Role of Trade Unions in Industrial Relations

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The trade unions have a crucial role to play in maintaining smooth industrial relations. It is true that the unions have to protect and safeguard the interests of the workers through collective bargaining.

Responsibilities of Trade Unions in maintaining industrial relations

But at the same time, they have equal responsibility to see that the organizations do not suffer on account of their direct actions such as strikes, even for trivial reasons.
·         They must be able to understand and appreciate the problems of management and must adopt a policy of ‘give and take’ while bargaining with the management.
·         Trade unions must understand that both management and workers depend on each other and any sort of problem on either side will do harm to both sides. Besides public are also affected, particularly when the institutions involved are public utility organizations.

Trade union relationship vis-à-vis management is conditioned by accepting the fact that management presents an indissoluble partnership amongst interest, power and responsibility in the societal context.

Appreciation of Workers expectations

Trade Union relationship vis-à-vis workers implied that it should appreciate workers’ aspirations and expectations that trade union is essentially a protective, friendly society, meant primarily to manage and handle their economic, social and cultural problems.