Analysis of an Industrial Relations Issue from a Country in Middle East - Essay Example

Analysis of an Industrial Relations Issue from a Country in Middle East [Institutional Affiliation] [Name] INTRODUCTION Enterprise agreement is an essential tool protected by The Fair Work Act2009 2009. Under this act, the enterprise is described described as any nature of business. Enterprise agreement is one where the employees and their unions make an agreement on terms and conditions of employment with their employer. They are negotiated in good faith. This agreement is meant to safeguard the employee in the light of their rights at the work place. The agreement ensures fair treatment of employees by having timely payments of wages and salaries. Such an agreement is essential as it ensures that the employee is not subjected to harsh working conditions and is accorded respect at their place of work. (CCH Editors, 2010) Heintz, Luce & United States (2010) observes that the agreement covers the rate of payment of employees. It also covers the conditions at the workplace, such as, the minimum working hours, pay rates for overtime work (if any), breaks that include meals, procedures set in place for dispute resolution (if and when they arise), alongside deductions made from employee pay which must be legal, such as, taxes. Enterprise agreement stipulates the minimum pay for employees. In common case scenarios where this agreement is not in place, awards are what set the minimum pay for the employees. When an enterprise agreement comes in place, it replaces the awards. As much as this happens, the agreement should not set the minimum pay below the amount set by the awards. CCH Editors (2010) discusses that The Fair Work Act2009 2009 entails three types of enterprise agreement. One is the single-enterprise agreement made between single interest employer and the employee. Next is the multi-enterprise agreement between more than one employer and the employees to be covered by such an agreement. Finally is the Greenfield agreement where the agreement is made before even the employees are employed. This often relates to new firms and businesses. A trade union is usually involved in such agreements. Enterprise agreement has been used to solve cases in the past. An example is the public sector industrial action that took place in Lebanon. There was a public outcry from employees employed in the public sector. They had a number of issues that they wanted addressed by the government before they resumed their duties. This essay will discuss the enterprise agreement that was introduced in The Fair Work Act2009. It will discuss its application in the Lebanon case, the issues that were involved, and their significance to workers and the results from the application of its collective bargaining power. It will also examine different views and positions taken by the involved parties and how they relate to each other. The essay would also strive to outline various factors to the issue such as the politics involved, the social impact of the strike, legal aspect to the strike, alongside the economic and technological aspects. It shall also discuss the issues take shape in accordance to each of the issues (Bray, Waring, Cooper and Macneil, 2014). NATURE OF THE ISSUES Lebanese public sector workers took to the streets in the year 2013 (Bray, Waring, Cooper and Macneil, 2014). They had a number of issues that they wanted addressed by the government. The public sector felt that for many years now, they have been living a sub-standard life. They felt the government has been oppressing them for a long time, and they had to make a drastic move, to push the government to change up their working conditions. They issues they wanted included those discussed here. Salaries and Wages One of the major issues the employees wanted to be addressed was the poor payment of salaries and wages. The public sector employees felt that they were being underpaid in comparison of the amount of work done. They vowed they will not get out of the streets, to report back to their work places, until a new salary scale has been passed. The salaries were being paid at the moment they argued was too little to afford them a decent living that any human being would deserve. They argued that they had so much input into their work and generated a lot of revenue, but were being underpaid in respect to their productive output (Bray, Waring, Cooper and Macneil, 2014). The gap between the rich and the poor in the nation even angered the workers more. The worker complained that there was a big difference between them and the top earners in the nation in terms of paying their salaries and wages. The few rich lived comfortably in urban places while the poor laborers languished in uncivilized settlements. This happened when they all are under the same scale of payment, but the rich being favored more. Temporary contracts Some of the public sector employees are employed on a temporary contract basis. This especially affected the banking ant teaching sectors. Employees employed in this sector have worked for a long period of time, some of them over five to ten years yet they have never been given a permanent contract. This was in violation of their rights outlined in The Fair Work Act2009 (CCH Editors, 2010). The employees on contractual basis were wary of their future. They feared that their employment was not guaranteed. This worker felt that they could be gotten rid of any time. This is because they did not have a permanent contract to protect them. They complained that they were not guaranteed of a pension scheme due to the nature of their contract, thus after retirement they would have no benefits. Lack of a permanent employment contract meant, for them that they would go back to languish in poverty as soon as their term of employment comes to an end. The workers argued they would not go to work until their counterparts who had no permanent contracts, and had worked for over a number of years are integrated into the government payroll. A clear plan should also be devised so that in future any employees on a contractual basis would work only for a certain period of time, and then offered a permanent contract. This would motivate future generations seeking to work under the same departments thus increase the Lebanese work force and reduce unemployment in the nation (Bray, Waring, Cooper and Macneil, 2014). Expired Contracts Another of their woes was an expired agreement. This had affected the employees who were working for banks. Their association was demanding for the initial agreement that was in place to be renewed. The agreement had expired for over two years and the employer had shown no interest in renewing it again. Heintz, Luce & United States (2010) observe that the employee contracts should be reviewed in time and expired ones renewed.Due to this expired contract the Lebanese bankers had been faced with various challenges. The bankers were being overworked. They used to work longer than normal working hours. The extra hours worked were not compensated for. There was no scheme in place to pay the overtime hours worked but rather, they had to work or face the employers’ axe. Salaries remained stagnant. Initially, in accordance with the previous agreement the workers had a certain percentage increment in their salaries. Their pay was reviewed on an annually basis and then awarded an increment in their pay as outlined by the agreement. Since the expiry of the agreement the banking sector had ignored this clause hence the employees’ salaries remained stagnated despite their growing experience at the work place.This was discouraging to employees in the banking sector who also decided to join in the strike under their bank employee association until this collective contract is renewed. Significance of the Issue Workers strike in Lebanon was essential in fighting for their rights. For a long time the Lebanese work force has been offering their best in terms of input to their jobs, which did not reflect in their pay. This was oppressing and they had to organize an industrial action to force the government to address their plight. They wanted their work environment to be improved too. All the issues they wanted to be reviewed and resolved were of great significance for them. Thus the government and the workers through their union, under The Fair Work Act2009 had to come to an agreement, in accordance with the enterprise agreement (CCH Editors , 2010). A minimum wage would ensure employees are not exploited. Some employers take advantage of their employees and pay them salaries that do not equate to their productive work. This is because there are no policies to guarantee minimum wages, and if any, the government, in some cases, does not follow up to ensure they are implemented (Tripp, 2012). Late payment of the workers meant that they had to stall activities in their life that required money. This makes life difficult as employees have to survive on borrowed funds, which sometimes come with high interest rates. To avoid such happening, the government and the workers have to come to a collective agreement of when to be paid what is due. In the case of worker’s strike in Lebanon in 2013, oppression of employees was rampant. An example is a local supermarket known as spinney that refused to increase the salaries of their employees, despite the employees deserving the rise ((Bray, Waring, Cooper and Macneil, 2014). The supermarket had also been adamant about improving the conditions under which their employees worked. This led to a public outcry from its employees who formed a union to fight for their rights. Further, the Lebanon Case shows that the public sector employees, in accordance with the enterprise agreement, wanted to be offered permanent contracts. An employee who has worked for a certain period of time, and is on contractual basis, should have a right to be offered a permanent employment contract. This would ensure their rights are protected, and won’t have to fear being laid off anytime without even notice. In the enterprise agreement, the issue of expiration of the contract was also to be looked into so as to understand the Lebanon crisis. A system of renewing contracts is necessary, without employees having to suffer working in an environment that has no employer-employee agreements or contracts. VIEWS AND POSITIONS OF THOSE INVOLVED IN LEBANON CRISIS According to Bray, Waring, Cooper and Macneil (2014), union coordination committee was one of the major parties involved in solving of the Lebanon strike 2013. This union fights for the rights of the workers. The previous unions had failed the employee due to claims of being marred with corruption and colluding with government top officials, hence could not be trusted. The Union Coordination Committee took up the task to bargain for the rights of workers. The union was a coalition of the Lebanese teachers and employees of the Lebanese government who had been oppressed for a long time. What is more, the union held that employees under it would not go to work until a new salary scale had been decided. Already there were a number of proposals on a new salary scale but which had not been brought to the Parliament of Lebanon. The union was fighting for this salary scale to be taken to parliament and to be approved. The main goal for the union was to see that The Fair Work Act2009 was respected by the Lebanese government. The shared its views with the government by requesting for a collective bargaining enterprise agreement to ensure that workers demands are met. The union also rejected a salary system that was based on the ideology of over taxing the poor to fund s The government was another key player in the issue and its views had some inputs. It was supposed to adhere to The Fair Work Act2009 so as to be viewed by the international community as a government that respects and protects the rights of its citizens. However, the government remained adamant the Act and the views of its workers, leading to the strike. OUTCOME OF THE STRIKE The strike, to an extent, was able to bear positive results. For example, the Lebanese laborers in the civil defense were awarded permanent contract and the civil defense included groups such as the firefighters. Many firefighters who initially worked as volunteers without pay, irrespective of the dangers they faced, were now on a permanent contract with a guaranteed basic salary. Though the contracts were not on large scale, it was a step in the right move. Bray, Waring, Cooper and Macneil (2014) conform to the fact that honouring the employee is key to good work relations. It builds a rapport between employer and employee and the employee feels satisfied. The Lebanon Prime Minister promised teachers and workers that he would bring to parliament the proposed amendments’ bill to their salary. This was part of the enterprise agreement reached between their union and the Prime Minister, alongside other stakeholders in order to end the strike. However, this did not happen eventually because the Prime Minister resigned and there was a delay in legislation of the bill. Therefore, the strike was essential in upholding The Fair Work Act2009. It also embraced the idea of enterprise agreement in conflict resolution between the employer and the employee. ASPECTS THAT SHAPED THE ISSUES SURROUNDING THE STRIKE Legal aspect Abbot (2011) observes that under The Fair Work Act2009, employees are guaranteed rights to an industrial action when they feel their rights are violated. The act also outlines an enterprise agreement as one of the employer-employee dispute resolution mechanism in such a scenario. The Fair Work Act2009 applies across the globe to protect the rights of employees from oppression. Stemming from this legislative support, the Lebanese workforce went on strike guided by their union to demand for fair treatment. Social aspect Activities throughout the nation were paralyzed for some time. This included learning in both private and public institutions. Teachers, working under the public sector, refused to correct exams till and waited for their woes to be addressed by the government. As a consequence, the education system was paralyzed and negatively impacted on the Lebanese citizens (Bray, Waring, Cooper and Macneil, 2014). Political Aspect Lebanese parliament factored in on the strike. It was in charge of the legislation to ensure that the working population is treated fairly. They were the one, under the enterprise agreement, required to pass legislation for increment of wages. The Prime Minister of Lebanon at that time was the one to forward a bill on the salary scale to the parliament for approval. Economic Aspect The banks and other economic advisors were against the proposed new wage scale. They argued that if this was implemented at the time, it would strain the Lebanese economy. The banks were of the opinion that if the said wages would be implemented, there would be no enough liquid funds to fund it. This would lead to borrowing or even high rates of inflation in the nation (Bray, Waring, Cooper and Macneil, 2014). Technological aspect The media was an important technology tool that was used in educating the employed masses on their rights (Bray, Waring, Cooper and Macneil, 2014). It was also used to bring and gather people together. The information that was intended to reach to the employee by the union relied on technological infrastructure such as mobile phones, computers, and print media. Thus, technology proved to be an essential part in the success of the strike and is continually helping the employees through the information they receive about their rights at the workplace. Technology has a key role in empowerment. Conclusion An enterprise agreement has proved useful in times of disputes. Without it, there will be difficulty in bringing two factions together so that they agree on common cause. The Fair Work Act has also played a key role in the Lebanese employees fight for their rights. It has given them liberty to engage in a strike to demand the government to improve their living standards. The research illustrate that such an industrial action is what enabled employees to engage the government in an enterprise agreement. In doing this, the Act has proved to be an essential global legislation that upholds the rights of workers and ensures they work under favorable conditions. Also, the clause on enterprise agreement is an important piece as it stipulates procedures for dispute resolution between the employer and the employee. These guarantee the employees that there are laws in place to protect them from exploitation and abuse from the unscrupulous employers. Further, a safe working environment means a productive employee. This in turn is mirrored to the output of the company or institution. Hence The Fair Work Act2009 plays a big role in both growing and developed economies. Enterprise agreements ensure timely and guaranteed means of dispute resolution as discussed herein. REFERENCES Abbott, K. (2011). The Fair Work Act2009: Revision or restitution. Heidelberg, Vic: Heidelberg Press Bray, M., Waring, P., Cooper, R. and Macneil, J. (2014). Employent Relations: Theory & Practice, McGraw-Hill,Sydney. 3rd Edition. CCH Editors (2010). Understanding The Fair Work Act2009 . Sydney: CCH Australia. Heintz, J., Luce, S., & United States (2010). Trade agreements, labor standards & economic development. Washington, D.C: U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs. Top of Form Tripp, C. (2012). The Power and the People: Paths of Resistance in the Middle East. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Bottom of Form Read More