Are emerging management ways distancing employers and workers?

Since June this year, when the stand-off between the management and labour began in Maruti's Manesar plant, the company's Chairman, Mr R.C Bhargava, has been on news channels giving his side of the story. The workers are demanding their basic right to form a union.

Mr Bhargava, however, has stayed away from direct talks with either the agitating workers or the Haryana Labour Department. Understandably so, as this is now the job of the company's managers.

Rewind to 2008, some dismissed employees of Italian subsidiary, Oerlikon-Graziano Transmissioni in Greater Noida, beat up a chief executive.

Then, in 2009, striking workers of Pricol, a Coimbatore-based auto instruments maker, allegedly attacked and killed a company executive. In both the incidents, the owners remained at a safe distance.

In the earlier days, recall some experts, an owner would directly talk with workers or their representatives, though it's a different matter that industrial strikes were more common then.

So, is the new style of company management to blame for this “distancing” of employers from its workforce?

Experts feel that although the number of strikes has declined, the earlier interface between an employer and worker – an integral part of Indian culture and ethos -- is now missing. As a result, there is growing wedge between these two vital arms of industrial progress.

This new situation is posing a challenge both for employers and trade unions.

“The power of attorney of dealing with workers has been handed over by employers to HR managers. Most often, owners do not even know about the existence of a problem till the situation goes out of hand,” says Mr Ravi Wig, Chairman, Council of Indian Employers.

Most employers largely blame the antiquated labour laws for this situation. “Matters like dealing with inspectors, etc are such a nuisance. The only way out for an employer is to buy peace and assign managers for the task,” says Mr Wig.

After globalisation, the economic situation has changed. With monopolies gone and competition increasing by the day, both employers and employees are under pressure.

The global financial crisis has added to their woes. While employers are facing uncertainties regarding orders and projects, employees are facing the threat of job and wage cuts.

What then is the way out? “We need to reactivate the tripartite system. Unless a dialogue is revived among Government, employers, and trade unions, we will not be able to protect the interests of all the stakeholders in the country's industrial progress,' says Mr Wig.

At a time when India is a frontrunner in the race for grabbing industrial leadership, even a small labour strife can be risky.

“Employers and trade unions are like parents of workers and both need to protect their interests,” he adds.

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