Labour Relations
INRL
Learning Unit 1 - 8
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Please note that we do not take responsibility for your test/exam results
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,Learning Unit 1: Labour Relations
Labour relations
= Employment relations / labour relations deals with relationships between people in a work
situation
- It’s the study of:
Relationships
Work situation and work man
Problems and issues in modern industrial society
Processes, structures, institutions unique to this relationship
- Unions were created to protect the employees and make sure the relationship of the
people within the working situation is a safe place to work
- Labour relations have existed since the first time an individual approached another
to perform a task, based on the promise of payment.
- Industrial relations placed emphasis on the institutionalisation of conflict by way of
collective representation, collective bargaining, joint regulation and laws intended to
regulate the relationship.
- Employment relations = behaviour, interactions and psychological processes
involved when people and organisations is at work.
- Employment relations = a discipline that deals with formal rules, procedures,
regulations, laws and policy decisions which shape the formal employment
relationship.
- Employment relations encompasses both the individual and collective dimensions,
while industrial relations and labour relations focus more on the collective
dimensions.
Historical evolutions of the employment relationship
The first industrial revolution
The industrial Revolution as a Change Agent
- Industrial Revolution = was a social and economic convulsion which commended in
the 14th century, or even earlier
- Most important changes at this stage:
Introduction of the printing press
Invention of the steam engine
Establishment of factories (especially in the textile industry)
Created by Pastthattest
Note: This document is protected under the Copyright Act
Illegal distribution of the document is not allowed
Please note that we do not take responsibility for your test/exam results
Our notes are up to date with the current module outlines.
, - The Industrial Revolution changed the economy and thus it had an immense effect
on existing social structures, perceptions of individuals and society at large, and on
the working life.
Pre- industrial Society
- Work was traditionally determined
- Marked division existed between wealthy landowners and peasants
- Working people (excluding merchants in service) were engaged either in agriculture
or in established crafts
- Small communities were formed, in which labour was nog seen as employment, but
rather as fulfilling a particular function in society.
- The idea of earning a living was secondary to the fulfilment of this
traditional/functional role
- False principles of trade:
A person buys low and sells high
A person raises prices to make up for losses suffered
A person sells expensively because they bought expensively.
The Factory System and the Emergence of the Working Class
- By the middle of the 18th century, the old feudal order was already in decline and the
industrial era was born
- This was due to the use of new energy sources and inventions of new machines
- Society began to accept that people by nature wanted to pursue gain
- The gain was at the centre of commercial activity and that no law should exist
against gain
- Workers were not selling their own product or know-how but their labour.
Effects on the Employment Relationship
- New relationship patterns had to be established – particularly during the early years
of industrialisation, workers suffered great hardships.
- Many saw capitalist activities as based on the principle of keeping the poor poor.
- This is due to the idea that capitalists forced ordinary people into a situation where
they had to abandon their traditional roles in society and sell their labour for
minimum wage, all to the benefit of the employer.
- This perception is still held by some employers today
- Advantages of the Industrial Revolution:
Greater progress and development in all spheres
General improvement in the standard of living of all people
Created by Pastthattest
Note: This document is protected under the Copyright Act
Illegal distribution of the document is not allowed
Please note that we do not take responsibility for your test/exam results
Our notes are up to date with the current module outlines.
, - Main concern = The Industrial Revolution gave rise to a new type of society, centred
on economic activity, and thus the “economic man”.
- Consequences of the Industrial Revolution:
The removal of economic activity from the individual’s personal social life
The depersonalisation of work
The polarisation between the mass of the employed
The rise of working – class consciousness
The growth of trade unionism
Negative attitudes engendered by the new dispensation
The consequential concept of “selling labour”
The disempowerment of the producers of such labour
The Second Industrial Revolution
- Began before the middle of the 19th century
- This phase was marked by more and more scientific discoveries, more sophisticated
technology, increased automation, the use of petroleum & electricity and the
introduction of the assembly line.
- No significant reconciliation occurred between people’s working lives and their
personal or social lives.
- Work and the employment relationship were still of a depersonalised nature
- Polarisation continued to exist
- The role of trade unions remained antagonistic
The Third Industrial Revolution
- Positive changes took place:
Improved education and training
Growing tendency to flatten & decentralise organisational structures began
to blur the distinctions between different groups/employees & between the
employers and employees
- Gigantic projects emphasised the need for a team approach
- Believed that the new meaning could be achieved by greater personal ownership of
work and recognition and collective value
- Believed that equalisation & team activity would improve identification and social
interaction resulting in a new attitude to work
The Fourth Industrial Revolution
- New millennium saw the 4IR as age of advanced technology based on information
and communications technology
- The revolution led to changes in the labour market (machines replacing humans)
Created by Pastthattest
Note: This document is protected under the Copyright Act
Illegal distribution of the document is not allowed
Please note that we do not take responsibility for your test/exam results
Our notes are up to date with the current module outlines.
INRL
Learning Unit 1 - 8
Created by Pastthattest
Note: This document is protected under the Copyright Act
Illegal distribution of the document is not allowed
Please note that we do not take responsibility for your test/exam results
Our notes are up to date with the current module outlines.
,Learning Unit 1: Labour Relations
Labour relations
= Employment relations / labour relations deals with relationships between people in a work
situation
- It’s the study of:
Relationships
Work situation and work man
Problems and issues in modern industrial society
Processes, structures, institutions unique to this relationship
- Unions were created to protect the employees and make sure the relationship of the
people within the working situation is a safe place to work
- Labour relations have existed since the first time an individual approached another
to perform a task, based on the promise of payment.
- Industrial relations placed emphasis on the institutionalisation of conflict by way of
collective representation, collective bargaining, joint regulation and laws intended to
regulate the relationship.
- Employment relations = behaviour, interactions and psychological processes
involved when people and organisations is at work.
- Employment relations = a discipline that deals with formal rules, procedures,
regulations, laws and policy decisions which shape the formal employment
relationship.
- Employment relations encompasses both the individual and collective dimensions,
while industrial relations and labour relations focus more on the collective
dimensions.
Historical evolutions of the employment relationship
The first industrial revolution
The industrial Revolution as a Change Agent
- Industrial Revolution = was a social and economic convulsion which commended in
the 14th century, or even earlier
- Most important changes at this stage:
Introduction of the printing press
Invention of the steam engine
Establishment of factories (especially in the textile industry)
Created by Pastthattest
Note: This document is protected under the Copyright Act
Illegal distribution of the document is not allowed
Please note that we do not take responsibility for your test/exam results
Our notes are up to date with the current module outlines.
, - The Industrial Revolution changed the economy and thus it had an immense effect
on existing social structures, perceptions of individuals and society at large, and on
the working life.
Pre- industrial Society
- Work was traditionally determined
- Marked division existed between wealthy landowners and peasants
- Working people (excluding merchants in service) were engaged either in agriculture
or in established crafts
- Small communities were formed, in which labour was nog seen as employment, but
rather as fulfilling a particular function in society.
- The idea of earning a living was secondary to the fulfilment of this
traditional/functional role
- False principles of trade:
A person buys low and sells high
A person raises prices to make up for losses suffered
A person sells expensively because they bought expensively.
The Factory System and the Emergence of the Working Class
- By the middle of the 18th century, the old feudal order was already in decline and the
industrial era was born
- This was due to the use of new energy sources and inventions of new machines
- Society began to accept that people by nature wanted to pursue gain
- The gain was at the centre of commercial activity and that no law should exist
against gain
- Workers were not selling their own product or know-how but their labour.
Effects on the Employment Relationship
- New relationship patterns had to be established – particularly during the early years
of industrialisation, workers suffered great hardships.
- Many saw capitalist activities as based on the principle of keeping the poor poor.
- This is due to the idea that capitalists forced ordinary people into a situation where
they had to abandon their traditional roles in society and sell their labour for
minimum wage, all to the benefit of the employer.
- This perception is still held by some employers today
- Advantages of the Industrial Revolution:
Greater progress and development in all spheres
General improvement in the standard of living of all people
Created by Pastthattest
Note: This document is protected under the Copyright Act
Illegal distribution of the document is not allowed
Please note that we do not take responsibility for your test/exam results
Our notes are up to date with the current module outlines.
, - Main concern = The Industrial Revolution gave rise to a new type of society, centred
on economic activity, and thus the “economic man”.
- Consequences of the Industrial Revolution:
The removal of economic activity from the individual’s personal social life
The depersonalisation of work
The polarisation between the mass of the employed
The rise of working – class consciousness
The growth of trade unionism
Negative attitudes engendered by the new dispensation
The consequential concept of “selling labour”
The disempowerment of the producers of such labour
The Second Industrial Revolution
- Began before the middle of the 19th century
- This phase was marked by more and more scientific discoveries, more sophisticated
technology, increased automation, the use of petroleum & electricity and the
introduction of the assembly line.
- No significant reconciliation occurred between people’s working lives and their
personal or social lives.
- Work and the employment relationship were still of a depersonalised nature
- Polarisation continued to exist
- The role of trade unions remained antagonistic
The Third Industrial Revolution
- Positive changes took place:
Improved education and training
Growing tendency to flatten & decentralise organisational structures began
to blur the distinctions between different groups/employees & between the
employers and employees
- Gigantic projects emphasised the need for a team approach
- Believed that the new meaning could be achieved by greater personal ownership of
work and recognition and collective value
- Believed that equalisation & team activity would improve identification and social
interaction resulting in a new attitude to work
The Fourth Industrial Revolution
- New millennium saw the 4IR as age of advanced technology based on information
and communications technology
- The revolution led to changes in the labour market (machines replacing humans)
Created by Pastthattest
Note: This document is protected under the Copyright Act
Illegal distribution of the document is not allowed
Please note that we do not take responsibility for your test/exam results
Our notes are up to date with the current module outlines.
