Tag

Conflict and dispute

Do labour unions mitigate labour conflicts in China’s manufacturing firms? Evidence from the China employer-employee survey

By | China

Summary

This study assesses the current state of union dialogue in China with both employers and the government. Currently, the presence of unions positively correlates with labour conflicts, especially in cases where the union leader is appointed by the employer’s management. It concludes that unions are not able to efficiently and accurately represent the concerns or desires of workers, and, because of this, they are not being translated to the government.

For the original source, please click here

Industrial Conflict and Collective Bargaining: Evidence from North Central Region of Nigeria

By | Case-study, Nigeria

Summary

The study analyses the effect of collective bargaining on employees in the wake of economic crises and rising unemployment in Nigeria. It concludes that collective bargaining generally helps to alleviate the situation for all involved, but that proactive bargaining should be done when crises are imminent or just occur, rather than some time after the fact. Another outcome is that training on bargaining techniques and involvement given to workers should be standard and would aid in the developments of the agreement, to reach a more amicable solution.

For the original source, please click here

Collective bargaining: a tool for industrial harmony in Ghanaian industrial settings

By | Ghana, Social dialogue

Collective bargaining has been recognised in almost all industrial settings as the most civilised way of resolving industrial conflicts and disagreements. The main objective of this paper is to determine the extent to which collective bargaining can effectively minimise industrial conflicts in Ghana, with particular reference to the brewery industry in Ghana. It is a means of helping to foster cordial management-labour relationships towards industrial harmony. The study was carried out with a focus on Ghana Breweries Ltd. The results of the study show that collective bargaining is a powerful and effective tool that can be used to minimise industrial conflicts and disagreements in industrial establishments. It is therefore recommended that employers should encourage the formation of trade unions to promote collective bargaining. It is further recommended that both management and labour should recognise collective bargaining as an effective tool for resolving conflicts and disagreements at the workplace.

For the original source, please click here.

DOWNLOAD

Labor Unrest and the Quality of Production: Evidence from the Construction Equipment Resale Market

By | Case-study, Social dialogue, United States

Abstract

This paper examines the construction equipment resale market to assess whether equipment produced by the world’s largest manufacturer of construction machinery, Caterpillar, experienced lower product quality in facilities that underwent contract disputes during the 1990’s. Analysis of auction data reveals that resale market participants significantly discounted machines produced in these dispute-affected facilities. Additionally, pieces of equipment produced in facilities undergoing unrest were resold more often, received worse appraisal reports, and had lower list prices. Taken together, the evidence supports the hypothesis that workmanship at dispute-affected facilities declined, and that the resulting impact on the economic quality of the equipment produced was significant. The dispute was associated with at least $400 million in lost service flows due to inferior quality equipment alone.

For the original source, please click here.

DOWNLOAD

Recent Unrest in the RMG Sector of Bangladesh: Is this an Outcome of Poor Labour Practices?

By | Bangladesh, Case-study, Social dialogue

Abstract

The RMG sector of Bangladesh has experienced disputes and violent protest by the workers in recent times. This study explores the reasons for recent unrest in the garment sector. Since managers are mainly responsible for applying human resource practices, this paper has given particular attention to their views on recent attitude changes of workers. Results show that mutual understanding among workers and managers is absent in the RMG sector. This study also states that high-work load, poor behaviour of line managers, low skills and low wage rates are the notable reasons for high job turnover and social unrest. Poor relationship between workers and supervisors is the main source of conflict. This study finds that there is growing demand for work life balance among the workers of RMG sector.
For the original source, please click here.
DOWNLOAD

Workplace Relations, Social Dialogue and Political Milieu in Nigeria

By | Nigeria, Social dialogue

Abstract

Harmonious and stable labour-management relations are sine qua non to the development process in Nigeria. For economic and social stability, Nigeria needs to sustain the existing democracy, encourage social dialogue with a view to coping with conflictual issues nationwide. It is against this backdrop that this paper seeks to examine social dialogue as a set of roles for trade unions, and the degree to which this function is enabled or constrained by the dynamics of the political environment in Nigeria. To achieve this objective the authors adopted the qualitative research method. Secondary data such as collective agreements, newspapers reports and official state records were used and supplemented with in-depth interviews with key union representatives and employers’ organizations. The authors outline essential elements for social dialogue and how it can contribute to healthy labour-management relations. The authors addressed the positive contributions that social dialogue can make towards minimising open expression of conflicts with the negative consequences on the tripartite social partners, as well as the impacts of political milieu on the effectiveness of trade unions and by extension social dialogue in Nigeria.

 

For the original source, please click here.

DOWNLOAD

Disputes Resolution through Social Dialogue: Evidence from Nigerian Organizations

By | Nigeria, Social dialogue

Social dialogue tries to create an objective process of bargaining in order to protect the interest of the organization which includes employers, employees and the environment. It would be useful to examine in depth the relevant components of the social dialogue and how they have imparted positively to the development of harmonious industrial relations in the country. This study takes data from a 280 sample size drawn from a population of 500 employees selected from 10 companies in Lagos state. It found out a significant relationship between collective process and success. It was recommended that employers and employees along with the government should consistently engage in a social dialogue process to improve the working conditions of labor and industrial harmony in the country.

 

For the original source, please click here.

DOWNLOAD

Industrial Conflict and its Expressions

By | Social dialogue

Abstract:

While it is widely recognized that conflict at work takes various forms, there is much confusion and disagreement among theorists and practitioners as to what constitutes conflict – discontent – and what range of behavioural form it takes. As for behavioural expressions of conflict, only the most visible forms such as strikes, labour turnover and absenteeism have received attention. Other unconventional forms of behaviour such as sabotage, pilferage and disruptive practices have, by and large, been neglected. At present, a comprehensive classification which includes both conventional and unconventional expressions of discontent is difficult to find. Includes a direct response to this vacuum. Offers a behavioural framework which has the potential for not only including the actors involved, but also explaining the behavioural strategies open to people and the reasons for choosing a particular way of expressing their discontent. Concludes that a better understanding of workplace conflict and its effective management requires appreciating the range of behavioural expressions involved; creation of the work environment conducive to the conflict processing and conflict resolution; and understanding the significance of the potential of the people as choice makers, when choosing from among the options open to them for expressing discontent.

DOWNLOAD

Role of Trade Unions in the Enhancement of Peaceful Work Relations for Efficient Conflict Management in Public Universities in Kenya

By | Kenya, Social dialogue

Abstract:

Disagreements are always an inevitable part of organizational life. Labour conflicts can be regarded as disputes that occur when interests, goals or values of different individuals or groups within a workplace are unharmonious with each other. The institutions of higher learning in Kenya are experiencing a lot of conflicts which are mostly left unresolved. Conflicts between individual workers/employees and also between workers and management have escalated. Labour conflicts leads to cases of frequent strikes, lock ups and any other forms of unrest as seen in our Universities. Proper management of conflicts however deserves special and adequate consideration in harmonizing workplace relations. This study aimed to establish the role of trade unions in managing conflicts in institutions of higher learning by enhancing of peaceful work relations. The study was based in Moi University since it one of the oldest and largest universities in Kenya. The target population of the study encompassed all the 683 employees in the university who were registered members of different trade unions. Stratified sampling was used to divide the population into three categories thus Lecturers, Middle grade staff and junior staff. 205 respondents were selected purposively for the study. Secondary data was obtained from existing literature and university documents while primary data was collected from the respondents using questionnaires. According to the results, 80% of the respondents confirmed that trade unions in their workplace use the role of labour relations in conflict management. In relation to whether job specification is clearly drawn to ensure peaceful work relations, 64.8% of the respondents agreed while 17.1% disagreed. The respondents were additionally asked whether existence of harmonious work relations leads to high productivity among workers. 94.2% of the respondents agreed that high productivity is achieved when harmonious relations exist among the workers. In regard to whether trade unions encourage consultations among their members as a way of creating harmonious work relations, 82.5% of the respondents agreed while only 0.5% disagreed. The study recommends that trade unions jointly with management should maintain continual negotiations with the employers to avoid employee-employer conflicts. Collective bargaining should be promoted as a tool with which employers and employees are able to negotiate on matters affecting the work place.

 

For the original source, please click here.

DOWNLOAD