Industrial Relations, Trade Unions and Labour Legislation by P. R. N.

Sinha; Indu Bala Sinha;

Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar
Review by: Chandan Kumar Sahoo and Santosh Kumar Tripathy
Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 39, No. 4 (Apr., 2004), pp. 570-574
Published by: Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27767929 .
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 570 Indian Journalof IndustrialRelations

INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS, TRADE UNIONS AND

LABOUR LEGISLATION by RR.N. Sinha, Indu Bala Sinha
and Seema Priyadarshini Shekhar, Pearson Education
(Singapore) Pvt. Ltd., Delhi, 2004, pp. 632, Price Rs. 295/

The authors of the book, "Industrial Relations, Trade Unions

and Labour Legislation" have clearly elaborated the day to day
issues in industrial relations in the era of liberalization, privatization
and globalisation. The book also deals with several labour legislation
in detail. The trade unionism and different perspectives of unions
are also discussed the authors. In its three the
by thirty chapters
authors have areas like trade unionism, industrial
highlighted
relations scenario and the existing practice of labour laws relating
to working conditions, industrial relations, wage and salary
administration, social security, etc. They have given more emphasis
on issues relating to IR and trade unionism in the Indian
major
context.

The firsttwo chapters are dedicated to describe the theoretical

aspects of unionism while describing the meaning, concept, origin,
objectives, methods and activities of Indian trade along with their
types, structures and federations in detail.

The book has devoted three chapters (3 to 5) to illustrate the

trade union movement in Great Britain and India. The history of
trade union movement every where is a history of blood, tears and
toil. The trade union movement in India is characterized by
formation and fragmentation of unions on the basis of
political
ideologies. The trade union movement, started from the era of
excessive resistance to
exploitation, exploitation through strikes,
work stoppages, etc. were common in India but now are
they
struggling fortheirsurvival in theera of globalisation which brings
massive retrenchment, or
downsizing, outsourcing subcontracting
bringing survival with as a for them.
employment big question

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 Book Reviews 571

Chapters 6 to 9 of the book deal with the size, finance, structure,

management, leadership problems, rivalry and recognition of

Indian trade unions. The that membership
authors describe of
unions in the organized sector at the state as well as central levels
is decreasing due to the practice of downsizing and also due to
As a result the unions are
closing down of the establishments. facing
heavy financial crisis. From the history of trade union movement
it has been seen that the political leaders are very much involved
in unionism. But in the present scenario the outside leaders are
found exploiting the unions for theirown political benefit instead
of promoting welfare of theworking class forwhich emergence of
inside leadership has become the need of the hour. In India the
unification and multiplication of the trade unions are quite
common. The splittingof theunions due to ideological differences
is also a towards
threat their strength with to
great respect
collective Tt is the right time to form one union in one
bargaining.
industry which increases the bargaining power', they observe. The
methods which are used for the selection of bargaining agents in
Indian industrial units are secret ballot and check off system,
which are of course more democratic than earlier practices.

Three other chapters (10-12) of thebook illustrate the theoretical

of IR like meaning, evolution and different aspects of IR,
aspects
causes of industrial disputes and types of strikes exhibited by the
Indian working class. Wages and allowances, bonus are the
major
issues of industrial strikes in Indian context. In these chapters the
authors have advocated collective bargaining and
strongly
arbitration as the major ways to prevent the occurrences
voluntary
of industrial disputes. They opine that state should take effective
measures maintenance of industrial and progress
peace
regarding
which are for the sustainable development of Indian
important
production units.

13 explains the relevance of collective in

Chapter bargaining
India as it isone of themost importanttools forpromotion of healthy
relations in the organisations. The recognition
labour-management
of the union as a bargaining agent should be the backbone of
collective and its success depends on the give and take
bargaining
exhibited by both recognized union and management.
approach
14 describes the practices of various schemes of Workers'
Chapter

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 572 Indian Journalof IndustrialRelations

in The the reasons

Participation Management. chapter discusses
for failure of these schemes such as lack of confidence of
management on lack of interest of employees and lack
employees,
of initiative by the government. This chapter also illustrates
various schemes likeWorks Committee, JointManagement Council,
Shop Council, Unit Council, Plant Council, Joint Council, Workers
representation in the board of management, etc. in detail and their
effectiveness to encourage trust building, satisfaction and
employee
industrial democracy at work.

The authors have described analytically, in Chapter, 15, the

growth and development, constitutional aspects and principles of
labour legislation in the Indian context.Chapter 16brieflydescribes
various recent amendments
provisions along with of Factories Act,
as this is one of themost important
legislation dealing with working
conditions.

Chapter 17 to 19 of the book deal with the laws relating to

wages and allowances like Payment ofWages Act, Minimum Wages
Act and Equal Remuneration Act which ensure timelypayment of
wages and salaries, authorized deductions, payment of minimum
wages to protect the economic interests of the working class and
equal wages for similar work to all of sex.
employees irrespective

Three chapters (20 to 22) of the book clearly analyse the laws
relating to industrial relations such as Trade Unions Act, Industrial
Disputes Act and Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act.
The Trade Unions Act deals with theprovisions like formationand
registration of unions, fee, maintenance
membership, subscription
of general and political funds, special relief from civil suit and
criminal conspiracy, while the ID Act deals with the
provisions
such as powers and functions of authorities under this act, for
prevention and settlementofdisputes alongwith provisions relating
to lay-off, retrenchment, closure, etc. The Industrial Employment
(Standing Orders) Act ensures the procedure to formulate a
standing for an organisation
order a set of rules and
having
regulations with respect to conditions of work to govern the
of that The Trade Union Act
employees organisation. signifies the
legal status of the workers while the other two laws are essential
to maintain industrial peace in an
organisation.

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 Book Reviews 573
The book has devoted six chapters (23 to 28) to the evolution
and growth of social security system in India, role of ILO towards
it and various laws which-give importance to social security for
Indian working class. The details of theWorkmen's Compensation
Act, the Maternity Benefit Act, the Employees State Insurance Act,
the Employees' Provident Funds and (Miscellaneous Provisions)
Act, and the of Act have been discussed in
Payment Gratuity
common to better understanding of these laws.
language provide
In general, all these laws are helpful in
providing economic and
social security to the Indian working class in the time of need.

Chapter 29 deals with the Child Labour (Prohibition and

an exclusive law to prohibit child labour
Regulation) Act which is
and to prevent the children from exploitation by the employers.
The authors clearly discuss the provisions of this actwith respect
to conditions of work, hours of work, holidays, health and
weekly
etc. in relation to of children.
safety, employment

The authors clearly describe the provisions along with recent

amendments to these laws in addition to the recommendations of
the Second National Commission on Labour.

Chapter 31 is devoted to the concept, scope, importance and

of labour administration in India. It also gives a clear
growth picture
regarding the duties and responsibilities of the officersbelonging
to the department of labour of Govt. of India. Chapter 32 states
the role of International Labour Organisation (ILO) to promote
uniformityof labour standards throughout theworld. The authors
have discussed all important conventions and recommendations
relevant to employment relations, social security, welfare, work
conditions, child and women labour, etc. which are very
informative to readers.

the last chapter deals with the recommendations of

Finally,
Second National Commission on Labour (NCL) with respect to
the provisions of labour laws and a draft
existing proposed
called Umbrella to give minimum level of
legislation legislation
to the workers in the unorganised sector with an aim to
protection
care of theirworking
promote quality of theirworking lifeby taking
conditions, wages, welfare, social security, etc.

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574 Indian Journalof IndustrialRelations

The book will

be very useful for the students, academicians,
in the
field of human resource management,
professionals
researchers in the field of industrial relations and labour laws. The
book, enriched with a lot of information and literature, will
the researchers in this area. The authors
definitely help working
have put their efforts to cover all aspects of IR., which is quite

significant. Particularly, the last chapterwill definitely be helpful

to students to know in detail about recommendations of the second
NCL. Finally, the authors deserve congratulations for their hard,
sincere and qualitative efforts to bring out this timelypublication
to all concerned in the area.
help

UGC Senior Research CHANDAN KUMAR SAHOO &

Fellow and Reader SANTOSH KUMAR TRIPATHY
PG Department of PM & IR
Utkal University
Bhubaneswar

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