• This is an extremely common source of conflict in which the management will say the market determines what the appropriate pay level should be. And any unjustified increase in pay or costly improvements in working conditions might make the business uncompetitive. However workers may feel justified if they see that profits and managers’ bonuses are rising, and will at the least like to ensure wages rise in line with inflation to maintain the real value of incomes.

• In this scenario management will argue that the business needs to cut costs and be flexible and adaptable to compete effectively with ‘globalised’ low cost rival businesses. While employees will point out that cost cuts and rationalisation always seem to fall on employees – not the senior managers or owners of the business. Reduced pay or job security will damage employee motivation.

• In this scenario owners will insist that change is necessary to remain competitive and profitable. While workers will fear that new demand and in particular new expectations of skill level and competence will lead to job losses for the more inflexible workers.

Apply each source of employee to employer conflict to a real life conflict that could occur @TES.

"There are numerous sources of conflict that can occur at TES between teaching staff and School management, firstly it could be related to pay and conditions, in this case teachers could argue that....., however management could counter this by saying.....

• POOR COMMUNICATION can result in serious misunderstandings. For example, a manager reallocated an employee’s task to another worker but failed to communicate this to the employee. This may cause the employee to feel rejected, which can lead to bad feelings between the two employees and between them and the manager.

• Employees come from different backgrounds and experiences, which play a role in shaping their personalities. WHEN WORKERS FAIL TO UNDERSTAND OR ACCEPT THE DIFFERENCE IN EACH OTHER'S PERSONALITES, problems arise in the workplace. For example, an employee may possess a confident personality that leads to him SPEAKING HIS MIND DIRECTLY and leading discussions, even if the timing is poor. This employee could offend other workers who prefer a more cooperative and thoughtful approach to problem solving and communication. The co-workers may feel that the employee is rude or they may feel they lack the authority to deal with this personality.

• One cause of different values amongst employees is when a GENERATIONAL GAP gap is present. Young workers may possess different workplace values from those of older workers. The difference in values is not necessarily the cause of employee conflict in the workplace, but the failure to accept the differences is. When employees fail to accept the differences, co-workers may insult each other’s characters and experiences. This tends to intensify the conflict until the right solution is offered and accepted.

• Excessive workplace competition is a cause of employee conflict. Some businesses deliberately foster competitive environments to encourage workers or teams to out-perform each other. When salary is linked to employee production, a workplace may experience strong competition between employees. Competition that is not properly managed for the good of the whole business can result in employees sabotaging efforts by other groups or not cooperating with them. This can create a hostile work environment, discouraging teamwork and promoting individualism.

Apply each of sources of conflict above to a real life conflict that could occur in a CLASSROOM setting.

"There are numerous sources of conflict that can occur at TES between Students, firstly it could be related to poor communication, for example when.....'

• COLLECTIVE BARGAINING involves a group ('a collective') of workers getting together to 'bargain' with their employers, for something such as better pay and conditions, as opposed to doing it on an individual basis. The time involved in organising this often compels employees to join TRADE UNIONS who will act on their behalf.

  • • • • The BENEFITS of collective bargaining are:

        • It leads to HIGHER WAGES and BETTER WORKING CONDITIONS than individual bargaining

        • ALL WORKERS BENEFIT from the results of collective bargaining

        • It can lead to long-term agreements between union representatives and employers which will provide some security and stability for both employees and employers

        • Employers may be able to recruit better-qualified workers if the collective bargaining deals lead to better pay and conditions 

        • Employers do not have to use managerial time in negotiating separately with each employee.

• WORK TO RULE is a type of INDUSTRIAL ACTION that a trade union can insist its members take involving them refusing to do any work outside the precise terms of the employment contract such as overtime. During busy times of year in particular, this could lead to lost output and lost sales for the employer. 

• STRIKE ACTION refers to the most extreme form of industrial action as it involves employees totally withdrawing their labour for a period of time, causing production to stop altogether, causing substantial disruption and financial losses for the employer and potentially causing it to close down permanently.

Apply each of of these approaches to conflict to students who are unhappy with the 'unfair' treatment of a fellow student.

"There are various approaches to conflict that a student could adopt in order to get his/her grievance with the school resolved, such as by joining a student union, this way they will have strength in numbers which is important because...., in addition..."

• The potential benefits of reaching an agreement through collective bargaining have already been outlined. Individual businesses usually agree to negotiate with union officials as they recognise the right of the trade union to represent its members during negotiations. 

• If agreement cannot be reached an employer might THREATEN TO MAKE SOME OF THE WORKERS REDUNDANT (the state of being no longer in employment because there is no more work available). The employer might claim that without common agreement on key issues, the business will become less competitive and so will need a smaller workforce. These threats would PUT PRESSURE ON UNIONS TO AGREE TO A SETTLEMENT OF THE DISPUTE. However, the threats might inflame opinions on the employees’ side; it could be seen as ‘bullying’ and lead to poor publicity for the employer.

• If employees are taking advantage of their employment contracts to work to rule or ban overtime, when the current contracts are due for renewal the new contracts could insist on higher work rates or overtime working. If unions are calling for strike action, then employers might try to force workers to accept temporary and more flexible contracts which would weaken their job security. These new contracts would discourage workers from taking strike action as their employment security might be put at risk.

• CLOSURE OF THE BUSINESS/BRANCH/OFFICE where the industrial dispute takes place would certainly end the dispute at that location, but it could create poor industrial relations at other locations operated by the business. 

• Closure would lead to redundancy for all of the workers and no Output or profit for the business owners. This is an extreme measure and would only be threatened or used if the demands of the union were so costly for the employer that they would lead to a large loss being made by the business or factory.

• A LOCKOUT is a short-term closure of the business or factory to prevent employees from working and being paid. Some workers who are not keen on losing pay for long periods may put pressure on their union leaders to agree to a reasonable settlement of the dispute.

Apply each of of these approaches to conflict to TES owners.

"There are various approaches to conflict that TES could adopt in order to get the conflict resolved, some are tame and some are very drastic. For example....

• These are attempts to reduce industrial conflict by building a closer working relationship between employees and employers. This might lead to commonly agreed objectives and it should mean that workers and employers will be keen to avoid conflict which would prevent these objectives from being reached. Participation at work by employees can take different forms:

• • Industrial democracy, in its purest form, implies workers’ control over industry, perhaps linked to workers’ ownership of the business, e.g., producer cooperatives.

• • Employee or trade union directors on the company’s board of directors represent the workers’ approach to major company issues at the highest decision-making level. These ‘workers’ directors’ would have the same right to discuss and vote on company policies as all other directors. They could use this voting power to influence company policy towards redundancies, employment contracts, pay levels and working conditions.

• • Works councils, e.g., European Works Councils, discuss issues such as the employment situation, major investment projects planned by the business, major organisational changes and health and safety. The councils are made up of representatives from employers and employees, and often union representatives too. The agreements of these councils are rarely binding on either employers and employees but the meetings are useful opportunities to engage in discussion and frank exchanges of views on important issues of common interest.

• • Autonomous work groups and quality circles lead to employee participation in decision-making and help to avoid the ‘us and them’ environment. By involving workers in everyday decisions that impact on their working lives, such as work schedules, improvements in work practices and how to plan team working, the threat of industrial disputes is reduced.

• SINGLE-UNION AGREEMENTS as the name suggest involves employers insisting on signing recognition deals with just one union in order to make dispute negotiations less time-consuming and confusing. Two potential consequences of such deals are that the newly united workforce and its union representatives may be able to exert greater influence during collective bargaining, and that just one union may not effectively represent the range of skilled staff, and their needs at work, that exist in most businesses. The growth of single-union agreements has led to further mergers between unions to prevent smaller unions being gradually excluded from all such industrial deals.

At first glance, it might seem strange for a union to sign a no-strike agreement with an employer. Why should it give up the most effective form of industrial action? There are two main reasons:

• It improves the image of the union as being a responsible representative body, and this could encourage employees to become members.

• These deals are often agreed to in exchange for greater union involvement in both decision-making and in representing employees in important negotiations. This has led to union– employer agreements to change working methods and increase labour flexibility that leads to higher productivity, higher profits and higher pay and worker participation. This is sometimes referred to as a win–win settlement as both employer and employee will gain from this new partnership approach to industrial relations.