Relevance of Industrial Relations in Today’s Changing Scenario

The term industrial relations have a broad as well as a narrow outlook. Originally, industrial relations were broadly defined to include the relationships and interactions between employers and employees. From this perspective, industrial relations cover all aspects of the employment relationship, including human resource management, employee relations, and union-management (or labor) relations. Now its meaning has become more specific and restricted. Accordingly, industrial relations pertains to the study and practice of collective bargaining, trade unionism, and labor-management relations, while human resource management is a separate, largely distinct field that deals with nonunion employment relationships and the personnel practices and policies of employers. It also includes the management of conflict between employers, workers and trade unions when it arises. Clearly, the nature of industrial relations is changing, the impetus for the same being provided by the changing scenario. In the light of this statement it is important that we look at some of these changes and understand the relevance of industrial relations within their framework. The Changing Scenario The broad trend towards decline in employment in the manufacturing sector, low union activity in sunrise sectors, decentralized collective bargaining, and direct communication with and involvement of workers can be seen as efforts at political restructuring of industrial relations. In order to ensure that we are dealing with a changing scenario a comparative study must be made wherein the current situation should be analyzed and contrasted with the scenario in the past. For this purpose some changes have been identified and the role and importance of industrial relations emphasized in each context. Changing Political Scenario The days of single party governments are over and with it are gone the days of political stability. In