UNION STRIKES
A
Union Strike is an organized work stoppage intended to force an employer to
address Voice of the Employees through union demands
CAUSES OF STRIKES
According to Philippou (2015), Union Strikes can occur due to the following reasons;
- Dissatisfaction with company policy
- Salary and incentive problems
- Increment not up to the mark
- Wrongful discharge or dismissal of workmen
- Withdrawal of any concession or privilege
- Hours of work and rest intervals
- Leaves with wages and holidays
- Bonus, profit sharing, Provident fund and gratuity
- Retrenchment of workmen and closure of establishment
- Dispute connected with minimum wages
TYPES OF UNION STRIKES
Economic Strike: In Economic strikes, labors stop their work to enforce their
economic demands such as increase in wages, allowances like traveling
allowance, house rent allowance, dearness allowance, bonus and increase in
leave entitlements
Sympathetic Strike: Sympathetic strike occurs when workers of one unit or industry go
on strike in sympathy with workers of another unit or industry already on
strike and express sympathy and support towards the members of unions already
on strike
General Strike: General strikes evolve when all the workers of a particular
region of industry demands common rights relates to all workers. The strikes
are usually intended to create political pressure on the ruling government,
rather than on any one employer and can be identified as an extension of the
sympathetic strike to express a generalized protest
Sit down Strike: Workers do not absent but
keep control over production/service facilities by not working. This particular
strike is also known as 'pen down' or 'tool down' strike where workers show up
to their place of employment, but they refuse to work and refuse to leave, creating
a difficult scenario for employer to confront the union and take the workers'
places
Slow down Strike: The concept is to Go-slow
and workmen do not stop the work but deliberately slow-down the process of
production or service causing losses to the employer. Go-slow is a serious
misconduct on part of the workmen ultimately causing damage to means of
livelihood, while harming to the employer
Hunger Strike: Hunger strike is a form
of industrial protest, workmen resort to fasting near the workplace demanding
the employer to redress the grievances
Wild Cat Strikes: Conducted by workers or
employees without the authority and consent of unions
All-out Strike: A strike that embraces all workers involved in a dispute and will
continue until securing a settlement and “All-out strikes” can be contrasted
with selective strikes that involve only a proportion of the workforce and
protest strikes that will not long last
MODERN DAY STRIKES – BANKING SECTOR
Unions are becoming quite savvy in
communicating with existing members and potential members and the Union leaders
are increasingly focusing on being more transparent with their members during
the bargaining process and continue to build strong communication networks
centered on social media and connected online platforms, with development of
mobile apps and company-specific websites, Facebook pages, and Twitter accounts
Banking industry is a very sensitive industry
since core banking merely death with financial transactions of the loyal
clientele. Any inconvenience or interruption to the transaction process will
definitely lead to heavy financial losses, regulatory fines and ultimately risk
of loosing the valued customers to a competitor
Figure
1 : Bank Union Strike impact 23,000 crore of Cheques held up
A
BANK UNION STRIKE has resulted a delay in clearance of cheques worth Rs 23,000
crore and has led to many financial losses and fines by the Central Bank of
India
References
Abrahamsson, S. & Danyi, E., 2019. Becoming
stronger by becoming weaker: the hunger strike as a mode of doing politics.
Journal of International Relations and Development, 22(4), pp. 882-898.
Anner, M., 2018. CSR
participation committees, wildcat strikes and the sourcing squeeze in global
supply chains. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 56(1), pp. 75-98.
Biggs, M., 2002. Strikes as
sequences of interaction: The American strike wave of 1886. Social Science
History, 26(3), pp. 583-617.
Darlington, . R., 2006.
Agitator ‘theory’of strikes re-evaluated.. Labor History, 47(4), pp. 485-509.
Dziak, R. P., Smith, D. K.
& Bohnenstiehl, D. R., 2004. Evidence of a recent magma dike intrusion at
the slow spreading Lucky Strike segment, Mid‐Atlantic Ridge. Journal of
Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 109(B12).
Hamann, K., Johnston, A.
& Kelly, J., 2013. Unions against governments: Explaining general strikes
in Western Europe. Comparative Political Studies, 46(9), pp. 1030-1057.
Hermann, C., 2007.
Neoliberalism in the European Union. Studies in Political Economy, 79(1), pp.
61-90.
Meyer, R., 2009. The rise and
fall of the sit-doWn strike. Strikes in American History.
Mirola, W. A., 2003.
Religious protest and economic conflict. Sociology of religion, 64(4), pp.
443-461.
Myers, B. W., 2010. Union
Strikes and the impact of non financial stake holders. Stake Holder Interet on
Financial Sector, Issue 01.
Narasimham, T. E., 2020.
Public Sector Banks, Chennai: Bharat Bandh.
Orr, G. D., 2007. Mandatory
secret ballots before employee industrial action. Australian Journal of Labour
Law, Volume 20, pp. 272-294.
Philippou, P. S., 2015. There
is Only One P in Perth-And, it Stands for Pullars!. The Labour, Trade-union,
and Co-operative Movements in Perth.
Somaya, D., Williamson, I. O.
& Lorinkova, N., 2008. Gone but not lost: The different performance
impacts of employee mobility between cooperators versus competitors. Academy
of Management Journal, 51(5), pp. 936-953.
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ReplyDeleteHi Kelum, I would like to add here that Thomposn & Borglum (1973) stated that strikes are associated with negative social outcomes such as acts of violence against persons and property.
ReplyDeleteYes Eranga, people think of violence as a physical assault but workplace violence is a much broader problem and same can be defined as any act in which a person is abused, threatened, intimidated or assaulted in employment which will untimately lead to strikes(Bowie, et al., 2012).
DeleteThe main weapon the union has against the employer is the threat of a strike. At its most basic level, a strike occurs when all the workers in the union stop coming to work. The word “strike” was first used in the 1700’s and probably forms the notion of dealing a blow to the employer. To have a strike today, you must have a union, and when workers combine to form a union, they collectively have enough power to negotiate with the employer. Strikes help explain why unions are more powerful than individuals. Unions try to exhaust all other measures before resorting to a strike for two reasons: union members usually lose money and it’s the last thing that unions can do to get employers to agree to their terms.(Grabianowski. E. 2017).
ReplyDeleteYes Melissa, the ultimate weapon available during a labor dispute is a strike by the union employees to win the bargaining rights. However, organization should not let go to the status of creating strikes, because same has an negative impact on the organization as well(Addison & Teixeira, 2019).
DeleteWhile agreeing with you, by employees side Trade union play great role in safeguarding employees from any form of discrimination or harassment in organizations. But consider that economic factors like changes in government policies are taken into consideration in the operations of the union and unions should working for the interest of its members rather than of the society it operates in, otherwise it would not serving according to the expectations of their members (Moeti-lysson & Ongori, 2011).
ReplyDeleteBut Isuru, Organizations set rules for a reason, whether that reason is safety, ethics, fairness, quality, or efficiency and therefore employees must respect same and embrace the changes to the fullest extent possible to operate in the long run(DeLoach, 2002).
DeleteStrikes are take place due to a response to employee grievances and it’s a generally composed as a threat and negotiations between the company and the union. The object of collective bargaining is to obtain a contract which may include no-strike concision or penalizes the union and will effect directly or indirectly for the performance of the organization (Fowler et al. 2001)
ReplyDeleteYes Dimuthu, merely by bridging the worker, management division, the organization can run a productive work force with no strikes (Wang, et al., 2007).
DeleteIssues of wages and other conditions of employment are usually the cause of disagreement. Resolving these issues is usually done through the process of collective bargaining. However, sometimes the issues are not resolved through negotiation. The non-resolution of these issues through negotiation can lead to either party resorting to industrial action. The employer can lockout his employees and the employees can use the weapon of strike (Danesh,2020).
ReplyDeleteFurther, the unfair treatments to employees and unclear job roles will also lead to conflicts creating job dissatisfaction too. Therefore, organization should identify the signs before hand to provide solutions prior to strikes(LeMieux, 2009).
DeleteAdding more to your statement that according to Armstrong (2006) strikes are the most politically charged of all the features of industrial relations. In 1980s believed that ‘strikes are too often a weapon of first rather than last resort’. However, those involved in negotiation – as well as trade unions – have recognized that a strike is a legitimate last resort if all else fails. It is a factor in the balance of power between the parties in a negotiation and has to be taken into account by both parties.
ReplyDeleteSohan, the relationship and the power between employers and employees are not at all balanced and the employers hold all the cards, and employer often use this balance of power at work to take advantage of employees(Bryson, 2001).
DeleteArmstrong, M 2017, says ‘strikes are too often a weapon of first rather than last resort’. However, those involved in negotiation – as well as trade unions – have recognized that a strike is a legitimate last resort if all else fails. It is a factor in the balance of power between the parties in a negotiation and has to be taken into account by both parties.
ReplyDeleteYes Kanishka, as commented above, strikes are the last resort or the ultimate weapon to win a right that can not be achieved through formal negotiations(Akkerman, 2008).
DeleteHi Kelum , strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage, caused by the mass refusal of employees to work and a strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances(Molina & Barranco, 2016).
ReplyDeleteYes Thilini, A strike is a temporary work stoppage effected by one or more groups of workers with a view to enforcing or resisting demands or expressing grievances(McCartin, 2011).
DeleteMost private sector workers in the United States are guaranteed the right to strike under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Section 7 of the Act grants workers the right “to engage in other concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.” This allows private-sector workers to engage in “concerted activities” such as strikes, regardless of whether the worker is in a union or covered by a collective bargaining contract. There is no federal law that gives public-sector workers the right to strike, but a dozen states grant public-sector workers the right to strike (Bass, 2014).
ReplyDeleteThe union may negotiate with a single employer (who is typically representing a company's shareholders) or may negotiate with a group of businesses, depending on the country, to reach an industry-wide agreement(Tsai & Shih, 2013).
DeleteAccording to the international labour review journal (2000), two resolutions of the International Labour Conference itself — which provide guidelines for ILO policy — in one way or another emphasized recognition of the right to strike in member States. The “Resolution concerning the Abolition of Anti-Trade Union Legislation in the States Members of the International Labour Organisation”, adopted in 1957, called for the adoption of “laws … ensuring the effective and unrestricted exercise of trade union rights, including the right to strike, by the workers ” (ILO, 1957, p. 783). Similarly, the “Resolution concerning Trade Union Rights and Their Relation to Civil Liberties”, adopted in 1970, invited the Governing Body to instruct the Director-General to take action in a number of ways “with a view to considering further action to ensure full and universal respect for trade union rights in their broadest sense”, with particular attention to be paid, inter alia, to the “right to strike ” (ILO, 1970, pp. 735-736). The right to strike has also been affirmed in various resolutions of the ILO’s regional conferences and industrial committees, as well as by other international bodies ( Hodges-Aeberhard and Odero, 1987, pp. 543 and 545).
ReplyDeleteYes, Surendra, Business models, may also create heightened risks to trade union rights if not properly managed and these include sourcing from high-risk (and lower cost) markets, extensive use of contract or temporary labor, and a company’s own purchasing practices(Teitelbaum,2010).
DeleteGlobal Challenge Insight Report (2016), implies, as physical and organizational boundaries are becoming increasingly blurred, organizations are going to have to become significantly more agile in the way they think about managing people’s work and about the workforce as a whole. Work is what people do and not where they do it. Businesses will increasingly connect and collaborate remotely with freelancers and independent professionals through digital talent platforms. Modern forms of association such as digital freelancers’ unions and updated labour market regulations will increasingly begin to emerge to complement these new organizational models. For policymakers, an important set of regulations concerns the portability of safeguards and benefits between jobs and the equivalent treatment in law of different forms of labour and employment types. These approaches could reduce labour union strikes to an extent.
ReplyDeleteYes Mihiran, on the other hand, although seldom recognized in the flurry of enthusiastic support, information technology has a dark side for unions, the Internet and the Web, with its power and convenience magnified by wireless communication, will reduce the relevancy of the traditional workplace-centered appeals of organizing unions(Chaison, 2002).
Delete