Unit 2: The labour Relations System as a Societal structure

Question 1

What is the predominant processes in labour relations systems? (Processes and Procedures)

Answer 1

Are collective bargaining and the practice of workers’ participation.

Question 2

The predominant processes in labour relations systems are collective bargaining and the practice of workers’ participation.

Further elaborate on varying emphasis that will be placed on these processes.

Answer 2

In some systems, the use or implementation of one or both of these is compulsory, whereas in others it is completely voluntary. Equally, collective bargaining may be conducted at a highly centralised or a highly decentralised level and may take place in an orderly or a random fashion.

Question 3

Disclose the other processes which will flow from collective bargaining and workers participation

Answer 3

■ Dispute settlement procedures
■ Communication structures
■ Systems for the conclusion of agreements
■ In-plant disciplinary and grievance procedures.

Question 4

What is the legal framework?

Answer 4

The legislation governing, the establishment and conduct of the employment relationship will vary from country to country

Question 5

Where are differences in the legal framework found?

Answer 5

■ Varying degrees of compulsion
■ Different forms of protection granted to employers and employees
■ Differences in the application of the freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively
■ Differing concepts of fairness and differences in legislation pertaining to this concept.

Question 6

Define ideological basis

Answer 6

All societies rest on an ideological base. The dominant ideology of a society will largely determine the type of labour relations system in that society. Equally, a system will change in line with changes in ideology.

Question 7

Where is the greatest difference in ideology can be found?

Answer 7

Individualism vs Communitarianism

Question 8

What is individualism in its absolute sense?

Answer 8

■ Individual persons or groups in society are free to make their own choices and pursue their own goals
■ They have little or no responsibility towards society
■ Society has little or no obligation towards them
■ Society is secondary to the individual
■ Society is shaped by, and composed of, individual beings
■ Government by the majority may be necessary for a democracy, but minority interests should be accommodated
■ Conflict is unavoidable and government should establish systems to accommodate it.

Question 8

What does communitarianism components?

Answer 8

■ Individuals are shaped by society
■ The choice and self-interest of the individual should not predominate
■ The individual’s first duty is towards the society from which he emanates
■ Individual interests should always be secondary to those of society
■ It is the duty of government to shape and control society
■ Bigger government is essential
■ Minority interests are subservient to the majority
■ Conflict should be avoided in favour of cooperative effort.

Question 9

How is the state described?

Answer 9

It represents society at large.

Question 10

A particular government, as representative of the majority in society, will adhere to a greater or lesser degree to a communitarian or individualist ideology.

How is applied in practice?

Answer 10

The State will have a political bias, which, in a modern, economically based society, is revealed in a pro-capital or pro-labour orientation.

Question 10

What happens if the government believes in voluntarism?

Answer 10

If a government believes in voluntarism there will be minimal or no interference in the conduct of the relationship.

Question 11

What happens if the government believes in mandatorism?

Answer 11

The principle of mandatorism rests on absolute or maximal government control of all aspects of the employment. This would occur only in a society where government also exercises or attempts to exercise control over all economic and social forces.

Question 12

True or False

Absolute/pure voluntarism exist anywhere in the world?

Answer 12

False

Absolute/pure voluntarism does not exist anywhere in the world

Question 13

Why in reality there is mandatorism in voluntarism?

Answer 13

■ The government, in establishing a legal framework for society, necessarily impinges on labour/employment relations
■ Employment relationships, if left solely to the main participants (that is, employers and employees or unions), may be inequitable, making it necessary to restore the power balance
■ The conduct of labour/employment relations will impact on society and particularly on the economy
■ Labour relations also involves politics – the government, being a political instrument, necessarily interests itself in developments in this sphere.

Question 14

In voluntarism system what mandatorism must the government perform?

Answer 14

Governments will, at the very least:
- Provide the legal framework for the conduct of the labour relationship give
- Minimum protection to employees and employers
- Attempt to preserve labour peace
- Attempt to safeguard society against extreme behaviour by either party.

Question 15

What is forms of state interference?

Answer 15

The degree and type of interference in the labour relationship practised by a particular government will depend, interactively, on:
■ Its ideological base
■ Its political objectives
■ Sociopolitical and economic circumstances
■ The strength of the union movement.

Question 16

State the different forms of state interference

Answer 16

1. Market individualism (weak union)
2. Institutionalised voluntarism (Individualist government & strong union)
3. Pro-capital interventionism (strong union)
4. Corporatism (hovers between individualism and economic development)
5. Pro-labour interventionism (shifts towards communitarianism & distribution of wealth)
6. Pro-labour mandatorism (state control & bias towards labour)
7. Pro- capital mandatorism (Individualist government bias towards capital)

Question 17

What is market individualism?

Answer 17

Where:
■ A government supports an individualist ideology
■ Is biased towards capital
■ Adopts a laissez-faire approach to the economy
■ The union movement is weak and
■ Where the economy is relatively healthy, the tendency will be to adopt a completely hands-off approach to the conduct of the work relationship.

Question 18

What is the government view of market individualism?

Answer 18

The government will take the view that:
■ Employers and their employees are responsible for the way in which the relationship will be conducted
■ The contract of employment is the final regulator of the relationship
■ Market forces will sufficiently regulate employment practices.

Question 19

What is institutionalised voluntarism?

Answer 19

Where:
■ The government is individualist-oriented
■ Is biased towards capital
■ Supports the free-market system
■ But where trade unions are strong.

Question 20

How can the government safeguard employees? (institutionalised voluntarism)

Answer 20

To safeguard employees the government may legislate minimum conditions of service regulations, health and safety prescriptions and regulations pertaining to workmen’s compensation and unemployment

Question 21

What does the government set to do if they select institutionalised voluntarism?

Answer 21

Government which has adopted this approach may set the framework for the conduct of collective bargaining but will not oblige participants to engage in these practices. A governmental policy of this kind constitutes what is generally regarded as a voluntary approach, but it is better described as a policy of ‘institutionalised voluntarism’.

Question 22

What happens in pro-capital interventionism?

Answer 22

It could happen that a trade union movement becomes so strong that it poses a political or
economic threat or causes a power imbalance between unions and employers. If this occurs,
the government may engage in greater interference, aimed at curtailing the power of unions.
This it may do by limiting their freedom to strike or restricting their activities in other
spheres.

Question 23

When is the pro-capital interventionism policy adopted?

Answer 23

The policy of pro-capital interventionism may also be adopted where a previous, labour-oriented government has, in the opinion of a new government, intervened too much on behalf of labour for example, by nationalising industries and allowing employees too much power in the workplace

Question 24

What will the new government do in a pro-capital interventionism?

Answer 24

The new government will denationalise industries, encourage capital accumulation and place stronger restrictions on trade union action.

Question 25

What is corporatism?

Answer 25

Economic or political developments may oblige a government to intervene in labour relations. In times of reconstruction or economic recession, a government, wishing to kickstart the economy, may request employers and employees to cooperate in its efforts to bring about economic improvement.

Question 26

What does in mean not to engage in aggressive collective bargaining in corporatism?

Answer 26

If the parties agree to a corporatist approach, that unions will limit their wage demands and that employers will limit price increases.

Question 27

What hovers between individualism and communitarianism? (Corporatism)

Answer 27

Where all parties voluntarily cooperate to formulate labour relations and economic policies they enter into a social contract, aimed at achieving maximum benefit for all, it is meant to curtail the individual power of both capital and labour in the interests of society as a whole

Question 28

What is pro-labour interventionism?

Answer 28

Labor gains dominance in the government or the changed objectives of government bring
about a bias towards labour, a government may intervene on behalf of labour.

Question 29

When does pro-labour interventionism occur?

Answer 29

This happens particularly where economic ideology shifts to a more communitarian approach and seeks to incorporate social welfare principles or a social market policy.

Question 30

What does the governement do in a pro-labour interventionism?

Answer 30

The government, by its economic policy, engages in a redistribution of wealth.

Question 31

State the policy of pro-labour interventionism

Answer 31

A policy of pro-labour interventionism will lead to greater protection and promotion
of employee interests and to an extension of their rights in the workplace

Question 32

What is the typical outflow of pro-labour interventionism?

Answer 32

Typical outflows of such a policy are compulsory employee profit-sharing schemes, workers’ participation schemes and regulations regarding employee or union co-determination on boards of directors.

Question 33

When does pro-labour mandatorism prevail?

Answer 33

In a strictly communitarianist society

Question 34

What will the government do a pro-labour mandatorism society?

Answer 34

The government will adopt an absolute bias towards labour, will not accept the free-market principle and will not encourage capital accumulation.

Question 35

True or False

The labour/employment relationship in its totality is under the control of the State and there is no perceived need for union action in the form of collective bargaining or protection of employee rights when pro-labour interventionism is adopted

Answer 35

False

The labour/employment relationship in its totality is
under the control of the State and there is no perceived need for union action in the form of
collective bargaining or protection of employee rights when pro-labour mandatorism is adopted

Question 36

When will absolute mandatorism prevail?

Answer 36

Absolute mandatorism could prevail where a totally individualist government favours capital to the exclusion of labour.

Question 37

Why will pro-capital mandatorism prevail in a totally individualist government where government favour capital to the exclusion of labour?

Answer 37

Since labour, which usually constitutes a majority of the national population, will have a vote in government, this is unlikely to happen in a democratic society. Nor will it be possible where there is a strong trade union movement.

Question 38

When will the policy of a pro-capital mandatorism be marked?

Answer 38

A policy of pro-capital mandatorism will be marked by government intervention to curtail employee rights. This would manifest itself in the non-recognition of unions, in curtailment of the right to strike, and in laws promoting the employer.

Question 39

What is the state role as the legislator?

Answer 39

The State may legislate on individual rights and on collective rights; it may establish collective bargaining machinery and may prescribe statutory procedures to be followed by parties to the relationship

Question 40

What is the states role as conciliator?

Answer 40

In pursuing its objective of maintaining labour peace, a government may establish conciliation, mediation and arbitration services. The use of such facilities may or may not be made compulsory by the government. In certain instances, the government itself may interfere in disputes or act as conciliator/mediator

Question 41

What is the states role as Regulator?

Answer 41

If the State wants to regulate the conduct of the employment relationship, it will have to
intervene more directly in the relationship and, particularly, in the conduct of collective
bargaining. The most common form of regulation is found in the establishment of an
incomes policy or a complete freeze on wages and prices, but the State also regulates
the relationship when it provides for compulsory recognition and bargaining and when it
compels workers’ participation at plant level.

Question 42

What is the State roles as Advisor?

Answer 42

The State may set itself up as watchdog and adviser in the sphere of labour relations. In
this instance the State will establish various bodies to monitor developments in labour/
employment relations, to produce guidelines on the conduct of the relationship and to
suggest innovations to the participants.

Question 43

What is the State roles as controller of income distirbution?

Answer 43

The State collects vast sums of money in the form of taxes and (if properly run) public
enterprises. This would allow it to affect the relative positions of capital and labour. Most
governments already make concessions in the form of lower taxes and other allowances for
low income earners. The State may also boost certain industries by loans or concessions
and may use its financial power to bring about changes in the system. Rifkin, for example,
suggests that if, in the future, workers are obliged to accept shorter hours and engage in
voluntary welfare work in their spare time, the State could compensate them by reduction
of or exemptions from taxes.

Question 44

What is the State roles as the Judiciary?

Answer 44

• The judiciary remains an instrument of the State.
• The function of the judiciary is to determine common law pertaining to the employment relationship and also to interpret and apply the statutes passed by government to regulate the relationship.
• Problems with the normal judicial process are experienced where the judiciary is not acquainted with the intricacies of the relationship or with the law pertaining to it.
• Such problems increase when the judiciary is required to interpret concepts of fairness, pertaining to the relationship.
• For this reason, certain governments see fit to introduce labour courts dealing specifically with labour matters.

Question 45

What is the State roles as the police?

Answer 45

• The police have no role to play in labour/employment relations in that they are not supposed to side with either party. However, they do have a duty to protect the public and to prevent public disturbances.
• Therefore, where either of the major parties poses a threat to the public or causes a public disturbance, the police, as the law-enforcement arm of the State, may intervene.
• The police are often viewed as siding with the employers. For this reason Ultimately the police force is an instrument of the State, and the latter should not allow it to be used to the benefit of either party or to promote the interests of the government in power.