Strike Activity as a Feature of Contemporary Employment Relations - Essay Example

DECLINE IN STRIKE ACTIVITY Introduction Strikes have been recognized as an inevitable form of conflict of interests found mainly between management and a particular union. Paradoxically, occurrence of strikes despite the improvement of the welfare for all, which could be gained by peaceful settlement, has persisted. It has been argued that inefficiency of strikes merely implies that there probably could be some irrationality either on the part of the union or even the firm present (Bogg, 2014). However, the above stated need not be the case since the strikes could arise from ignorance. Herein, the paper will draw the level of the conflict perception and analysis of the rise and the decline of the strike activity as well as exploring its unevenness across the nations. Policy and academic circles were driven by both economic and social order in the years between 1960s and 1970s. In the academic sector, there existed debate about the functionalist and conflict theories of the society where the functionalist assumed the natural happenings towards the social cohesion as well as order (Dzimbiri, 2008). On the other hand, conflict theories assumed a natural tendency towards industrial and the social unrest that was in the capitalist economies. Virtually the discussion defined carefully the strike activity and the social science. Here the industrial conflict as well as the worker resistance was found common which appeared dominant. There was a concern about the strike activity and fear developed of the widespread industrial instability. The unrest meant that the field of industrial relations came to be of primary interest to the scholars in the field quoted in the newspapers as well as in the government commissioning reports on industrial conflict and work (Sluyter-Beltrão, 2010). Essentially, the field’s marginalization could in turn be attributed to declining in the importance of strikes in the past not less than three decades in considerable measures. Nevertheless, even in the sector of industrial relations the language of strikes has largely been forgotten. Additionally, concerning the implications of the popularity as well as the growth of the industrial relations the falling of the strike activity posits major questions for those that adhere to a conflicting view of the industrial relationship. There have been theories that are advanced in the attempts to account for the variation in the especially in the strike activity (Rosenfeld, 2014). However, despite them there remains very little in the way of broad theory with which to address several questions that arise because of the decline. Decline in Strike Activity In this context, Richard Hyman in his book provides a definitive statement perception not just on strike but also concerning the industrial relation at large. It has been an essential piece of writing concerning the industrial association particularly to the students in the related field with four editions whereby the latest was published in the year 1989. Accordingly, it draws in and extends the analysis in the strikes to bring up possible explanations for what actually happened to strike activity and as well assess the evidence in support of the same (Sluyter-Beltrão, 2010). Strikes are seen to bring out three significant contributions. Firstly, they provide a useful overview of strike problem, how it came from the 1950s onwards and how it compared with that of different developed countries. Secondly, it served as an excellent introduction towards sociology in the industrial conflict putting away the conventional positivist explanations in favor of a particular focus on the structure action relationship and the rationality of strikes as manifestations of dissatisfaction (Haverty-Stacke, 2010). Finally, it as well provided a theoretical interpretation of industrial conflict together with the strike, one that attributes conflict not just in various tensions imbalances that arise from employment relation. However, to the nature and border context of capitalist employment as well. Hyman adopted what had subsequently become the theoretical realist commonly known as critical realist approach, identifying four principal sources of conflict that he considered inherent to capitalism and the capitalist employment relation (Einarsen, 2011). He summarized all this as a distribution of income, insecurity of employment and the power and control over decision in the process of work. Offsetting all the above sources of conflict, various sources of peace remain including a common interest in the survival of the employer, force of habit as well as the social values legitimizing the managerial authority. However, these sources of peace do not completely cancel out the underlying conflict but rather stands in a contradiction relation between them. Consequently, the strikes and the industrial conflicts are found to be an endemic to the capitalism. In his argument, he stated that the growing size and the bureaucratization of the industrial organization organizations, the application of the technology with little regard to the requirements and interests of the employees and generally the increased interference by the governments in a collective bargaining seemed likely to accentuate dissatisfaction (Palacios-Valladares, 2011). The implication underlined here is that conflict had a likelihood of becoming more pervasive over some period of time and also that any stable solution required the transformation in the structure of ownership of industry, the priorities pursued within the economic life, the behavior of work and the nature of the workers relationship with one another within the production as well as in the outside society. His first edition was written in the period when the strike activity was on the increasing end, which provided a compelling analysis of strike as an issue connected to capitalism especially in Britain (De Lint, 2009). Although the statistics on the strikes were notoriously flawed, the strike activity appeared to have substantially declined from 1970s not only in Britain but also in Western nations generally. Moreover, there had been substantial differences both in the strike levels and in the patterns across the nations as it was illustrated by the differences in the strike days lost between the three liberal market economies as well as their three social markets counterparts. Hyman discussed the decline of the strike activity pointing out to cross-national differences and does not draw on the main argument of the strike to explain either, instead he limits his analysis on the developments unique to the British experience. Indeed, his case could serve as an essential foundation, not for explanation for variation but also for addressing what has happened to the industrial conflict, in general. Outbursts of the strike activity in many of the industrial societies in the late 1960s and early 1970s majorly focus on the considerable concerns about relations between the labour, capital as well as the states in advanced capitalist systems that have led to many inquiries into the source of the new labour militancy (De Lint, 2009). Recent efforts in evaluating the potential of advanced industrial societies to come up with severe social conflicts are probably a useful corrective to the dominant theoretical perspectives of the postwar social science that has stressed the integration of the so-called working class into a the socioeconomic fabric of current modern capitalist nations. Sociologists wrote concerning the embourgeoisement of blue-collar workers; the political scientists, as well as the political sociologists, argued on although in the main subscribed to the idea of the end of the ideology (Dzimbiri, 2008). Additionally, among the industrial relations specialists the thesis of the withering away of the strikes. Perhaps the core comparative, quantitative investigation of the strike activity is the Ross and Hartman’s Changing Patterns of Industrial Conflict. One of the major conclusions in this influential empirical study has been that the industrial conflict had faded away in the industrialized world and especially during the 20th century. They had however acknowledged that the decline in the strikes was mostly pronounced in the Northern European countries such as Denmark, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Sweden. They carefully noted that there had been a pronounced decline in the strike activity throughout the world despite the fact that the population had increased proportionally to the rise in the union membership. Honestly, the bloody violent clashes between the capital and labour, which in view characterized the early union recognition strikes now, have been found to be rare. In this case, strikes have become more civilized. Closely considering over the long run; however, it is clear that the gross magnitude of strike activity exhibits no general secular decline. Considerably strike activity has increased in some nations oscillating about a more or less constant average level in a few of the countries and declined by varying degrees in others. The international Labour Offices publishes data on three major components of the industrial conflict that are supplied (Hardy, 2009). Economic variables, of course, have a noticeable influence on the short-term fluctuations in the strike activity. At least four plausible hypothesis have been seen to explain where the conflict posted in strike ever disappeared to. One, it has been diverted into alternative forms of conflict. Secondly, capitalism has effectively triumphed reflecting lessening of the stock of discontent or maybe the will to act on it. Thirdly, conflict has become deeply embedded, manifest in general attitudes as well as in the behavior either within or even outside the workplace (Sluyter-Beltrão, 2010). Finally, the collective manifestation of conflict is not dead but rather has simply been dormant. As it has been discussed earlier the above are not mutually exclusive and more likely each has validity, although a lack of systematic finding and limitations to dominant research methodologies make it difficult to bring out conclusions. According to Hyman, there is a variety of alternative manifestations of conflict and trials in suppressing the exact manifestations. There has been a wide literature in finding out some tradeoff between alternative forms conflict and the strike activity especially where strikes have directly been suppressed. However, the studies have unable to demonstrate equivalence although they found to be consistent with the probability that there has been a comparable if not a substantial increase in the alternative forms (Haverty-Stacke, 2010). The possibility highlighted by the corresponding arguments on the individualization of the employment law that has been especially conspicuous in Britain. It is suggested that the decline of the union representation accompanied by the rise of the personal rights and the alternatives has posed individual manifestations of the conflict especially legal to be more feasible. Thus, probably conflict has been pulled and pushed into other alternative manifestations. Either way it is expected that a substantial increase in the alternative forms of conflict is noticed and defined for a particular present purpose as the non-strike behavior, which intentionally entails the costs for the employers. The behaviors that could be viewed as alternative means of conflict are typically not readily noticeable as the strike activity and the national level data are not many as they are limited. Practically, it has become difficult in establishing the extent to which the diversion thesis hold with an unstable definition imitated here. It is more likely that certain forms of conflicts vary throughout nations in accordance with traditions of workplace and established institutional arrangements. The most thorough analysis, however, is of Dix et al and Sisson who examined the British case (Hardy, 2009). They have been able to find limited evidence of the fact that the decline of the strike activity has been an offset by a rise in the alternative manifestations the conflict. Drawing from the workplace and employment relations survey database they found a substantial decrease in non-strike sorts of industrial action such as work to rule. In addition to this although they found some increase in the number of employments related issues reported to the Citizens Advice Bureaus in the years 1980s and 1990s they discovered no sustained rise in the problems as a percentage of the challenges brought together in the bureaus in argument that the former was attributed to an expansion in the network of the bureaus. Also, they found out that the worker and the perception of the management of the quality of labour still revealed some decline in the strike activity although later in the middle of 1990 (Rosenfeld, 2014). Finally, they stated little evidence on the increase in absenteeism but the data available to them for the indicators required were weak. Tribunal claims are as well legal disputes that have to do perceived violations of the law and in this case, they differ in many important ways from strikes, which generally are triggered by the dissatisfaction with the behavior of the employer regardless of whether the behavior is perceived to be legal or not. Often, they involve different factors such as the payment of wages rather than wage levels. Specific changes in the practices of the employers have also weakened the sources of conflict. Particularly important could be the traditional good practices for which the employer and maybe in conjunction with the unions establish rules and restrictions that govern the exercise of the supervisory authority and hence causing a reduction in much of the arbitrariness with which the old-line authorities would otherwise be exercised. Additionally, the information sharing as well as the participation systems may greatly matter. In as much as they do less to change the overall structure of the authority they could be useful in addressing sources of worker mistrust that come from the nature of the employment relation involved (Bogg, 2014). Finally in the new forms of work especially in the autonomous teams associated with increased performance work systems may as their proponents believe, substantially empower the workers, create an environment in which the employers authority as well as the conflicts of their interest it represents are disguised. Where conflict occurs, it could be among the workers themselves or even between the workers and the management. Conclusion Possibly being at a historical turning point it is interpreted as where the collective manifestation conflict could be expected not just to return but consequently change as it did for the period of the industrial capitalism over several years ago. However it is possible that the new manifestations of the conflict of strike with potentially core social as well as the economic implications have come in place of the traditional one that could also provide a new direction for the field as long as the scholars can adopt a broad economy, as well as society perspective, and also to draw on alternative methodological and ontological lenses usually when applying this perspective (Haverty-Stacke, 2010). Strikes continue providing an important point for analysis of the activity and the manifestation of the conflict generally. Collective disputes have declined over the last twenty years in several countries. By contrast, individual conflicts remain a prominent feature with measures such as the employment tribunal claims increasing significantly still affecting a small representation of the workplaces relatively. Meanwhile other possible expressions such as absenteeism as well as the resignations have not shown any signs of reducing. The more the employees have the opportunity to air their grievances and especially through the voice of the employee mechanism, the more they are likely to reduce the chances of the strike instances (Dzimbiri, 2008). In the absence of these mechanisms and the opportunities, the conflict is likely to manifest itself in a much higher extents of the employee turnover. References Bogg, A. and Novitz, T. (n.d.) (2009) Voices at work. Dzimbiri, L. (2008). Industrial relations in a developing society. Gottingen: Cuvillier Verlag. Sluyter-Beltrão, J. (2010). Rise and decline of Brazils New Unionism. Oxford: Peter Lang. Rosenfeld, J. (n.d.). (2014) What unions no longer do. Haverty-Stacke, D. and Walkowitz, D. (2010). Rethinking U.S. labor history. New York: Continuum. Einarsen, S. (2011). Bullying and harassment in the workplace. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. Palacios-Valladares, I. (2011). Industrial relations after Pinochet. Oxford: Peter Lang. De Lint, W. and Hall, A. (2009). Intelligent control. Toronto [Ont.]: University of Toronto Press. Hardy, S. (2011). Labour law in Great Britain. Alphen Aan den Rijn, The Netherlands: Kluwer Law International. Read More