Industrial Disputes

>
>
> Industrial disputes are the disputes which arise due to any
> disagreement in an industrial relation. The term 'industrial
> relation' involves various aspects of interactions between
> the employer and the employees; among the employees as well
> as between the employers. In such relations whenever there
> is a clash of interest, it may result in dissatisfaction for
> either of the parties involved and hence lead to industrial
> disputes or conflicts. These disputes may take various forms
> such as protests, strikes, demonstrations, lock-outs,
> retrenchment, dismissal of workers, etc.
>
> Some of the important causes of an industrial dispute
> are:-
>
> Demand for higher wages and allowances.
>
>
> Demand for payment of bonus and determination of its rate
> thereof.
>
>
> Demand for higher social security benefits.
>
>
> Demand for good and safer working conditions, including
> length of a working day, the interval and frequency of
> leisure and physical work environment.
>
>
> Demand for improved labour welfare and other benefits. For
> example, adequate canteen, rest, recreation and
> accommodation facility, arrangements for travel to and from
> distant places,etc.
>
>
> Besides, poor personnel management; conflicting legislative
> measure or government policies; and psychological factors
> such as denial of opportunity to the worker for satisfying
> his/ her basic urge for self-expression, personal
> achievement and betterment may also result in labour
> problems.
> In India, the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 is the main
> legislation for investigation and settlement of all
> industrial disputes. The Act enumerates the contingencies
> when a strike or lock-out can be lawfully resorted to, when
> they can be declared illegal or unlawful, conditions for
> laying off, retrenching, discharging or dismissing a
> workman, circumstances under which an industrial unit can be
> closed down and several other matters related to industrial
> employees and employers.
>
> The Act is administered by the Ministry of Labour through
> its Industrial Relations Division. The Division is concerned
> with improving the institutional framework for dispute
> settlement and amending labour laws relating to industrial
> relations. It works in close co-ordination with the Central
> Industrial Relations Machinery (CIRM) in an effort to ensure
> that the country gets a stable, dignified and efficient
> workforce, free from exploitation and capable of generating
> higher levels of output. The CIRM, which is an attached
> office of the Ministry of Labour, is also known as the Chief
> Labour Commissioner (Central) [CLC(C)] Organisation. The
> CIRM is headed by the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central).
> It has been entrusted with the task of maintaining
> industrial relations, enforcement of labour laws and
> verification of trade union membership in central sphere. It
> ensures harmonious industrial relations through:-
>
> Monitoring of industrial relations in Central Sphere;
>
>
> Intervention, mediation and conciliation in industrial
> disputes in order to bring about settlement of disputes;
>
>
> Intervention in situations of threatened strikes and
> lockouts with a view to avert the strikes and lockouts;
>
>
> Implementation of settlements and awards.
> According to the Act, the term 'industrial dispute' means
> "any dispute or difference between employers and employers,
> or between employers and workmen, or between workmen and
> workmen, which is connected with the employment or
> non-employment, or the terms of employment or with the
> conditions of labour, of any person". The basic objectives
> of the Act are:-
>
> To provide a suitable machinery for the just, equitable and
> peaceful settlement of industrial disputes.
>
>
> To promote measures for securing and preserving amity and
> good relations between employers and employees.
>
>
> To prevent illegal strikes and lockouts.
>
>
> To provide relief to workers against layoffs, retrenchment,
> wrongful dismissal and victimisation.
>
>
> To promote collective bargaining.
>
>
> To ameliorate the conditions of workers.
>
>
> To avoid unfair labour practices.
>
> Under the Act, a statutory machinery has been constituted
> for conciliation and adjudication of industrial disputes. It
> includes:-
>
> The Act provides for appointment of 'Conciliation
> Officers', by appropriate Government, charged with the duty
> of mediating in and promoting the settlement of industrial
> disputes. He/ she may be appointed for a specified area, or
> for specified industries in a specified area, or for one or
> more specified industries, either permanently or for a
> limited period. It is the duty of these officers to bring
> both the employees and employers together and help them to
> resolve their differences. If the dispute is settled, he/
> she shall send a report, to that effect, to the appropriate
> Government.
> The appropriate Government may, as occasion arises,
> constitute a 'Board of Conciliation', which shall consist of
> a chairman and two or four other members, as the appropriate
> Government thinks fit. The Chairman shall be an independent
> person and the other members shall be persons appointed in
> equal numbers to represent the parties to the dispute. Where
> a dispute has been referred to a Board, it shall, without
> delay, investigate the dispute and do all such things as it
> thinks fit for the purpose of inducing the parties to come
> to a fair and amicable settlement of the dispute.
> The appropriate Government may, as occasion arises, also
> constitute a 'Court of Inquiry' to inquire into any matter
> appearing to be connected with or relevant to an industrial
> dispute. It shall, thereafter, report about it to the
> Government ordinarily within a period of six months from the
> commencement of its inquiry. Such a court may consist of one
> independent person or of such number of independent persons
> as the appropriate Government may think fit and where it
> consists of two or more members, one of them shall be
> appointed as the chairman.
> The appropriate Government may constitute one or more
> 'Labour Courts' to adjudicate industrial disputes relating
> to any matter specified in the second schedule like issues
> related to standing orders, discharge or dismissal of
> workers, illegality or otherwise of strikes and lockouts,
> withdrawal of any customary benefit, etc. and to perform
> such other functions as may be assigned to them under the
> Act. A labour court shall consist of one person only to be
> appointed by the appropriate Government.
>
> The appropriate Government may constitute one or more
> 'Industrial Tribunals' to adjudicate industrial disputes
> relating to any matter, whether specified in the second
> schedule or third schedule, and to perform such other
> functions as may be assigned to them under the Act. A
> tribunal shall consist of one person only to be appointed by
> the appropriate Government. The third schedule covers the
> matters such as wages, bonus, allowances and certain other
> benefits, certain working conditions, discipline,
> rationalisation, retrenchment and closure of establishment.
>
>
> The Central Government may, by notification in the Official
> Gazette, constitute one or more 'National Industrial
> Tribunals' to adjudicate an industrial dispute which, in the
> opinion of the Central Government, involve questions of
> national importance or are of such a nature that industrial
> establishments situated in more than one State are likely to
> be interested in, or affected by, such disputes. Such a
> tribunal shall consist of one person only to be appointed by
> the Central Government.
>
> The Act also makes it obligatory for an employer to set up
> a 'Grievance Settlement Authority (GSA)' in an industrial
> establishment in which fifty or more workers have been
> employed in the preceding twelve months. This authority
> shall have the responsibility to settle industrial disputes
> concerning an individual worker employed in that
> establishment.
> No reference can be made under the Act to Conciliation
> Boards, Labour Courts or Industrial Tribunals, unless the
> dispute has first been the subject of a decision of a
> Grievance Settlement Authority.
>
> Under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, the Central
> Government is the appropriate Government for investigation
> and settlement of industrial disputes in regard to the
> departmental undertakings of the Central Government, major
> ports, mines, oil fields, cantonment boards, banking and
> Insurance Companies, Life Insurance Corporation of India
> (LIC), Industrial Finance Corporation of India Limited, the
> Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, the Indian
> Airlines, Air India, the Airport Authority of India and all
> air transport services. While in relation to other
> industrial establishments, the State Government is the
> appropriate Government.
>
> Accordingly, Central Government Industrial Tribunals
> (CGITs) -cum- Labour Courts have been set up in different
> parts of the country. There are at present 17 CGITs to whom
> industrial disputes could be referred for adjudication.
> These CGITs-cum-Labour Courts are at New Delhi , Mumbai (2
> CGITs ), Bangalore, Kolkata, Asansol, Dhanbad (2 CGITs ),
> Jabalpur, Chandigarh, Kanpur, Jaipur, Lucknow, Nagpur,
> Hyderabad, Chennai and Bhubaneshwar. Out of these CGITs, 2
> CGITs namely Mumbai-I and Kolkata have been declared as
> National Industrial Tribunals.
> Besides, the Organization of the Chief Labour Commissioner(
> Central) acts as the primary conciliatory agency in the
> Central Government for industrial disputes. There are the
> Regional Labour Commissioners (Central) and Assistant Labour
> Commissioners (Central) who on behalf of the Chief Labour
> Commissioner (Central) act as Conciliatory Officers in
> different parts of the country.
>
> Settlement
> In law, a settlement is a resolution between disputing
> parties about a legal case, reached either before or after
> court action begins.
>
> .A settlement, as well as dealing with the dispute between
> the parties is a contract between those parties, and is one
> possible (and common) result when parties sue (or
> contemplate so doing) each other in civil proceedings. The
> plaintiff(s) and defendant(s) identified in the lawsuit can
> end the dispute between themselves without a trial[1].
>
> The contract is based upon the bargain that a party
> foregoes its ability to sue (if it has not sued already), or
> to continue with the claim (if the plaintiff has sued), in
> return for the certainty written into the settlement. The
> courts will enforce the settlement: if it is breached, the
> party in default could be sued for breach of that contract.
> In some jurisdictions, the party in default could also face
> the original action being restored.
>
> The settlement of the lawsuit defines legal requirements of
> the parties, and is often put in force by an order of the
> court after a joint stipulation by the parties. In other
> situations (as where the claims have been satisfied by the
> payment of a certain sum of money) the plaintiff and
> defendant can simply file a notice that the case has been
> dismissed.
>
> The majority of cases are decided by a settlement. Both
> sides (regardless of relative monetary resources) often have
> a strong incentive to settle to avoid the costs (such as
> legal fees, finding expert witnesses, etc.), the time and
> the stress associated with a trial, particularly where a
> trial by jury is available. Generally, one side or the other
> will make a settlement offer early in litigation. The
> parties may hold (and indeed, the court may require) a
> settlement conference, at which they attempt to reach such a
> settlement.
>
> In controversial cases, it may be written into a settlement
> that both sides keep its contents and all other information
> relevant to the case confidential.
> agreement
>
> AGREEMENT
> Definition
> Meeting of minds (or an evidence of mutual accord or
> understanding) between two or more legally competent
> parties, about their relative duties and rights regarding
> current or future performance. Although a binding contract
> can (and often
>
>
> MEDICAL BENEFITS UNDER ESIC
> An insured person whose family resides in a different
> State would be required to register his or her family with
> an opted ESI Dispensary in that State, in order to
> facilitate medical attendance / treatment for the family.
> Separate photo identity cards, that is, one for the
> “insured person” [Form-4] and for the family [Form-4 A]
> would be issued on application by the insured person with
> the respective photographs of self and of the family.
>
> Changes in the family could also be got incorporated in the
> card ,on application, by the insured person [in Form 1-B] as
> and when necessary. However, the family card once issued in
> a financial year, will be effective till the end of the
> year, irrespective of any change in the opted State in that
> year.
>
> The registration and other formalities would be done
> through the Branch Office of the ESI Corporation and the
> intending insured persons have to contact the Branch Office
>
>
> TYPE OF MEDICAL BENEFITS PROVIDED:-
> The Employees’ State Insurance Scheme provides full
> medical care in the form of medical attendance, treatment,
> drugs and injections, specialist consultation and
> hospitalization to insured persons and also to members of
> their families where the facility for Specialist
> consultation, hospitalization has been extended to the
> families
>
> For the families, this benefit has been divided into two
> categories as under :-
> FULL MEDICAL CARE
> This consists of hospitalization facilities and includes
> specialist services, drugs and dressings and diets as
> required for in-patients.
>
> EXPANDED MEDICAL CARE
> This consists of consultation with the specialists and
> supply of special medicines and drugs as may be prescribed
> by them in addition to the out-patient care. This also
> includes facilities for special laboratory tests and X-Ray
> examinations.
>
> Apart from the curative services provided through hospitals
> and dispensaries, the Corporation also provides the
> following facilities including family welfare services.
>
> IMMUNIZATION
> The Corporation has embarked upon a massive programme of
> immunization of young children of insured persons. Under
> this programme, preventive inoculation and vaccines are
> given against diseases like diphtheria, pertusis, polio,
> tetanus, measles, mumps, rubella, tuberculosis etc.
>
> FAMILY WELFARE SERVICES
> Along with the immunization programme, the Corporation has
> been undertaking provision of family Welfare Services to the
> beneficiaries of the Scheme. The Corporation has organized
> these services in 180 centres besides reserving 330 beds in
> hospitals for undertaking tubectomy operations. So far,
> 828976 sterilization operation viz. 176197 vasectomies and
> 652779 tubectomies have been performed upto 31.3.1999. The
> ESI Corporation has also extended additional cash incentive
> to insured persons to promote acceptance of sterilization
> method by providing sickness cash benefit equal to full wage
> for a period of 7 days for vasectomy and 14 days for
> tubectomy. The period for which cash benefit is admissible
> is extended beyond the above limits in the event of any
> complications after Family Planning operations.
>
> SUPPLY OF SPECIAL AIDS
> Insured persons and members of their families are provided
> artificial limbs, hearing aids, and artificial appliances
> like spinal supports, cervical collars, walking calipers,
> crutches, wheel chairs and cardiac pace makers as a part of
> medical care under the Scheme.
>
>
> Trade Union Registration and Recognition in India.
>
> The Trade unions act of 1926 provides for registration of
> trade unions by the designated registrar of trade unions.
> Registered trade unions have certain obligations to meet
> like maintenance of accounts and filing of returns.
> Non-compliance may invite cancellation of registration.
> However the act is silent about the recognition of the trade
> union by the firm for the purpose of collective bargaining.
> Various state governments like Maharashtra have enacted
> legislations like the Maharasthra Recognition of Trade Union
> (MRTU) and the Prevention of unfair labor practices (PULP)
> Act of 1971 to recognize unions based on their real
> strength. With support from courts, many organizations have
> used the secret ballot method to identify and recognize
> unions as representatives of workers. Other methods followed
> are membership verification conducted by government
> machinery or a check off system where employee declares
> union allegiance to company and allow deduction of
> membership fee from the salary.
>
> The Supervisor’s Role:
>
> Supervisors are an employer’s first line of defense when
> it comes to the unionizing effort. They are often in the
> best position to sense evolving employees’ attitude
> problems, for instance, and to discover the first signs of
> union activity. Unfortunately there’s another side to that
> coin: they can also inadvertently take actions that hurt
> their employer’s union related efforts.
>
> Supervisors therefore need special training. Specifically
> they must be knowledgeable about what they can and can’t
> do to legally hamper organizing activities. Unfair labor
> practices could (1) cause the NLRB to hold a new election
> after your company has won a previous election, or (2) cause
> your company to forfeit the second election and go directly
> to contract negotiation.
>
> In one case a plant superintendent reacted to a union’s
> initial organizing attempt by prohibiting distribution of
> union literature in the plant’s lunchroom. Since
> solicitation of off duty workers in non work areas is
> generally legal, the company subsequently allowed the union
> to post union literature on the company’s bulletin board
> and to distribute union literature in nonworking areas
> inside the plant. However, the NLRB still ruled that the
> initial act of prohibiting distribution of the literature
> was an unfair labor practice one not made right by the
> company’s subsequent efforts. The NLRB used the
> superintendent’s action as one reason for invaliding an
> election that the company had won.
>
> The election:
>
> The election is held within 30 to 60 days after the NLRB
> issues its decision and direction of Election. The election
> is by secret ballot; the NLRB provides the ballots; voting
> booth, and ballot box and counts the votes and certifies the
> results.
>
> The union becomes the employee’s representative if it
> wins the lection, and winning means getting a majority of
> the votes cast, not a majority of the total workers in the
> bargaining unit. Also keep in mind that if an employer
> commits an unfair labor practice the NLRB may reverse a no
> union election. As representative of their employer,
> supervisors must therefore be careful not to commit unfair
> practices. Several things influence whether the union wins
> the certification election. Unions have a higher probability
> of success in geographic areas with a higher percentage of
> union workers, in part because union employees enjoy higher
> wages and benefits. High unemployment seems to lead to
> poorer results for the union, perhaps because employees fear
> that unionization efforts might result in reduced job
> security or employer retaliation. Unions usually carefully
> pick the size of their bargaining unit (all clerical
> employees in the company, only those at one
> facility and so on because it’s clear that the larger
> the bargaining unit, the smaller the probability of union
> victory The more workers vote, the less likely a union
> victory probably because more workers who are not strong
> supporters vote. The union is important too. The Teamsters
> union is less likely to win a representation election than
> other unions, for instance