Industrial relations refer to processes of the determination of employment affairs and or conditions of service between employees or group of employees and an employer or group of employers.
Before the industrial revolution, which is credited with specialization, division of labour and mass production, this sort of relationship did not exist in its present form. The Industrial Revolution forced hitherto craftsmen to turn into wage earners and also compelled rural dwellers to flock into the cities in search of jobs and better standards of living.
The industrial revolution also brought about increased profit and hence concentration of wealth and power in the hands of factory owners, etc. Some factory owners took unfair advantage of this power and trampled on the rights of their workers. Some employees, in turn, grouped together in associations in a bid to counter the power of their new found Masters.
Consequently, there is a tendency for the relationship between workers and employers to be a bit acrimonious, guided by a thinking of employers as persons only interested in not giving employees of their due in order to maximize profits.
Woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, ...
Trade Union official Mick O'Reilly on stage at May...
Trade Union banners at May Day rally 2013 in Dubli...On the other hand employers consider their workers as persons who will want to reap even when they have not sown. Interestingly however, there is an emerging thinking of the two parties as social partners with a common interest in preserving the organization for their mutual benefits.
Behaviors in the industrial relations process could be classified into two categories, namely those of the Employer and those of Workers and their Organizations.
One major behavior characteristics exhibited by some employers, which impact negatively on the organizational climate is the payment of low levels of remuneration and the provision of poor conditions of service and infrastructure. Sometimes low remuneration is perceived or relative. In Ghana, a lot of strike...