Unit 6 Text a Labour Unions

Vocabulary

Bonus scheme	Система поощрений
Casual job	Временная работа
Collective bargaining	Переговоры о заключении коллективного договора
Cost of living	Прожиточный минимум
Free market	Свободный рынок
Go-slow	Забастовка, при которой замедляется темп работы
Gross salary	Оклад до удержания налога
Group pension plan	Коллективный пенсионный план
Industrial action	Промышленный конфликт
Industrial relations	Отношения между администрацией и работниками
Labour market deregulation	Дерегулирование рынка труда
Labour union	Профсоюз
Minimum wage	Минимальная заработная плата
Occupational pension	Пенсионное обеспечение на рынке труда
Payroll	Платежная ведомость
Personal equity plan	Программа продажи акций служащим компании
Picket	Пикетирование
Piecework wages	Сдельная оплата труда
Professional associations	Профессиональное объединение
Remuneration	Оплата, вознаграждение
Represent the needs of employees	Представлять нужды работников
Salary	Оклад
Social partner	Социальный партнер
Strike	Забастовка
Tax exempt special saving account	Специальный сберегательный счет, освобожденный от налогов
Time wage	Повременная оплата труда
Tip	Плата сверх принятого уровня
Trade union	Профсоюз
Unskilled job	Неквалифицированная работа
Vacation pay	Оплата отпуска
Wage rate	Ставка оплаты труда
Wage schedule	Шкала заработной платы
Work force	Рабочая сила
Working conditions	Условия труда
Working hours	Рабочее время
Working-to-rules	Работа строго по правилам
Worth of job	Стоимость труда
Fair wages	Справедливая оплата труда

1. Read and translate this text:

Industrial relations

• Essentially industrial relations are concerned with the relations between management and production workers and concentrates very largely upon the conditions of service, the working environment and wages.

• In the 1960s and 1970s the power of the trade unions grew considerably and its influence was evident in all issues concerning worker-management relations; often it seemed to be greater than that of the employers. Various legislation was passed, some to strengthen and some to mitigate the strength of union power which, while it might be beneficial to workers generally, was seen to be damaging to the economy as a whole. In the 1980s, however, the power of the trade unions in Britain was significantly curtailed by Government legislation, with the result that there is now less anxiety on the part of employers and Government over the strike threat.

• Industrial relations were historically the concern exclusively of the trade unions and the employers’ organizations. As a general rule national level negotiations were carried out this set the pattern for pay and conditions throughout a particular industry. This formed the basis for separate negotiations between individual employers and union representatives, and the results of these negotiations were further modified by agreements at local plant levels. Two circumstances caused modifications to this general pattern. The first was a greater direct intervention of Government into industrial negotiations through imposed pay policies and consequent legislation, and the second was the growth of the demand among trade unionists for comparable pay and conditions throughout the different plants of an organization or throughout an industry. The Government itself is also now a large employer of direct labour which forces is to be a party to industrial relations negotiations.

• In order to reduce disruption through industrial disputes it was historically the practice to resort to joint consultation. Government supported the creation of joint industrial councils (JICs), consisting of equal numbers of members from employers’ associations and relevant trade unions. JICs dealt with a wide range of matters including conditions of work, welfare and training. In many cases there was an undertaking by the industry that matters of dispute had to be submitted to the joint industrial council before any strike action was taken. A further device to endeavour to solve industrial disputes is the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, known as ACAS. These attempts to mediate between the parties in dispute are generally very successful.

• At local level disputes are often dealt with by joint consultative committees composed of representatives from management and workers. All manner of topics may be raised with such committees from safety to discipline, from welfare to training. Such committees do not have executive powers but are able to report and recommend. To ensure that they are trusted by the workers, which is a major requirement for their success, they should be composed of members from both sides who are knowledgeable and competent, whose integrity is unquestioned and whose judgement is dependable. It is also essential that the reports and recommendations made by these joint consultative committees are seen to be given due weight by management.

Worker participation

Neither method involves workers financially, but a third proposition does that of co-ownership. It proposes that workers become actual shareholders in their companies, thus participating in the distribution of profits and having the power to vote at annual general meetings. The actual acquisition of shares by workers poses a problem, especially as they can, if they work for a public company, purchase them through the stock market if they really desire to become co-owners.

• Two solutions have been successfully applied in practice. The first is to offer shares to workers at attractive prices and the second to award shares as bonus payments. The opportunity to share in the profits of their company is considered to encourage loyalty and co-operative attitude in the workers and to provide a positive incentive for greater productivity.

• Although it is assumed that shares will have voting rights, some managements may view this with apprehension and in some cases shares issued to employees have no voting rights so that control remains firmly in the hands of the existing shareholders and management. In such cases it is considered that the fact of profit-sharing is sufficient participation and incentive. Perhaps such managements have learnt a lesson from the experience of an American company which lost control to its work-force through the issue of shares with voting rights as bonuses, where the number of shares subsequently held by workers exceeded those held by the original owners.