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INTERNATION
AL
&
COMPARATIV
E
EMPLOYMENT
CHAPTER 13
RELATIONS
Globalisation and
change
Allen & Unwin, 2011. These slides are support material for International and Comparative Employment Relations 5th
edition. Lecturers using the book as a set text may freely use these slides in class, and may distribute them to students
in their course only. These slides may not be posted on any university library sites, electronic learning
platforms or other channels accessible to other courses, the university at large or the general public.
Lecture outline
Key themes
Context
The actors
Representation in Indian industrial relations
Agreement making
Economic context for reforms
Current issues in employment
Labour law reform
Conclusions
Chapter
2 13:
India
Key themes
Major economic reforms in the 1990s paved the way for high
economic growth in India and involved the considerable
liberalisation of the expansive labour laws.
There is a large rural sector and a large informal sector in
which unions and collective bargaining are rare.
Trade union membership overall is low but membership and
collective bargaining coverage is higher in the public sector
and large enterprises.
There are weak laws regarding trade union recognition and
representation and poor enforcement of labour laws and
collective agreement provisions.
Current concerns include lack of protection for workers who
have been made worse-off by the market-based labour
reforms, poor growth prospects in key parts of the labour
market, high rates of contract and casual workers, increasing
downsizing and a low-value added IT sector.
Chapter
3 13:
India
Context
The Indian industrial relations system is rooted in
British common law.
The IR system also reflects Indias diverse population.
The unionisation rate is low at 5% of the total
workforce due in part to large rural and informal
sectors, which are not unionised.
Most unions are concentrated in large enterprises and
government-related sectors.
After slow development during most of the 20 th
century, economic growth has been high since the
mid-1990s.
Indian labour laws were liberalised as part of a
broader deregulation program in the 1990s, changing
what was one of the most protective labour law
Chapter
regimes in the world.
4
Copyright Allen & Unwin,
13:
India
2011
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Chapter
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Representation 1
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Representation
2
Non-union firms
In contrast to the past, it has been increasingly common since the
1990s to find establishments with no union presence, for instance,
in software companies and in several car manufacturers.
Employers have adopted union-avoidance tactics such as the use
of greenfield sites (which have high capital investment and
technology and lower labour intensity), offering above-average
wages and conditions, and asking employees to participate in
anti-union activities
Collective bargaining
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India
Representation 3
Historical context for industrial relations
At the time of independence, the British gave India a legal
framework aimed primarily at dispute resolution.
After independence, the Indian government adopted the Soviet
model of planned economic development and sought to
achieve a socialist society.
Industrial harmony was considered a necessity for state-led
development.
Several industries were nationalised in the early 1970s, and,
during the Emergency (1975-77), labour law changes
restricted employers ability to sack workers and close
operations that were no longer viable. Workers participation in
management was adopted as a directive principle of state
policy.
Prior to the 1990s reforms, two national commissions on
labour had recommended comprehensive reforms to labour
laws.
Chapter
14 13:
India
Representation 4
Freedom of Association
Chapter
15 13:
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Representation 5
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Representation 6
Unfair labour practices
The Industrial Disputes Act defines the following as
unfair labour practices:
refusal by the employer to bargain collectively in good
faith with recognised trade unions,
refusal by a union to bargain in good faith with the
employer
workers and trade unions engaging in coercive activities
against certification of a bargaining representative
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18 13:
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Duration of agreements
Duration of collective agreements increased
during the 1970s and 80s, and again in the 1990s
in the public sector. Since 1997, the duration of
public sector agreements has been ten years.
Most private sector collective agreements
typically last for three years. Public sector
agreements can have a much longer duration.
Chapter
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Current issues in
employment
1 under the
A large majority
of the workforce has suffered
Chapter
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Current issues in
employment 2
Search for flexibility
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Chapter
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Conclusions
Labour policy in India has been too narrowly focused on the 7% of the
labour force employed in the formal/organised sector.
The challenge for the government is accommodating all workers and
meeting the plurality of needs in the labour market. The government
is faced with the paradox of having to moderate the at times
excessive protection for workers in the formal sector (forming 7% of
the labour force) while enhancing protection for workers in the
informal sector (forming 93% of the labour force).
Improvements to education and vocational skills training are needed.
The labour administration and judiciary lack the professional skills
and accountability to match their discretionary powers, so there is a
need to build a cadre of professionals in these areas.
Improvements to the dispute resolution system also sorely needed.
Tripartite negotiations on devising policies which achieve flexibility
and job security have stalled, and need to be restarted.
Allen & Unwin, 2011. These slides are support material for International and Comparative Employment Relations 5th
edition. Lecturers using the book as a set text may freely use these slides in class, and may distribute them to students
in their course only. These slides may not be posted on any university library sites, electronic learning
platforms or other channels accessible to other courses, the university at large or the general public.