A Hard Look at the Industrial Relations
There are several external factors influence industrial relations. Let us take a quick look at them.
The first factor which affects industrial relations is the State Policy and Labour Laws. The Wistron violence is the example that highlights the failure of the State policies. Wistron employed 1300 permanent workers and 8500 contract workers. They were not paid the contracted wages, and were regularly required to work in a 12-hour shift. Complaints made by the workers to the Deputy commissioner of labour were of no avail. Unfortunately, Wistron is not a solitary case. One tour of the factories in Pune will convince you that this is a norm. NEEM (National Employability Enhancement Mission) which is a scheme with noble intentions has turned in to a scheme of exploitation.
There is palpable unrest among thousands of workers as they are contract workers or employed under NEEM or simply as trainees. It affects them very adversely. A worker in an MNC company’s Nashik factory worked as a trainee and temporary hand for 16 years! When I interviewed him, he said his personal life was affected because of the uncertainty created by the breaks in service he would get. In several industries a permanent worker works in the first shift, and contract workers who get paid less than half his salary work in the second and third shifts. With many companies employing 90% of their employees on contract or under NEEM, who neither have security of job nor wages on par with the permanent workers cases like him are plenty, or rule and not exception.
Now we can ask what the Government machinery is doing? Are not they implementing the Contract Labour Act, which is one among many breached? The answer is that Government has become a silent spectator to the exploitative practices.
What is the situation in the service industries like Hotels, and BPOs? It is no different.
The countervailing force to employers indulging in exploitative practices is the judiciary, and trade unions. The trade unions have become weak. Some have become self-centred – for example, some tacitly favour high level of contingent workforce like contract labour so that their incentives can be higher. And it still takes 12 to 15 years to get justice for a party in labour dispute.
These external realities are important for us, because they influence the behaviour of parties within the organisation.
Look at this picture. A man has climbed on a tank demanding permanency. The wife of a temporary worker in Pune doused herself in Kerosene and set herself on fire because of the poverty and hardship, because she could not fulfil the dream of her children who wanted to study and become engineers. And mind you, these are not solitary instances.
What does this scenario tell us? It tells us that fairness and fair-play are no longer valued, and not the basis of the employer-employee relationship. The world will appear different for a manager who does not feel the pain of the frontline soldier, namely the unskilled worker. But investigation and sensitivity will help us understand the reality.
The situation in the world is not very encouraging. Several articles are being written about how the world is full of authoritarian leaders. One hallmark of all authoritarian leaders is that they do not believe in ‘rule of law’ – they operate by ‘rule by law’. That allows Racold to close down their Chakan Factory overnight on Diwali Festival day, mailing cheques to all employees for their legal dues and compensation. And Kalyani Technoweld closed down operations overnight on 31st Dec 2019. Were they legally right in doing so? We don’t know but they must have thought that they have complied with all legal formalities. In both the cases, the production was farmed out, leaving employees under shock and staring at uncertain future. In a situation where there is no effective trade union leadership, the responsibility on the Chief Executive is higher to be fair and just to employees. Particularly because his change-management decisions will have a long-lasting impact on the lives of a few hundred if not thousand employees.
Under these circumstances, I would look to the Chief Executive to take decisive actions to promote sound employee relations. Till he does so, all talks of employee engagement will not sound honest.
And he will have to answer this question: How do you define your organisation? Does it consist of ONLY managerial staff and the permanent workers? In such a case, it will be anomalous. Wistron will exclude 8900 workers who are crucial for its operations, from calling them part of Wistron. That’s anomalous!
What I mean is we have to reflect on who we include as employees. The answer is obvious, it will have to include contract workers as well because they are engaged in direct production activity and are the largest workforce in many companies. So, their inclusion is essential.
And here I wish to mention one organization which treats all employees with equal hand irrespective of their status as permanent or contract worker. It is Shri Ramkrishna Exports at Surat. All workers get the same wage, same service conditions and all can earn up to Rs 1 Lakh per month in salary. They have 6500 workers.
For building an inclusive and non-discriminatory culture within the organisation, we should begin with the frontline soldier, that is to say, the workers on the shop floor.
And the person who can make a huge difference is the Chief Executive. He is the real HR Head. Everything begins with his leadership style and his values. Industrial relations of an organization reflect his leadership and beliefs.
PS: This is the summary of a recent discussion with a friend. Pic Courtesy: Markus Spiske on Unsplash
Vivek S Patwardhan
“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.
“Aroehan: Creating Dream Villages in Mokhada by 2025: “No Malnutrition Deaths, No Child ‘Out of School’, Reduction in migration by 50%.”
Courage under stress. When else is leadership of substance for those who will be impacted? Time to count the stressors, if not the stressed. I imagine rags don’t have the money to seek out stories of depressed equity. They only go by the numbers that aggregate concentration of wealth.
Our prejudices are precipitated in pandemic like stressors. E.g. the Pune ecosystem, where the old man Kalyani has to announce drone making to cover up for his wayward progeny in welding. KPIT goes after renewable energy, as if it is core competency or organic growth from IT services.
Cannot begrudge them their entrepreneurial opportunities. Let’s give them credit for that.
Am counting more threads in the fabric of Team Human (Douglas Rushkoff) and Warm data (Nora Bateson). You’re witness to small arcs of larger circles.
Very insightful as expected from someone with a richness of hands-on experience from the shop-floors of Mumbai and Pune. Industrial Relations is a contact sport. Speaking from my own 16 years of experience of working with the GMWU (Guyana Mine Workers Union) and CITU-CPM unions in Kerala/Tamilnadu, I can see how these things came to pass. In short, workers got sold down the drain both by Union leaders and managements. Managements, aided by governments, broke the back of the Trade Union Movement. Union leaders colluded and aspired for political careers, riding on the backs of workers. In the bargain the workers were left high and dry. Our problem in India in all spheres is the same – excellent laws that are constantly subverted, corrupted and disregarded. The resulting situation is not surprising. What is needed is what we had – Union leaders who were dedicated to their constituency – Workers. I remember Mr. Perumal and Hemachandran Nair of CITU in Kulasekharam – totally dedicated, totally incorruptible and thoroughly professional. I we disagreed on issues, we opposed each other on issues and then we went in the same car to the restaurant to have lunch between meetings. I remember Mr. Steven Louis in Guyana – his son is a Union leader now – a man of great stature – totally dedicated to his people. That is what we need. Workers must call the shots and support leaders who are worthy of support and recognize who is taking them for a ride. And NOT support leaders on the basis of caste, tribe, race or anything other than their competence and ability to represent them justly. The other side of the coin is equally true which we saw in Kerala, where totally insane unionization killed industry. Take the tyranny of the Headloader’s Union for example. Or the general attitude of the CPM unions supported by the government of the time which ensured that no industry was allowed to function profitably. Naturally business owners shut shop and went elsewhere and the economy of the state went into a tailspin. We need justice from both parties. Thank you very much Vivek for this enlightening narrative.
Could not agree more with your standpoint pertaining to the existing & proposed labor policies of our own India. In the voyage of EASE of doing BUSINESS, Government must not play under the current with the EMOTIONS of the EMPLOYEES.
Ultimately, BUSINESS is MUST but EMPLOYEE is FIRST!!!
My heartfelt thanks for mentioning one of the core labor practices of SRK Group which reflects the culture of care set up by our humble Leader, Mr. Govind Dholakia, Founder & Chairman-SRK.
Thanks Vivek!
A known face enters the Personnel Department with a sweet box, meets every member of the department with a broad smile and distributes sweets “today I got green punch card after four years of having to punch red punch card, thank you!” Means, I have become permanent.” Can’t forget those days! Then came, I don’t remember the exact term but, it was under some State Employment Exchange scheme hire trainees for six months and give them stipend stipulate under the act. Yes, but let’s be more generous and pay them many folds more than the stipulated rate, the Exchange officials are also happy, they complete their target and the company is also happy. But, there was a hope of getting a permanent job, someday, and most of the good companies in the Bombay belt used to absorb good workers eventually. Unions used to press managements to absorb some temps every year.
Alas, things have deteriorated further!