Labour union leader’s perspective

On 30th of August, 2014, we went to meet Virjesh Upadhyay, who is the Secretary of

Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS). He has been working under it for more than the past 34

years. The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (Indian Workers' Union) is the largest central trade

union organization in India. It was founded by Dattopantji Thengdi. The BMS claims to have

more than 10 million members. At present it is estimated around 5860 unions are affiliated

to the BMS. According to provisional statistics from the Ministry of Labour, the BMS had a

membership of 6,215,797 in 2002. It can also be noted that the BMS is not affiliated to any

International Trade Union Confederation. We asked him several questions regarding this

Trade Union.

Following are some of the excerpts from the interview:

Q1) Tell us about the role of this Sangh.

Ans. Our work is to help labours/ workers to get their rights, to solve all the issues and

problems faced by them from the management side, to cover them under the acts and laws

generated for them.

It is a genuine trade union working not only for the economic needs of the workers but also

for their total upliftment. Unity in diversity is the special feature of Indian culture and

accordingly BMS tries to bring together different trade unions and participates in joint

campaigns for the solution of workers problems. It does not believe in violence and

destruction/ and adheres to constructive approach in all its struggles. It considers workers

interest in the context of National interest and hence propagates workers participation right

coupled with duty. It believes in increasing production with proper distribution. It strives for

removing foreign influence on Indian Society. Also, very importantly, it considers STRIKE as a

last resort after failure of bilateral talks, negotiations and arbitrations.

Q2) What is the major problem faced by the workers?

Ans. There are two classes of workers i.e. Organized and Unorganized workers.

Organized sectors are the ones where the terms of employment are regular and therefore

people have assure work. They are registered by the government and have to follow its

rules and regulations which are given in various laws such as Factories act, Minimum wages

act, Payment of gratuity act etc. Here workers enjoy security of employment and work only

for fixed number of hours.

In Unorganized sectors, the enterprise or places of work are not registered by the

government and does not follow any rules and regulations. There are no terms of

employment. Here workers do not enjoy any security if employment. There is no fixed

number of hours.

Moreover, there is 60 crore labour population existing in our country out of which only 3.5%

comes under organized sector, and the rest comes under unorganized sector. That means a

larger part of population comes under unorganized sector .There is no legislation for them,

no rules and regulations for them, no proper security of employment for them etc. So in

order to take care of all this, the main work of the party is to make proper

legislation/governance for workers which come under unorganized sectors as they have the

maximum issues related to their work.

Q3) What are your views about Contract labour in India? Why companies look for contract

labours?

Ans. Contract Labour: -- It means hiring workers on contract, for a particular period of time

and not on permanent basis. Casual workers should not be there for permanent work. Their

wages are not same as compared the permanent workers which is the immediate concern.

Most of the companies in India hire workers on contract basis in order to relieve themselves

from giving additional benefits to them as provided to the permanent workers, i.e. to relieve

themselves for providing them sick leave benefits, medical benefits, reward systems

benefits etc. But the main concern is that if labours are working for you, be it on contract or

permanent basis, they are doing for the betterment of the company. They also work hard to

achieve the targets of the company, so why can’t they get the same rights and benefits as

permanent workers get. Therefore, the major concern is that if the companies are keeping

workers be it on contract or permanent basis, they should be given the equal rights, benefits

and fair treatment to all.

Q4)Why workers form union and what are the common issues faced by them?

Ans. The problem lies in the non- implementation of the rules and acts generated for

labours. Some of the common issues are: no aligned benefits to the workers are given for

the completion of work; rarely timely payment to labours/ workers is made, and no

overtime payment is made. Overtime payment is compensated through other ways i.e.

compensation in kind and not cash. Wage settlement between management and

employees is the main issue which can be settled through the method of collective

bargaining but still the companies are not interested in doing this.

Collective Bargaining: - A collective bargaining agreement is the ultimate goal of the

collective bargaining process. Typically, the agreement establishes wages, hours,

promotions, benefits, and other employment terms as well as procedures for handling

disputes arising under it. Because the collective bargaining agreement cannot address every

workplace issue that might arise in the future, unwritten customs and past practices,

external law, and informal agreements are as important to the collective bargaining

agreement as the written instrument itself. So for all these things there is a need for unions

in the company so that they can stand in front of the management for collecting the support

for the workers. Moreover unions try to assure them their rights in the company.

Q5)Apart from these , are there any other reasons for conflict between management and

workers?

Ans. Yes, there are other reasons also such as class and personality differences between the

workers and the management i.e. say for any reason if a worker forgets to wish the

management employee or employee at superior level, then this will lead to clashes between

the two. Management employee will feel himself insulted for this disrespect. This indicates

that the power plays the most important role. People with higher position in the company/

factory try to dominate others and make people with lower position to work according to

them. Other than this, improper communication and wrong behaviour leads to clashes

between them.

Q6)You have been working under this Sangh for 34 years. So what are the changes that

you have observed in the companies with respect to their workers and vice-versa? Have

you observed any positive changes after formation of Trade unions?

Ans. Yes, there are changes which have been observed from both the sides. Previously when

I joined this Sangh, I was made to go and sort out many issues. Earlier, I found that the

management used to follow ‘Autocratic style of leadership’and whatever the rules and

norms they used to make were all in aligned with their own benefits. No decision was made

with the help of workers. Workers were not considered as human beings and were made to

follow all their own decisions irrespective of their will which resulted in a lot of conflicts like

dharnas, strikes, lockouts etc. But now with the change in time, the style of leadership has

also changed. Now most of the companies have started following ‘Participative style of

leadership’ in managing, where all the decisions relating to the company are taken with the

collective decision made by the management as well as the workers so that they know what

exactly they are supposed to do and the ways through which they will achieve the targets.

Moreover in the last five years, the new HR professionals that are coming up are seemed as

more clear with the participative and collective bargaining approach, whereas the previous

ones followed autocratic approach. Now leaders are better because of the knowledge and

practice given to them. Leaders are more friendly and understanding. They tend to provide

emotional support to workers.

Q7) What are your personal suggestions which you would want to give to the companies

and the workers for the betterment of both the parties?

Ans. There are few things which need to be taken care of.

Firstly if all the companies start using ‘Participative approach’ rather than the ‘Autocratic

approach’, then it will be of great help. This is because a worker is the one who is the main

soul of the company, and if he refuses to continue with the work, then automatically it’s the

company which will be at the loss. Moreover a happy and motivated worker does work in a

better manner than a dissatisfied worker.

Secondly, those HR professionals should be become more familiar with the collective

bargaining and participative approach and must adopt it.

Thirdly, an HR manager should not think that the management and the workers belong to

two different classes i.e. upper and lower class. If a HR manager thinks like this, then he can

never ever become a successful leader in life. There should be no class differences. Proper

communication should be there so that whatever problem is there can be cleared out as

soon as possible before it gets escalated.

Tata Company is the best example of the company where there are no disputes as both

management and the workers are very caring and work for one another. They have the ideal

culture that includes the welfare aspect in it. They have this policy of recognising only union

for the negotiation and collective bargaining approach.

Also, the workers should not ask for unrealistic benefits. They should look at the health

(financials) of the company if it can afford to do so, only then the benefits should be asked

for.

So in a nutshell the focus should be on proper communication, proper alignment of all the

labour laws, benefits for the contract labour and a check on their governance and

participative style of leadership.

Q8)What do you have to say about the Industrial Act and its provisions?

Ans. It is acting as a big hurdle in our country’s industrial growth as it leads to a lot of

restrictions. Moreover, we have a lot of outdated, contradicting and overlapping laws today.

Q9)What is the role of media according to you in this context?

Ans. Media is just playing one-sided role and is very biased. It only shows good stuff, those

who give them the more money. It in fact is a money making business only.

Management Perspective

Interview with the Factory HR Manager of Britannia Industries Limited, Lawrence Road, New

Delhi: Mr. Saurabh Tiwari

On September 13, 2014, around 1 p.m., we went to Britannia Industries Limited (BIL),

Lawrence Road, New Delhi for taking an interview as a part of our ‘Management of

Industrial Relations’ course. The interview was to be held with the Factory HR manager of

Britannia Industries Limited, Lawrence Road, New Delhi . The questions of the interview

were basically related to the workers, the factory, the conditions in the factory, the ways by

which the management take care of its workers, etc. The interviews gave a lot of insights

about the issues that we wanted to discuss. Here a few excerpts from the interview that we

thought are important for our report:

Q1)Tell us about the Delhi Factory of BIL.

Ans. In 1954, Delhi Biscuit Company was acquired. In the same year sliced and wrapped

bread was first manufactured in Delhi. The new bread bakery became operational at Delhi

during 1965.

The Delhi factory accounts for about 3-4 per cent of the company's total production

capacity. It employs a total of about 900 workers out of which around 150 are permanent.

There are broadly four basic functions at the factory – mixing, forming, baking and packing.

For packing and pre-mixing that are the non – core activities, we have contract labor. Four

critical positions in the factory are -mixing operator; forming operator ;oven operator and

packing operator .There are three shifts for the workers that changes after every 15 days:

Shift A from 6 am to 2 pm, Shift B from 2 pm to 10 pm and Shift C from 10 pm to 6am. Four

production officers are assigned in every shift to whom the workers are reporting.

Q2)Can you tell us about the labor unions formed in your factory?

Ans. There are three unions at BIL:

1. Britannia Biscuit Co. Mazdoor Union affiliated to INTUC

2. Britannia Industries Karamchari Union affiliated to CITU

3. Britannia Industries Employee Union.

But we only recognize the first two unions mentioned.

Q3)How do you instil discipline in workers while maintaining a good industrial relations

climate?

Ans. Apart from induction training, we have a proper training program for our workmen that

includes both behavioral as well as functional training. An individual training record of every

worker is maintained under this. Behavioral training is given in order to instil the sense of

team work, discipline, time management, etc. in the workers by showing them the movies

showing essence of positive thinking, team work, etc. and team based activities. Functional

training is given for the smooth functioning of the work system, updating of the workers’

knowledge about their work, communicating the necessary guidelines related to their work

as well as their working environment, etc. Also a proper training calendar is there according

to which the training activities takes place. Training related to ensure the quality are also

undertaken like the Kaizen program, Total Quality Management etc.

For the employee engagement activities and for increasing their motivation, following

activities are undertaken for the workers:

1. Birthday celebration of the workers

2. Good attendance award

3. Annual day

4. Sports activities

5. Round Table Conference involving discussion of problems between the management

and the workers(permanent)

6. Awards for kaizen program and other programs held as a part of training

7. Painting or different kinds of competitions for the workers’ kids

8. ‘Factory Ka Raja’ award for the best worker every month which is given on the basis

of certain defined parameters

There are two recognized unions that we have. It has always been a practice to maintain

good relations with them. Wages and other related issues of working conditions are

discussed and negotiated between the management and the union at regular intervals. The

amount to be paid as productivity linked wages is decided after undertaking industrial

engineering studies and settled through negotiations with the trade unions. Though

productivity was included in the wage settlement with the unions in 1990 for the first time,

it was only in 1994 settlement, productivity could be brought in more sharply to link to

wages.

Major initiatives have been taken to train workers, apart from training of officers and

managers. In fact, a major thrust has been placed on training all the workers through the

help of Central Institute for Workers’ Education.

Q4)How does your organization manage such a large number of contract workers? Also,

what do you have to say about the recent strike undertaken by the contract labor?

Ans. The allegations made by the contract laborers were false and baseless. There is no

question of retrenchment as the concerned laborers are purely on contractual basis.

Contract labor is managed as per the Contract Labor (Regulation & Abolition) Act. We only

take services of contractors who have valid government license and registration. We employ

contract labor strictly in conformity with the norms prescribed by the government. We

would not like to comment on the recent strike. Our contractors are directly responsible for

making payments to the labor including depositing of Provident Fund and issuance of Pay

Slip.

Q5)What are the major difficult labor related problems that you face?

Ans. A lot of problems occur, for example, at the time of machinery breakdown, it is difficult

to keep the workers engaged with some or the other work as it creates a lot of chaos. Also

at the time when a new kind of machinery has to be installed in the factory, a lot of

resistance is seen from the laborers even if it is meant for their betterment. Workers also at

times come up with the request for a change of their shift or of their positions assigned to

them which is not possible always.

Q6)What kinds of facilities are available for the workers?

Ans. 1.Regular medical check-up by a qualified doctor

2. Canteen facility providing healthy and hygiene food

Interview with the E.H.S. (Environment, Health and Safety) Officer of Britannia Industries

Limited, Lawrence Road, New Delhi: Mr. Susheel Nagar

After taking the interview of the factory HR manager, we got the chance to the interview

and gather supplementary information from the E.H.S. (Environment, Health and Safety)

Officer of Britannia Industries Limited, Lawrence Road, New Delhi:

The questions of the interview were basically related to the E.H.S. guidelines being followed

at the factory. The interviews gave a lot of insights about the issues that we wanted to

discuss. Here a few excerpts from the interview that we consider important for our report:

Q1) What kind of environment and safety measures are used in the factory?

Ans. Being at the position of the E.H.S. Officer, it is required to make sure to have a proper

document prescribing the E.H.S. guidelines i.e. the safety manual of the department. So, BIL,

Delhi factory too have a safety manual which is meant to be followed strictly. It has clearly

defined safety operational control procedure for every separate procedure (mixing, forming,

etc.). Head of the department / Factory Manager shall ensure effective implementation of

the procedure. In case of any deviation, he shall take suitable corrective and preventive

action. Safe operating procedures are displayed where the activity is taking place or the

machine is working. Below is the list of a few items related to Safety Inventory that are a

part of the safety manual of BIL:

(Safety Inventory means a list of detailed checking or reviewing plant, equipment, material,

and environment with respect to their requirements. It is done in the form of Safety

Inspection to cover all the items of the plant.)

Items related to Safety Inventory can be categorized as follows:-

1. General Layouts.

2. Internal thoroughfares or passageways.

3. Machine Guarding.

4. Illumination.

5. Ventilation.

6. Noise Control.

7. Fire Protection

8. Radiation.

9. Personal Protective Equipments

10. Machine Controlling

11. Electrical Equipment (including Earthing, Protective Devices)

12. Storage of Dangerous Articles.

13. Scaffolds.

14. Ladders.

15. Hoists and Lifts.

16. Welding Equipment.

17. Compressed Gases.

18. Pipelines (Water, Steam, Oil, LPG and Chemicals).

19. Waste Disposal.

20. House Keeping.Periodic audits are held by internal and external agencies for monitoring health and safety

related processes. Now if a system of routine reviewing on Safety is maintained on the items

of Safety Inventory, it is obvious that the accidents or the related Injuries or the dangerous

occasions or the loss of Company’s property will be minimum.

It is strictly following the provisions mentioned in the Factories Act, 1948.

Q2)What do you have to say about the health measures used in the factory?

Ans. A number of healthy measures are taken at the factory like, regular medical check-ups

of the all workers takes place by an M.B.B.S. ; the nails are checked of the workers regularly

if they are cut or not. It is made sure that the workers have short hair and they do their

shaving regularly. There is no fear/ chance of any occupational disease due to the measures

taken and also because there is no chemical usage there.