Exploring Employee Relations - Case Study Example

Introduction The current economic situation required that the government may take actions which may result into job losses and pay rationalizations in order to ensure that government spending remain within limits. Steps taken by UK Government are also similar in nature as the new government has already undertaken efforts to curb the national debt. This has resulted into the decline in the spending and almost every segment of the society got affected. In the wake of the above steps, there have been issues regarding the employee relations also. The frequent layoffs and higher level of unemployment created as a result of the financial crisis also led to the worsening of relations between employees and the employers. The relations between the trade unions and the employers became relatively more difficult in the wake of the new challenges faced by the firms due to financial crisis. Strikes by the staff of British Airways, rail strike and the possible strike by the fire fighters indicates that the things may not be going very well and there is a greater need for managing the employee relations in more effective manner. This also depends upon what approaches managers take while managing the industrial relations within their organizations. Unitary and pluralistic approaches therefore both define and parameterize the way managers and other stakeholders actually manage the relationships between the different groups of stakeholders including the employees. This paper will discuss the two tasks given and will attempt to discuss the current changing situation with respect to the employee relations. Task-1 It has been argued that the frame of references adapted by the managers actually condition the response of the managers towards different situations faced. Frame of reference therefore becomes critical because it is based on this that individuals make decisions which are than subsequently applied under organizational environment. Unitary frame of reference indicates that there is one goal in organizations towards which every person in the organization works. This approach also advocates that there is only sense of authority and conflict is not viewed favorably. Mostly the managers consider themselves and other fellow managers to follow this perspective and expect that their subordinates also follow and internalize this philosophy.( Leat, 2007). Pluralistic frame of reference however, sees the organization as a collection of different groups with either the same or even conflicting interests with each other. It is because of this reason that it is expected that the different stakeholders under this frame of reference often formulate the strategic alliances and these strategic alliances can often change with the time also. The main role therefore a manager performs under this approach is that of balancing the interests of different stakeholders in such a manner that overall organizational objectives are achieved. (Leat, 2007). The current situation such as the BA strike therefore indicates that there is a need to adapt a pluralistic approach in managing the employee relationships. The major reason behind the BA strike was the growing rift between the Union and Management on the sacking of the employees and other issues. The issue of BA is critical and need to be viewed from the perspective of the pluralistic frame of reference. This is because of the fact that the current situation requires government to take actions which can ensure that the institutions survive. It is probably in this perspective that the actions like lay offs and pay freeze are taken so that the future of the nation can be secured. Different Perspectives Taken by Various Stakeholders During the current conflict between the various unions and the employers, the overall perspective of the management of these organizations have been that of the unitary approach wherein management actually attempted to stamp its authority over the trade unions and employees. Unions have however, taken a pluralistic approach wherein they have been in negotiations with their employers to find a more suitable solution which is win-win situation for both the parties. History of Trade Unions and Industrial Relations History of trade unions in the country begun with the start of the industrial revolution and trade unions started to take roots during later part of 19th Century. The growth of railway was one of the main events which resulted into the creation of stronger and larger trade unions as before that trade unions were mostly local affairs. Engineers were the first group of professions who formulated friendly societies in order to provide support to the members in times of unemployment, sickness as well as disablement.1 The real growth of trade unions in the country started to happen during early part of 20th century when they grew in number as well as in influence. Various labor governments in the country over the period of time further contributed towards the strengthening of labor unions. Various legislations were passed to allow the trade union activities in the country and the scope and the overall roles and activities of trade unions were redefined in order to give them more role in managing the industrial relations in the country. Role of Trade Unions and contribution to effective employee relations The fundamental and basic role of trade union is the collective bargaining- the negotiating and making agreements on behalf of the employees. Collective bargaining agreements therefore set out the terms and conditions of employment and the roles and responsibilities of each party in the organization. (Salamon, 2000). Further, trade unions are also supposed to represent the workers at the disciplinary and grievance hearings also and as such the recent strikes may also be viewed from this perspective as trade unions attempted to support the workers who were laid off due to austerity measures. During the current strikes by BA and rail workers, the role of their unions was that of the collective bargaining agents i.e. to negotiate with the management for the effective solution of laying off the employees and other pay related issues. The strike by rail workers was also a part of the process of registering the protest for the lay off of 800 employees as a result of the spending cuts. Though the collective bargaining role of trade unions is considered as essential for maintaining peaceful industrial relations however, sometimes it can affect the employees also. The long and continuous strikes during the negotiation process can result into the pay losses for the employees as well as can create untoward working condition. Differentiation of Roles Industrial relations system is based on three main elements i.e. employees and their Collective Bargaining agent (trade union), managers and finally the government. The role of CBA in employee relation is that of the collective bargaining agent i.e. in the case of rail workers strike, Trade Unions Congress was the main representative on behalf of the employees to negotiate whereas the management of London underground and the government representative formulate the other group of stakeholders in this. The role of the managers/management is to actually ensure that all groups of stakeholders i.e. employees; management as well as shareholders must arrive at a solution which is acceptable to all the parties. For example, in case of BA Strike, employees were charged for the various disciplinary reasons under the rules and regulations of the organization however, it was conceived by the union that this was the retaliation by the management due to recent industrial action. Government is also required to define the roles of each actor and their responsibilities and accountabilities also. Government’s role therefore is also to provide the legislative support to this process and ensure that interests of all the parties are served in most appropriate manner and under the rules and regulations of the country. Government also has the authority to enforce its decisions in case any mediation takes place between the trade unions and the management of the organization. This can take place either through the implementation of the decisions made by the various labor tribunals or courts. All the parties therefore will have to abide by the decisions made by the court in cases where there is a dispute between both the parties. Task-2 Ideological framework of Industrial Relations Ideological framework of industrial relations advocates the formation of social partnerships between the employees and the management to effectively manage the industrial relationships. The ideological framework is critical in the sense that it offers a very balanced and justified overview of how the different actors in the industrial relations shall behave and philosophically assigned the roles and responsibilities of each actor in the industrial relations system. On the other hand, the radical approach of Marx is an alternative approach to the ideological framework. This approach advocates that the capitalist society and free enterprise actually create political as well as economic structures which basically favor the employer. This gives more power to the employer hence the employer can exploit the employees there is always an inherent conflict between the employer and employee which cannot be overcome. This ideology also indicates that trade unionism cannot actually solve the problems and the conflict between the employees and employers is inherent in industrial relations.(BPP, 2007). Collective Disputes During recent times, there have major collective disputes between the trade unions and the management of different organizations. Three most important collective disputes are discussed below: British Airways Strike The recent rift between the BA union and its management is based on the changes which BA undertook in terms of staffing, pay levels and other benefits. The dispute begun when BA reduced the number of cabin crew on long overhaul flights and also announced the pay freeze from 2010. Along with this, BA also proposed new policies for promotions and pay rise in future. The response of the union was that these measures may result into the decline in the passenger services and may reduce the earnings of the cabin crew in future. 2 The recent strike by the staff of BA was the result of the dispute between the trade union and British Airways regarding the disciplinary actions taken against the employees. The rift between the trade union and the management was based on the suspension of the employees however; trade union took the stance that these suspensions were unjustified. London Underground Rail Strike The recent strike by the staff of the London underground rail workers was also a protest against the potential job cuts by the government as there was plan for cutting 800 jobs. The recent strike was for 24 hours and almost halted the whole system for a day. The union argued that the recent job cuts may result into safety issues besides endangering the future prospects of other employees. 3 Firefighters’ Strike Firefighters of London Metropolitan announced the strike on bonfire night and than subsequently going for periodic blackout periods. The planned strike was also against the proposed 4500 job cuts. However, the strike proposed on bonfire night was cancelled owing to the fact that it may create public safety issues. The negotiations between the Fire Brigades Union and Local authorities however, are in process to complete an acceptable level of solution. Dispute Procedures and ACAS In order to settle the disputes among the parties, it is important that the organization has a proper dispute procedure in place. Under the ACAS code of practices, the disputes between the employees and the employer has to be registered i.e. employee must provide a written statement regarding any grievance. It is the responsibility of the employer to investigate the matter and give its decision. Employee or his representatives however, has the right to appeal against the decision of the employer. ACAS not only provides formal support in the shape of codes of practices but also offer the mediation support. ACAS also provides training and formal support to both the parties to arrive at the agreeable settlement to resolve the dispute amicably. Critical Evaluation of Dispute Resolution Procedures Though the dispute resolution procedures are effective in offering detailed guidelines in terms of offering best support to deal with the different employee related issues however, they often lack the practicality and may not offer a unique solution for each of the problem. Since problems can be different and contextualized it is therefore important that the dispute resolution procedures must be flexible enough to accommodate the different and unique situations.( Savolainen ,1989 It is also critical to note that dispute resolution procedures can only be effective if they are joint in nature i.e. both the employee as well as the employer fully participates into the dispute settlement procedure and both the parties must have equal rights to express themselves during the dispute resolution process. Despite the implementation of the procedures which are supposed to overcome the problems between the employers and employees, disputes still arise. Most importantly the existing dispute resolution procedures fail to provide permanent solutions to the problems between the employers and the employees because they fail to clearly identify and outline the essential nature of the relationship between the employee and the employer. This lack of clarity in defining the relationships between the stakeholders therefore may render these procedures as ineffective in providing permanent and effective solutions to the different disputes between the employers and the employees. For example, in current situation involving Fire Fighters proposed strike; it was called back owing to the fact that their strike could have been a cause of public safety due to bonfire night. However, this was done irrespective of the fact that overall dispute resolution procedures remained ineffective. Despite the talks between the local authorities and with the fire fighters union indicating that dispute resolution procedures were exercised to solve them. Conclusion Employee relations can play important role in managing the overall industrial peace in any organization. The different underlying ideologies advocate either the formation of social partnership between the employer and the employee but also discuss the inherent conflict between the employer and employee also. The recent changes announced by the government initiated the process of job cuts and pay freeze which created significant industrial relations issues. Organizations like British Airways faced the strikes from employees owing to job cuts and pay issues. What is critical however is the fact that there is a general lack of proper and effective industrial relations system in place which can ensure that disputes are resolved amicably? References BPP (2007). Business Essentials - Human Resource Management. Illustrated. ed. London: BPP Learning Media Leat, M (2007). Exploring employee relations. 2nd. ed. London: Butterworth-Heinemann. Rail unions confine London Underground workers to token strikes [online]. (2010) [Accessed 5th November 2010]. Available from: . Salamon, M (2000). Industrial relations: theory and practice. 4th. ed. New York: Pearson Education. Savolainen, T (1989). Towards a new workplace culture: development strategies for employer-employee relations. Journal of Workplace Learning. 12 (8), pp.318 - 326. Trade unions: a short history [online]. (2009) [Accessed 5th November 2010]. Available from: . Whats the BA dispute about? [online]. (2010) [Accessed 5th November 2010]. Available from: . Read More