Industrial Relations

The context has been changed and hence goalpost needs to be changed too while dealing with unions and managing Industrial Relations. Please watch my interview in "Expert Talk". Link is here >> https://youtu.be/QoXB8zdg4LM

Compassion and Empathy

Almost 70-80 employees were sitting and agitating against the company for their pending dues which the company could not pay on time. 

Those workmen were given the golden shake hand by the company before entering the joint venture with one of the reputed MNC. The workmen were given quite handsome severance package along with lifelong pension, medical cover for self and family. Once upon a time this company was a blue chip company, however company was not doing good. Company had applied to BIFR. One of the measures was to sell few businesses or have the JV with some good company. The MNC wanted to enter India, and it was a great opportunity for them to enter through the JV with majority stakes. It was a great opportunity for both. The main condition was new JV would hire only required employees with new employment conditions. It was clear that redundant employees would loss the job.

I was the HR Head of a newly joint venture organization. This issue was supposed to be handled by the minority company as they had an agreement with the workmen. 

What should we do in such a situation? It was a common gate for new JV company and another plant which they retained. The separation and integration plan were in the process. Few activities were as per the plan, but this agitation has put the hold on everything.

I had a discussion with the HR Head of that company who was operating from their corporate office. From the discussion, I got the impression that he was least interested to visit the plant and speak with the workmen. Our management was constantly in touch with the top management who was the ex-employer of agitating workmen. It was almost 3-4 days, workmen were sitting In front of the gate. Me and our plant head had a discussion and I suggested that why not speak with them and explain to them that they can take alternate actions instead of agitating In front of the company? We had a discussion with our CEO and he allowed us to go ahead. 

We visited the site to have a discussion with the workmen and a few leaders. Everybody started speaking and we just listened to them. We had a candid discussion with them, explaining that there is no point agitating in front of the gate as it is a totally different company, we also assured them that we will arrange their meeting with their ex-employer. I realized they were really struggling to meet the livelihood, because the financial issues, however nothing was in our hand. It was a hot summer. I asked the admin team to arrange the temporary pandal, fans and water arrangement for them. We also arranged snacks and tea for them every evening. It was a small gesture, but it helped to break the ice.

After two days, the managing director of the company visited the factory. He explained in detail why the payment got delayed. He was a good man; however, he was also struggling to arrange the funds to run the show. Finally, workmen agreed to take back their agitations on the assurance of their pay out by the managing director.   

This incident was a big learning experience for me. You may face situations for which you are neither responsible nor accountable, still you have to face those situations and help to solve the problem. This is the most difficult task when you don’t have any control on the situation, however you can face such incidents, with care and showing empathy. 

I started the conversation, listened to them for almost an hour. I was compassionate with them, however at the same time, I was non-committal and firm on our stand that their fight is not with us but the company where they were employed earlier. I was empathic and my small gesture of arranging smaller things helped to break the ice. Somebody may say that's why we should arrange fans and tea for them. This may not be possible in every situation, but they were humans and loyal workmen of the company for so many years and they needed to be treated with respect. 

I encountered similar or more serious situations in professional life. During all situations, the first thing I do, and that is to understand the context of the situation and give empathic listening to the people who are affected. I may not agree with them, but I always put myself in their shoes and try to understand their thought process. Another benefit by thinking like them is, I can predict what can be their next action. 

(Opinions are purely personal & does not represent my organizations, current or past) 

Author's book are available on Amazon, Flipkart, Pothi and BookGanga. Income from books is used for social cause. 

Control or influence

Sometimes, some situations disturb us a lot. Those situations make us unhappy. Some situations have an impact on our life. Few years back, I had to face the labour unrest in one of the plants. There was a deadlock on the charter of demand and wage increase, which they were expecting. The organization was fair, and these all workmen were treated like family members. They were given all benefits from the day they joined. They were treated the same as white collar employees. However, they still approached the political party and formed the union. The political leader who was guiding them was expecting the favour from the company. It was not possible to entertain those union leaders. However, the management team was unhappy with the situation. Finally the organization decided not to budge on their demands which were unrealistic. This situation created unnecessary pressure on managers and their supervisors. They never experienced such a hostile situation in the past.

Once we realised that the hostile situation was because of certain reasons, I started to interact with workmen and supervisors informally. Further we established a cross functional team specially to manage this situation. It was necessary to build the trust and courage within the employees. Most of them were not interested in creating the issue to the organization and were expecting to resolve the issues asap.

When approaching a problem or any situation, it is important to break down the aspects of each situation so you can better understand how to approach the situation or event. Breaking it down can help you better understand your potential approach instead of engaging in unproductive issues and unnecessary disappointments.    

We started training and educating people on the following aspects.

• Response of both parties to a situation
• What aspects we both can control
• And how can we engage, educate and empower them to deal with  

First part was more complex as we were dealing with human reactions.  We engaged everybody including internal union office bearers. During the situation we started discussing what is in control of local management and what is not, further we also discussed what is in control of workmen and union office bearers. This started breaking the ice. We also listed all the good points and benefits the organization was offering and how nicely workmen and union is cooperating. It took time, but workmen started reflecting. Finally, we agreed that we can control the situation and we don’t need to go for coercive actions. Workmen realised that the intentions of the management are good. This built the trust. 

We agreed the model with the union as per the following,

Situation >> Influence or Control >> Response >> Accept

During discussions, we always had an empathetic approach while dealing with the office bearers and workmen. We were aware that they were misled. Every point of the charter was discussed on this ground. During the process, we also discussed that if we don’t agree what will be the consequence on the organization and relationship. If they want to take it to the next level or escalate things like disciplinary actions, agitations, going for conciliation, going slow etc. what will be the long impact on both. Of course this was presented with facts, figures and examples. 

Within a month we signed the MOU and within 15 days all clauses from both sides were implemented.  After that we signed the CLA happily.         

(Opinions are purely personal & does not represent my organizations, current or past) 

Author's book are available on Amazon, Flipkart, Pothi and BookGanga 

It’s all about the ideology

It was mid-year in 1997. I had just joined the organization as a Management Trainee in the Personnel department. It was a heavy engineering company having the union affiliated to a left political outfit, militant and with illogical leadership known for disturbing the industries around. When I joined the organization, I was shortlisted for managing recruitment for diploma and engineering graduates and training them for the assembly line. Rule was simple. You hire trainee diploma engineers, train them and put them on the assembly line. You hire engineering graduates to supervise them or to work in quality control or some better job. Because of the nature of the job, the attrition in those trainees was high. So, my job was to keep filling the pipeline of those trainees. There were few lucky chaps who would get the permanent letter of the employment. Was this practice professional? I will say it depends upon the perspectives.         

When I joined, I came to know that there are some issues on the machining shop floor with union. The settlement was due for a long time and the union was pushing hard on their demands. I never realised that I would be the part of the team handling the industrial dispute and participate in negotiations further with the little experience I have. We had a team who used to manage discipline and industrial issues under the leadership of the Personnel Manager.        

I don’t remember the day, but one morning when I reached the factory, I saw the large gathering at the security gate. They were workmen but also the workmen who were from different industries around. They were waving red flags and shouting slogans against the few people in the management. I could not enter the gate. Somebody from the workmen noticed me. He took me to the leader. Leader asked me my name. I told my name and then he shouted the slogan against my name. I somehow escaped from there and stood at the end. After an hour, workmen dispersed, and I could get in. As I was one of the witnesses, the Personnel Manager asked me to give the statement in writing with names of workmen and details of the event. Security also submitted their report. 

Next day, there was a joint meeting between management and union, but I came to know that the said meeting was inconclusive. After a few days all the workmen suddenly stopped the work and they started shouting slogans and moving around the factory. Next day the large pandal was erected outside the gate. I don’t know why but the management asked all employees to come to the factory daily, sign the muster and if possible, run the machines. This was a difficult situation for all.     

And after 2-3 days the situation became chaotic. Managers were unable to go outside the factory and outsiders were unable to come in. Next day managers could escape out of the factory with the help of the police force. I came to know that the Personnel manager was fired and the Works Manager (in charge of the factory) took charge of the whole situation. Somebody from the corporate office came to Nashik. He was staying in the hotel outside but was trying to settle the situation with office bearers and external union leaders of the outfit.

Finally, the company decided to do two things. Suspend union committee members and simultaneously get the injunction for restricting to agitate them in front of the factory. 

I was called by the Works Manager, he asked, “Do you think that in such circumstances, you can hire and train trainees?”

“No” I said,

“Then, you don’t have any job to do.” He said

“I understand, you are asking me to leave.” I said sadly.

“I have not said so.” He smiled, ‘but I have an offer for you.”

“Which offer sir?” Me

“Will you work with me in handling the situation which you know? You will have to support in coordinating our labour lawyer, his team, courts and of course with union office bearers. We will have corporate Employee Relations Chief with whom you will work closely”

I was not that much aware about the consequences, but I was worried about my job and the salary. For me, my job was the priority. I had no options. I agreed.

Next few days were super busy working from early morning till midnight. Drafting notices with the help of our lawyer, displaying those and appealing workmen to resume back. Once we arranged snacks for the workmen and I took the opportunity to mingle with them. I think workmen wanted to resume the work, but office bearers were adamant. I could develop a few relations as few of them were living near my home. The Assistant Labour commissioner was trying hard to bring both parties together. I was now the team member assisting Works Manager and Chief of ER who was deputed by the corporate at the factory.

Battle was on 3 level,

Psychological level: It was a mind game for management and union. While negotiating, speaking, and dealing with the union, both parties used all pressure tactics.  

Social Level: It was a talk of the town with a lot of media coverage. People were speculating on who was right and who is wrong. So called social workers and political leaders started intervening and demanding the management to agree on the demand of workmen.    

Legal level: Simultaneously it was also fought in the legal machinery like labour commissioner, counselling officer and for injunction etc in industrial court and civil court. 

Individual level: This was a major task keeping workmen engaged and preparing them for the better and worst if something happens. They were losing their patience. Their families started calling our known officers requesting to do something about this.  

After a few days, the situation became worse. Few union leaders along with outsiders entered inside the factory and started to sabotage the property. It was too much. This was the right time to act. Police again intervened. What the union was doing was totally illegal. Anyway, it was an illegal strike.

I had nine letters in my hand typed by me on the typewriter and signed by the Works Manager. I had to hand over those letters to union committee members. I was scared. In the presence of our security guards and 2 police constables, I handed over the “suspension pending enquiry” letters to union committee members. That day was stressful day. I was shaking and perhaps I would have been collapsed the way union committee behaved with me. It was mental abuse and threats to look after me outside. In the slogans, my name was also added frequently. After a few days, the company decided to declare the lock out and close the plant. Accordingly, the notice was pasted, and copies were sent to union and state authorities.

For me lock down was the good news as I could be away from this all, till we get some order from the court. Within the next 1.5 month, finally, we got the injunction in favour of the company, restricting them to agitate in front of the factory. Court clearly declared the right of running the factory. Court asked the union to resume the work immediately and settle the matter on the table. We were aware that our lock out was also illegal.

Nine union committee members were still outside, however workmen were asked to submit the good conduct bond. Everybody signed the bond except few. It was split but the majority wanted peace of mind. It was clear now that workmen abandoned the union office bearers. We helped the workmen to have the new leadership which was more amiable which also got recognition from the industrial court very fast. 15% workmen remained with the earlier union.  Settlement was signed with a win-win situation.

After a few years, I had the opportunity to visit the house of an earlier leftist union leader in connection with some social club where I was the member. His house was a four storied building. He was living with the family on the 4th floor. It was a posh home of course with elegant showpieces and rich furniture and we were served the tea in silver cups and saucers.

While taking the tea, I recalled the whole incident. Nine union committee members were on their own fighting for the reinstatement back which was not possible. Once, I saw one of them driving the rickshaw. When I waived towards him, he just saw me. I will never forget his gloomy smile. 

Workmen who went behind that external leader lost their face and they never came out from the failure. Local committee members could not get the job back. Really the left ideology is strange.

(Opinions are purely personal & does not represent my organization)    

Author's book are available on Amazon, Flipkart and BookGanga 

(Income from books is donated to the NGO which works for orphans, street children & abandoned elders)

School of thought which I follow.

It was the year 1997. I was doing my post-graduation (Masters) in management from the institute which is affiliated to Pune University. The situation was not that good. Our batch was the second batch of the management college. Our senior batch was almost ready for placement, however there were very few companies visiting our campus. It was the era of slowdown because of Asian financial crisis. Companies were shutting down their shops. The militant left union known for their adamant attitude was making a lot of noise on the issues of wage agreement. Industries over the district in different industrial areas were struggling with top line, profitability and at other side with the non-cooperation from the union resulting in poor productivity. Few local industrialists were more much in trouble. The other union which was affiliated to the right-wing political party was blackmailing industries and few union leaders were demanding ransom from industries. Few industries were shifting to neighbouring states.

The situation was the same everywhere in the state. Few years back the government had come with the idea of establishing industrial belts in different regions. The idea was good, but the progress was slow. The infrastructure required for the industries was not that good in those delocalised regions. However few industries choose to be there to get the tax and other benefits. The new industries became the cash cows for local mafias. The environment was not that conducive for industries.

Strikes, go slow and agitations were common. This took me in 1982 where the great Bombay textile strike was called by mill workers of Mumbai under the leadership of Datta Samant. We all know the debacle of this strike. It is said that this strike was the big conspiracy against the poor mill workers by union leaders, political leaders and mill owners. This strike was spontaneous, and workers went to Mr. Samant demanded him to lead the strike, discarding established unions that time. Main demands were for more bonus and increase in wages. This strike lasted almost 19 months with the involvement of almost 0.25 million mill workers resulting in permanent closure of textile mills and pushing almost billions of people in poverty and hardship. Mr. Samant was a successful union leader dealing with employers for wage increase earlier. His militant style got popular and he established his credibility among the workmen. Because of his success, mill workers demanded him to be the leader and lead the strike. However, Samant was not ready for that. He agreed finally when workmen were too pushy and were not ready to leave his home. Very soon other leftist union supported Mr. Samant While fighting for greater pay and better conditions for the workers, Samant and his allies also sought to capitalize and establish their power on the trade union scene in Mumbai. The government got scared because if this strike would have been successful, it would have had an impact on port and dock workers and other big establishments in the region. The then congress government in state and center didn’t want the influence of Samant. We don’t know what cooked behind the scene but Samant tried to encash the situation but could not do it as Mill Owners Association and government refused to budge the pressure of union in spite of economic losses.                

The situation in 1997 was different. Union had lost its glory but because of the economic conflict, few unions were trying to establish their power. Industrial relations became better compared to 1982, but the mindset shift was required.

 It was the hot summer of 1996. As a part of the project assignment, we had to visit industries and work there for a few days. College had given us the recommendation letter. Contacting industries and relevant officers was an ongoing struggle. Today the world is so fast with the internet and mobile. That time, we had landlines and that’s also in a few homes. There was no other option. We had to travel to an industrial area, convince the security officer or the guard of the company and request him to allow us to speak with the relevant officer. It was like company to company marketing of your resume for the project work. Me along with my 3 friends were visiting industries daily and finally we got something.

That was my first experience to see the factory inside. It was a big electrical manufacturing company. We could enter the factory and meet the Personnel manager of the factory. He had a big cabin. He invited us inside, listened to us patiently. Finally, he allowed us to work with him on the project.

During the two months, we spent time with blue collar workmen, understanding their psyche. I also spoke with union leaders, worked with them on the shopfloor. I drafted disciplinary action letters, show cause notices, for the manager. During the span of two months, I realised one thing and that was, "missed human connection". There was a gap between white collar and blue-collar workmen. It was always “we” and “they”. Workmen were not willing to learn new things and managers were not taking them in confidence. There were separate canteens, separate washrooms, separate locker rooms. During the briefing session, I asked the question to the manager who was assigned to us as a project supervisor by the company, “It seems that we are focusing more on discipline, implementation of agreement clauses, but why don’t we focus on their skilling and reskilling, training and development and other human resource factors? Why don't we establish some mechanism to listen to them? Why don’t we establish connections without involving unions?” He laughed and replied, “It’s about the attitude from both sides, workmen and management. We can just try to bring that change. Unfortunately, both parties are not willing to do that.”

Today we have made a lot of progress in Industrial Relations. Unions are changing and they are not that extreme. There are “old school” and “new school” thoughts. One goes by the guidebook, rules and regulations, this thought is strong in managing any types of unions by any means. Another school of thought thinks about the human angle in industrial relations, understands different perspectives, challenges workmen on their purpose but equally is strong managing them in a balanced way. Both are right in their ways.

I was not aware that time what is there for me after submitting the project to the company and my professor. But yes, that day, I was clear which school of thought, I wanted to follow. 

 Please read the print replica of my latest book written for leaders on amazon kindle, Vitality in Human Resource: Adding human dimensions in HR processes

(Opinions are purely personal & does not represent my organization)    

Author's book are available on Amazon, Flipkart and BookGanga 

(Income from books is donated to the Janseva foundation which works for orphans, street children & abandoned elders)

Action – Reaction…

Three learnings while dealing with conflicting situations…

I always see the people in stress when something goes wrong. People even push the panic button and start acting without thinking. I understand that the reaction is natural after any action, but without understanding the action, you can’t design your reaction. Adverse situations are always challenging, you actually hone your skills while handling such situations.  

I remember the situation when I was working with one of the biggest automobile company in their engine manufacturing plant. There was a discussion going on wage demands. Those were typical days when such discussions are in progress. The negotiations were long pending and workmen were adamant on their demands. They were not willing to discuss on the productivity expected by the management as per the standards.

They tried every resorts like boycotting the founder day, annual day, go slow etc. However management was firm and we handled the situation. We identified troublemakers and opinion makers. Trouble makers were put under observation and opinion makers were properly communicated. We also completed almost 10 domestic enquires against the workmen involving habitual absenteeism. These 10 workmen were counselled and instructed not to take a single leave without permission in a year. The counselling sessions were documented in front of the union leaders. Their termination was kept on hold.

We came to know that workmen are planning to take mass leave. They did this and next day nobody turned to the job. This was a case of flash strike.

Next day, 10 workmen were out of the company…we terminated their services. Union had totally ignored this and they were shocked… after few days, MoU was signed. We asked them to implement productivity as per the norms and then only we signed the settlement.

This situation taught me few things which I always remember.                 

Don‘t respond immediately: During the whole process we thought a lot with the team on the actions. We were knowing that workmen will go for flash strike, but we decided the action after much thought. We also deducted the salary as per the law. The deduction and termination of 10 workmen was the strong point with us during negotiations. The pressure built by other workmen and opinion makers helps us to get the union on the table to discuss productivity issues.     

Try to understand before you act: The consequences would have been totally different. We had completed domestic enquiries and all 10 workmen were liable for punishment considering their records. However we had decided to give them one chance, going on flash strike also means absenting from the job which is not sanctioned by the management. Irrespective to all pressures they should have come to the job. They lost. I was criticized by few colleagues for giving the opportunity to those workmen. We didn't terminated them before because we didn't wanted to create a negative environment during collective bargaining.     

Keep the end in mind: This situation was the opportunity for us. Union came forward for the discussion. They had to take the full retreat. When we reacted on the situation, it was clear that we want to break the unwavering which we did.

Off course this was the team work. I also would like to clear that decisions in such situations are logical during particular situation and not necessary, they will be applicable in all such similar situations. However above learnings are applicable before acting in any situations.       

Maruti Suzuki union violence & murder of Awanish Kumar

Violence at Maruti plant is the shame

& will have negative impact on

 industrial  growth.

There are two different & significant news in this week. First news is more perilous which is related to the vandalism by union of Maruti Suzuki and brutal murder of Mr. Awanish Kumar Deo, GM-HR of Manesar plant. The second news is about Rajesh Khanna.

 Automobile companies are more vulnerable to labour unrest. In past, country has witnessed major vandalism by unions. Yesterday I was watching news on Zee business and Gurudas Dasgupta of CPI was commenting on the incident. His comments were purely biased against the industries and he was straight pushing the responsibility of this incident to the Suzuki management. His language was very rude and I think first he should be put behind the bar for such statements. In modern economy, companies are not unfair and I see the companies focusing on labour welfare and up-liftment of workmen. Companies also need good employees and they pay even more than the market. The problem is with the local politics and the mindset of local community towards industries.

They don’t understand that the managers and general managers are also employees of companies. They do not individually responsible for the decisions always. They do what they are told based on certain assumptions. They also have families. Killing somebody is not justified. Unions have strong mass base and they have muscle power. They carry political affiliations most of the times. Union leaders push their own agenda and frankly speaking they do not care about the common workmen.

Issues should be discussed mutually and settled amicably. Industries sometimes do not understand grey colour. For them there are only two colours, black and white. However discipline and productivity is the fundamental requirement and right of the management and should be enforced.   

Responsible union leaders and workmen involved in the above case should be booked without mercy. The act on their behalf is not at all union movement. This is purely the act of goondaism.   Now it is upto the government, how they tackle the issue. If Suzuki decides to shift the plant outside Manesar, the sufferer will be workmen and common people around the area.

Avanish family lost him without any fault. May Lord give Avanish’s family Courage and Patience. Let’s pray for his soul to rest in peace.     

____________________________________________________________

Jindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahi!

“Anand mara nahi, Anand marate nahi”, "Jindagi badi honi chahiye, lambi nahi", these are dialogues through which Rajesh Khanna spread the positivity in whole society. The first super star of Bollywood and legend passed away in this week. His films and dialogues taught people how to live the life. Rajesh Khanna was the symbol of liveliness, romance, love and positivity.

May God give Rajesh eternal rest and may his soul rest in peace.