Industrial Relations

Industrial Relations & Human Resource Management

Second CommerceWednesday 13.00–14.00 @ KirwanThursday 16.00–17.00 @ O’Flaherty

Deirdre Morgan Dept. of Management

Industrial Relations & Human Resource Management

DBS & Corp. LawFriday 11.00–12.00 @ AM150Friday 13.00-14.00 @ Larmour

Deirdre Morgan Dept. of Management

Industrial Relations & Human Resource Management

Learning objectives:• to draw attention to the importance of the human factor in organisations

• to develop the conceptual skills needed to understand the nature of the employment relationship

More learning objectives?

• to examine the nature, objectives and processes used by the principal actors in the employment relationship

• to draw attention to Irish employment legislation and to examine at least one Act in detail

Industrial Relations

What I intend to cover:- The nature of the employment relationship- The evolution of Industrial Relations- The roles of the key players- The nature of conflict and its resolution- Collective bargaining- Employment legislation

Human Resource Management What I intend to cover:

- Management Styles

- The HR Function- Recruitment & Selection- Performance Management

Introduction to Industrial Relations

Definitions Relevance

Key Players Frames of reference Historical Milestones

Key Processes Change

Industrial Relations is –

…the consecrated euphemism for the permanent conflict, now acute, now subdued, between

capital and labour.(Blyton & Turnbull,

1998)

Industrial Relations

‘the regulation of the relationship between

employers and employees’

Industrial Relations:…has acquired a deserved reputation for being dull

…because it has too often failed to relate in any meaningful way to the reality of people’s working lives, how these were formed, how they are constrained and how they might be changed.

(Blyton & Turnbull, 1998)

Industrial Relations Affects:

Economic Performance

Business Success

Employees Experience of Work

Every employment relationship:

• Economic exchange• Power relationship• Continuous & open-ended• Interdependent• Asymmetrical

Employers cannot rely on coercion or even compliance to secure high performance. Need active consent & co-operation.

Some Basic Facts1. Work dominates the lives of most

men & women.

2. Vast majority of those who work are employees rather than employers

3. Of central importance to employers are:

- market experience- managerial relations

4. Management of employees is a central feature of organisational success over:

- product innovation- technological change- efficient utilisation of

energy/materials

5. Common interest between management and workforce cannot be assumed. Interdependence does not equate with common interest.

AEEU ASTIATGWU BATUEAT EEAER SIPTUHRM PESPPRP HASIBEC IMPACTINO ITGWU

HEADLINESMass redundancies

All-out StrikeCo. X refuse to implement Labour Court

Recommendations

INO says “No” to Talks Breakdown3% Pay Offer

Nurses StrikeBus Drivers Vote

for Unofficial Action

Key Players

GOVERNMENT

INDEPENDENT 3RD PARTIES

EMPLOYEES EMPLOYERS

Traditional Adversarial I.R. System

- Power- Rights

- Interests- Negative behaviours- Information hoarding

Labour-Management Relationship

Armed OpenCollaborative Truce

Warfare------------------------------------------------1. Most labour-management relationships

fall to the right of the continuum2. Partnership rarely attempted as matter of

course3. Organisational change forces adaptation

(Adams, 2000)

Industrial Action

Any temporary suspension of normal working arrangements in order to express a grievance

or enforce a demand.

(Gunnigle, 1998)

Collective Bargainingthe process through which agreement on pay,

working conditions, procedures and other negotiable issues are reached between organised employees and management

representatives.(Gunnigle et al 1995)

“The resolution of conflict through compromise.”

(Hawkins 1979)

Using terms such as employee relations rather than industrial relations reflects a

redrawing of the boundaries of the subject to include all employment relationships,

rather than just those involving unionised, male, manual workers in manufacturing.

(Blyton & Turnbull, 1998)

Frame of Reference;

…a person perceives and interprets events by means of a conceptual structure of generalisations or contexts, postulates about what is essential, assumptions as to what is valuable, attitudes about what is possible, and ideas about what will work effectively.

(Fox 1966)

Unitarism

- Management & staff strive together for common purpose

- One source authority- Harmony & co-operation- Conflict is pathological, whether mischief

or misunderstanding- Troublemakers conform/go- Unions unwelcome

Pluralism

- Company made up of different interest groups

- Organisation = miniature democracy“Negotiated order”

- Conflict inevitable, legitimate & accepted

- Unions – recognised negotiator

MarxismIndustrial relations is a microcosm of broadercapitalist society.

Opposing interests of differentclasses. Asymmetry of power basedon ownership.An employer can survive longer without labour

than an employee can survive without work.However, employer can never secure total control or achieve complete power.

IMPLICATIONS

Trade unions

Managerial prerogative

Conflict

Important Historical Milestones

C18th Industrial Revolution begins U.K.

Early C19th Series of statutory decisions making TU’s illegal

1868 British Trade Union Congress (TUC) founded

1871-1906 Pro-union legislation in the UK

1894 Irish Trade Union Congress (ITUC) founded

1909 Irish Transport Workers Union (ITWU)

1913 The Dublin Lockout

1916- 1922 British unions break away

1946 Set up of the Labour Court

1880’s Gradual decline in union membership

1987 Social Partnership Agreements

1764 Regular Carpenters of Dublin

The Church

Iniquitous Extortions

Cork

…imprisoned not above 6 months, whipped in public and

released only on giving recognisance of good behaviour for 7 years.

(Gunnigle, 1998)

1871 – 1906 U.K. Parliament:

- granted legality to T.U.’s

- protected Union funds from court action

- recognised collective bargaining

- legalised peaceful picketing

By 1920’s: Central Objectives of Trade Unionism:1. Secure recognition

2. Procure collective agreements covering terms & conditions of members

3. Influence the State’s policy making processes in areas of employment, housing, social welfare & education.

1913 Lockout 1909 ITWU founded 1913 Leading Irish Union

William Martin Murphy – Dublin Tramway Co.

Pilot group sacked 200 workers sacked

700 workers walk off

Warrant issued for Larkin Public meeting Over 25,000 locked out

January 1914 – return to work Larkin & Connolly emigrate

Irish Writer:You may succeed in your policy and ensure your own damnation by your victory. The men whose manhood you have broken will loathe you, and will always be brooding and scheming to strike a fresh blow. The children will be taught to curse you. The infant being moulded in the womb will have breathed into it’s starvation body the vitality of hate.

(Russell, 1913)

James ConnollyWe the Irish worker are forced to go down again to hell and bow our backs to the lash of the slave driver, our hearts seared by the

irons of his hatred and instead of the sacramental wafer of brotherhood and

common sacrifice, we are forced to eat the dust of betrayal and defeat.

Exam script – 4th Mech. Eng. Student 1998

Ni uasal aon uasal ach sinne bheith iseal:

Eirimis!

From 1987 onwards…National Level Tripartite Agreements

PNR – 1987 PESP – 1990 PCW – 1993

P2000 – 1996 PPF - 2000

Changes in Labour Force

1. Decline in manufacturing2. Increase in services3. Increase in females & part-timers4. Changes in location of production

(greenfield sites)5. Increased self-employment6. Increased redundancies &

reduced job security

Move Towards Labour-Management Partnerships

Change increasing in impact and paceLabour-Management relationship

essential to survivalMutual respect

Congruent interestsPositive, proactive approach

Mutual assistanceNeutral third parties

Adams (2000)“At the end of the day organisations will

survive and thrive only when labour and management alike are committed to working together to achieve common goals. The key question is: ‘Does our labour-management relationship do its part in creating such an organisation?’ If the current industrial relations system is adversarial, based on power and rights rather than interests, the answer is ‘No’.”

Aer Lingus Faces I.R. Crisis with Five Separate Disputes (IRN 12 October 2000)

Cabin CrewBaggage HandlersCatering Assistants

PilotsClerical & Admin. Workers

“…the industrial revolution brought competition between employers for distant markets. This created an environment in which labour was increasingly treated as a raw material or commodity, and it was therefore hardly surprising that a profound discord was generated between workers and their employers. This historical development cannot be divorced from any consideration of industrial relations…”

William B. Gould

‘New’ Industrial Relations5 Questions1. Is strong commitment to a company

consistent with strong commitment to a trade union?

2. Is union involvement in business decision-making and problem solving consistent with the effective conduct of collective bargaining?

3. Can unions be part and parcel of the managerial process and yet mount a challenge to management decisions?

4. Is employee involvement in the job and in the organisation of work consistent with their protection by unions against intensified work effort, stress and ill health?

5. Can unions encourage employees to become partners in the business enterprise and still hope to mobilise the power of their stronger members to defend the weak by appealing to ideas of social justice?

(Roche, 1998)