Cbseignou.com

MS-24    june 2011

MS-24 : EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS

1. Discuss the current development in industrial relations in India. Describe the influence of  theories and models on industrial relations  practices.

2.  Identify the factors responsible for the formation  of white - collar managerial unions. Briefly trace  the evolution of managerial unions in India.

3.  Define collective bargaining. Examine the unique features of collective bargaining in Indian context  with illustration.

4. Identify the factors responsible for the failure of  participative schemes in India. Discuss the  strategies for making participative forums  effective.

5.  Define discipline. Explain the process of  disciplinary action and its advantages and  disadvantages.

6. Read the case given below and answer the  questions given at the end,

   XYZ Corporation is a State Government  enterprise in which a strike occurred in the recent  past at the middle management level, causing a  loss of Rs. 100 crores.

This Corporation is an engineering industry  and has three categories of employees :

(1) deputationists from the Central and State  Governments,

(2) its own recruited officers, staff  and men; and

(3 ) officers and staff who had opted  from the Government to the Corporation' s service.

The middle management whose strength is  about 1500, includes  people  who have reached  the highest executive rank, but are not members  of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors  and Secretaries of the Corporation are on  deputation from the Central and State  Governments. Some of them are experienced  veterans of proven integrity and managerial skills.

The workforce and staff consists of supervisors  and men, who have separate unions.  The unions had many factions and were  agitating quite frequently. the top management  was generally employing the middle management  to quell strikes by the workers and staff. In most  cases, the demands of the workers were accepted.

The workers and supervisory staff had thus been  able to improve their service conditions through  agitational means.  Before the strike, the middle management  had been complaining about job - stagnation,  absence of service rules, untimely action in FB cases, and unequal treatment meted out to it by  the top management. It wanted a revision of the

pay-scales and introduction of time bound pay-scales. By this time, the deputationists at the  middle management level were asked to opt for  service in the industry or lose their jobs. There  were serious apprehensions in the minds of the  middle management people about getting perks  and retirement benefits at the same rate as their  parent departments. They held several meetings  and people at all levels of the hierarchy stood  together.  The top management issued a circular  saying that the misgivings were unfounded, and  that the industry was quite capable of giving perks  and retirement benefits at the same rate as their  parent departments. This circular was issued in  the same manner as other circulars.

Three months prior to the strike by the  middle management, a union of workers went on

strike. The middle management was directed to  have the strike called off but it  acted  half-heartedly. The top management was getting the  feedback on the situation from the Corporation's  channels and other independent services. The  middle management, however, passed on very  little information. The MIS was of routine nature,  and it only described how functioning had been  affected, and the strength that reported for duty.

The middle management was itself to some extent,  responsible for the strike and it stood by the  workers.

After this strike was called off, there were a  number of demonstrations by the middle  management people. A union had already been  formed and it was recognized by the Board of Directors. The following demands were put up :

(1) DA to be granted to people getting pay above  Rs. 900 basic,

(2) Time bound pay-scales to be  allowed,

(3) DA to be equal to that given to the  deputationists,

(4) For those not getting residential  accommodation, rent above 10'%t, should be

subsidized,

(5) Withdrawal of pre- audit checking  on purchases,

(6) The middle management people  should have promotion avenues up to the Board  level, and

(7) Timely disposal of disciplinary cases.

     The middle management complained that  there was stagnation, and that promotion avenues  were blocked.  - Ihey said, for instance, "that an  engineer entering the Corporation would cross the  first step only after fifteen years and the second  after twenty. There were five steps to the highest  executive rank (not in the Board of Directors).  hence there was no chance for an entrant to reach  the highest level in his lifetime or to get pay  advance equivalent to that at the higher echelons."  About two months prior to the strike the  Chairman went on leave for a month and a  deputationist in the Board was appointed to  officiate in his place. During this month the  agitation mounted.

The Board of Directors appointed a Pay  Commission, but it was boycotted by the middle

management. The information system of the  Board conveyed information about discontent but  it did not foresee the strike which later paralyzed  the Corporation. The Board of Directors got in  touch with the Army authorities, and were  assured that personnel would be provided to man  the works, so that functioning was not disrupted.  An impasse started developing at about this time  between the middle management and the Board OF DIRECTORS

Questions :

(a)  What is the main problem in the present  case ?

(b)  Analyze the basic causes which led to the  problem.

(c)  How would you deal with such a  situation ?