HRM107 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Workplace Democracy, The Business Council, Collective Bargaining
8 May 2018
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Department
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• HRM & Industrial Relations
• Industrial Relations: Formation of formal relationships between employers and trade unions or
other collective groups of employees, together with the institutional arrangements that arise
from those relationships.
o (Employment relationships, employee relations & workplace relations)
• HR practioners refer to IR as management of the employment relationship with a unionized
workforce (unions not necessary).
• For HR managers to be effective they need to understand IR and all that it covers.
o (Dynamics, contradictions & tensions of the employment relationship.
What is the employment relationship?
o Economic exchange: Agreement between employer & employee over sale of employees
potential work.
o Power relationship: Employee agrees to submit authority + direction of the employer.
Continuous + open-ended contract: employees can modify + restrict their work effort, can
combine together to challenge managerial authority.
The relationship is interdependent (employees must seek a cooperative relationship with
workers to gain their consent to directions)
o Multidimensional nature creates potential for industrial conflict over (wages, employment
conditions, etc.)
o HRM must work within the regulatory framework It provides to make corresponding strategic
choices.
• Approaches to Industrial Relations
• Unitarist: Mutual cooperation, teamwork and a sharing of common objectives
• Conflict is pathological.
Trade unions are competitors for employee commitment and cooperation, interfering with
managements right to manage.
• Pluralist: Organisations are coalitions of competing interest groups.
• Unions are legitimate representatives of employee interests.
• Strong union movement is necessary.
• Radical or Marxist: Employer and employee conflict inevitable of competing interests.
• Trade unions used upon exploitation and part of political process.
• HRM is manipulative + exploitative.
Governments + IR
• Legislation: Regulates dispute settlements, terms + conditions of employment and the
organisation and powers of other IR parties.
• Employer: Employing the public sector workforce. Use their own workforce to role model new
practices.
• Tribunals: Prevent and settle industrial disputes.
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Document Summary
For hr managers to be effective they need to understand ir and all that it covers. (dynamics, contradictions & tensions of the employment relationship. What is the employment relationship: economic exchange: agreement between employer & employee over sale of employees potential work, power relationship: employee agrees to submit authority + direction of the employer. Continuous + open-ended contract: employees can modify + restrict their work effort, can combine together to challenge managerial authority. Trade unions are competitors for employee commitment and cooperation, interfering with managements right to manage: pluralist: organisations are coalitions of competing interest groups, unions are legitimate representatives of employee interests. Strong union movement is necessary: radical or marxist: employer and employee conflict inevitable of competing interests, trade unions used upon exploitation and part of political process, hrm is manipulative + exploitative. Legislation: regulates dispute settlements, terms + conditions of employment and the organisation and powers of other ir parties: employer: employing the public sector workforce.
