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QUESTION ONE
Compare and contrast Unitary, Pluralist and Radical theories of Industrial Relations. Give examples from at one South Pacific Island to support your answer.
Industrial Relations can be defined as the means by which the various interests involved in the labour market are accommodated, primarily for the purpose of regulating employment relationships. It is concerned with the relationships, which arise at and out of the workplace (i.e., relationships between individual workers, the relationships between them and their employer, the relationships employers and workers have with the organizations formed to promote and defend their respective interests, and the relations between those organizations, at all levels). Industrial relations also include the processes through which these relationships are expressed (such as, collective bargaining; worker involvement in decision-making; and grievance and dispute settlement), and the management of conflict between employers, workers and trade unions, when it arises.
The government and its agencies through policies, laws, institutions and programmes, and influence these relationships and processes by the broader political, social, economic, technological and cultural characteristics of each country. The IR policy, legal and institutional framework in a particular country is developed through bipartite consultative processes (i.e., between employer and worker representatives, and by them, individually, with government) and tripartite consultation and cooperation (involving government and the social partners).
The study of industrial relations may be approached from a number of perspectives. People perceive industrial relations in various ways and often from different and competing theoretical stances. Thus this essay will review three separate and distinct approaches to the study of industrial relations. These are identified as the unitary, pluralist and radical approach.
The...