Labor and management seem to be on a collision course as has been evidenced by the increased militancy of labor in many parts of India. Labor laws are often blamed for this state, though often it is a question of implementation. Both labor and management probably need to stop playing zero-sum games as enterprise level rationality often becomes irrational at the level of the economy. This article talks about labor laws and their relation with the corporates.

Of late, there has been a se- ries of skirmishes between the labor and the management in the Indian corporate space. There is economic slowdown and according to two surveys conducted by the Labor Bureau, assessing the impact of economic slowdown on employment in India for two quarters October-December 2008 and January-March 2009, there was actually a decline of about 0.5 million in employment in the first period and an increase of 0.25 million in the second period. The impact of the slowdown was, however, greater on contract workers. Even the Labor Bureau could not conduct a study in the construction industry due to difficulties in collection. However there is now a widespread consensus among practitioners and academia that the size of the regular workforce is on the decline. There is negative growth of employment in many key industries and that casualization of labor is there to stay.

Let us now look at some of the recent outbreaks of labor militancy in the Indian corporate landscape.

The pilots of Air India were on strike recently as the management had withdrawn productivity-linked incentives. Doubts were raised in various quarters on whether these pilots can be termed as workmen, considering their fat pay checks. The management decision was subsequently kept partially in abeyance. In another instance involving Jet Airways, the company did not allow the unions to be registered at all and the company without consultation went in for a reduction of staff, quoting declining profits. Opposition from employees assisted by some political parties was swift and the management relented. The Vice President (HR) of Pricol Ltd., near Coimbatore was recently found murdered and it is believed that the laborers had a role in his killing. The CEO of Gzaziano Transmission India was clubbed to death by a group of 200 factory workers, who had been axed by the company for acts of indiscipline and had been protesting outside the factory near Delhi. At Pantnagar, in Uttaranchal, workers of the Swiss multinational, Nestle, went on strike, after the management removed two probationers for unsatisfactory performance. In Mahindra & Mahindra utility plant at Nashik, the workers were on strike over the suspension of a trade union official and the real reason according to some reports were delayed wage agreements. At the Arakonam factory of MRF, there was a long spell of closure after rival unions seeking recognition clashed in the factory premises. More than two lakh workers from 59 jute mills in and around West Bengal were on an 18-day strike. Mud and pebbles were found in the oil tank of a chopper supposed to carry industrialist, Anil Ambani and the police suspect it was the handiwork of some disgruntled maintenance workers. In the Gurgaon, Maneswar autobelt, there has been continual worker-employer standoffs and one worker at Rico Auto was killed in a clash among employees. The clash was between workers leaving the factory and those on strike outside. Among the companies affected are Sunbeam Auto, Honda Motorcycles and Scooters India. The Sunbeam workers were agitating for control of unions and Honda workers were demanding a pay hike.

HRM Review Magazine, Labor Laws, Indian Corporate Space, Indian Corporate Landscape, Management Decisions, Central Public Works Department, CPWD, Multinational Companies, Indian Textile Industry, Economic Resources, Informal Sectors, Decision Making Process, Total Quality Management.