2.6.1 Employee/Industrial Action
Employee and employer representatives Industrial relations methods
• a healthy employer and employee relationships consists of: • Used by employees
• Mutual respect - there is an understanding where each person • Collective Bargaining - the process in which work
recognises their position in the business. Everyone conditions and salary or wages are negotiated
understands their role in the social working hierarchy between employers and employees, usually through
• Mutual reliance - the employee knows that they have a job to their respective agents (a union or management
do and will receive a salary, or wage, and benefits for doing the team). Advantage is that a united union has more
job. The employer is promising to make good on these
power than single employees, and management
payments
and employees can often reach agreements that are
• Openness and communication - the ability to express one’s
opinions and feel listened to and valued is important in a beneficial to everyone
healthy work relationship others the employee may feel ignored • Go-slow - an action where employees are
• gratitude - common courtesies and communicating concern instructed to work at a reduced rate. This reduces
and interest in one’s employees. productivity and can cause havoc if there are sales
• Support - letting someone know that you are there to listen or orders that will fail their delivery time frame as a
to help them with a situation can develop trust result. The biggest issue is ensuring that all
employees follow through on go slow. It is also
• Employer representatives - a group of individuals or important that employees do not undertake any
organisations that represent the interests of the management overtime
team in a collective bargaining process
• Work-to-rule - employees work at the minimum
• employees are usually represented by unions while employers
usually have specialists to represent their interests. The
level required by their contract. This reduces
employee pays union due to belong to a union productivity to the lowest rate possible, therefore
• union - groups of people who share common goals by virtue of the employees are obeying their contractual
their work, their job or their industry. Typically unions negotiate obligations so managers are forced to negotiate to
on behalf of their members find out what the workers want. No overtime to be
• craft/trade unions - original unions in the middle ages were undertaken.
called craft unions. These groups were organised by crafts or • Overtime ban - employees are instructed by their
trades. union to refuse to work beyond their contracted
• Industrial unions - larger unions and its members are hours. Tactic depends on all employees following
organised by industry rather than skill or trade for example the the directive and its success would rely on there
International Workers of the World being time sensitive orders to be fulfilled
• Public sector unions - represent government workers such as
municipal workers or teachers
• Strike action - employees refuse to work. Usually a
result of major disagreements within large
organisations over pay, benefits and working
conditions. Most radical actions, employees vote
and collectively refuse to work.
Sources of conflict at the workplace • Used by employer
• collective bargaining - Management attempts to
• disagreements that can arise from differences between use pressure by trying to enforce time deadline for
people’s perceptions, values and needs an agreement
• key is to prevent conflicts from arising
• Redundancies - mean that a business organisation
• Values - values can clash which can cause conflict. Managing
the conflict is a challenging issue and a compromise needs to
cuts back on personnel where their roles are no
be reached. longer necessary or there is no longer any work
• Communication - a lack of communication or poor available. Also funding may be cut and government
communication can be detrimental. It can lead to organisations are forced to lay off personnel
misunderstandings regarding goals or objective and create a • Contract changes - may result when an employee
whistle working environment ends their contract and a new contract needs to be
• Power - abuse of power occurs when someone in a position of negotiated. This may include changes in pay
authority uses their position to make an employee do structures, benefit packages and fringe benefits.
something they would not normally do. Could use coercion, However, the changes cannot be so drastic as to be
threats and punishments. coercive where the employee who does not agree
• Insufficient resources - can lead to managers having to make to the new terms is denied employment outright.
decisions about what is essential in order for an employee to
do their job. This can clash with employee perception of what • Closure - occurs when management shuts down
they need to do their job the business in response to employee strikes. This
• Perceptions - conflicts can happen when people see a management action is intended to be severe in
situation differently. Misperceptions usually flare up in times of order to force employees back to work rather than
change or economic downturn lose wages or be made redundant.
• Change - can create necessity for the business to change, • Lock-out - occurs when an employer locks out its
change can be stressful and people respond to it differently employees, preventing the employees coming to
• Performance - when people do not do their job in a work. This can have the effect of disuniting the
satisfactory manor, can cause disruption in the work union and turning employees against one another
environment. Important to handle the situation in a way that as some employees may need the work more than
resolves it quickly
others.
•
Employee and employer representatives Industrial relations methods
• a healthy employer and employee relationships consists of: • Used by employees
• Mutual respect - there is an understanding where each person • Collective Bargaining - the process in which work
recognises their position in the business. Everyone conditions and salary or wages are negotiated
understands their role in the social working hierarchy between employers and employees, usually through
• Mutual reliance - the employee knows that they have a job to their respective agents (a union or management
do and will receive a salary, or wage, and benefits for doing the team). Advantage is that a united union has more
job. The employer is promising to make good on these
power than single employees, and management
payments
and employees can often reach agreements that are
• Openness and communication - the ability to express one’s
opinions and feel listened to and valued is important in a beneficial to everyone
healthy work relationship others the employee may feel ignored • Go-slow - an action where employees are
• gratitude - common courtesies and communicating concern instructed to work at a reduced rate. This reduces
and interest in one’s employees. productivity and can cause havoc if there are sales
• Support - letting someone know that you are there to listen or orders that will fail their delivery time frame as a
to help them with a situation can develop trust result. The biggest issue is ensuring that all
employees follow through on go slow. It is also
• Employer representatives - a group of individuals or important that employees do not undertake any
organisations that represent the interests of the management overtime
team in a collective bargaining process
• Work-to-rule - employees work at the minimum
• employees are usually represented by unions while employers
usually have specialists to represent their interests. The
level required by their contract. This reduces
employee pays union due to belong to a union productivity to the lowest rate possible, therefore
• union - groups of people who share common goals by virtue of the employees are obeying their contractual
their work, their job or their industry. Typically unions negotiate obligations so managers are forced to negotiate to
on behalf of their members find out what the workers want. No overtime to be
• craft/trade unions - original unions in the middle ages were undertaken.
called craft unions. These groups were organised by crafts or • Overtime ban - employees are instructed by their
trades. union to refuse to work beyond their contracted
• Industrial unions - larger unions and its members are hours. Tactic depends on all employees following
organised by industry rather than skill or trade for example the the directive and its success would rely on there
International Workers of the World being time sensitive orders to be fulfilled
• Public sector unions - represent government workers such as
municipal workers or teachers
• Strike action - employees refuse to work. Usually a
result of major disagreements within large
organisations over pay, benefits and working
conditions. Most radical actions, employees vote
and collectively refuse to work.
Sources of conflict at the workplace • Used by employer
• collective bargaining - Management attempts to
• disagreements that can arise from differences between use pressure by trying to enforce time deadline for
people’s perceptions, values and needs an agreement
• key is to prevent conflicts from arising
• Redundancies - mean that a business organisation
• Values - values can clash which can cause conflict. Managing
the conflict is a challenging issue and a compromise needs to
cuts back on personnel where their roles are no
be reached. longer necessary or there is no longer any work
• Communication - a lack of communication or poor available. Also funding may be cut and government
communication can be detrimental. It can lead to organisations are forced to lay off personnel
misunderstandings regarding goals or objective and create a • Contract changes - may result when an employee
whistle working environment ends their contract and a new contract needs to be
• Power - abuse of power occurs when someone in a position of negotiated. This may include changes in pay
authority uses their position to make an employee do structures, benefit packages and fringe benefits.
something they would not normally do. Could use coercion, However, the changes cannot be so drastic as to be
threats and punishments. coercive where the employee who does not agree
• Insufficient resources - can lead to managers having to make to the new terms is denied employment outright.
decisions about what is essential in order for an employee to
do their job. This can clash with employee perception of what • Closure - occurs when management shuts down
they need to do their job the business in response to employee strikes. This
• Perceptions - conflicts can happen when people see a management action is intended to be severe in
situation differently. Misperceptions usually flare up in times of order to force employees back to work rather than
change or economic downturn lose wages or be made redundant.
• Change - can create necessity for the business to change, • Lock-out - occurs when an employer locks out its
change can be stressful and people respond to it differently employees, preventing the employees coming to
• Performance - when people do not do their job in a work. This can have the effect of disuniting the
satisfactory manor, can cause disruption in the work union and turning employees against one another
environment. Important to handle the situation in a way that as some employees may need the work more than
resolves it quickly
others.
•
