Industrial Relations and Labour Laws

15 Sep

Industrial Relations and Labour Laws

1. Ramesh Bhatia was working in an industry employing around 500 employees. He joined the industry in the year 2012. The worker were made to work for more than 9 hours in a day. The canteen facility was not good. It offered only tea and snacks. Complaints were made to the management requesting them to change the menu and also to provide better and nutritious meal. The management changed the canteen in-charge.The canteen started offering meals and also a variety of other items. However, the prices were increased and the workers could not afford them.Ramesh and his co-workers complained to the management. The management kept on delaying the issue. Ramesh came up with an idea to form a trade union. Collective bargaining could be an effective tool in dealing with the issues faced by theworkers. Accordingly, a trade union was formed in the year 2013 and Ramesh was made the President. The trade union was functioning smoothly and most of the problems faced by the employees were dealt effectively. In the year 2014, a new director Mr. Mahesh Kumar was appointed at the management level. When the trade union brought a complaint before him, he refused to entertain them stating that the trade union was unregistered and he would infact file a complaint of criminal conspiracy against them.
Ramesh and the other members want to register their trade union. What is the current status of the trade union and what are the steps to be followed in the present scenario for the registration of the trade union?
2. Sheekha is working in a manufacturing unit. The unit has employed 50 people on the manufacturing process and is registered as a factory. Sheekha was given wages of Rs. 7,500/- on a monthly basis. The wages were paid on the 5th of each month. Besides the wages she was given bonus of Rs. 2,000/- every year during Diwali festival.In the month of October 2017, she received only Rs. 3,000/- as wages. Also her Diwali bonus was not paid to her.Upon inquiring, the HR manager told her that her wages were deducted. The explanation that was given that in the previous month she had come late for 5 days. Also she had been negligent with the machinery she used and the repairing cost to be borne by the company was Rs. 500/-, and therefore Rs. 2,000/- was further deducted from her wages. Sheekha claimed for the bonus, but the manager stated that the bonus was not included as wages and so she could not demand them.
Analyze the case and what are the different authorised reasons for which Sheekha’s wages could be deducted.
3. Arjun is a member of a trade union in an industry. The objectives of the trade union is to protect the members and provide them with the necessary facilities. The trade union had been demanding protective glasses for the workers doing welding work as a safety measure. The management did not provide them and asked the workers instead to be careful while doing the wielding work. One day, while Arjun was doing a welding work a spark went in his eye. He was given first aid and then rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, he lost his eye. Some of the members approached the management and asked them to pay the medical expenses, compensation to Arjun and the required safety measures to the workers. The management refused to take responsibility and instead put the blame on Arjun saying that he was careless while doing his work. The workers were agitated and decided to protest against the behavior of the management by going on a strike.
a. Advise the workers on the different ways they can protest through strike.
b. Advise the management on how they can prevent industrial disputes.

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