The field of industrial relations (also called labor relations) looks at the relationship between management and workers, particularly groups of workers represented by a union. The Boeing Company is a major Aerospace and defense corporation originally founded by William E Management (covering theory practice and scope of management and Manager' (covering the people who manage might help clarify and systematise A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming
Labor relations is an important factor in analyzing "varieties of capitalism", such as neocorporatism (or corporatism), social democracy, and neoliberalism (or liberalism). Capitalism is the Economic system in which the Means of production are owned by private Persons and operated for Profit and where Historically corporatism (corporativismo refers to a political or Economic system in which power is held by civic assemblies that represent Economic Social democracy is a Political ideology of the left and centre-left Originally coined by its critics and opponents " neoliberalism " is a label referring to the recent reemergence of Economic liberalism or Classical liberalism Liberalism is a broad array of related ideas and theories of Government that consider individual Liberty to be the most important political goal
Labor relations can take place on many levels, such as the "shop-floor", the regional level, and the national level. The distribution of power amongst these levels can greatly shape the way an economy functions.
Another key question when considering systems of labor relations is their ability to adapt to change. This change can be technological (e. g. , "What do we do when an industry employing half the population becomes obsolete?"), economic (e. g. , "How do we respond to globalization?"), or political (e. Globalization (or globalisation) in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones g. , "How dependent is the system on a certain party or coalition holding power?").
Governments set the framework for labor relations through legislation and regulation. Legislation (or " Statutory law " is law which has been promulgated (or " Enacted quot by a Legislature or other Governing This article is for the legal term For regulation of genes see Regulation of gene expression. Usually, employment law covers issues such as minimum wages and wrongful dismissal. Labour law (also known as employment or labor law is the body of Laws administrative rulings and precedents which address the legal rights of and restrictions A minimum wage is the lowest hourly daily or monthly Wage that employers may legally pay to employees or workers Wrongful dismissal, also called wrongful termination or wrongful discharge, is an Idiom and legal phrase describing a situation in which an employee's
In Australia industrial relations is the commonly used term, though in recent years the term workplace relations has also become common. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. This was a prominent issue in the defeat of the centre-right Howard Liberal government at the 2007 federal election, who with a Senate majority had introduced the WorkChoices policy. The centre-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals political parties or organizations (such as Think tanks whose views See also Howard Government John Winston Howard AC (born 26 July 1939 was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia from 11 March The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party. Federal elections for the Parliament of Australia were held on Saturday 24 November 2007 after a 6-week campaign in which 13 The Senate is the upper of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia. The Workplace Relations Act 1996 as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, or WorkChoices, which came into effect in March 2006, was the most
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Contents |
Perspective theories
When studying the theories of industrial relations, there are three major perspectives that contrast in their approach to the nature of workplace relations. The labour movement or labor movement is a broad term for the development of a collective organization of working people, to campaign in their own interest for better New Unionism is a term which has been used twice in the history of the labour movement both times involving moves to broaden the union agenda The proletariat (from Latin la ''proles'' "offspring" is a term used to identify a lower Social class; a member of such a class is proletarian Social Movement Unionism is a trend of theory and practice in contemporary trade unionism Syndicalism is a type of movement which aims to degrade capitalist societies through action by the Working class on the industrial front Socialism refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the Means of production and distribution Timeline of Organized labor history 1790s - 1800s - 1810s - 1820s - 1830s - 1840s - 1850s Labor rights or workers' rights are a group of Legal rights and claimed Human rights having to do with Labor relations between Workers Child labor is the employment of Children at regular and sustained labour The 8-hour day movement or 40-hour week movement (aka the Short-time movement) had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where Occupational safety and health is a cross-disciplinary area concerned with protecting the Safety, Health and welfare of people engaged in Collective bargaining is the process whereby workers organize together to meet converse and compromise upon the work environment with their employers A trade union or labour union is an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages hours and working conditions forming This is a list of Trade unions and Union federations by country This is a list of federations of Trade unions. Those federations listed under each country are also known as National trade union centres and are organisations formed Unions have been compared across countries by growth and decline patterns by violence levels and by kinds of political activity Inaugural Congress The founding and first congress of the ITUC was held November 1 - 3 2006 in Vienna TemplateInfobox Union for usage -->The World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU was established in the wake of the Second Template talkInfobox Union for usage --> The International Workers' Association ( IWA) ( Spanish: Strike action, often simply called a strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal by Employees to perform work. The following is a list of deliberate absence from work related to specific working conditions ( strikes) or due to general unhappiness with the political order ( General strikes A general strike is a Strike action by a critical mass of the labour force in a city region or country A sympathy strike is a Strike action that is initiated by workers in one industry and supported by workers in a separate but related industry or profession A sit-down strike is a form of Civil disobedience in which an organized group of workers usually employed at a factory or other centralized location take possession of Work-to-rule is an Industrial action in which Employees do no more than the minimum required by the rules of a workplace and follow safety or other regulations to Joe Hill, born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund, and also known as Joseph Hillström ( October 7, 1879 or 1882 – November 19, 1915 Dita Indah Sari is an Indonesian Trade union and Socialist activist For the Baseball player Walter Ruether see Dutch Ruether. Walter Philip Reuther ( September 1, 1907 – Sonja Davies ONZ ( November 11, 1923 &ndash June 12, 2005) was a New Zealand trade unionist peace campaigner and Member Eugene Victor Debs (November 5 1855 &ndash October 20 1926 was an American union leader one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Arthur James Cook (1883 - 1931 known as A J Cook, was a British Coal miner and Trade union leader Shirley GE Carr is a Canadian union leader who was the first woman president of Canada's largest labour organization the Canadian Labour Congress. Labor history (or labour history) is a broad field of study concerned with the development of the Labor movement and the Working class. Labour law (also known as employment or labor law is the body of Laws administrative rulings and precedents which address the legal rights of and restrictions The three views are generally described as the unitary, pluralist and Marxist perspectives. The Marxist perspective is sometimes referred to as the Conflict Model. Each offers a particular perception of workplace relations and will therefore interpret such events as workplace conflict, the role of trade unions and job regulation very differently.
Unitary perspective
In unitarism, the organisation is perceived as an integrated and harmonious whole with the ideal of "one happy family", where management and other members of the staff all share a common purpose, emphasising mutual cooperation. Furthermore, unitarism has a paternalistic approach where it demands loyalty of all employees, being predominantly managerial in its emphasis and application.
Consequently, trade unions are deemed as unnecessary since the loyalty between trade unions and organisations are considered mutually exclusive, where there can't be two sides of industry. Conflict is perceived as disruptive and the pathological result of agitators, interpersonal friction and communication breakdown.
Pluralistic perspective
In pluralism the organisation is perceived as being made up of powerful and divergent sub-groups, each with its own legitimate loyalties and with their own set of objectives and leaders. In particular, the two predominant sub-groups of in the pluralistic perspective are the management and trade unions.
Consequently, the role of management would lean less towards enforcing and controlling and more toward persuasion and co-ordination. Trade unions are deemed as legitimate representatives of employees, conflict is dealt by collective bargaining and is viewed not necessarily as a bad thing and if managed could in fact be channeled towards evolution and positive change.
Marxist/Radical Perspective
This view of industrial relations looks at the nature of the capitalist society, where there is a fundamental division of interest between capital and labour, and sees workplace relations against this background. This perspective sees inequalities of power and economic wealth as having their roots in the nature of the capitalist economic system. Conflict is therefore seen as inevitable and trade unions are a natural response of workers to their exploitation by capital. Whilst there may be periods of acquiescence, the Marxist view would be that institutions of joint regulation would enhance rather than limit management's position as they presume the continuation of capitalism rather than challenge it. Marxism is the political philosophy and practice derived from the work of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Conclusion: The Radical/Marxist Perspective has important strengths but may exaggerate the depth and intensity of conflict.
See also
Economic and finance related
Employment related
- Collective bargaining
- Union Organizer
- Efficiency wages
- Employment contract
- Indentured servant
- Labour and employment law
- Skilled worker
- Skill (labor)
- Unemployment
- Unfair labor practice
- Workplace Fairness
- Remuneration
- Commission
- Employee stock option
- Employee or Fringe benefit
- Salary
- Wage
International
Australia
- Australian Industrial Relations Commission
- Australian Workplace Agreement
- WorkChoices
- Workplace Relations Challenge
- Industrial relations taskforce
United Kingdom
- National Industrial Relations Act
- Review Body (United Kingdom)
- Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service
United States of America
Canada
Journals and Publications
External links
- Labor and Worklife Program at Harvard Law School
- National Labor Relations Board: http://www.nlrb.gov
- West Virginia University Industrial and Labor Relations Program: http://www.be.wvu.edu/msir/index.htm
- Pennsylvania State University Labor and Industrial Relations Program: http://lsir.la.psu.edu/
- Cornell University Industrial and Labor Relations School: http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/
- Michigan State University School of Labor and Industrial Relations: http://www.lir.msu.edu/
- University of Illinois Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations: http://www.ilir.uiuc.edu
- University of Minnesota Industrial Relations Center: http://www.irc.csom.umn.edu/index.aspx
- Society for Human Resource Management: http://www.shrm.org
- Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology: http://www.siop.org
- Queen's University Centre for Industrial Relations http://www.industrialrelationscentre.com
- Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (UK)
References
- Ackers,Peter and Adrian. In economics inflation or price inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services over a period of time Globalization (or globalisation) in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones Collective bargaining is the process whereby workers organize together to meet converse and compromise upon the work environment with their employers A union organizer is a specific type of Trade union member (often elected or an appointed union official In Labor economics, the efficiency wage hypothesis argues that wages at least in some markets are determined by more than simply Supply and demand. A contract of employment is a category of Contract used in Labour law to attribute right and responsibilities between parties to a bargain An indentured servant is a form of Debt bondage worker The Laborer is under Contract of an Employer for some period of time usually three to Labour law (also known as employment or labor law is the body of Laws administrative rulings and precedents which address the legal rights of and restrictions A skilled worker is any worker who has some special skill, Knowledge, or (usually acquired ability in his work. Skill is a measure of a worker's expertise specialization wages and supervisory capacity Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work but the person is without work. In United States Labor law, the term unfair labor practice refers to certain actions taken by employers or unions that violate the National Labor Relations Act Workplace Fairness is a public education and advocacy organization originally founded in 1994 as the National Employee Rights Institute Remuneration is pay or salary typically Monetary payment for services rendered as in an Employment. The payment of commission as Remuneration for services rendered or products sold is a common way to reward sales people. An employee stock option is a Call option on the common stock of a company issued as a form of non-cash compensation. Employee benefits and (especially in British English) benefits in kind (also called fringe benefits, perquisites, perqs or A salary is a form of periodic payment from an Employer to an Employee, which may be specified in an Employment contract. A wage is a compensation workers receive in exchange for their labor. The International Labour Organization The Australian Industrial Relations Commission, or AIRC (known from 1956 to 1973 as the Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Commission, and from 1973 to 1988 as the An Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA was an individual written agreement on terms and conditions of employment between an Employer and Employee in Australia The Workplace Relations Act 1996 as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, or WorkChoices, which came into effect in March 2006, was the most New South Wales v Commonwealth New South Wales & Ors v Commonwealth is a High Court of Australia case that challenged the constitutional validity of the federal The Industrial Relations Taskforce is a Taskforce established in December 2005 by the caucus of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party of Australia The Industrial Relations Act 1971 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom, since repealed A Review Body in the United Kingdom is a government mechanism to replace Collective bargaining for certain groups of employees in the Public sector, for example doctors The Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS is an independent Non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom. The term health insurance is generally used to describe a form of Insurance that pays for medical expenses The National Labor Relations Board (or NLRB) is an Independent agency of the United States Government charged with conducting The National Labor Relations Act (or Wagner Act) is a 1935 United States federal law that protects the rights of most workers in the Private sector The Employment Standards Act is an Act of the Legislature of Ontario. The main responsibility of the CIRB is to interprete and administer the Industrial Relations and Occupational Health and Safety sections of the Canadian Labour Code. Industrial and Labor Relations Review is a publication of the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations. The Berkeley Journal of Employment and Labor Law is a law journal that publishes articles in the field of labor and employment law. Harvard Law School (also known as Harvard Law or HLS) is one of the professional Graduate schools of Harvard University. Wilkinson 2003. Understanding Work and Employment:Industrial relations in transition . Oxford,Oxford University Press.
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- Jochem, Sven. 2000. Nordic Labour Market Policies in Transition. West European Politics 23, issue 3 (July): 115-(?).
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- Turner, Lowell. 1998. Fighting for Partnership: Labor and Politics in Unified Germany. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press.
- Mullins, Laurie J, 2005, Management and Organisational Behaviour, FT Prentice Hall.
- Salamon, Michael, 2000, Industrial Relations Theory and Practice (4th Edition), FT Prentice Hall.