Role of Trade Union on Labour Administration on its Associate’s Performance in TNSTC, Kumbakonam Division–I

Sudipta Adhikary*, Kaushik Banerjee

Brainware University, Kolkata 700125, India

*Corresponding Author’s Email: sudiptaadhikary24@gmail.com

Abstract

The existence of a recognized and strong trade union is vital for an industrial process to run smoothly. Act 651, also called the Labor Act 2003, was formed to help, and act as a guide to maintain a peaceful relationship between the employees and the management. It becomes important to acknowledge the major role the Union Activities have for an organization. These roles include maintaining harmony among employers and employees of an industry; negotiating or dealing with employees; serving as a director and guide for the employees for directing their concerns; and other similar roles. Decisions taken through a process of collective negotiation and bargaining between unions and the employer are highly influential. Trade unions, along with their important roles, are also helpful in maintaining an effective communication channel between the management and the workers. However, this study revealed the purpose of Job security, to protect from economic hazards, get respect from peers, express grievances through a trade union, get economic security, restrain management from acting, and gain more Bargaining Power is, a few reasons which compel a worker to join with the Trade Unions. The participation of all the employees in trade union activities can be motivated for the success of the trade union of the Corporation. The Union is involved in managing the working hours, holidays, or leaves, Managing the reshuffling or temporary transfers, Managing the dismissals or mandatory retirement, managing the collective agreement, Managing the labor hiring, Managing the employment, and staffing standards, Managing the bonus and wages, the standard for retirement allowance and annuity, Union manages the employee welfare. Hence the trade union has to take serious steps and bargain with the Corporation to ensure the job security of the employees. Hence the present study was aimed at analyzing the union activities on labour management on its member’s performance in Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Kumbakonam Division – I.

Keywords: Trade Union; TNSTC; Labour Management

Introduction

Background of the Study

The general motivation for joining with or forming a union or undertaking a collective bargain is to reduce or equalize the asymmetry of power between the employers/management and the employees. By this, Union will be able to generate equity, equality, fairness, economic and social justice, and respect for the rights of a human and a worker, not just in the workplace but also in the whole society. This is based on a recognition that employees individually are not resourceful or are too weak in their position to demand respect and equality in the workplace. A common phrase is often followed in such circumstances: “strength lies in the unity and collectivism of workers” (Shrestha, 2012).

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The Trade Union is a group of employees formed to get good working environments and to promote and protect their common interests with the employees through collective bargaining. Leaders of the union bargain with their employers on behalf of the employees in the organization. The main purpose is to negotiate wages, work rules, complaint procedures and safety in the workplace and other important aspects of the organization (Gopinath & NS, 2014a). The union leaders represent their grievances through collective bargaining for the working population in the organization. They claim to enhance the working condition and aid the employees in attaining job security (Gopinath, 2020). They settle disputes in political, social, and environmental rights and bargain conditions of the employment to protect their work interests. They establish minimum wages, working hours, health conditions, safety and working conditions in the organization. Hence, it becomes vital to study the immense role of the trade union on labour management in an organization (Gopinath & NS, 2014b). In this background, an attempt has been made to study the role of trade unions’ impact on labor management. The research has been undertaken in the transport sector of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation in Kumbakonam Division-I.

Objectives of the Study:

To identify union activities on labor-management Union involvement in labor- management of TNSTC in Kumbakonam Division- I.

To identify the member’s reasons for joining the trade union in TNSTC in Kumbakonam Division- I.

Hypothesis

H01: There is no significant difference between employee demographic variables and trade union involvement in labor-management in the TNSTC Kumbakonam Division – I.

The demographic variables of age, education, income, working hours, category of employee and year of services of the employees are tested with Union involvement in labour management of TNSTC in Kumbakonam Division- I.

Among the employees only 66.67 percent agree with union involvement in managing employment and 65.83 percent agree with the standard for retirement allowance and annuity, and 65.00 percent agree with managing the dismissals or mandatory retirement are highly significant factors relating to union involvement in the labor management. However, managing the reshuffling or temporary transfers (59.50) and managing the collective agreement (57.33) are the least significant factors relating to union involvement in labour management in the Corporation.

Significance of the Study

This study is aimed to examine the union activities in labour management on its member’s performance and consider the main role of unions in the public sector for policing the workers in an organization. The study was centered on Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Kumbakonam Division–I. This study helps to expose the issues concerning the trade unions as well as their effects on the performance of employees.

Statement of the Problem

To keep things running smoothly in the workplace, trade unions play a critical role. It’s true that unions are required by law to represent and negotiate on behalf of their members. To make sure that their direct actions like strikes do not have any negative consequences for the organizations, they also have a duty to ensure that the organizations do not suffer for insignificant reasons (Gopinath & Shibu, 2015a). While bargaining with management, they must be able to comprehend and accept their counterpart’s issues and adopt a strategy of “give and take.” Trade unions are charged with ensuring that the working conditions of their members are safe, secure, and improved. In the end, trade unions exist to safeguard the interests of their members, both at work and away from it; the objective of this research was to determine the effect of union activities on workers’ performance (Gopinath & Shibu, 2015b). Problems with labor unions and the effect they have on their performance. Working conditions are affected by union actions. In other words, employers should put in place adequate structure, as this indicates. Industrial action will be minimized because of this. Workers will have a tough time going on strike without clear, satisfying steps.

Research Methodology

A study is an analytical approach, and it is conducted using primary and secondary data. The researchers made use of 600 respondent data from the questionnaires centered on Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Kumbakonam Division–I workers in Union. The workers were analyzed out of the categories: technical workers, drivers, conductors, and helpers and all the information was collected using the five-point scaling technique.

Literature Review

Ghosh, Nandan & Gupta (2009) stated that to accomplish their aims, trade unions have established themselves as a fundamental part of the current industrial relations system in any country. Their historic position as a forum for setting terms and conditions of employment has been rebranded as a platform for protecting employees’ interests and improving their quality of life because of changes in the social, political, and educational environment.

For the sake of this study, the authors will concentrate on the unions at the Unchahar plant of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), one of India’s biggest and most successful public sector enterprises. Additionally, exploratory research of the several trade unions operating in the Unchahar factory will examine their ideology, aims, and structures. Plant- level unions’ tasks have evolved over time, from preserving good industrial relations to actively improving the quality of life for employees, a job formerly seen as secondary.

Moeti-Lysson & Ongori (2011) stated that trade unions play an important role in protecting workers against harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Employees need a pleasant working environment. Many studies have been conducted in this field, although research in underdeveloped nations, particularly Botswana, is sparse. To close this gap, their research will look at the role of trade unions in resolving labor-related issues, with a focus on working conditions, pay, and “fair treatment.” Study participants’ perceptions of their job and non- work lives, their faith in their labor unions, and whether such organizations met their expectations will also be examined. A cross-sectional survey was employed in their research.

Reasons for Participation in Trade Union

The following are identified as the reasons for participation in a trade union: the desire to secure wage increase, job security, protection against victimization by employers, strength in unity, to solve individual grievances, get a bonus, better welfare facilities, for getting help during strike/lock-out or punishment, for help after possible retrenchment, for improving and developing personality, participation in management decision, obtaining or maintaining better working conditions, facilitating redressal of their respective grievances that might arise in the course of employment (Gopinath & Shibu, 2015c).

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Result and Discussion

Important Reasons to Join the Trade Union

Employees generally have a rational approach to joining the trade union based on cost-benefit analysis. Members in the union gain power by enabling employees to speak with an employer for success in a better deal at work. Members in the union increase job security, paternity, sickness, and pension benefits by collective bargaining. Unions also provide legal advice on employment matters and represent their grievances on employment. The main concerns of Trade Unions are how they can help the employees to achieve their demands. However, this study revealed the purpose of Job security, to protect from economic hazards, to get respect from peers, to express grievances through a trade union, to get economic security, restraining management from acting, and Greater Bargaining Power is a few reasons which make an employee join such unions (Gopinath & NS, 2014a). Trade Unions Hence, the researcher has tried to study why employees join a union, and it has been summarized in table 1.

Table 1: Demographic Status of The Employees

Source: Data from Primary Source

Table 2 shows that a maximum of 86.83 percent agree with job security as the primary reason to join the Union, followed by 61.33 percent who join for a reason to protect from economic hazards, and 55.00 percent agree with the reason to restrain management from acting. They are a highly important reason to join a trade union. About 53 percent agree with expressing their grievances through the trade union, 48.67 percent agree with getting economic security, and 43.83 percent agree with bargaining power as other significant reasons to join the trade union. However, getting respect from peer groups has less significance than joining the trade union among the members in the TNSTC Kumbakonam Division. The acceptance score also shows job security is the highest important reason to join a trade union (Gopinath & NS, 2014c). It is concluded that almost all the employees have joined in safeguarding the job in the organization as the foremost reason to join in Union, in the TNSTC Kumbakonam Division I. The Reasons for joining the Trade Union the respondents are presented in Figure 1.

Table 2: Reasons to Join the Trade Union (Figs In %)

Source: Data from Primary Source

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Figure 1: Reasons to Join the Trade Union

Role and Involvement of Trade union in Labour Management:

A union helps in managing a relationship between the management, and the employees, which is important for an organization to work harder for its success. The trade union manages the relationship with management through formal as well as informal means of interaction to establish wages, working hours and working conditions for the employees in the Corporation. Through collective bargaining, the Union manages the wages and other conditions of employment in the organization. To improve the involvement of trade unions in labour management, the scope for education and residence near the Corporation may be provided to the employees (Gopinath, 2014). The following table 3 & figure 2 focuses on union-management practices in the Corporation in the TNSTC Kumbakonam Division -I.

Table 3: Role and Involvement of Union in the Labour Management (Fig. In %)

Source: Data from Primary Source

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Figure 2: Role and Involvement of Unions in the Labour Management

According to table 2, 66.67 percent of the respondents agree with union involvement in managing employment. 65.83 percent agree with the standard for retirement allowance and annuity, and 65.00 percent agree with managing the dismissals or mandatory retirement are highly significant factors relating to union involvement in the labour management. Managing labor hiring (63.33), managing the working hours, holidays or leave (62.67), employee welfare (62.67), and managing the bonus and wages (61.50) are also highly significant factors in the Corporation. Managing the reshuffling or temporary transfers (59.50) and managing the collective agreement (57.33) are the least significant factors relating to union involvement in labor-management in the Corporation.

Conclusion

The research analyzed the effect of labour union activities on employee performance. There is a widespread belief that union actions have an impact on the operations of the employees. It was concluded that the trade union’s primary mission is to advocate and safeguard workers’ socioeconomic interests and their rights. The present study has been undertaken to identify and expose the role of unions and involvement in labour management in TNSTC Kumbakonam in Division-1. It can be said that almost all the employees have joined in safeguarding the job in the organization as the foremost reason to join in Union, in the TNSTC Kumbakonam Division I.

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interests.

Acknowledgement

The authors are thankful to the institutional authority for completion of the work.

References

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