Unit 3: Industrial conflicts & workers' participation
Industrial Relations and Labour Laws notes · PTU syllabus (BCOM 601-18)
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Unit summary
When bargaining fails, conflict can erupt into strikes and lockouts — and the law provides machinery to resolve it. This unit covers the meaning, causes and types of industrial conflict, strikes and lockouts, the machinery for resolving industrial disputes, and the concept, growth and types of workers' participation in management.
After this unit you can
- Explain the meaning, causes and types of industrial conflict
- Explain strikes and lockouts and their legal regulation
- Explain the machinery for prevention and settlement of disputes
- Explain workers' participation in management and its forms
PTU syllabus topics
- Meaning
- causes and types of industrial conflict
- strikes and lockouts
- machinery for resolving industrial disputes
- concept and growth of workers' participation in management
- types of workers' participation
- 1Negotiation
Direct talks
- 2Conciliation
Neutral officer helps both sides
- 3Arbitration
Arbitrator's award, by agreement
- 4Adjudication
Labour court or tribunal decides
Topic 1
Industrial conflict: meaning, causes and types
- Industrial dispute (Section 2(k), Industrial Disputes Act, 1947): any dispute or difference between employers and employers, employers and workmen, or workmen and workmen, connected with employment, non-employment, terms of employment or conditions of labour.
Economic
Wages, DA, bonus, working hours, retrenchment
Managerial
Non-recognition of unions, unfair labour practices, poor communication, indiscipline actions
Political
Political unions, inter-union rivalry
Social and psychological
Frustration, job insecurity, poor working conditions
Technological
Automation and fear of job loss
- Forms (manifestations): strikes, lockouts, gherao, go-slow, work-to-rule, absenteeism, sabotage, demonstrations, picketing.
Topic 2
Strikes and lockouts
- Strike (Section 2(q)): cessation of work by a body of persons acting in combination, or a concerted refusal to work.
- Types of strikes: general strike, sympathetic strike, hunger strike, sit-down (stay-in) strike, go-slow (not a strike legally), work-to-rule, lightning (wildcat) strike, token strike.
- Lockout (Section 2(l)): temporary closing of a place of employment or suspension of work or refusal by an employer to continue to employ workers.
Legal regulation (IR Code, 2020)
- Notice of strike/lockout: 60 days' notice required in all industrial establishments; no strike within 14 days of notice; none during conciliation and 7 days after; none during tribunal/arbitration proceedings and 60 days after.
- Illegal strikes and lockouts are punishable; mass casual leave by 50% or more workers is treated as a strike.
- Lay-off, retrenchment and closure: establishments with 300 or more workers need government permission (raised from 100 under the IR Code); retrenchment compensation of 15 days' average pay per completed year; reskilling fund contribution.
| Strike vs lockout | Strike | Lockout |
|---|---|---|
| Initiated by | Workers | Employer |
| Weapon of | Labour | Management |
| Purpose | Press demands | Resist demands or impose terms |
| Effect | Loss of wages and output | Loss of wages and output |
Topic 3
Machinery for resolving industrial disputes
Preventive
Works committees, grievance redressal committees, standing orders, collective bargaining, workers' participation
Conciliation
Conciliation officers (now within the IR Code framework)
Voluntary arbitration
Parties refer dispute to a mutually chosen arbitrator
Adjudication
Industrial Tribunals and National Industrial Tribunal (IR Code); earlier labour courts and tribunals
- 1
Bipartite negotiation
- 2
Conciliation
Conciliation officer mediates; settlement binding
- 3
Failure report to government
- 4
Voluntary arbitration (if agreed)
- 5
Adjudication by Industrial Tribunal
Award binding; published and enforceable
- 6
Appeal
High Court / Supreme Court (writ)
Conciliation
Mediator helps parties reach their own agreement
Settlement binding if agreed
Voluntary arbitration
Arbitrator chosen by parties decides
Award binding
Adjudication
Tribunal appointed by law decides compulsorily
Award binding
- IR Code, 2020: Industrial Tribunals with a judicial member and an administrative member; National Industrial Tribunal for disputes of national importance; individual workers can approach the tribunal directly for discharge/dismissal disputes after 45 days of conciliation.
Topic 4
Workers' participation in management (WPM)
Workers' participation in management is a system in which workers have a say in decision-making in the organisation.
- Objectives: industrial democracy, harmony, higher productivity, worker development, recognition of human dignity.
- Growth in India: Article 43A of the Constitution (42nd Amendment, 1976) — the State shall secure participation of workers in management; works committees (ID Act 1947); Joint Management Councils (1958); Shop councils and joint councils (1975 scheme); 1983 scheme; Participation of Workers in Management Bill (1990, not passed).
- Board representation
Worker-directors on the board
- Joint management councils
Consultation on policy matters
- Works committees and shop councils
Day-to-day issues
- Suggestion schemes and quality circles
Ideas and problem-solving
- Information sharing and consultation
Basic level
- Other forms: collective bargaining, workers' cooperatives, employee stock ownership (ESOPs), self-managed teams.
- Reasons for limited success in India: lack of trust, multiplicity of unions, management reluctance, illiteracy, lack of legal backing.
Key terms
- Industrial dispute
- Difference connected with employment between employers and workers
- Strike
- Concerted cessation of work by workers
- Lockout
- Employer's closure or refusal to employ workers during a dispute
- Conciliation
- Third-party mediation to help parties settle
- Workers' participation
- Involvement of workers in managerial decisions
Quick revision
- Causes: economic, managerial, political, social, technological.
- Strikes need 60 days' notice under the IR Code; lockouts similarly.
- Lay-off/retrenchment permission for 300+ worker establishments.
- Machinery: conciliation → arbitration → adjudication (Industrial Tribunals).
- WPM: Article 43A; works committees, JMCs, board representation, ESOPs.
Important exam questions
Practice questions written to the PTU exam pattern for this unit's syllabus: short answers (Section A style) and long answers (Sections B and C style).
Short-answer questions
- Q1.Define industrial dispute.
- Q2.Distinguish strike and lockout.
- Q3.What is a gherao?
- Q4.What is conciliation?
- Q5.Distinguish arbitration and adjudication.
- Q6.What is Article 43A?
Long-answer questions
- Q1.Explain the causes and forms of industrial conflict.
- Q2.Explain strikes and lockouts and their legal regulation.
- Q3.Explain the machinery for settlement of industrial disputes in India.
- Q4.Explain the concept, growth and forms of workers' participation in management.
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