Industrial Actions

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Industrial action are taken by workers when they do something as a protest against their employer or company. It can be done as stopping work for time period or by only doing certain types of work. A dispute between the workers and employer that is not been resolved lead into such industrial actions.  The oxford dictionary explains industrial action as ‘Action taken by employees of a company as a protest, especially striking or working to rule.’ (Oxford, 2017)

In most of the cases first there will be some kind of discussions between the employees and the employer; if such discussions fail and still the dispute is prevailing with no decision then the employees are pushed to take industrial action. These actions are known as strikes, where employees stop work for a specific time frame or refuse to work for the employer. Sometimes it’s seen that employers stop employees from all job factions. This is called a lock – out situation. Some of the other common strike methods are working to rule, overtime ban, working slowly.

The National labor relations board, which is an independent federal agency that protects the rights of privet employees, situated in Washington DC, USA states that ‘Employees who strike for lawful objects fall into two classes “economic strikers” and “Unfair labor practice strikers.’ Further the NLRB explains that ‘If the object of a strike is to obtain from the employer some economic concession such as higher wages, shorter hours, or better working conditions, the striking employees are called economic strikers, and employees who strike to protest an unfair labor practice committed by their employer are called unfair labor practice strikers.(Nlrb, 2017 ). Furthermore it is important for the trade union to support this industrial action so that it becomes official.

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“Protection is provided under the Trade Union and Labor Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (which is here referred to as ‘the Act’). The Act gives immunity to trade unions from being sued if the union takes industrial action ‘in contemplation or furtherance of a trade dispute’.” (Unison, 2009)

In conclusion, as HR managers you will have to act wisely as the issue irrupts between organizations and its employees.  It is said that ‘you are dealing with people, and every person may have a different perspective or opinion on what is happening within the organization, were communication with all employees must be as clear and honest as possible to avoid any confusion or worsening of the situation so that if you have prior knowledge of a situation that could occur, consult with employees to try find the best possible solution for everyone involved. Planning for the future can take the pressure off if when a conflict occurs.’ (Processworx, 2017)

References:

National labor relations board, (2017), Washington US, available at https://www.nlrb.gov/strikes                  (accessed 11th November 2017 at 7.56 pm)

Processworx, (2017), ‘The role of HR and industrial action’, 12th May,

http://www.processworx.com.au/the-role-of-hr-and-industrial-action/ (Accessed 11^th November 2017 at 10.42 pm)

Oxford, English oxford living dictionaries 2017,

https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/industrial_action (accessed 11th November 2017 at 5.19 pm)

Unison,(2009) 'Unison industrial action handbook', London UK, Unison press.