Prepared and presented by

N. Ganesha Pandian

Assistant professor

Madurai school of management

Madurai

Section 2(K) of the Industrial Dispute act 1947,

defines “Industrial dispute” means

“ Any Dispute or difference between employer and

employer or between employer and workman or

between workman and workman, which is

connected with the employment or non

employment or the terms of employment with the

conditions of labor, of any person”

Dispute of difference connotes a real and

substantial difference having some element of

persistency and continuity till resolved

If no dispute raised by workmen with the

management, any request sent by them to

government would only be a demand

Settlement of disputes between1- Employer – Workman2- Employer - Employer3- Workman – Workman

But does not include disputes between:

1. Government and an industrial establishment

2. Workmen and non workmen

The dispute must be connected with the

employment and non employment or terms

of employment with the conditions of labor,

of any person

1. Terms of employment

2. Employment and

3. Non employment

1.Economic causes : wages, dearness allowances

and bonus, high industrial profits, working

conditions and working hours, weakness of TU

2. Non-Economic causes : Victimization of workers,

Ill treatment by staff members, sympathetic strikes,

political factors and indiscipline

They disturb economic, social and political life of a country

1. Unrest and unnecessary tensions

2. Economic loss due to conflicts

3. Industrial loss leads to economic depression

4. The Lives of low level laborers become worsen

5. When Industrial conflict get out of hand, they

become a threat to peace and security

Source : The Hindu

The demands include delinking associate banks from

SBI.

The All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) on

Saturday called for a nation-wide strike on June 24,2015 in

support of various demands of the State Sector Bank

Employees Association (SSBEA).

SSBEA, under its umbrella, has various unions of

associate banks of SBI such as State Bank of Bikaner and

Jaipur, State Bank of Travancore, State Bank of Hyderabad

and State Bank of Mysore and the like, which are also

associated with AIBEA.

Beside the nation-wide strike call, unions of associate

banks — under SSBEA — have also called for a strike on

June 4 in their respective cities pressing for their demands.

Source : The Hindu

The demands include delinking associate banks from

SBI, not curbing right of trade unions’ right of

representation, extension of compassionate

appointment scheme as per government guidelines,

increase in quantum of staff housing loan, recruitment

of sub-staff and part-time employees and resolving

pending demands, among others, AIBEA General

Secretary C.H. Venkatachalam told PTI.

He accused the SBI management of hampering the

performance of associate banks due to its “bossy

approach.”

Source : The Hindu

Activities include various forms such as

Withdrawal of labor, raw material, customer

dealer or combination of these

1. Strike

2. Picketing

3. Gherao

4. Bandh

5. Lockout

Definition:

Section 2(Q) of the industrial dispute act 1947 (IDA)

defines strike to mean

“ a cessation of work by a body of persons employed in

any industry acting in combination, or a concerted

refusal, or a refusal under a common understanding of

any no. of persons who are or have been so employed

to continue to work or to accept employment

1, Stay in strike, Sit-down strike, pen down strike or

tool down strike

2, Go slow strike

3, Hunger strike

4, Lightning or wild cat strike

5, Work to rule

Three forms of withdrawal of labor 1, cessation of work 2, Refusal to continue to work and 3, refusal to accept employment

Elements of

picketing

Right to

freedom

of

speech

Freedom of

association

Freedom

of

movemen

t

Section 7 of the criminal law amendment act

1932 prohibits obstruction of access and

intimidation of persons or employees or

loitering at places of residence or business

with the intent of deterring others from

entering or approaching or dealing at such

places.

1. Article 19(1) (d) of the constitution

guarantees to every citizen the right to move

freely throughout the territory of India

2. Section 7 of the criminal law amendment act

1932 curtails the freedom of movement by

making a mere excuse of right of freedom of

movement penal under certain circumstances

Article 19(1) (C) of the constitution guarantees to

all citizen the right to form the associations and

unions. This right may however subject to

reasonable restrictions in the interest of public

order and morality

Section 7 of the criminal law amendment act 1932

prohibits mere loitering with certain intent and

places restriction on picketing

Instrument of physical not economic

Gherao become the mot potent weapon in hands of

workers in 1960’s especially found in WB

Literally the word means encirclement , confinement,

not free

Punishable under section 339 or 340 of IPC and may

fall under the purview of section 503 IPC

Duty of union leaders to condemn this form of labor

protest, may affect national interest in long run

In Hindi the word means ‘locked’ or ‘closed’

It is illegal and unconstitutional

It is against fundamental rights of an individual

The political parties and organizations which call for

such bandh are liable to compensate for the losses

In period of bandh, “No work, no pay for absence”

Lock out – Employer’s instrument of

economic coercion

It was resorted to by an employer or group of

employers to ban union membership

Usually declared by a body employers against

a strike at a particular work by closing all

factories until strikers returned to work

Section 2(1) of the industrial disputes Act 1947

defines ‘Lockout’ to mean:

The temporary closing of a place of employment or the

suspension of work, or refusal by an employer to

continue to employ any no. of persons employed by him

Lock out is the counterpart to strike

It doesn’t include one workman, but means more than

one.

19(1)(C) guarantees the right to form associations, a

guarantee is also implied that the fulfillment of every

object of an association so formed is also a protected

right, with the result that there is a constitutional

guarantee that every association shall effectively

achieve the purpose, without interference by law

except on grounds relevant to the preservation of

public order and morality

The strike cannot be said to be illegal strike if it

does not contravene any provision of the law

Section 24 of ID act, prescribes the grounds where

the strike would be declared illegal.

The punishment of dismissal or termination of

service has, therefore to be imposed on such

workmen who had participated and fomented the

strike

The workers are not entitled to wages for the

strike period even if the strike is legal, but not

justified, it should be legal and justified

The legality of strike can be looked from ID

act and whereas Justifiability of strike can be

looked from the charter of demands

No person employed in public utility service neither

shall go on strike nor a employer shall lock out

A, Without giving notice within six weeks or within

fourteen days of giving such notice

B, Or before the expiry of the date specified in any such

notice

C, or during the pendency of any conciliation

proceedings and seven days after that conclusion of

proceedings

Definition of continuous services:

“A workman shell be said to be in continuous service

for a period if he is for that period in uninterrupted

service including service may be interrupted on

account of sickness or authorized leave or an

accident or a strike which is not illegal or lockout or

cessation of work which is not due to fault at part of

workman”

‘Retrenchment’ means the termination by the employer of the

service of a workman for any reason whatsoever, otherwise

than as a punishment inflicted by way of disciplinary action,

but doesn’t include:

1. Voluntary retirement of the workman or,

2. Retirement of the workman or reaching the age of

superannuation

3. Termination of service contract as result of non renewal

4. Termination on ground of continued ill health

No workmen employed in any industry who has been in

continuous service for not less than one year under an

employer shall be retrenched by that employer until-

1, one month’s notice to the workman by the employer indicating

the reasons for retrenchment or payment of wages for the

period of notice in lieu of notice

2, Payment of compensation at the time of retrenchment at the

rate equivalent to 15 days average pay for every completed

year of continuous service or any part thereof in excess of six

months

3. Notice to appropriate government or such authority as

may be specified by the appropriate government, in the

prescribed manner

These above conditions achieve double purpose of

A, to save the employer from carrying the deadweight of

surplus labor

B, and to provide compensation to workman suffer

hardship due to unemployment caused by

retrenchment

There is no general law laid down anywhere in the act except

that laid down in section 25G provides procedure for

retrenchment

This section prescribes that an employer shall ordinarily

retrench the workman who was the last person to be employed

in that category, unless for the reasons to be recorded in

writing, the employer retrenches any other workman

The rule of “Last come first Go” has been statutorily

recognized by sec 25G

Section 25 H was inserted in the industrial

disputes act by the amendment act of 1953. It

prescribes that if the employer proposes to

employ new hand, then he has to provide an

opportunity to the retrenched workman and

preference given to such workman over other

person

Any employer who contravenes the

provisions of sec 25M and sec 25N shall

be punishable with imprisonment for a

term of which may extend to one month, or

with fine which may extend to one

thousand rupees or with both

1, Indulgence of any workman in illegal strike

leads to imprisonment for a term extend to

one month or with fine to fifty rupees or both

2, Illegal lock out shall be punishable by one

month imprisonment or one thousand fine or

both

Lay-off means the failure, refusal or inability of an

employer on account of shortage of coal, power or

raw materials or the accumulation of stocks or the

breakdown of machinery or natural calamity or for

any other connected reason to give employment to

a workman whose name is in borne on the muster

rolls of his industrial establishment and who has

not been retrenched

According to provisions of sec 25c, a workman who has

completed one year of continuous service as defined in sec

25B of act whose name is borne on the muster roll has been

laid-off, will be entitled to 50% of total basic wages and D.A

If workmen laid off more than 45 days, there will be no

compensation payable and employer shall have retrenchment

after the expiry of 45 days

If any compensation paid to workman for having been laid-off

may be set off against the compensation payable for

retrenchment.

1. Layoff by employer should get prior permission from

appropriate government by notification in official

gazette

The workman of industrial establishment can be laid off

under following reasons as fire, flood, or excess of

inflammable gas or explosion

Employer should get permission from appropriate

government of 30 days within after commencement of

lay-off for above said reasons

After such notification of lay-off, if government doesn’t

communicate grant or refusal, then it is deemed to

have been granted after expiry of 60 days

Where the permission for any lay-off has been refused,

such lay-off shall be deemed to be illegal

Notwithstanding of above said provisions, there are

certain exceptions for lay-off with immediate effect such

as accident in establishment or death of employer and

alike

Settlement means a settlement arrived at in the course

of conciliation proceedings and includes a written

agreement b/w the employer and workmen arrives at

otherwise than in the course of conciliation proceeding

where such agreement has been signed by the parties

thereto in such manner as may be prescribed and a

copy thereof has been sent an officer authorized in this

behalf by appropriate government and the conciliation

officer

Conciliation officer – sec4 ‘A conciliator officer may be

appointed for a specified area or for specified industries in a

specified area or for one or more specified industries and

either permanently or for a limited period

Boards of conciliation – sec5 ‘A Board shall consists of a

chairman and two or four other members ,as government

thinks fit.

The chairman shall be an independent person and other

members shall be appointed in equal nos. to represent the

parties to the dispute

1, According to notice under sec22 has been given, shall hold

conciliation proceedings in the prescribed manner

2, He investigate the matter and try to settle down fair and amicable to

both parties

3, If no such settlement is arrived at, the officer shall, as soon as send

full report to concerned authority and also may be there is a case for

reference to a board, labor court, tribunal or national tribunal

4, A report under this section shall be submitted within 14 days of

commencement of the conciliation proceedings or within such

shorter period as may be fixed by appropriate government

If despite efforts of the conciliation officer, no

settlement is arrived at between employer

and the workman. The ID act provides a three

tier system of adjudication

1, Labour courts (sec7)

2, Industrial tribunals (sec 7A)

3, National tribunals (sec7B)

Labour courts have been empowered to decide disputes

relating to matters specified in the second schedule.

These matters are concerned with rights of workers,

such as propriety of legality of an order passed by an

employer under standing orders application, discharge

and interpretation of standing order, strike and lock out

The industrial tribunal are empowered to adjudicate on

matters specified on both the second and third schedule

(i.e) both rights and interest disputes

The jurisdiction of the industrial tribunal is

wider than that of labor courts

In case of disputes which in the opinion of the

central government involve question of

national importance or is of such nature that

workers in more than one state are likely to be

affected. The act provides for constitution of

national tribunals

Both involves third party provides

assistance. But in conciliation, both parties

come closer to discuss and reach the

settlement

In mediation sometimes, the third party

comes to decision on his own

Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute

resolution(ADR) is a legal technique for the resolution

of disputes outside the courts.

It is a settlement techniques a third party (arbitrators or

arbiters or arbitral tribunal) reviews the case and

impose a decision that is legally binding for both sides

Arbitration can be either voluntary or mandatory, often

used for resolution of commercial disputes

Arbitration sometimes called adjudication is a

private trial like process that can be commenced by

any two or more parties who agree to arbitrate

either under a contract, by legislation, or by simple

written agreement

A properly designed, well managed arbitration

process can be completed quickly and is a highly

efficient means of resolving disputes

Arbitrations are conducted under the commercial

arbitration acts. The acts give arbitrators most of

the power and authority of supreme court judges

An arbitrator is applied to be a “Private judge” and

is required to manage a confidential “Private trial”

Decision should be based on trying to achieve

most time and cost effective process, above all

considerations. Inevitably, more formal the

process, the lengthier and more expensive it

becomes

The parties have an opportunity to present

and promote their arguments and to have

them tested by their opponents

After all information and argument presented

and tested, the arbitrators evaluates and

make it as written decision called the “award”

The award is legally binding on the parties

and is enforceable through the courts like a

court judgment

Even the largest and most complex disputes

should only require a few months to resolve

Cheaper and quicker than conventional litigation

Confidentiality is another advantage of this

process

Confidentiality – often a critical factor in sensitive

commercial and family business disputes

The arbitration and conciliation act 1996 –

more approximate to the traditional system

giving more liberty to the parties to choose

their own procedures and arbitrators

All disputes other than the disputes where

substantial question of law touching upon the

constitutional, statutory or other doctrinal

interpretation should be encouraged to be

settled trough Alternative Dispute resolution

mechanisms.

Industrial peace is not merely a negative

concept signifying the absence of industrial

unrest or the reconciling of hostile forces to

avoid ruinous strife. But it also signifies the

active presence of harmonious and good

industrial relations generating amity and

goodwill between the partners in an industry

The industry policy resolution of 1984 declared that “a

dynamic national party must be directed to a

continuous increase in production by all possible

means, side by side with measures to secure its

equitable distribution”.

The problem of state participation in industry and the

condition in which private enterprise should be allowed

to operate must be judged in this context

1, Professionalism

2,Conflict of interest

3,Confidentiality of information

4, Integrity of financial information

5, Protection and use of company property

6, Acceptance of gifts and other benefits

7, Harassments

8, Frauds

9, Compliance with laws and agreement

10, Misconduct and non-conformance with policy

11, Accountability

Part – A1. What do you mean by arbitration?2. Define strike?3. What are the primary causes of industrial

disputes?4. Explain the role of conciliation board in

maintaining industrial peace?5. Define “Disputes”?6. What is meant by adjudication?7. What is training and development?8. What are the disadvantages of strike?9. What do you mean by industrial peace?10. Who is conciliation officer?11. Distinguish between strike and lockout?

Part – B1. Conciliation, arbitration and adjudication2. Causes of industrial dispute and ways to

prevent it3. Sources of industrial disputes4. Strike, Different forms of strike, Statutory

requirements5. Role of government machinery in case of

industrial conflict6. process of grievances redressal in India