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Relationship between Rights of Association and Representation and
Occupational Safety and Health
Joint consultation and participation can be effective only in an environment
where there is adequate recognition of and respect for the right of employers
and workers to associate freely and for their organizations to be able torepresent their interests effectively. In a very real sense, therefore, respect for
the right to organize can be seen to be an essential precondition of an effective
occupational safety and health strategy at both the national and international
level and at the workplace. That being the case, it is necessary and appropriate
to look more closely at ILO standards relating to freedom of association, bearing
in mind their application in the context of the prevention of work-related injury
and disease and the compensation and rehabilitation of those who have incurred
such injury or disease. Freedom of association standards require that there be
proper recognition in law and practice of the right of workers and employers to
form and to join the organizations of their choice and of the right of thoseorganizations, once established, to formulate and to implement freely their
programmes.
Rights of association and representation also underpin tripartite (governments,
employers and workers) cooperation in the field of occupational health and
safety. Such cooperation is promoted in the context of ILO standard-setting, for
example, by:
enjoining governments to consult with representative organizations of
employers and workers in relation to the formulation and implementation of
policy on occupational health and safety at the national or regional level (e.g.,Asbestos Convention, 1986 (No. 162), Article 4 and Occupational Safety and
Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155), Articles 1 and 8)
encouraging joint consultation and cooperation on occupational safety and
health matters at the level of the workplace (e.g., Prevention of Major Industrial
Accidents Convention, 1993 (No. 174), Article 9(f) and (g))
requiring the joint participation of employers and workers in the formulation
and implementation of occupational safety and health policy in the workplace
(see especially Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155),
Articles 19 and 20 and Occupational Safety and Health Recommendation, 1981
(No. 164), para 12).
ILO and Rights of Association and Representation
The right of association for all lawful purposes by the employed as well as by
the employers was one of the methods and principles set out in Article 41 of the
original Constitution of the ILO. This principle now finds express recognition in
the Preamble to the Constitution as one of the essential preconditions of the
establishment of social justice, which is itself seen as the essential precondition
of universal and lasting peace. Together with the principle of tripartism, it is also
accorded express recognition in Article I of the Declaration of Philadelphia, which
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was appended to the Constitution in 1946. This Constitutional endorsement of
the importance of respect for the principles of freedom of association helps
provide one of the juridical bases for the capacity of the Fact-Finding and
Conciliation Commission on Freedom of Association and the Governing Bodys
Committee on Freedom of Association to inquire into alleged breaches of the
principles of freedom of association.
As early as 1921 the International Labour Conference adopted the Right of
Association (Agriculture) Convention (No. 11), which requires ratifying States to
secure to all those engaged in agriculture the same rights of association and
combination as to industrial workers. It does not, however, say anything about
the rights which are to be accorded to the industrial workers with whom those
engaged in agriculture are to enjoy parity! Attempts to adopt a more general
instrument dealing with freedom of association in the 1920s foundered upon the
rocks of employer and government insistence that the right to form and join
trade unions must be accompanied by a correlative right not to join. The matterwas re-opened in the period immediately after the Second World War. This duly
resulted in the adoption of the Right of Association (Non-Metropolitan Territories)
Convention, 1947 (No. 84), the Freedom of Association and Protection of the
Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) and the Right to Organise and
Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98).
Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 are among the most important and the most widely
ratified of all ILO Conventions: as of 31 December 1996, Convention No. 87 had
attracted 119 ratifications, while No. 98 had attracted 133. Between them they
embody what can properly be regarded as the four key elements in the notion of
freedom of association. They are regarded as the benchmark for the
international protection of freedom of association for trade union purposes, as
reflected, for example, in Article 8 of the International Covenant on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights and Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil
and Political Rights. Within the ILO structure, they form the basis for the
principles of freedom of association as developed and applied by the Governing
Bodys Committee on Freedom of Association and the Fact-Finding and
Conciliation Commission on Freedom of Association, even though in technical
terms those bodies derive their jurisdiction from the Constitution of the
Organization rather than the Conventions. They also constitute a major focus for
the deliberations of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventionsand Recommendations and of the Conference Committee on the Application of
Conventions and Recommendations.
Despite the pivotal role of Conventions Nos. 87 and 98, it should be appreciated
that they are by no means the only formal standard-setting instruments which
have been adopted under the auspices of the ILO in the field of freedom of
association. On the contrary, since 1970 the Conference has adopted further four
Conventions and four Recommendations dealing in greater detail with various
aspects of the principles of freedom of association, or with their application in
certain specific contexts:
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the Workers Representatives Convention (No. 135) and Recommendation
(No. 143), 1971
the Rural Workers Organizations Convention (No. 141) and Recommendation
(No. 149), 1975
the Labour Relations (Public Service) Convention (No. 151) and
Recommendation (No. 158), 1978
the Collective Bargaining Convention (No. 154) and Recommendation (No.
163), 1981
Principles of Freedom of Association
The core elements
The core elements of the principles of freedom of association as embodied in
Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 are:
that workers and employers, without distinction whatsoever, shall have the
right to establish and, subject only to the rules of the organization concerned, to
join organizations of their own choosing without previous authorization (Article
2 of Convention No. 87)
that organizations of employers and workers, once established, should have
the right to draw up their constitutions and rules, to elect their representatives
in full freedom, to organize their administration and activities and to formulate
their programmes (Article 3(1) of Convention No. 87). Furthermore, the public
authorities must refrain from any interference which would restrict this right or
impede the lawful exercise thereof (Article 3(2))
that workers are to enjoy adequate protection against acts of anti-union
discrimination in respect of their employment (Article 1(1) of Convention No.
98)
that measures appropriate to national conditions shall be taken, where
necessary, to encourage and to promote the full development and utilization of
machinery for voluntary negotiation between employers and employers
organizations and workers organizations, with a view to the regulation of termsand conditions of employment by means of collective agreements (Article 4 of
Convention No. 98)
All of the guarantees provided by Convention No. 87 are subject to the proviso
set out in Article 8(1): in exercising the rights provided for in this Convention
workers and employers and their respective organizations... shall respect the law
of the land. This in turn is subject to the further proviso that the law of the land
shall not be such as to impair, nor shall it be applied so as to impair, the
guarantees provided for in this Convention.
It should also be noted that by virtue of Article 9(1) of Convention No. 87 it ispermissible, but not necessary, to qualify the application of the guarantees set
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out in that Convention to members of the police and of the armed forces. Article
5(1) of Convention No. 98 is to the same effect, while Article 6 of that instrument
stipulates that the Convention does not deal with the position of public servants
engaged in the administration of the State, nor shall it be construed as
prejudicing their rights or status in any way.
The right to join
The right of workers and employers to form and to join the organizations of their
choice is the pivot of all of the other guarantees provided by Conventions Nos.
87 and 98 and by the principles of freedom of association. It is subject only to
the qualification set out in Article 9(1) of the Convention. This means that it is
not permissible to deny any group of workers other than members of the police
or the armed forces the right to form or join the trade unions of their choice. It
follows that denial or restriction of the right of public servants, agricultural
workers, school teachers and so on to form or join the organizations of their
choice would not be consistent with the requirements of Article 2.
It is, however, permissible for the rules of a trade union or an employer
organization to restrict the categories of workers or employers who may join the
organization. The point is that any such restriction must be the result of the free
choice of the members of the organization it must not be imposed from
outside.
The right to associate set out in Article 2 is not accompanied by any correlative
right not to associate. It will be recalled that earlier attempts to adopt a general
freedom of association convention failed because of the insistence by employerand some government delegates that the positive right to associate must carry
with it a negative right not to associate. This issue was again raised in the
context of the debates on Conventions Nos. 87 and 98. However on this occasion
a compromise was effected whereby the Conference adopted a resolution to the
effect that the extent to which trade union security devices (such as the closed
or agency shop and check-off arrangements for trade union dues) were
permissible or otherwise was a matter to be determined by national law and
practice. In other words, the Conventions are considered neither to condone nor
to condemn the closed shop and other forms of union security device, although
such measures are not regarded as acceptable if they are imposed by law ratherthan adopted by agreement of the parties (ILO 1994b; ILO 1995a).
Perhaps the most difficult issue which has arisen in the context of Article 2
relates to the extent to which it can be said to endorse the notion of trade union
pluralism. In other words, is it consistent with Article 2 for the law to limit,
directly or indirectly, the right of workers (or employers) to form or join the
organization of their choice through the application of administrative or
legislative criteria?
There are two sets of competing interests in this context. On the one hand,
Article 2 is clearly meant to protect the right of workers and employers to choosethe organization to which they wish to belong and to choose not to belong to
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organizations with which they are out of sympathy on political, denominational
or other grounds. On the other hand, governments (and indeed trade unions)
may argue that the excessive proliferation of trade unions and employer
organizations which may be an incident of unrestricted freedom of choice is not
conducive to the development of free and effective organizations or the
establishment and maintenance of orderly industrial relations processes. Thiswas an issue of particular difficulty in the Cold War era, when governments often
sought to restrict the range of unions to which workers could belong on
ideological grounds. It remains a highly sensitive issue in many developing
countries where governments, for good reason or ill, wish to prevent what they
see as the excessive proliferation of trade unions by placing restrictions on the
number and/or size of unions which can operate in a given workplace or sector of
the economy. The ILOs supervisory bodies have tended to adopt a fairly
restrictive approach to this issue, permitting trade union monopolies where they
are the result of the free choice of the workers in the country concerned and
permitting the adoption of reasonable registration criteria, but takingexception to legally imposed monopolies and unreasonable registration
criteria. In doing so, they have attracted considerable criticism, especially from
governments in developing countries which accuse them of adopting a
Eurocentric approach to the application of the Convention the point being that
the characteristically European concern with the rights of the individual is said to
be inconsistent with the collectivist traditions of many non-European cultures.
Organizational autonomy and the right to strike
If Article 2 of Convention No. 87 protects the fundamental right of employers and
workers to form and to join the organization of their choice, then Article 3 can be
seen to provide its logical corollary by protecting the organizational autonomy of
organizations once established.
As the wording of Article 3(1) clearly indicates, this would include the drafting,
adoption and implementation of the constitutions and rules of organizations and
the conduct of elections. However, the supervisory bodies have accepted that it
is permissible for the public authorities to impose minimum conditions upon the
content or administration of rules for the purpose of ensuring a sound
administration and preventing legal complications arising as a result of
constitutions and rules being drawn up in insufficient detail (ILO 1994b).However, if such conditions are excessively detailed or onerous in application
then they are likely to be adjudged to be inconsistent with the requirements of
Article 3.
Over the years the supervisory bodies have consistently taken the view that the
right to strike is an intrinsic corollary of the right to organize protected by
Convention No. 87 (ILO 1994b):
The Committee (of Experts) considers that the right to strike is one of the
essential means available to workers and their organizations for the protection of
their economic and social interests. These interests not only have to do withobtaining better working conditions and pursuing collective demands of an
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occupational nature, but also with seeking solutions to economic and social
policy questions and to labour problems of any kind which are of direct concern
to the workers.
This is one of the most controversial aspects of the entire jurisprudence relating
to freedom of association and in recent years in particular it has come in forvigorous criticism from employer and government members of the Conference
Committee on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations. (See, for
example, International Labour Conference, 80th Session (1993), Record of
Proceedings, 25/10-12 and 25/58-64 and International Labour Conference, 81st
Session (1994), Record of Proceedings, 25/92-94 and 25/179-180.) It is, however,
a firmly entrenched feature of the jurisprudence on freedom of association. It
finds clear recognition in Article 8(1) (d) of the International Covenant on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and was endorsed by the Committee of
Experts in its 1994 General Survey on Freedom of Association and Collective
Bargaining (ILO 1994b).
It is important to appreciate, however, that the right to strike as recognized by
the supervisory bodies is not an unqualified one. In the first place, it does not
extend to those groups of workers in relation to whom it is permissible to
attenuate the guarantees set out in Convention No. 87, namely members of the
police and armed forces. Furthermore, it has also been determined that the right
to strike may legitimately be denied to public servants acting as agents of the
public authority and to workers engaged in essential services in the sense of
services whose interruption would endanger the life, personal safety or health
of the whole or part of the population. However, any restrictions upon the right
to strike of workers in these latter categories must be offset by compensatory
guarantees, such as conciliation and mediation procedures leading, in the event
of a deadlock, to arbitration machinery seen to be reliable by the parties
concerned. It is essential that the latter be able to participate in determining and
implementing the procedure, which should furthermore provide sufficient
guarantees of impartiality and rapidity: arbitration awards should be binding on
both parties and once issued should be implemented rapidly and completely
(ILO 1994b).
It is also permissible to impose temporary restrictions upon the right to strike in
times of acute national emergency. More generally, it is permissible to imposepreconditions such as balloting requirements, exhaustion of conciliation
procedures and so on, upon the exercise of the right to strike. However, all such
restrictions must be reasonable and... not such as to place a substantial
limitation on the means of action open to trade union organizations.
The right to strike is often described as the weapon of last resort in collective
bargaining. If Article 3 is interpreted so as to protect the weapon of last resort, it
seems reasonable to suppose that it must also protect the process of collective
bargaining itself. The supervisory bodies have indeed taken this view on a
number of occasions, but in general they have preferred to base their
jurisprudence on collective bargaining upon Article 4 of Convention No. 98. (For
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more detailed discussion of the ILO jurisprudence on the right to strike, see
Hodges-Aeberhard and Odero de Dios 1987; Ben-Israel 1988).
The autonomy of organizations of employers and workers is also addressed in
Articles 4 to 7 of Convention No. 87 and in Article 2 of Convention No. 98. Article
4 provides that such organizations must not be liable to be dissolved orsuspended by administrative authority. This does not mean that trade unions or
employers organizations cannot be deregistered or dissolved where they have,
for example, engaged in gross industrial misconduct or have not been run in
accordance with their rules. But it does mean that any such sanction must be
imposed through a duly constituted court or other appropriate body, rather than
by administrative diktat.
Article 5 protects the rights of organizations to form and join federations and
confederations and also the right of organizations, federations and
confederations to affiliate with international organizations of employers and
workers. Furthermore, according to Article 6, the guarantees set out in Articles 2,
3 and 4 apply to federations and confederations in the same way as to first level
organizations, while Article 7 stipulates that the acquisition of legal personality
by organizations of employers or workers must not be made subject to
conditions of such a character as to restrict the application of the provisions of
Articles 2, 3 and 4.
Finally, Article 2(1) of Convention No. 98 requires that organizations of
employers and workers are to enjoy adequate protection against acts of
interference by each other or each others agents or members in their
establishment, functioning or administration. In practical terms, it seemssomewhat unlikely that trade unions would or could effectively interfere with the
internal functioning of employer organizations. It is quite conceivable, however,
that in certain circumstances employers or their organizations would seek to
interfere with the internal affairs of workers organizations for example, by
providing some or all of their funds. This possibility finds express recognition in
Article 2(2):
In particular, acts which are designed to promote the establishment of workers
organizations under the domination of employers or employers organizations by
financial or other means, with the object of placing such organizations under thecontrol of employers or employers organizations, shall be deemed to constitute
acts of interference within the meaning of this Article.
Protection against victimization
For the guarantees set out in Conventions Nos. 87 and 98 to be meaningful in
practice, it is clearly necessary that individuals who exercise their right to form
or join organizations of workers be protected against victimization on account of
having done so. This logic finds recognition in Article 1(1) of Convention No. 98,
which, as indicated, requires that workers shall enjoy adequate protection
against acts of anti-union discrimination in respect of their employment. Article1(2) takes the matter further:
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Such protection shall apply more particularly in respect of acts calculated to:
(a) make the employment of a worker subject to the condition that he shall not
join a union or shall relinquish trade union membership;
(b) cause the dismissal of or otherwise prejudice a worker by reason of unionmembership or because of participation in union activities outside working hours
or, with the consent of the employer, within working hours.
Anti-union discrimination for these purposes would include refusal to employ,
dismissal and other measures such as transfer, relocation, demotion,
deprivation or restrictions of all kinds (remuneration, social benefits, vocational
training) which may cause serious prejudice to the worker concerned (see also
Termination of Employment Convention, 1982 (No. 158), Article 5(a), (b) and (c),
as well as ILO 1994b, para.212).
Not only must there be comprehensive protection against anti-uniondiscrimination as defined, but by virtue of Article 3 of Convention No. 98, there
must also be effective means of enforcing those protections:
Legal standards are inadequate if they are not coupled with effective and
expeditious procedures and with sufficiently dissuasive penal sanctions to ensure
their application ... The onus placed on the employer to prove the alleged anti-
union discriminatory measures are connected with questions other than trade
union matters, or presumptions established in the workers favour are additional
means of ensuring effective protection of the right to organize guaranteed by the
Convention. Legislation which allows the employer in practice to terminate the
employment of a worker on condition that he pay the compensation provided for
by law in any case of unjustified dismissal... is inadequate under the terms of
Article 1 of the Convention. Legislation should also provide effective means for
implementing means of compensation, with the reinstatement of the dismissed
worker, including retroactive compensation, being the most appropriate remedy
in such cases of anti-union discrimination (ILO 1994b).
Collective bargaining
The guarantee set out in Article 4 of Convention No. 98 has been interpreted so
as to protect both the right to engage in collective bargaining and the autonomyof the bargaining process. In other words it is not consistent with Article 4 for
employers and workers to be denied the right to engage in collective bargaining
if they wish to do sobearing in mind that it is not inconsistent with the
Convention to deny these rights to members of the police or the armed forces
and that the Convention does not deal with the position of public servants
engaged in the administration of the State. Not only must the parties be free to
engage in collective bargaining if they so choose, but they must be permitted to
reach their own agreement on their own terms without interference by the public
authorities subject to certain qualifications for compelling reasons of national
economic interest (ILO 1994) and to reasonable requirements as to form,
registration and so on.
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Article 4 has not, however, been interpreted as protecting the right to
recognition for purposes of collective bargaining. The supervisory bodies have
repeatedly emphasized the desirability of such recognition, but have not been
prepared to take the further step of determining that refusal to recognize and/or
the absence of a mechanism whereby employers can be obliged to recognize the
unions to which their employees belong constitutes a breach of Article 4 (ILO1994b; ILO 1995a). They have justified this interpretation on the basis that
compulsory recognition would deprive collective bargaining of its voluntary
character as envisaged by Article 4 (ILO 1995a). As against that, it might be
argued that the ostensible right to engage in collective bargaining must
inevitably be compromised if employers are to be free to refuse to engage in
such bargaining notwithstanding that they have the right so to bargain if they
wish. Furthermore, permitting employers to refuse to recognize the unions to
which their employees belong seems to sit somewhat uneasily with the duty to
promote collective bargaining, which appears to be the principal purpose of
Article 4 (Creighton 1994).
Application of Freedom of Association Principles in the Context of
Occupational Safety and Health
It was suggested earlier that ILO standards relating to occupational safety and
health endorse the concept of bipartite or tripartite involvement in three
principal contexts: (1) the formulation and implementation of policy at national
and regional level; (2) consultation between employers and workers at the level
of the workplace; and (3) joint participation between employers and workers in
the formulation and implementation of policy at the level of the workplace. It
should be clear from the foregoing that the effective involvement of employers
and (especially) workers in all three contexts is crucially dependent upon
adequate recognition of their rights of association and representation.
Respect for the right to form and to join organizations is clearly an essential
precondition of all three forms of joint involvement. Consultation and
participation at the governmental level is feasible only where there are strong
and effective organizations which can be seen to be representative of the
interests of their constituencies. This is necessary both for ease of
communication and so that government will feel constrained to take seriously
the views expressed by the representatives of employers and workers. A fortiori,consultation and participation at the level of the workplace is a realistic
proposition only if workers have the capacity to form and to join organizations
which can represent their interests in discussions with employers and their
organizations, provide back-up resources for worker representatives, assist in
dealings with public inspectorates and so on. Theoretically, worker
representatives could operate at the level of the workplace without having any
necessary connection with a more broadly based organization, but the reality of
power relations in most workplaces is such that they are unlikely to be able to do
so in an effective manner without the support of an industrial organization. At
the very least, workers must have the right to have their interests represented inthis manner if they so choose.
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The organizational autonomy of employer and worker organizations is also an
essential precondition of meaningful participation at all levels. It is necessary, for
example, that worker organizations should have the right to formulate and to
implement their policies on occupational safety and health issues without outside
interference, for purposes of consultation with government in relation to: (1)
issues such as the legal regulation of hazardous processes or substances; or (2)the formulation of legislative policy relating to compensation for work-related
injury or the rehabilitation of injured workers. Such autonomy is even more
important at the level of the workplace, where worker organizations need to
develop and maintain a capacity to represent the interests of their members in
discussion with employers on occupational safety and health issues. This might
include having rights of access to workplaces for union officials and/or health and
safety specialists; invoking the assistance of the public authorities in relation to
hazardous situations; and in certain circumstances organizing industrial action in
order to protect the health and safety of their members.
To be effective, organizational autonomy also requires that trade union members
and officials be accorded adequate protection against victimization on grounds
of their trade union membership or activities, or on account of their having
initiated or participated in legal proceedings relating to occupational safety and
health matters. In other words, the guarantees against discrimination set out in
Article 1 of Convention No. 98 are as relevant to trade union activity relating to
occupational safety and health as to other forms of union activity such as
collective bargaining, membership recruitment and so on.
The right to engage in autonomous collective bargaining is also a crucial element
in effective worker participation in relation to occupational safety and health. The
guarantees set out in Article 4 of Convention No. 98 are important in this
context. However, as indicated, those guarantees do not extend to the right to
be recognized for purposes of such bargaining. On the other hand provisions
such as Article 19 of the Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No.
155) may be seen as coming very close to requiring trade union recognition in
the context of occupational safety and health:
There shall be arrangements at the level of the undertaking under which:
representatives of workers in an undertaking are given adequate informationon measures taken by the employer to secure occupational safety and health
and may consult their representative organizations about such information
provided they do not disclose commercial secrets;
workers and their representatives in the undertaking are given appropriate
training in occupational safety and health;
workers or their representatives and, as the case may be, their
representative organizations in an undertaking, in accordance with national law
and practice, are enabled to inquire into, and are consulted by the employer on,
all aspects of occupational safety and health associated with their work...
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In practical terms it would be very difficult to give effect to these provisions
without according some kind of formal recognition to the role of workers
organizations. This in turn serves to emphasize yet again the importance of
adequate recognition of rights of association and representation as a
precondition of the development and implementation of effective occupational
safety and health strategies at both the national and enterprise level.
WORKERS PARTICIPATION IN MANAGEMENT (I) (i) Introduction: Three
groups of managerial decisions affect the workers
of any industrial establishment and hence the workers must have a say in it.
Economic decisions methods of manufacturing, automation, shutdown, lay-offs,
and mergers. Personnel decisions recruitment and selection, promotions,
demotions, transfers, grievance settlement, work distribution. Social decisions
hours of work, welfare measures, questions affecting work rules and conduct of
individual workers safety, health, and sanitation and noise
control. Participation basically means sharing the decision-making power with
the lower ranks of the organization in an appropriate manner. Definitions: The
concept of WPM is a broad and complex one. Depending on the socio-political
environment and cultural conditions, the scope and contents
ofparticipation change. International Institute of Labour Studies: WPM is
the participation resulting from the practices which increase the scope for
employees share of influence in decision-making at different tiers of
organizational hierarchy with concomitant (related) assumption of
responsibility. ILO: Workers participation, may broadly be taken to cover all
terms of association ofworkers and their representatives with the decision-
making process, ranging from exchange of information, consultations, decisions
and negotiations, to more institutionalized forms such as the presence
ofworkers member on management or supervisory boards or
even management by workers themselves (as practiced in Yugoslavia). The
main implications ofworkersparticipation in management as summarized
by ILO: Workers have ideas which can be useful; Workers may work more
intelligently if they are informed about the reasons for and the intention of
decisions that are taken in a participative atmosphere. (I) (ii) Objectives:
According to Gosep, workers participation may be viewed as: An instrument
for increasing the efficiency of enterprises and establishing harmonious relations;
A device for developing social education for promoting solidarityamong workers and for tapping human talents; A means for achieving
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industrial peace and harmony which leads to higher productivity and increased
production; A humanitarian act, elevating the status of a worker in the society;
An ideological way of developing self-management and promoting industrial
democracy. Other objectives of WPM can be cited as: To improve the quality of
working life (QWL) by allowing the workers greater influence and involvement in
work and satisfaction obtained from work; and
This Text should be used as reference for MLFIR. Students should also go through
websites, books and take guidance from their respective faculty members. Vikas
Shrivastava Page 1
To secure the mutual co-operation of employees and employers in achieving
industrial peace; greater efficiency and productivity in the interest of the
enterprise, the workers, the consumers and the nation.
Importance: Unique motivational power and a great psychological value.
Peace and harmony between workers and management. Workers get to see
how their actions would contribute to the overall growth of the company. They
tend to view the decisions as `their own and are more enthusiastic in their
implementation. Participation makes them more responsible. They become
more willing to take initiative and come out with cost-saving suggestions and
growth-oriented ideas. (I) (iii) Essential condition for WPM: The success
ofworkers portion in management depends upon the following conditions.
The attitude and outlook of the parties should be enlightened and impartial so
that a free and frank exchange of thoughts and opinions could be possible.Where a right kind of attitude exists and proper atmosphere prevails the process
ofparticipation is greatly stimulated.
Both parties should have a genuine faith in the system and in each other and be
willing to work together. The management must give the participating
institution its right place in the managerial organization of the undertaking and
implementing the policies of the undertaking. The labor, on the other hand, must
also whole heartedly co-operate with the management through its trade unions.
The foremen and supervisory cadre must also lend their full support so that theaccepted policies could be implemented without any resentment on either side.
Participation should be real. The issues related to increase in production and
productivity, evaluation of costs, development of personnel, and expansion of
markets should also be brought under the jurisdiction of the participating bodies.
These bodies should meet frequently and their decisions should be timely
implemented and strictly adhered to. Further, o Participation must work as
complementary body to help collective bargaining, which creates conditions of
work and also creates legal relations. o There should be a strong trade union,which has learnt the virtues of unit and self-reliance so that they may effectively
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Communication and subsequently relations between the workers
representative and the workers suffers after the former assumes directorship.
He or she tends to become alienated from the workers. As a result, he or she
may be less effective with the other members of the Board in dealing with
employee matters. Because of the differences in the cultural and educational
backgrounds, and differences in behaviour and manners, such an employees
representative may feel inferior to the other members, and he or she may feel
suffocated. Hence, his or her role as a director may not be satisfying for either
the workers or the management. Such representatives ofworkers on theBoard, places them in a minority. And the decisions of the Board are arrived at
on the basis of the majority vote.
2. Participation through ownership: This involves making the workers
shareholders of the company by inducing them to buy equity shares. In many
cases, advances and financial assistance in the form of easy repayment options
are extended to enable employees to buy equity shares. Examples of this
method are available in the manufacturing as well as the service sector.
Advantage: Makes the workers committed to the job and to the organization.
Drawback: Effect on participation is limited because ownershipand management are two different things. 3. Participation through complete
control: Workers acquire complete control of themanagement through elected
boards. The system of selfmanagement in Yugoslavia is based on this concept.
Self-management gives complete control to workers to manage directly all
aspects of industries through their representatives. Advantages: Ensures
identification of the workers with their organization. Industrial disputes
disappear when workers develop loyalty to the organization. Trade unions
welcome this type ofparticipation. Conclusion: Complete control by workers is
not an answer to the problem ofparticipation because the workers do not
evince interest in management decisions. 4. Participation through Staff andWorks Councils: Staff councils or works councils are bodies on which the
representation is entirely of the employees. There may be one council for the
entire organization or a hierarchy of councils. The employees of the respective
sections elect the members of the councils. Such councils play a varied role.
Their role ranges from seeking information on the managements intentions to a
full share in decision-making. Such councils have not enjoyed too much of
success because trade union leaders fear the erosion of their power and prestige
if such workers bodies were to prevail. 5. Participation through Joint Councils
and Committees: Joint councils are bodies comprising representatives of
employers and employees. This method sees a very loose form ofparticipation,
as these councils are mostly consultative bodies.
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This Text should be used as reference for MLFIR. Students should also go through
websites, books and take guidance from their respective faculty members. Vikas
Shrivastava Page 4
Work committees are a legal requirement in industrial establishments employing
100 or more workers. Such committees discuss a wide range of topicsconnected to labour welfare. Examples of such committees are welfare
committee, safety committee, etc. Such committees have not proven to be too
effective in promoting industrial democracy, increasing productivity and reducing
labour unrest. 6. Participation through Collective Bargaining: Through the
process of CB, management and workers may reach collective agreement
regarding rules for the formulation and termination of the contract of
employment, as well as conditions of service in an establishment. Even though
these agreements are not legally binding, they do have some force. For CB to
work, the workers and the employers representatives need to bargain in the
right spirit. But in practice, while bargaining, each party tries to take advantageof the other. This process of CB cannot be called WPM in its strongest sense as in
reality; CB is based on the crude concept of exercising power for the benefit of
one party. WPM, on the other hand, brings both the parties together and
develops appropriate mutual understanding and brings about a mature
responsible relationship. 7. Participation through Job Enlargement and Job
Enrichment: Excessive job specialization that is seen as a by-product of mass
production in industries, leads to boredom and associated problems in
employees. Two methods of job designing job enlargement and job enrichment
are seen as methods of addressing the problems. Job enlargement means
expanding the job content adding task elements horizontally. Job enrichmentmeans adding `motivators to the job to make it more rewarding. This is WPM in
that it offers freedom and scope to the workers to use their judgment. But this
form ofparticipation is very basic as it provides only limited freedom to a
worker concerning the method of performing his/her job. The worker has no say
in other vital issues of concern to him issues such as job and income security,
welfare schemes and other policy decisions. 8. Participation through
Suggestion Schemes: Employees views are invited and reward is given for the
best suggestion. With this scheme, the employees interest in the problems of
the organization is aroused and maintained. Progressive managements
increasingly use the suggestion schemes. Suggestions can come from variouslevels. The ideas could range from changes in inspection procedures to design
changes, process simplification, paper-work reduction and the like. Out of
various suggestions, those accepted could provide marginal to substantial
benefits to the company. The rewards given to the employees are in line with the
benefits derived from the suggestions. 9. Participation through Quality Circles:
Concept originated in Japan in the early 1960s and has now spread all over the
world. A QC consists of seven to ten people from the same work area who meet
regularly to define, analyze, and solve quality and related problems in their area.
These circles require a lot of time and commitment on the part of members for
regular meetings, analysis, brainstorming, etc. Most QCs have a definite life
cycle one to three years. Few circles survive beyond this limit either because
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they loose steam or they face simple problems. QCs can be an excellent bridge
between participative and non-participative approaches. For
This Text should be used as reference for MLFIR. Students should also go through
websites, books and take guidance from their respective faculty members. Vikas
Shrivastava Page 5
QCs to succeed in the long run, the management needs to show its
commitment by implementing some of the suggestions of the groups and
providing feedback on the disposition of all suggestions. Training in problem-
solving techniques is provided to the members. QCs are said to provide quick,
concrete, and impressive results when correctly implemented. Advantages:
Employees become involved in decision-making, acquire communication and
analytical skills and improve efficiency of the work place. Organization gets to
enjoy higher savings-to-cost ratios. Chances of QC members to get promotions
are enhanced. The Indian Scenario: Tried by BHEL, Mahindra and Mahindra,
Godrej and Boyce among others. Experienced mixed results: o M&M (jeep
division) with 76 QCs has experienced favourable results. Technical problems
got solved. Workers got to get out of their daily routine and do something
challenging. Trade unions look at it as: A way of overburdening workers, and
An attempt to undermine their role. 10. Empowered Teams: Empowerment
occurs when authority and responsibility are passed on to the employees who
then experience a sense of ownership and control over their jobs. Employees
may feel more responsible, may take initiative in their work, may get more work
done, and may enjoy the work more. For empowerment to occur, the following
approach needs to be followed as compared to the traditional approach: Element
Organizational structure Job designManagement role Leadership Information
flow Rewards Job process Traditional Organization Layered, individual Narrow,
single task Direct, control Top-down Controlled, limited Individual, seniority
based Managers plan, control, improve Empowered Teams Flat, team Whole
process, multiple tasks Coach, facilitate Shared with the team Open, shared
Team-based, skill-based Teams plan, control, and improve
Features of empowered or self-directed teams: Empowered to share
various management and leadership functions. Plan, control and improve
their work. Often create their schedules and review their performance as a
group. May prepare their own budgets and co-ordinate their work with otherdepartments. o Usually order materials, keep inventories and deal with suppliers.
o Frequently responsible for acquiring any new training they might need. o May
hire their own replacement to assume responsibility for the quality of their
products or services
This Text should be used as reference for MLFIR. Students should also go through
websites, books and take guidance from their respective faculty members. Vikas
Shrivastava Page 6
Titan, Reliance, ABB, GE Plastics (India), Wipro Corporation and Wipro InfoTech
are empowering employees both frontline as well as production staff, and areenjoying positive results. 11. Total Quality Management: TQM refers to the
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deep commitment, almost obsession, of an organization to quality. Every step in
companys processes is subjected to intense and regular scrutiny for ways to
improve it. Some traditional beliefs are discarded. High quality costs more.
Quality can be improved by inspection. Defects cannot be completely
eliminated. Quality in the job of the QC personnel. New principles of TQM are:
Meet the customers requirement on time, the first time, and 100% of the time. Strive to do error-free work. Manage by prevention, not correction. Measure
the cost of quality. TQM is called participative because it is a formal
programme involving every employee in the organization; making each one
responsible for improving quality everyday.
12. Financial Participation: This method involves less consultations or even
joint decisions. Performance of the organization is linked to the performance of
the employee. The logic behind this is that if an employee has a financial stake
in the organization, he/she is likely to be more positively motivated and involved.
Some schemes of financial participation: Profit-linked pay Profit sharing andEmployees Stock Option schemes. Pension-fund participation. Pre-requisites
for successful participation: Management and operatives/employees should
not work at cross-purposes i.e. they must have clearly defined and
complementary objectives. Free flow of communication and information.
Participation of outside trade union leaders to be avoided Strong and
effective trade unionism. Workers education and training. Trade unions and
government needs to work in this area. Trust between both the parties.
Workers should be associated at all levels of decision-making. Employees
cannot spend all their time in participation to the exclusion of all other work.
This Text should be used as reference for MLFIR. Students should also go through
websites, books and take guidance from their respective faculty members. Vikas
Shrivastava Page 7
Limitations ofparticipation: Technology and organizations today are so
complex that specialized work-roles are required. This means employees will
not be able to participate effectively in matters beyond their particular
environment. Everybody need not want participation. The role of trade unions
in promoting participative management has been far from satisfactory.
Employers are unwilling to share power with the workers representatives.
Managers consider participative management a fraud.
This Text should be used as reference for MLFIR. Students should also go through
websites, books and take guidance from their respective faculty members. Vikas
Shrivastava Page 8
(I) (v) Reason for Limited Success : 1. Firstly, the fundamental difficulties in the
way lie in the concept itself. There is a basic conflict of interests between
the workers and the owners of the business enterprise.Participation involves
parting with power. Managements have been reluctant to part with their
authority and prerogative to manage the enterprises. Similarly trade unions have
not been prepared to divest themselves of their power manifested in bargainingand pressure. 2. Secondly, multiplicity of trade unions and factionalism has been
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a serious obstacle in the way ofworkers participation in management. In
view of the claims and counter claims, apathy and willingness, hostility and
cooperation displayed by rival unions or their factions, designation ofworkers
representatives on the participative forums often becomes a very difficult task.
3. The government with its anxiety of maintaining cordial relations between
labour and management, increasing production and productivity, achievingplanned targets and accelerating the pace of economic and industrial
development, came forward with different schemes
ofworkers participation in management. Many employers and trade unions
still considers them as imposition from outside. Its enforcement by law or
compulsion would thwart the very purpose of scheme and would act as serious
constraint on its successful implementation. 4. Fourthly, both managements and
trade unions have often complained of a plethora of joint bodies in Indian
industries for example, works committees, joint management councils, shop
councils, unit councils, plant councils, establishment councils, canteen
committees, production committees, safety committees, welfare committees,grievance committees , and so on. Thus, it is natural for them to become
bewildered by this multiplicity of joint bodies. 5. Another hurdle has been lack of
specific arrangements for sharing the gains ofparticipation. Workers are
assured in a vague manner, that they would gain if production increases and
quality of products improves as a result ofparticipation, but vague and remote
expectations cannot be expected to enthuse the workers. A prior arrangement
for sharing the fruits ofparticipation is a necessary condition for the success of
the scheme on a lasting basis. 6. It is the government in India which is more
anxious for the establishment of the schemes ofparticipation than the parties
which have to work them out. However, displaying an attitude of cooperationwith the government in maintaining industrial harmony, most national
organizations of employers and trade unions supported the schemes at the
national forums, but they have generally failed to enthuse their affiliates about
the usefulness of the schemes. 7. Lastly, it has also been realized that lack of
education and training with regard to the content, process, utility and other
relevant aspects ofparticipation have also proved an impediment to the
growth ofworkers participation in the country.
(I) (vi) Suggestions for Improvement: For the successful initiation and functioning
of the institutions ofworkers participation in management, serious attentionhas to be given to the removal of the hurdles (as above). Efforts should be made
to stir up the management and workers at the local or enterprise level to
understand the schemes and to derive concrete benefits from them. The
government efforts should be confined to giving guidelines and to remove the
impediments in the way, for example, reducing trade union rivalry by amending
trade union laws, regulating procedural aspects of collective bargaining,
expanding workers education programme and evolving a system of sharing the
fruits of participation.
This Text should be used as reference for MLFIR. Students should also go through
websites, books and take guidance from their respective faculty members. Vikas
Shrivastava Page 9
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This Text should be used as reference for MLFIR. Students should also go through
websites, books and take guidance from their respective faculty members. Vikas
Shrivastava Page 10
(I) (vii) Evolution of participative management in India: The beginning towards
WPM was made with the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, which made WorksCommittees mandatory in industrial establishments employing 100 or
more workers. The Industrial Policy Resolution adopted by the government in
1956 stated that there should be some joint consultation to ensure industrial
peace, and improve employer-employee relations. The functions of both these
joint bodies were to be consultative and were not binding on the management.
The response to these schemes was encouraging to begin with, but gradually
waned. A study team was appointed in 1962 to report on the working of joint
councils and committees. The team identified some reasons for their failure. o No
concrete steps were taken to remove the difficulties, or change the pattern of
participativemanagement. During the emergency of 1975-77, the interest inthese schemes was revived by the then Prime Minister by
including Workers Participation in industry in the governments 20-point
programme (refer for detail Page 246 of Industrial Relations, Trade Unions and
Labour Legislation by P.R.N.Sinha, Indubala Sinha, Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar).
The government started persuading large enterprises to set up joint
consultative committees and councils at different levels. The Janata
Government who came to power in 1977 carried on this initiative. It was again
emphasized by the Congress government who came back in 1979. This
continued in a nonstatutory vein till the late 1980s, and the response from the
employers and employees stayed Luke-warm. Then, the 42nd Amendment to theConstitution was made. Now, Article 43-A reads: The State shall take steps, by
suitable legislation, or in any other way, to secure
the participation ofworkers in the management of undertakings,
establishments or other organizations engaged in any industry. Thus,
participative management is a constitutional commitment in India. And then,
on May 30, 1990, the government introduced
the Participation ofWorkers in Management Bill in the Rajya Sabha. o The
bill requires every industrial enterprise to constitute one or more `Shop-Floor
Councils at the shop floor level, and `Establishment Council at the
establishment level. These councils will have equal representation of employersand employees. Shop-Floor councils enjoy powers over a wide range of functions
from production, wastage control to safety hazards. The Establishment Council
enjoys similar powers. The bill provides for the constitution of a Board
ofManagement of every corporate body owning an industrial establishment. o
The bill also provides for penalties on individuals who contravene any provision
of the bill. In spite of all these efforts, only the government and the academicians
have been interested in participative management. But
participative management is staging a comeback. The compulsions of emerging
competitive environment have made employee involvement more relevant than
ever before. Managers and the managed are forced to forget their known stands,
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break barriers, and work in unison. Managers and workers are partners in the
progress of business.
This Text should be used as reference for MLFIR. Students should also go through
websites, books and take guidance from their respective faculty members. Vikas
Shrivastava Page 11
Workers' Participation at TISCO Since Tata Iron and Steel Company are the
pioneers in establishing joint consultation in India, it is worthwhile to look
at workers' participation at TISCO. Closer association of employees
with management at TISCO began in 1919 and was formalized in August 1956.
The purpose was to promote increased productivity, provide a better
understanding to the employees of their role and importance, and to satisfy the
urge for self expression. The scheme as set up at TISCO consist f a three-tiered
system with joint department councils (JDCs) constituted at the departmental
level. Next, joint works councils (JWC) for the entire work, and at the top the joint
consultative council ofmanagement (JCCM). The specific functions of these
three bodies were as follows: JDCs were to study operational results and
production problems, advice on the steps deemed necessary to promote and
rationalize production, improve productivity and discipline and economize cost.
Promotion of welfare and safety, encouragement of suggestions and
improvement of working conditions also fell within their purview. JWCs were to
discharge special function of reviewing every month the working of JDCs and
other committees such as Suggestion Box Committee, Safety Committee,
Canteen Managing Committee, etc. JCCM was given the task of
advising management on production and welfare and also looking at matters
referred to by JDCs and JWCs In order to ensure that these committees did not
overlap the functions of other committees, separate task groups were formed.
Special courses were offered to prepare both management and union
representatives to effectively utilize the facility. TISCO's experience
with workers' participation has been satisfactory. From 1957 to the middle of
1972 JDCs have discussed a total of 14,104 suggestions of which 70.3 per cent
have been implemented. These suggestions have covered a wide range of topics
and issues, but the most important point to remember, perhaps, is that the
councils have been successful in involving workers equally in the process of
production.
This Text should be used as reference for MLFIR. Students should also go through
websites, books and take guidance from their respective faculty members. Vikas
Shrivastava Page 12
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING (II) (i) Meaning: Collective bargaining is process of joint
decision making and basically represents a democratic way of life in industry. It
is the process of negotiation between firms andworkers representatives for the
purpose of establishing mutually agreeable conditions of employment. It is a
technique adopted by two parties to reach an understanding acceptable to both
through the process of discussion and negotiation. ILO has defined collective
bargaining as, negotiation about working conditions and terms of employment
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between an employer and a group of employees or one or more employee,
organization with a view to reaching an agreement wherein the terms serve as a
code of defining the rights and obligations of each party in their
employment/industrial relations with one another. Collective bargaining involves
discussions and negotiations between two groups as to the terms and conditions
of employment. It is called collective because both the employer and theemployee act as a group rather than as individuals. It is known as bargaining
because the method of reaching an agreement involves proposals and counter
proposals, offers and counter offers and other negotiations. Thus collective
bargaining: is a collective process in which representatives of both
the management and employees participate. is a continuous process which
aims at establishing stable relationships between the parties involved. not only
involves the bargaining agreement, but also involves the implementation of such
an agreement. attempts in achieving discipline in the industry is a flexible
approach, as the parties involved have to adopt a flexible attitude towards
negotiations.
Importance: 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 thestrength of the workforce, thereby, increasing their bargaining capacity as a
group. Collective bargaining increases the morale and productivity of
employees. It restricts managements 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.
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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 It becomes easier for themanagement to resolve issues at the
bargaining level rather than taking up complaints of individual workers.
Collective bargaining tends to promote a sense of job security among employees
and thereby tends to reduce the cost of labor turnover to management.
Collective bargaining opens up the channel of communication betweenthe workers and the management and increases worker participation in
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decision making. Collective bargaining plays a vital role in settling and
preventing industrial disputes.