Forms of Worker’s Participation in Management

Functions of the Joint Councils

The following shall be the functions of Joint Council

i. The settlement of matters which remain unresolved by unit level councils and arranging joint meetings for resolving inter-council problems.

ii. Review of the working of the unit level council for improvement in the customer service and evolving for the best way of handling of goods traffic, accounts etc.

iii. Unit level matters which have a bearing on other branches or on the enterprise as a whole.

iv. Development of skills of workers and adequate facilities for trading.

v. Improvement in general conditions of work.

vi. Preparation of schedules of working hours and holidays.

vii. Proper recognition and appreciation of useful suggestions received form workers through a system of rewards.

viii. Discussion on any matter having a bearing in the improvement of performance of the organisation/service with a view to ensuring better customer service.

4. Unit Councils

Encouraged by success of the Joint Councils scheme in manufacturing and mining units, a new scheme of worker’s participation in management in commercial and service organisations in the public sector, having large scale public dealings, was announced on 5^th January 1977. The scheme envisaged the setting up of unit councils in units employing at least 100 persons. The organisations includes hotels, restaurants, hospitals, air, sea, railway and road transport services, ports an d docks, rations hops, schools, research institutions, provident fund and pension organisations, municipal and milk distribution services, trust organisations , all financial institutions, banks, insurance companies, The Food Corporation, State Electricity Boards, Central Warehousing Corporations, State Trading Corporations, Mines and Minerals Trading Corporation, irrigation systems, tourists organisations. Establishments of public amusement and training organization of Central and state governments.

The Main features of Scheme are:

1. A unit level council, consisting of representatives of workers and management of the organization/service, employing 100 or more workers, may be formed in each unit to discuss day to day problems and find solutions but wherever necessary a composite council may be formed to serve more than one unit, or a council may be formed department wise to suit the particular needs of an organization/service.
2. Every unit council shall consist of an equal number of representatives of the management workers.
3. The management’s representatives should be nominated by the management and should consists of persons from the unit concerned.
4. The management in consultation with the recognized union or the registered union or workers as the case may be, determine in the manner best suited to local conditions, the number of councils and the departments to be attached to each council of the organization/service.
5. All the decisions of a unit council should be on the basis of consensus and not by a process of voting, provided that either party may refer the unsettled matters to the joint council for consideration.
6. Every decision of a unit council shall be implemented by the parties concerned within a month, unless otherwise stated in the decision itself.

Functions of Unit Council

The main functions of the unit councils are:

i. To create conditions for achieving optimum efficiency , better customer service in areas where there is direct and immediate contact between workers at the operational level and thee consumer, higher productivity and output, including elimination of wastage and idle time, and optimum utilization of manpower by joint involvement in improving the work system.

ii. To identify areas of chronically bad, inadequate or inferior service and to take necessary corrective steps to eliminate the contributing factors and evolve improved methods of operation.

iii. To study absenteeism problem and recommend steps to reduce it.

iv. To eliminate pilferage and all forms of corruption and to institute a system if rewards for this purpose.

v. To suggest improvements in the physical conditions of work, such a slighting, ventilation, dust, noise, cleanliness, internal layout, and the setting up of customers service points.

vi. To ensure a proper flow of two way communication between management and workers particularly about matters relating to the services to be rendered, fixation of targets of output and the progress made in achieving these targets.

vii. To recommend and improve safety, health and welfare measures to ensure efficient running of the unit.

viii. To discuss any other matters which may have a bearing on the improvement of performance in the unit for ensuring better customer service.