market participation of ageing people, restricting or abandoning possibilities for early labour-market exit, and increasing the age at which people are eligible for pensions. In the article ‘Today is the Tomorrow -You Worried About Yesterday: Meeting the Challenges of a Changing Workforce’ Nancy B. Kiyonaga draws the attention to the crucial issue of aging workforce. She has also tried to suggest a solution ‘workforce and succession planning’ as the tool to this critical challenge especially in the public sector organisations which are more vulnerable to the affects of the aging workforce. Nancy B. Kiyonaga herself being the director of Workforce...
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... factors contributing to the steady decline in trade unionism in Australia since the 1980’s and the relevance of unions to workers today. M G T S 2 6 0 7 : E m p l o y m e n t R e l a t i o n s W o r d C o u n t : 1 9 8 2 Sarah Jury Trade Union Decline in Australia 42395582 There has been a dramatic decline in trade union membership rates across Australia since the 1980s. In 1986, 46% (or 2.6 million) of employees were trade union members; this figure has steadily declined to 19% (or 1.7million) of employees in 2007 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). By May 2010 trade union membership had fallen to a record low of 18% (or 1.84 million) of employees and remained steady for the past 3 years (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2013). This essay aims to highlight the factors that have played a significant role in the steady decline of unionization in Australia. It focuses on the changing composition of the labour force, the change in governmental policies, the newly empowered role of management and employers and the structures and activities of trade unions themselves. Evidence suggests that Australians have not become more...
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...British Journal of Industrial Relations 49:S2 July 2011 0007–1080 pp. s353–s375 doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2010.00801.x Transnational Labour Solidarity and Social Movement Unionism: Insights from and beyond a Women Workers’ Strike in Turkey bjir_801 353..375 Tore Fougner and Ayça Kurtoglu ˘ Abstract Through an analysis of solidarity across borders and social groups in connection with and beyond a strike on the part primarily of women workers at a foreignowned factory in Turkey’s Antalya Free Zone, this article contributes to the debate on the two union renewal strategies of transnational labour solidarity and coalition building with social movements. In the case at hand, the extensive strike-related support on the part of external unions and the women’s movement illustrates the positive difference that solidarity practices can make. However, looking beyond the strike itself, the case points to significant challenges related to the development of deeper and more proactive solidarity across borders and social groups. 1. Introduction What are the implications for unions of political economies being restructured in neoliberal terms, and production being re-organized transnationally? This question has generated extensive debate among unionists and academics alike, and one can somewhat synthetically distinguish among a fatalist position viewing the transformations in question as so fundamental that unions are left with few options but to resign, a denialist position considering...
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...beings in work will be useful for organizational behavior research. Methods of approaching unexpected events also encourage managers to consider organizational behavior in the current context. In these approaches, the context is changing rather than rigid rules, thus the application of different management techniques is appropriate. Moreover, these approaches to unexpected events also send managers a clear message: Carefully consider the situation and flexibly adapt to it. In the trend of international economic integration, the operation of enterprises is not just confined within a region, a country, a territory. Businesses have greater opportunities to penetrate and exploit many big markets in the world, but they also have to face with challenges of global competition and are subject to the global labor division, especially the diversity in the workfoce. All these things require business managers to work out an effective method of management, creating the harmony between various individuals while promoting their ability to make maximum contribution to the development of their companies. In this essay, we will consider the diversity of the workforce in businesses and suggest the ways for entrepreneurs to apply their knowledge of organizational behavior management into their management and administration to turn the diversity into the competitive advantage of businesses. Table of content Chapter I. Diversity management Chapter...
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...INTRODUCTION The term "Industrial Relations" has developed both a broad and a narrow meaning. Originally, industrial relations was broadly defined to include the totality of relationships and interactions between employers and employees. From this perspective, industrial relations covers all aspects of the employment relationship, including human resource (or personnel) management, employee relations, and union-management (or labor) relations. Since the mid-twentieth century, however, the term has increasingly taken on a narrower, more restricted interpretation that largely equates it with unionized employment relationships. In this view, industrial relations pertains to the study and practice of collective bargaining, trade unionism, and labor-management relations, while human resource management is a separate, largely distinct field that deals with nonunion employment relationships and the personnel practices and policies of employers. Both meanings of the term coexist in the twenty-first century, although the latter is the more common. ORIGINS The term "industrial relations" came into common usage in the 1910s, particularly in 1912 upon the appointment by President William Taft of an investigative committee titled the Commission on Industrial Relations. The commission's charge was to investigate the causes of widespread, often violent labor conflict and make recommendations regarding methods to promote greater cooperation and harmony among employers and employees. Shortly...
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...South Africa is considered an upper middle income country in terms of the World Bank tables but according to Wilson (2011:2) as well as Cornell and Wilson (2012:1) poverty in South Africa, despite its high income ranking, is widespread and severe. The only possible explanation for the contradiction in South Africa’s characteristics would be the deep levels of inequality experienced within the country (Wilson 2011: 2). This essay is going to prove, through looking at what poverty and inequality entail, how it originated in South Africa as well as evaluating statistical evidence, that inequality is indeed a more pressing socio-economic challenge than poverty is in contemporary South Africa. According to Laderchi, Saith and Stewart (2007:1) most policies now a days are somehow related to the impact of poverty on the country but in order for these policies to make a difference it is important to know what we are aiming at and therefore a clear understanding of what poverty and inequality is as well as where these terms originated from is essential for success. Laderchi, Saith and Stewart (2007) supply us with multiple approaches to poverty including the monetary approach, capabilities approach, social exclusion approach as well as participatory approach. Universally the monetary approach is dominantly accepted and used. This approach describes poverty as being a shortfall below a minimum level of resources or poverty line which is assessed through whether the individual can meet...
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...INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS The globalization i.e. the changes in the world economy have substantial effects on the industrial relations thereby providing the opportunity to reiterate the significance of the area in understanding the effect of these changes on the people, organizations and the nature of work. The traditional methods of IR are disturbed in several ways through the increasing international economic interdependence. Initially the IR arrangements are confined to the situations created by the national markets but the globalization has expanded the boundaries of the market place. The amount of information flows with the help of the latest technology is constructing the interconnected enterprise networks around the world, thereby doing away with the current IR arrangements. The primary drivers of change are the MNC’s. They are associations that take part in FDI and own or control profitable resources in more than one nation. The MNC’s, as producers of the universal goods and services have an influence extending beyond the urban places in the countries in which they are located. The individualism is growing in the organizations as many local enterprises in addition to the MNC’s are using the information technology to focus on the demands of the international and domestic markets. The globalization has also clearly shown the difference between the “capital” and the “labour” in all countries i.e. capital is more mobile in an open international environment while labour means it...
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...management consultancy firms – both large and small – have built substantial businesses by translating the concept into frameworks, methodologies and prescriptions. And, not least, academics have analysed, at considerable length, the meaning, significance and the evidence base for the ideas associated with SHRM. The central idea – broadly stated – is that while for much of the industrial age, ‘labour’ was treated as an unfortunate ‘cost’, it became possible to view it in an entirely different light; as an ‘asset’. Economists and accountants routinely classified labour as one the main ‘variable costs’. Accordingly, procedures and managerial systems were aligned with this view. Labour was seen as plentiful and dispensable. Little thought was given to its recruitment, little investment was made in its development, and the modes of ‘industrial discipline’ were based on direct command and control mixed occasionally with the strictures of performance related pay. ‘Hire and fire’ was a common term. In these circumstances, conflict was expected and industrial relations officers were employed in order to negotiate ‘temporary truces’ (otherwise known as collective agreements). These were considered successful...
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...Introduction: McDonald’s is a company which has a colorful history and developed the culture associated with the Fast Food Chain today. In 1937, the McDonald’s brother Richard and Maurice opened the first McDonald’s restaurants in America; it was a freestanding business that offered until then an unthought-of concept. The main items they then sold were beef or pork burgers, fries and drinks. Their restaurant were set up differently to the restaurants of those times, with open kitchens the customers could see right through, and counters with many operational cash registers. Under a high degree of customer satisfactory contributed for business expansion, McDonald today has over than 30,000 restaurants over than 100 countries in the world and it has maintained the top position in the Fast Food Industry for the past 50 years. McDonald’s has been pursuing a growth strategy for the last decade. McDonald’s foreign operations amount for more than half of the company’s revenue today and all have been marked by basic vision of selling the maximum. However, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the giant experienced problems owing to external environment changes. In 2002, the company experienced huge embarrassment with law suits, negative media coverage, and 15 percent drop in its stocks making it the third biggest loser in the Dow Jones Industrial average. Among the blows that McDonalds took was the obese-causing and loser-employer issues. McDonalds has been hammered for providing people...
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...UNION CONGRESS MEDIUM TERM POLICIES FOR THE QUADRENNIAL 2008 -2012 [DRAFT] GHANA TRADES UNION CONGRESS Contents PART 1 3 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 3 Challenges at the International Level 3 Challenges at the National Level 4 Challenges at the workplace 8 PART 2 10 GHANA TUC’S PERSPECTIVES ON HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND DEMOCRACY 10 Human Development Objectives 12 Democratic Participation in Decision-Making 14 PART 3 17 POLICIES 17 POLICY ON LABOUR RELATIONS AND SOCIAL DIALOGUE 17 POLICY ON EDUCATION AND TRAINING 20 POLICY ON ORGANISATION, INTERNAL DEMOCRACY AND SOLIDARITY 22 POLICY ON EMPLOYMENT 28 POLICY ON INCOMES 30 POLICY ON INFORMAL ECONOMY 32 POLICY ON SOCIAL PROTECTION 35 POLICY ON HOUSING 38 POLICY ON GENDER EQUALITY 40 POLICY ON CHILD LABOUR 42 POLICY ON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, HEALTH AND ENVIROMENT 44 POLICY ON HIV/AIDS 46 POLICY ON ENERGY AND POWER 49 POLICY ON INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 52 POLICY ON THE YOUTH ……………………………………………………………… PART 1 _________________________________________________________ INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND The Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) has gone through very difficult challenges since it was established in 1945. Nevertheless, it has maintained its identity and continues to grow stronger. Currently, Ghana TUC has seventeen affiliates with an estimated membership of over 400,000 spread across all...
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...Tripartism and Social Dialogue In Singapore Michael Heng International Labour Office, Bangkok 2008 ii Foreword This paper on tripartism and social dialogue in Singapore is intended to highlight Singapore‟s industrial relations system in general and, in particular, the extent to which industrial relations actors, social institutions and legislation are aligned through social and labour policies to create a sustainable climate of industrial peace and harmony that helps maintain the City State‟s global competitiveness. This analysis of Singapore‟s success story is part of a comparative study of national systems of tripartism and social dialogue, intended to cull good practices that may be adapted and adopted in other countries of the region. iii iv Contents Foreword iii 1. Singapore’s Labour Force, Labour Institutions and Key Labour Laws Singapore’s labour force and employment in brief Trade union membership Labour institutions Ministry of Manpower Industrial Arbitration Court Trade unions Singapore National Employers Federation Key labour laws and collective bargaining The Employment Act The Industrial Relations Act The Trade Unions Act The Trade Disputes Act The collective bargaining process (enterprise level) Disputes settlement through conciliation and arbitration 1 1 2 2 3 4 4 5 5 5 7 8 8 10 11 2. Tripartite Social Dialogue Bodies 13 3. Tripartism and Social Dialogue National Wages Council Central...
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...Formal Credit for Informal Sector - Reducing Unemployment Dr. S. Rajamohan Professor, Alagappa Institute of Management, Alagappa University, Karaikudi and Mr. D. Durairaj Ph.D Research scholar, Alagappa Institute of Management, Alagappa University, Karaikudi ABSTRACT Unemployment as one of the macroeconomic problems could be reduced through the formal credit for informal sector participation provided it is well supported and managed. The informal sector in itself may not be able to achieve much as we have presently due to inaccessibility to credit, but with the on-going policy of the Federal Government through the Reserve Bank of India on micro-financing the macroeconomic objective of reduced unemployment, if not full employment will become a reality in India. The microfinance policy has empowered the many microfinance/ banking institutions to provide credit to the informal sector. Therefore the Government of India and all relevant stakeholders continue in their mission towards reducing unemployment while they give their whole support, in making sure that the informal sector continues to enjoy access to formal credit to finance its activities and accomplish its goal of unemployment reduction. Key words: Credit, Unemployment, Informal sector INTRODUCTION Unemployment is one of the developmental problems that face every developing economy in the 21st century. International statistics portray that industrial and service workers living in developing...
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