Change And Change Management At Sony Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Change And Change Management At Sony - Essay Example Sony, an electronics company as indicated in the case underwent very many changes due to the retrogression in economic strength it was experiencing. Two categories of change occur in the company; people related changes and organization related changes. The first change that occurred at the company was the drop in the value of the company share from a high of $150 to a very low value of $25. The drop in the value of the shares of any company is a clear indication that the real value of the company had gone down. In this case, the drop was a very high of 83%. An urgent action was desperately needed here to rescind the situation given that the drop took just three years. The second change was that one of breaking from the norm (cultural change). In 2005, a non-Japanese took over the leadership of the company. This was a change from the normal norm in which only Japanese top management had been in control. Having been in charge of the American unit, he had the record of integration of al l units and creative coherence for a better progression in the country. This was important in that the record was the change that was required in the country and the world as a whole. More change came in after the executive; Howard Stringer took over the top management of the company (leadership change). With the company facing stiff competition from the other companies in the industry; Samsung and Apple, the first change that inevitably followed was streamlining of the company into five production groups. There was need to specialize in electronics, television, DVD recorders, digital imaging and the portable audio. This was stimulated by the fact that some of the companies competing Sony were moving away from the CRO televisions and adapting flat screen television sets. Apple was embracing the killer iPhone which had so many properties that it was almost full taking over the market. Every change was coming with the resultant consequences which were dubbed change in themselves. Elev en plants were closed and 10,000 employees were laid off. According to Cordrey (2010), such a step is taken to remain with the most effective personnel in operation. When he joined the company, Stringer found out that the decision making process was autonomous across all the units. The autonomy, he found out was creating internal strife and imbalance. This autonomy was inclusive of the key decisions of the company. On this, the change he made was that of centralizing all decision making processes in the company. Over the product lines, the decision was to make it possible for easier decision making processes to take place. His goal was to make SONY products to operate seamlessly with one another in the communication. To save on the cost spend on research and development, the new executive had to eliminate product redundancies which had been adopted by the seamless networking of the company products. The change realized here is in the mode of spending in which there was need to reduc e the expenditure on such unnecessary items like the extended research that was being done (structural change). Sony products had worked miracles over the years and they were still doing fine until the simplicity of the other company products came to the market. This change was brought about as a result of the realization that the customers were not just interested in the complex Sony products but were also interested in the ability to operate the products. The overall outlook of the items at Sony needed to change and this is seen in the simplicity of the Apple products that force the general thought at Sony to change (technological change). The last plan that happened at the company was that leading to the

Public sector services should be managed just like the private sector Essay

Public sector services should be managed just like the private sector. Discuss this statement using examples from contemporary management practices - Essay Example The public services are not usually sold to people to gain profit and are not withheld from the people who can not afford them (Flynn 2007). This difference though always not applicable to all public services, significantly affects the management practices in private and public sector. The private service is marketing oriented. Different services are provided to people paying different prices. The services and strategies are designed to offer customized and good services to attract people to the private service. The public services on the other hand are aimed to provide protection, education, care and help without taking into account the profitability. That is why the public services often face the problems with rationing and pricing as they treat all service users equally. As the need for marketing services or attracting people is minimal the profitability is often lowered too. While distinguishing the public and private services, it can be said that the public sector needs to provide services for public good where the market fails to do so. These services include those, which cannot exclude any individual, and a collective payment is needed for those services. The services, which are paid through taxes rather than through direct payment, are considered as public services. The armed forces, judiciary and police, civil services, local governments, essential infrastructure like road, welfare state like health, education, social security, housing, etc are generally considered as public services. Ownership of services also makes them public or private. But it is often seen that people are not much concerned with the ownership of the services they receive except when they consider employment. Public sector employments are often considered to be much secured but with low wage though there are jobs, which get better security and wage in private sector. There are certain practical arguments in support of the public services. There are services like armed forces

Truman Show Analysis Essay Example for Free

Truman Show Analysis Essay The film, The Truman Show centers on the life of Truman Burbank. At birth, a major television network legally adopts Truman, to be the unknowing star of a television series. His entire life is broadcasted, live to an audience of millions, through a complex series of hidden cameras. Christof, the omnipotent main figure behind The Truman Show, constructs an artificial world that revolves around Truman, entitled Seahaven, which is essentially just an extremely large television set. Everyone participating in this created world is an actor except for Truman himself. For the duration of his life, the television network is on a never-ending mission to keep him in ignorance of his situation through the manipulation of his environment. The film then follows Truman’s eventual realization of the true nature of his reality and his dramatic escape from the artificial world. In the film Christof says, â€Å"We accept the reality which we are presented.† I strongly agree with this idea. At first, Truman is in acceptance of his odd existence. For example, he does not question why his wife holds products up and describes them, as if she was in a television commercial. He does not wonder why everything happens at the same time every day, since he has not known it to be anything else. He knows the whole world revolves around him, but he does not question it because it has been that way his entire life. Several production mistakes cause Truman to awaken from his beliefs. A stage light falls from the ‘sky’, strange messages are broadcast on his car radio, and he even sees a man who looks like his father who had died several years/episodes earlier. To prevent Truman from discovering his false reality, Christof has invented means of dissuading his drive for exploration, including killing his father in a storm while on a fishing trip to instill in him a fear of the water. Not only that, but he made many news reports and adverts about the dangers of travelling, as well as featuring television shows about how good it is to stay at home. Truman, being the rebellious and intrepid character he is, decides to escape his reality by facing his fears and sailing beyond the horizon of what he knows. There exists much symbolism behind the names Truman and Christof. Truman, or â€Å"Tru-man†, represents how he is the only true or â€Å"real† person in this  constructed world, especially since his friends and family are all paid actors/actresses. Christof, having unlimited power and knowledge over The Truman Show, represents Jesus Christ. We see the irony of Christof being described as a man who covets his privacy and seldom grants interviews. At the conclusion of the show, when Christof reveals himself to Truman through a booming loudspeaker from the sky, his first words are, I am the Creatorof a TV show. Finally, we see that Christof has the power to crush Truman with just the touch of a finger, just like God. I believe that all events are fated in some way. That could be a short-term fate relating to decisions recently made or through some higher power and unseen force. I do not have much control over the events that transpire in my event. Although, I do believe that I have absolute power of my attitude as well as the way I choose to respond to those events. At all times, I have the power to decide how I think. I can choose to be grateful and appreciative of all my blessings, and view life with a positive outlook. Alternatively, I can do the exact opposite. That is all up to me. I have the gift of free will in world where fate and destiny exist. For almost 30 years, Truman accepted the reality presented by Christof through the cast and crew of The Truman Show, because it never occurred to him that the world might be otherwise. For Truman, that was reality. I have not accepted the reality presented to me and I continue to question everything. How did the universe come to be? What was here before the universe? What was here before God? Was God always here? These questions are overwhelming and really mess with the idea of my existence. Although, I do think I exist because I am conscious, and my senses keep me connected with the world around me. What keeps me from knowing I am dreaming is the presence of time and the ability to feel physical pleasure or pain? For the most part, I believe God is in control of our lives. We have freedom to choose within the constraints of who we are and the circumstances we find ourselves in. Yet while God controls those circumstances, he does not control us. While God is able to control us, and if he wanted to, he could override our freedom, he chooses not to. I was put on this planet at this time for a reason, and I believe is God’s job to make sure I fulfill the purpos e my life serves. We do accept the reality that we are presented, because, for the most part, we are not aware of the realities beyond ours. Sometimes we must break away from our perceptions to discover more about the ‘tru-man’ within. For instance, drugs alter perceptions and thus alter our reality and create a new reality. Every night when we go to bed, we enter a dream world that is very real to us at the time. Our reality is based on our own personal perceptions, which can easily be altered by outside influences. So can we be sure that our reality is actually real? We cannot, and therefore, we just have to accept the reality, which we are presented.

Child Rights in the UK

Child Rights in the UK Children’s rights are poorly served in the United Kingdom. The recent UNICEF report has deemed UK as the worst place for the brought up of children and adolescents. UNICEF studied about the well-being and safety of children, adolescents and youths in the wealthy western countries. The reports were heartbreaking and imply that the present ‘electronic world’ (particularly the UK) is no longer a better place for children and adolescents. In spite of the attempts of children welfare societies and other children care initiatives, children are loosing their basic rights even and are getting sunk into drugs, sex and other wrong activities. Children are aliens to the developed world (Brooks, 2006)[1]. British children are more likely to use drugs and have sex, compared to the children of any other country (Freeman, 1996)[2]. There is an increasing lack of security and contentment for children and adolescents in the UK. There is big difference between the ways and experiences of UK children and the children of other developed countries. Only US may surpass UK in the total number of crimes related to children. The government of UK neglected all these reports, calling them ‘outdated’ and ‘historic’, and also commented that these report are based on the situation that existed before the implementation of the Childrens Act 2004 (Freeman, 1996). However a careful look would make anybody understand that the state of children is not better in Britain even now. Numerous other studies, like the one initiated by Save the Children and the Nuffield Foundation, Institute of Public Policy Research, and other organizations clearly stated the same trend and confirmed that children and adolescents are deprived of even their basic rights. Children in the UK still remain in poverty, oppression, and distress and the problem doubled to what it was in 1979 (Freeman, 1996). Britain has the highest teenage birth-rate compared to other developed countries of Europe (Freeman, 1996). Reports say that this degradation of the quality of the children and adolescents is not just because of computer games, fast food and other aspects of the modern period. Poverty and other sufferings equally contribute to this plight of children and adolescents. Cultural factors also play a major role in this big crisis. The society in the UK does not really value their children. Right from the Victorian era children are least valued in the society and are corralled into classrooms and left without necessary guidance. These children when they become young do not contribute directly to the economy and have zero voice in the political process. Children are easily criminalized (as per the status assigned to them by the media) and are never given proper guidance to bring them to the mainstream of the society (Brooks, 2006). The more the children are exploited the more panicky their behaviour is. The UK is disastrously infected with materialism and modernity that has furnished a hell for children in this nation (Freeman, 1996). Parenthood and its values have disappeared from the society. Society is now ruled by modern ‘no child’ theory that supports the selfhood, freedom and autonomy of selfish couples. Begetting children has become a choice as childless family is found to be economically stronger. Families are encouraged to have kids just for filling future jobs in the nation. Education has become a mere investment for earning money. Schools are grounds of competitions. Modern teaching methods create more losers than winners. Children report nothing but depression, failure and worries and opt to run towards the path that give them temporary relief and satisfaction (Brooks, 2006). Research reports say that Britain’s children are the unhappiest children in the West (Freeman, 1996). They drink most, smoke most and have sex at very early age. They hate schools, neglect their health, and are least satisfied in their life. They never eat meals with their parents and are always out of their house. They lack good company and guidance. According to Professor Bradshaw (from a children welfare association), â€Å"Between 1979 and 1999, children were relatively neglected in Britain, child poverty rates rose rapidly, those living in workless households soared and the numbers not in education or training also rose† (Brooks, 2006). Children in the UK are least confident about the path in which they are moving; their own perception itself is poor. When a group of teenagers were asked to rate their own health, majority of them rated it as fair and poor. They also opined that they are not enjoying their school life and personal life. On an assessment about the welfare of children in the countries of Europe, various factors like child safety, relative poverty, educational achievement, relationships with parents, drug misuse were considered. Netherlands and The Czech Republic were found to be in top position for child well being, with Britain occupying the bottom position. Britain topped in teenage pregnancy rate and teenage drug addiction rate (Freeman, 1996). The government of the UK missed its target to cut short child poverty in the year 2004-05 (with respect to the 1998-99 levels). The plans to eliminate child poverty by 2020 are also not seriously considered. Even though there are not many children who live in absolute poverty there are thousands of young ones who are still in relative poverty (Brooks, 2006). A research was conducted to analyse adolescent drug misuse and parental conflict among black and ethnic minority groups in the UK. The research consisted of personal interviews, surveys, questionnaire answering and other sections for collecting first hand data from adolescents (from various places, schools, colleges etc). After the initial data collection, data was analyzed for getting the exact level of adolescent drug misuse among the racially and ethnically backward groups residing in UK. Data was collected from adolescents of age group 18-20 years. Adolescents were given questionnaires to fill in. Questions are prepared in such a way that the answers would reveal how adolescent drug misuse is related to the parental conflict. The study also included surveys for adolescents about their habits and traits, assessing their family background and relationships. The research brought out the result that adolescent drug misuse is directly related to parental conflict in the UK. The study confirmed that family problems are the real reason behind the drug misuse among adolescents of lower ethnic groups. Many children said that the kinds of relationship they maintain with their parents are too poor. They had experienced physical as well as mental assault or torture in their early childhood life. This reveals the ill-privileged condition of children in the UK. Children are mistreated and oppressed by parents, relatives, caretakers and others. Mistreatment is mental as well as physical. Children undergo torture, sexual abuse and emotional abuse at younger age. In some families, children are not given proper care and they are not treated properly (Vittachi, 1989)[3]. Parents are preoccupied with their works or are under various malpractices, and seldom give any time for their children. There are cases when children are completely neglected. This is when the parents or the caretakers fail to offer necessary care, food, clothing, shelter and other requirements for the child. For some parents, drugs are more important than their kids. Such people may also make their children use these drugs (compelling children to use drugs). Children are nuisances for another group of parents. All these results in severe child abuse issues. In many families in UK, parents get divorced; children stay with one of the parents or with relatives or other caretakers (Brooks, 2006). They undergo physical and mental abuse and even big assaults. Such children are deprived of parent’s love and care and lose a good family environment. Relatives and caretakers are least bothered about their welfare and torture them to maximum. These abused and neglected children suffer from various mental and physical problems that lead them to wrong paths. Some children are exposed to drugs in their childhood itself since their parents use drugs. Children who are brought up in families where there are frequent fights will naturally have fighting mood or other bad characteristics (Brooks, 2006). Also if parents are having criminal background and other unlawful practices, children who are brought up in that environment also will have criminal characters and behaviours. Children are abused in different ways and are made deprived of all their childhood happiness and privileges. They are troubled and exploited and are subjected to mental and physical exploitation s. There were incidents in which children were beaten, burnt and killed even (Vittachi, 1989). In a particular case, a petition was filed in Waukesha County Juvenile Court in order to keep 3 girl children in protective custody as their drug-addicted father troubled them making them accompany him during a crack cocaine binge. In another incident in 2004, a 9-month-old boy died accidentally and later doctor’s testified that the child’s injuries were as a result of smothering and other physical assaults (Vittachi, 1989). The physician who did the autopsy came with the conclusion that his head and neck were affected with smothering and blunt force trauma. The child was found breathless and blue as a result of consistent physical tortures (Vittachi, 1989). His health status was so bad that he suffered from brain haemorrhages and retinal haemorrhages and died in a hospital. The child’s parent was charged for ill-treatment and aggravated battery of the child which lead to the child’s death. It is high time that UK listen to the complaints of their children (Archard, 1993)[4]. Children must be given a coherent social identity that would make them have a good involvement in the real world. UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reported (five years back) that the UK is an absolute failure in their child welfare programs (Franklin, 1995)[5]. The committee put forth few recommendations out of which very few were implemented. All the 76 recommendations of the committee should be put in action and a right-based approach should be adopted for the welfare of the children (similar to that undertaken by Sweden). All legislations must be assesses to ensure that they do not bring any negative impact on children (Franklin, 1995). Children must be diverted away from antisocial behaviour and must be given protection from physical punishment like adults. Alcohol, drugs and other similar things must never be sold cheaply so that children will have less access to it (Franklin, 1995). Pe rsuasive advertising and sex ads must be rooted out from the society. Sex education must be open as it is in countries like Netherlands. Britain should carefully look into the underlying causes of their failure to raise happy, healthy children. Children who suffer abuses in collapsed families should be saved from their homes and must be placed in a safe environment. Shelter must be offered to such ill-fated children, providing them all the necessary care and protection. They must be kept away from their parents unless it is safe for them to stay with their parents (Brooks, 2006). Children must be kept in healthy environments, away from disturbances and abuses. Social workers, advocates and law enforcement officers must help government in implementing these measures. The abused children will suffer from various physical and psychological problems (Franklin, 1995). They must be evaluated and treated accordingly, assessing their physical and mental health. They need to be kept in healt hy environment where they can interact with other children. The concerned officers (or social workers) should monitor the children, concerning their health needs and other needs. Children must also be given good counselling, advices and classes that will help them come out of the shock they suffered. The concerned officers should also proceed with other legal formalities of the child’s custody. Efforts should also be taken for reuniting the child’s family if it is possible (Brooks, 2006). All these measures would help upgrade the rights of children in the UK. References Archard, D. (1993) Children, Rights and Childhood, London: Routledge. Brooks, L. (2006) The Story of Childhood, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. Franklin, B. (1995) (ed) Handbook of Childrens Rights: Comparative Policy and Practice, London: Routledge. Freeman, M. (1996) (ed) Childrens Rights: A Comparative Perspective, Dartmouth. Vittachi, A. (1989) Stolen Childhood: In Search of the Rights of the Child, Cambridge: Polity. Bibliography Aitken, S. C. Geographies of Young People: The Morally Contested Spaces of Identity. London: Routledge, 2001. Aries, P. Centuries of Childhood. Cape, 1962. Beddingfield, D. The Child in Need: Children, the State and the Law, London: Jordan, 1998. Buckingham, D. After the Death of Childhood: Growing Up in the Age of the Electronic Media. Cambridge: Polity, 2000. Cunningham, H. Children and Childhood in Western Society since 1500. London: Longman, 1995. Fletcher, A. J. Childhood in Question, Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1999. Foley, P; Roche, J. and Tucker, C. Children in Society: Contemporary Theory, Practice and Policy, Hampshire: Palgrave/OUP, 2001. 1 Footnotes [1] L. Brooks, The Story of Childhood, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 2006. [2] M. Freeman (ed), Childrens Rights: A Comparative Perspective, Dartmouth, 1996. [3] A. Vittachi, Stolen Childhood: In Search of the Rights of the Child, Cambridge: Polity, 1989. [4] D. Archard, Children, Rights and Childhood, London: Routledge, 1993. [5] B. Franklin (ed), Handbook of Childrens Rights: Comparative Policy and Practice, London: Routledge, 1995.

Chief Justice Earl Warren Essay -- essays research papers fc

Chief Justice Earl Warren Earl Warren was born March 19, 1891 in Los Angeles, California. Earl’s father was a Norwegian immigrant, which left him dealing with prejudice and equal rights at a very young age (Grace, 1). This lead to early indications that law would be Earl’s profession. Even before entering High School, he listened to criminal cases at the Kern County courthouse. Attending the University of California at Berkeley, Warren worked his way through college. He majored in political science for three years before entering the law school at UC. â€Å"He received his B.L. degree in 1912 and his J.D. degree in 1914. On May 14, 1915, he was admitted to the California bar. After graduation Warren worked in law offices in San Francisco and Oakland, the only time in his career when he was engaged in private practice† (White, 61). The young lawyer became a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, and eventually became district attorney in 1925 when is opponent decided to resign from th e race (Weaver, 40). He would go on to win the next four elections. â€Å"During his fourteen years as district attorney, Warren developed a reputation as a crime fighter. As a prosecutor Warren was sometimes accused of high-handedness in his methods, but in thirteen years and in thousands of cases ranging from murder to window-breaking, he never had a conviction reversed by a higher court† (Ely, 964). Warren served as attorney general from 1939-1943, enjoying the image of an effective foe of racketeers. In 1948, Warren was the Republican Party's nominee for vice-president of the United States. He and fellow republican Thomas Dewey would end up losing the race, the only election Warren ever lost, to Democratic candidate Harry S. Truman. In 1953 President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren the fourteenth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court (Compston, 101). This new job would prove to be the most important and difficult job Warren had ever taken. â€Å"He inherited a court that was deeply divided between those justices who advocated a more active role for the court and those who supported judicial restraint† (Compston, 133). Among the Warren Court's most important decisions was the ruling that made racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The Brown vs. The Board of Education case dealt with the segregation of public schools. Although all the schools in a ... ... Brown vs. the Board of Ed. Case from this source. In addition, this book contain a lot of criticism that Warren faced because of his ruling. Weaver, John D. Warren: The Man, the Court, the Era. Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1967. -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This book provided information about Warrens career early on, most importantly his becoming District Attorney of California. White, Edward G. Earl Warren: A Public Life. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982. - This source had information about Warren’s accomplishments in school and his job right out of school. Internet Sources: Cray, Ed. â€Å"Landmark case Biography: Earl Warren†. Earl Warren/Brown vs. Board of Ed. Information page. 1997. 5 March 2005 < http://www. landmarkcases.org/brown/warren.html>   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  - This website contained a great deal of information about the Brown vs. Board of Ed. case. Grace, Roger M. â€Å"Earl Warren, Norwegian American†. Earl Warren Information Page. June 1998. 4 March, 2005 < http://www.mnc.net/norway/warren.htm> -  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This website provided me with information about the end of Warren’s career and his retirement.

Terrorism - Where is the Glory of War? :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Where is the Glory of War? Â   I cannot find the glory in the war against terrorism. I remember when I picked up the newspaper last year and saw "America Strikes Back!" blazed boastfully across it in letters 10 inches tall--my heart sank. We've answered one terrorist act with another, raining death on the most war-scarred, terrified populace that ever crept to a doorway and looked out. The small plastic boxes of food we also dropped are a travesty. It is reported that these are untouched, of course--Afghanis have spent their lives learning terror of anything hurled at them from the sky. Meanwhile, the genuine food aid on which so many depended for survival has been halted by the war. We've killed whoever was too poor or crippled to flee, plus four humanitarian aid workers who coordinated the removal of land mines from the beleaguered Afghan soil. That office is now rubble, and so is my heart. Â   I am going to have to keep pleading against this madness. I'll get scolded for it, I know. I've already been called every name in the Rush Limbaugh handbook: traitor, sinner, naive, liberal, peacenik, whiner. I'm told I am dangerous because I might get in the way of this holy project we've undertaken to keep dropping heavy objects from the sky until we've wiped out every last person who could potentially hate us. Some people are praying for my immortal soul, and some have offered to buy me a one-way ticket out of the country, to anywhere. I accept these gifts with a gratitude equal in measure to the spirit of generosity in which they were offered. People threaten vaguely, "She wouldn't feel this way if her child had died in the war!" (I feel this way precisely because I can imagine that horror.) More subtle adversaries simply say I am r I fight that, I fight it as if I'm drowning. When I get to feeling I am an army of one standing out on the plain waving my ridiculous little flag of hope, I call up a friend or two. We remind ourselves in plain English that the last time we got to elect somebody, the majority of us, by a straight popular-vote count, did not ask for the guy who is currently telling us we will win this war and not be "misunderestimated." We aren't standing apart from the crowd, we are the crowd.

Industrial Relations

The tolerance of the Tells workers suddenly gave way. The storm broke and wealth months the workforce, the management and the entire city of Pun were engulfed by this storm. Some attributed the cause to workers' leaders like Raja Nair, others to Tells officials like Unranked. The genesis of the phenomena however lay in the history of industrial relations in Tells over nearly fifteen years. Pun was one of the first industrial centre to be established pursuant to the policy of geographic relocation of industries away from established industrial centre in the aryl sixties.During the sixties a number of large engineering companies set up new Industries In the Pun region. Being predominantly engineering industries, the region attracted a large number of skilled workers from all over Maharajah's. This workforce was young, skilled, educated (being from technical training Institutes such as TIT and private Institutes); and there was a broad cultural homogeneity since most of them were Amaran th-speaking. Pun city, though not an industrial city to the sixties, has well established traditions of trade unionism amongst the municipal workers, the searchers and staff of other governmental bodies.Above all traditionally the workers in the engineering industry are known to be more militant and better organized. Basically this has to do with the nature of the work in the engineering industry, where man is invariably the master of the machine. Engineering Jobs require knowledge, perception, judgment, use of discretion and higher intellectual abilities, all of which results in a self-confident and assertive workforce. Added to all this Is the fact that the new workers coming to Pun had to find residential quarters on the outskirts of Pun. The suburban districts of Pun grew Into working class areas.Both better paid any badly paid workers' settlements grew within the same locates, leading to extensive social integration of the workforce. All this gave rise to strong traditions of u nity, solidarity and class sentiments in the most classical sense of the term. While the other industrial centre were plagued by trade union rivalries, political dissensions, and conflicts founded on caste, region and language Pun developed a tradition of class solidarity. In 1980, when the police fired on the rockers of Baja Auto, almost immediately the other factories closed in support, and a joint action committee was formed.Thereafter on most major events, ‘ad hoe trade union Joint action committees have cropped up. With the numerical strength of workers In Pun Increasing – today the city has 1. 75 to 2 lack industrial workers and, together with their families, they constitute 45-50 per cent of Pun's population – these traditions were reinforced In strength and Impact. The companies that came up in Pun region too developed a broad unified approach the first place they too like the workers were concentrated in one area. Besides, very few companies were in mutu al competition with one another.Many of them were keen to avoid the problems they had to confront in the older industrial centre like Bombay. One of the first things that almost every major company in the Pun region did right from the beginning was to ensure that no outsider, I. E. Professional trade unionist, established himself in Pun. These companies were established at a time when the fact of trade unionism as an inevitable aspect of industrial life had come to be accepted. In the Pun region formation of trade unions per SE never led to any ajar strife. The companies on the contrary encouraged their nascent workforce to form internal company unions.Barring a few exceptions the major pattern of trade union organization in the region is of internal unions with the workers themselves acting as office-bearers. In the mid-eighties Data Samoan from Bombay attempted a break-through but did not succeed. In a few companies unions affiliated to the Ship Seen and BGP tried to establish the ir unions but could not make any major headway. Against this backdrop, Tells is an Omni-present giant in the Pun region. Spread dead over a vast area, it employs, 8,500 blue collar workers, around 1,000 to 1,100 white collar workers, 2,000 supervisory staff and 2,500 engineers and officers.The average age off Tells worker is 32 years. Besides this a large number of ancillaries around Pun depend basically on Tells for their survival. It has been impossible to estimate the extent of mistranslation. Estimates vary from 400 units to 4,000 units. Besides, there is the consumption of goods and services by the company. To take one or two examples – the two industrial canteens at Tells employ 450 employees. The conservancy staff number around 450. Tells runs 110 buses on 265 routes. And all this growth has taken place over a span of 25 years.In keeping with the general pattern of industrial relations in the region, the company encouraged the formation of an internal trade union in th eir company. The new workforce formed the Tells Kamala Santayana (TTS), the very union with whom the company is refusing to negotiate today. The TTS was formed in February 1968 and was immediately recognized by the company. The constitution of the union provided amongst other things that the union will not have any outsider I. E. , a non-employee, as office-bearers. The elections were to be held once in every three years.It may be pointed out here that wage agreements are normally revised once in three years. It provided that workers would elect a council of 42 members and these 42 would then elect the office-bearers from amongst themselves. During this time the production in the company was growing rapidly. Normally in the older engineering industries Job classifications are precise. The content of each Job is described and evaluated, grades evolved, and quite often a worker could lawfully decline to do Job which were beyond the description or grade of his Job.Right from the beginn ing the company sought to avoid rigid classification of Job and to reserve for itself the absolute right to set up time standards, club Jobs, change production methods and systems and flexibility in the matter of deployment of workforce. This guarding its rights. Throughout, the growth in productivity was as a result of increased capacity utilization on the one hand and increase in the productivity of the workers on the other. The increase in productivity was mainly due to intensification of the workers' work output. Thus in 1980 the company produced 14,000 vehicles.This increased to 0,000 vehicles in 1988 (though the targeted production was 33,000). In 1981, 40 chassis were produced in a day, today it is 125 chassis. Throughout, the workforce remained constant. There was no major technological upgrading. The only areas where some technical modifications were made were in fatigue-related areas, I. E. Where fatigue of the workers reached a point where he became counter-productive. In order to facilitate this the company introduced a number of schemes designed to make optimum use of the workforce. In 1976, the TTS and the company Jointly finalized a skill benefit scheme.Under this scheme a worker could upgrade his skill and give required trade tests after which he would be entitled to two increments. Thereafter a versatility benefit scheme was introduced, whereby a workman who had learnt a new trade besides his own could after passing the requisite tests get three increments. All this made it possible for the company to utilize its workforce with complete flexibility after all, the company believed a worker during his work hours was at the company's disposal to get as much production from him as was possible..The internal leadership of the TTS could not perceive the impact of the company's policies. In 1976 it consented to the skill benefit scheme. The feeling spread amongst the workers that the union leadership was not standing up for their rights, while the ma nagement was asserting its rights. In the 1977 TTS elections the workers elected a new leadership which was perceived to be more militant. Under this leadership the workers conducted their first strike which went on for 22 days. This strike was against what is popularly described as ganging of machines and double designations.Ganging of machine meant that a worker who was until then required to load Jobs on one machine and attend to it was now required to load one bob on one machine and immediately attend to another machine or several machines depending on the nature of the Job before returning to the first one. Double designations meant one worker was called upon to do two Jobs. While the former method clubbed machines the latter clubbed Jobs. The state government intervened and referred the dispute for adjudication after which the strike was declared illegal. A number of activists were dismissed and other neutralized, and yet others won over.The workers attributed the failure of t he strike and the crushing of the TTS leadership to the absence of strong outside leadership and support. They then turned to the Sara Ashrams Shantung, a trade union affiliated to the Ala Ionians Party. The membership of the Sara Ashrams Shantung was not widespread over all shops and departments, and was concentrated in a few plants and departments. In 1980 the workers of the foundry section began agitation. Once again this was against work norms and methods. The company declared a lock-out of the foundry which other department workers in support of the foundry workers.The foundry workers' agitation fizzled out. The workers were compelled to give an undertaking of good conduct and report back to work. Some more activists were dismissed after this agitation. In order to defeat the Sara Ashrams Shantung, the company had to rely on the TTS leadership amongst other things. The TTS leadership, in the absence of over-whelming support of workers had to align with the management to defeat the Sara Ashrams Shantung. In the process the TTS leadership acquired privileges and concessions from the company that alienated them more and more from the workers.If workers were intimidated or strong-arm methods were used within the company premises the management looked the other way. Workers say the company actually circuited toughs to deal with the situation. Officers of the company deny this at times and at other times have Justified it saying strong-arm methods must be countered by strong-arm methods ‘sometimes'. The company also began to focus on what it describes as its welfare activities. Since 1981 there has been a sharp increase in industrial co-operatives of employees formed with the active support of the company.Between 1981 and 1987 the company has helped establish nine industrial cooperatives, for various purposes like recycling of scrap wood, conservancy, manufacturing safety shoes, printing, computer revise, felting, foundry-casting, battery cable assembly, welding, etc. Previously such societies were limited to helping widows of deceased employees, canteens and the like. Now it spilled over the industrial production. These co-operatives were intended to provide employment to the dependents and family members of the employees. The TTS leadership was the main agent for the implementation of these schemes.They therefore acquired enormous clout over the workers. Though out of a total workforce of 9,600, only 252 employees were members of the nine cooperatives formed between 1981 and 1987, and these cooperatives employed 698 rocker, the worker could always hope that by being on the right side of the TTS leadership, he could better the position of himself and his family. Besides it put enormous resources at the disposal of the TTS leadership. For the year 1987-88 alone the total turnover of these nine co-operatives was over RSI. 107 lack.The leadership of the TTS increasingly lost their identity as spokesmen of the workers. This got reflect ed in their style of functioning as union office-bearers. Issues were no longer represented on the basis of any clearest principles or rights, but on ad hoc basis. They were no longer resolved on the basis of the workers' strength but the clout of their office. Sometimes issues relating to production and shop floor problems were resolved satisfactorily, but most often they were not. It was an alienated leadership providing patchwork solutions.While these trends were developing within the TTS leadership, amongst the workers other developments were taking place. After the failure of the foundry workers' agitation, the workers began to look once again towards the internal union – the TTS. Leaders, Raja Nair and a few others who they perceived as being better. In the ginning of 1982, Raja Nair was elected general secretary of the TTS. Along with other members of the negotiating team, he too signed the 1981 settlement on wage revision. This settlement evoked widespread anger and r esentment among the workers.When compared to the increase in their productivity and the profits of the company the workers felt the settlement gave them very little. The 1979 settlement had revised the wages by between RSI 150 and RSI 210. The 1982 settlement had increased them by RSI. 350 to RSI. 370. Besides, the skill benefit and versatility benefits schemes had been modified to give more leverage to the management and o say to the union in matters relating to production. A large number of workers who gathered at the company's gate beat up the leaders and engaged in stone throwing.It is said that at this Juncture Raja Nair publicly admitted that he had signed the settlement under pressure from other committee members. He had been recruited in the company around 1979. When he became general secretary he had barely six year's service behind him. It is difficult at this Juncture to assess what subjective factors weighed with him in this turnabout. But from the point of view of under standing the Tells agitation this is hardly important. What is important is before the workers it refurnished his image as an honest leader.The workers at this stage needed a hero in whom they could concentrate their aspirations. The steps that the company took thereafter only reinforced that need and catapulted one individual into the position off hero. After the disturbances at the company's gate in September 1982, the company declared suspension of operations for over a week and demanded good conduct bonds from the workers. The workers gave this bond and returned to work. A few weeks after this the company suspended Raja Nair and after holding an enquiry smiled him from service in the beginning of 1983.To the company this was sure way to tackle rebellion. It had yielded results in the past, more particularly in 1977 and 1980 and there was no reason why it should not succeed this time. What the company did not take into account is the fact that the workers too were learning someth ing from their experiences and were growing more mature in their understanding of the company. Coincidentally it was during this time that Raja Nair himself was arrested in a murder charge. He was under trial for six months or so after which he was discharged for want of evidence.This factor added to his image as a leader capable of taking on the Tells management amongst the workers. The rebel group within the TTS now rallied under the banner of the Raja Nair Panel (RAN) and began working as a group. In December 1984 once again the TTS elections were held. In these elections RAN put up a panel of 20 candidates of whom 17 won the elections. In a committee of 42 members they were still a minority and from this point of time the RAN worked as a faction within the TTS. The RAN did not focus much on the wage revision agreement of 1985.They concentrated instead on building up grassroots organization. In order to do this, they first of all changed their style of functioning. Until now by v irtue of their working hours. The leaders were not required to work on the shop floor. They were given secretarial assistance by the company for their union work. The RAN decided they would not avail any of these privileges. They began to work on the shop floor. As a result, they were able to build up a rapport with the workers and tackle day-to-day shop floor problems directly. Workers too began to approach them for resolving day-to-day problems.Throughout the period between 1983 and 1987 the RAN focused on building grassroots support and organization. All this time Raja Nair was closely associated with the work of the activists of around 2,000 workers and staunch sympathizers of around 4,000 workers. Together with the fence-sitters the RAN had the overwhelming support of the Tells workers. In December 1987 when the TTS elections took place, the RAN put up a panel for all the seats. The RAN won 34 out of 42 seats. More significant was the fact that all the old leadership of the TTS lost badly in the elections.The language this new committee spoke was different. It actively took up issues on the shop floor. It questioned the supervisors on the methods of work distribution and allotment, on transfers and quantum of work and other issues. It must be mentioned here that the manner in which the productivity of the workers had been raised, as described above, required extensive supervision. The ratio of supervisors to workers is high in the company, roughly around 1:10. The supervisory staff rang the alarm and the management pushed the panic buttons. As a result a chain of events followed leading to the present impasse.At this stage it may be possible to argue that had the management shown greater statesmanship, balanced Judgment ND perceptiveness what followed need not have happened. But today this question will only be academic. In May 1988 the company suspended and later dismissed the vice president of the TTS. A group of workers went on a one-day hunger strike. The rest of the workers boycotted tea, snacks and lunch in the company's canteen as a mark of solidarity with the hunger strikers. In July 1988 the TTS held a general body meeting and decided to amend their constitution to allow admission to honorary members who were not Tells employees.Since there is a provision in the Trade Union Act which allows admission of honorary members, and there is nothing unusual or illegal about the amendment, the registrar of trade unions, Pun, allowed the amendments and registered the same. Raja Nair was then admitted as honorary member and elected working president. The wage agreement had in the meantime expired and the TTS now terminated the old agreement and submitted a fresh charter of demands. The management refused to speak to the negotiating committee on the ground that they would not deal with outsiders.Later the reasons for not talking to the committee kept changing giving rise to doubts among workers and the outside world of management's bon a fide. At this stage the government on its own motion referred the issue of wage revision for adjudication. As yet there was nothing to indicate that anything extra-ordinary company took the stand that the matters had been referred for adjudication to a tribunal by the government and so they would not negotiate with the new committee as the matter was subsidize. The workers were obviously not in agreement. Before Dalai of 1988 came the bonus issue.A large number of workers refused to accept bonus. The company declared 8. 33 per cent plus a production bonus of RSI. 1,207. 987-88 had been an excellent year for the company financially. Between 1985-86 when the last settlement was signed and 1987-88 when the next wage revision became due, turnover had gone up 37 per cent, net profits by 66 per cent from RSI. 16. 17 core to RSI. 26. 95 core and value added by 43 per cent. The workers could not therefore understand why only 8. 33 per cent was paid by way of statutory bonus. A large numbe r of workers (around 1,100) who had been lured into accepting the bonus returned the same.All these years the company had deducted the TTS subscription from the workers' wages and paid it to the TTS. This year the company refused to deduct the subscription. The TTS had to therefore organize a membership collection drive. It opened accounts in banks around the residential areas and called the workers to deposit the subscription amounts in those accounts. Workers began lining up in banks. By January 31, 3,811 members had paid subscriptions, by the end of February another 1,810 had paid and by the end of March a further 1,722. By now the company began suspending active supporters of the new committee.It Justified its action by saying that it would not tolerate indiscipline. Amongst the workers this argument had no takers because workers knew the company had allowed and tolerated far more indiscipline from the older committee. In the midst of all this the workers resorted too tool down strike in the beginning of January 1989. This agitation was peaceful and organized. On January 30, Rattan Data was to have visited the factory at Pun. On January 29 Raja Nair was suddenly detained by the police preventively under Section 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code.This action triggered a wave of anger. Though he had been detained on the January 29 the news spread to the factory on the 30th. The following day, when he was produced in court, rockers collected in the court premises spontaneously. The numbers began to swell. After arguments for his release, the Judgment was reserved for the next day and the police tried to whisk him away. But workers, whose number was swelling all the time, refused to let the Jeep go and resolved to sit in the court premises until the release of Raja Nair. The police then applied to the court and Raja Nair was released.In the meantime certain events happened outside the trade union scene in Tells which was to have a great impact on the Tells wor kers' struggle. In January 1989, the Trade Union Council was formed. In the past Joint action committees had been formed by the trade unions in Pun on the basis of events or issues. For sometime the idea that the Trade Union Council be constituted as permanent body had been suggested by a number of unions, but unions were also cautious since in the past joint councils tended to fizzle out after an agitation or campaign.For six to eight committee had fizzled out. In the meantime Baja] auto workers in Arranged were having their agitation and workers in Pun through a Joint action committee collected funds for the Arranged workers. During this time it was decided to form the trade onion council. The formation was announced on January 19, 1989 at a public meeting of over 20,000 workers and 31 organizations. The general mood of the Pun workers therefore was responsive to the Tells workers. Soon after the arrest and release of Raja Nair, the Tells Employees Union (TIES) was formed in Febru ary 1989.The company was all along saying they could not negotiate with the TTS because the matters were pending in court. Now TEE came out with a hand bill that the company was willing to negotiate with them. The members of the old committee who had lost in the TTS election were office-bearers of the TIES. The TEE then challenged the status of the TTS in the courts. Five office-bearers of the TTS went on a hunger strike outside the company and the workers boycotted canteen food in solidarity.On the intervention of Madman Banana, the ‘guardian minister' for Pun in the Maharajah's council of ministers, the hunger strike was withdrawn and assurances were made that their problems would be looked into by the government. The workers were under tremendous pressure to Join the TEE between middle of February and March but the membership of the TEE could not go beyond a few hundred. The company now started saying since the validity of the TTS elections was before the courts they would not talk to TTS unless the issue was decided.Within the company the atmosphere was tense and there was widespread feeling that the company would lock-out the factory. The leaders foots had prepared the workers and decided that nothing should be done in the company which may precipitate a lock-out even under gravest provocation. At this point on March 14, 1989, one of the office-bearers of the TTS was assaulted badly within the company premises by TEE members. Since the TTS had given strict instruction not to do anything that would precipitate a lock-out, the workers remained under control, but the anger had cached flash-point.The following day TEE members who were on their way to work were accosted and beaten up in various parts of the city. Now the company suspended around 70 – 75 persons of the TTS for engaging in violence. The company now began to say they would not talk to TTS because they had engaged in violence. However when things became too obvious the company suspend ed and charge-sheeted one of the office-bearers but continued to recognize the TIES. In the meantime the chief minister's statement in the Vida Saba that the Tells must talk to the TTS and government would mediate raised the hopes of the workers.The TTS in the meantime began to step up its organizational work and began holding meetings in the residential localities of workers. These meetings though intended for Tells workers were attended by other workers in the locality. The Tells agitation was spreading to those factories too. It appears that at this point other managements in the region began to get anxious about the developments in Tells and began to press for a resolution of the dispute there. On August 18 was the annual general meeting was seen as the architect of the industrial relation policy in Tells, was not given further extension after retirement.The company temporarily clubbed the responsibility of personnel with production by handing charge of industrial relations to t he works deputy director (auto division). All this also raised the hopes of the workers and gave a feeling that the changes reflected a reappraisal by the company. As a matter of fact tripartite meetings were fixed between TTS, the company and the government. Though nothing substantial came of it further meetings were fixed. Then suddenly the company signed a wage agreement within the TEE on September 19. By the wage agreement the company sought to give a rise of RSI. 85 on an average.Perhaps it was felt this would lure the workers into the fold of TEE. The company then sought to apply to the industrial tribunal to pass an award in terms of the agreement so that it binding on all the workers. The workers had reached a point of desperation. On September 20 the TTS organized a huge rally of Tells workers, where on the spot the workers decided to fast indefinitely. Around 6,000 workers are estimated to have gone on a indefinite hunger strike. This was in the middle of the city, and gen erated a massive wave of public sympathy. For the first time perhaps a racketing agency conducted an opinion poll on a workers' agitation.The opinion poll conducted by the Marketing and Econometric Consultancy Service revealed that 86 per cent of the respondents, all Pun citizens, were aware of the Tells issue, 82 per cent said they believed TTS was the majority union, 68 per cent felt workers were peaceful in their methods of agitation, 69 per cent felt the union was Justified in its agitation and 67 per cent felt the struggle of the Tells workers was for democratic rights. The Trade Union Council called for a one-day sympathy strike by Pun workers which was a complete success. Further tripartite negotiations had been fixed for October 1 .On September 29, the trade Union Council gave a call for demonstrations and street meetings in as many parts of the city as possible by the workers of other companies to draw attention on the Tells issue. The police used this as a pretext and swoo ped down on the hunger strikers and arrested over 4,000 Tells workers. Of these 2,000 were taken in buses and left off on the outskirts of the city, and 2,000 or so were taken into custody at places like Rating and Nashua. The TTS had been in quandary about how to call of the mass hunger strike without appearing to be back racking or weakening.The police action solved that problem. The company had not been too keen on the tripartite meeting and that problem too was resolved as no meeting could take place after the arrests. This triggered off a new wave of anger which spread throughout the city. The Trade Union Council called for an indefinite industrial strike of Pun workers. But the sight of Tells workers who had been on hunger strike for 10 days being beaten, pushed into buses and carried away evoked stone throwing and numerous incidents all over Source : Economic & Political Weekly, Industrial Relations The tolerance of the Tells workers suddenly gave way. The storm broke and wealth months the workforce, the management and the entire city of Pun were engulfed by this storm. Some attributed the cause to workers' leaders like Raja Nair, others to Tells officials like Unranked. The genesis of the phenomena however lay in the history of industrial relations in Tells over nearly fifteen years. Pun was one of the first industrial centre to be established pursuant to the policy of geographic relocation of industries away from established industrial centre in the aryl sixties.During the sixties a number of large engineering companies set up new Industries In the Pun region. Being predominantly engineering industries, the region attracted a large number of skilled workers from all over Maharajah's. This workforce was young, skilled, educated (being from technical training Institutes such as TIT and private Institutes); and there was a broad cultural homogeneity since most of them were Amaran th-speaking. Pun city, though not an industrial city to the sixties, has well established traditions of trade unionism amongst the municipal workers, the searchers and staff of other governmental bodies.Above all traditionally the workers in the engineering industry are known to be more militant and better organized. Basically this has to do with the nature of the work in the engineering industry, where man is invariably the master of the machine. Engineering Jobs require knowledge, perception, judgment, use of discretion and higher intellectual abilities, all of which results in a self-confident and assertive workforce. Added to all this Is the fact that the new workers coming to Pun had to find residential quarters on the outskirts of Pun. The suburban districts of Pun grew Into working class areas.Both better paid any badly paid workers' settlements grew within the same locates, leading to extensive social integration of the workforce. All this gave rise to strong traditions of u nity, solidarity and class sentiments in the most classical sense of the term. While the other industrial centre were plagued by trade union rivalries, political dissensions, and conflicts founded on caste, region and language Pun developed a tradition of class solidarity. In 1980, when the police fired on the rockers of Baja Auto, almost immediately the other factories closed in support, and a joint action committee was formed.Thereafter on most major events, ‘ad hoe trade union Joint action committees have cropped up. With the numerical strength of workers In Pun Increasing – today the city has 1. 75 to 2 lack industrial workers and, together with their families, they constitute 45-50 per cent of Pun's population – these traditions were reinforced In strength and Impact. The companies that came up in Pun region too developed a broad unified approach the first place they too like the workers were concentrated in one area. Besides, very few companies were in mutu al competition with one another.Many of them were keen to avoid the problems they had to confront in the older industrial centre like Bombay. One of the first things that almost every major company in the Pun region did right from the beginning was to ensure that no outsider, I. E. Professional trade unionist, established himself in Pun. These companies were established at a time when the fact of trade unionism as an inevitable aspect of industrial life had come to be accepted. In the Pun region formation of trade unions per SE never led to any ajar strife. The companies on the contrary encouraged their nascent workforce to form internal company unions.Barring a few exceptions the major pattern of trade union organization in the region is of internal unions with the workers themselves acting as office-bearers. In the mid-eighties Data Samoan from Bombay attempted a break-through but did not succeed. In a few companies unions affiliated to the Ship Seen and BGP tried to establish the ir unions but could not make any major headway. Against this backdrop, Tells is an Omni-present giant in the Pun region. Spread dead over a vast area, it employs, 8,500 blue collar workers, around 1,000 to 1,100 white collar workers, 2,000 supervisory staff and 2,500 engineers and officers.The average age off Tells worker is 32 years. Besides this a large number of ancillaries around Pun depend basically on Tells for their survival. It has been impossible to estimate the extent of mistranslation. Estimates vary from 400 units to 4,000 units. Besides, there is the consumption of goods and services by the company. To take one or two examples – the two industrial canteens at Tells employ 450 employees. The conservancy staff number around 450. Tells runs 110 buses on 265 routes. And all this growth has taken place over a span of 25 years.In keeping with the general pattern of industrial relations in the region, the company encouraged the formation of an internal trade union in th eir company. The new workforce formed the Tells Kamala Santayana (TTS), the very union with whom the company is refusing to negotiate today. The TTS was formed in February 1968 and was immediately recognized by the company. The constitution of the union provided amongst other things that the union will not have any outsider I. E. , a non-employee, as office-bearers. The elections were to be held once in every three years.It may be pointed out here that wage agreements are normally revised once in three years. It provided that workers would elect a council of 42 members and these 42 would then elect the office-bearers from amongst themselves. During this time the production in the company was growing rapidly. Normally in the older engineering industries Job classifications are precise. The content of each Job is described and evaluated, grades evolved, and quite often a worker could lawfully decline to do Job which were beyond the description or grade of his Job.Right from the beginn ing the company sought to avoid rigid classification of Job and to reserve for itself the absolute right to set up time standards, club Jobs, change production methods and systems and flexibility in the matter of deployment of workforce. This guarding its rights. Throughout, the growth in productivity was as a result of increased capacity utilization on the one hand and increase in the productivity of the workers on the other. The increase in productivity was mainly due to intensification of the workers' work output. Thus in 1980 the company produced 14,000 vehicles.This increased to 0,000 vehicles in 1988 (though the targeted production was 33,000). In 1981, 40 chassis were produced in a day, today it is 125 chassis. Throughout, the workforce remained constant. There was no major technological upgrading. The only areas where some technical modifications were made were in fatigue-related areas, I. E. Where fatigue of the workers reached a point where he became counter-productive. In order to facilitate this the company introduced a number of schemes designed to make optimum use of the workforce. In 1976, the TTS and the company Jointly finalized a skill benefit scheme.Under this scheme a worker could upgrade his skill and give required trade tests after which he would be entitled to two increments. Thereafter a versatility benefit scheme was introduced, whereby a workman who had learnt a new trade besides his own could after passing the requisite tests get three increments. All this made it possible for the company to utilize its workforce with complete flexibility after all, the company believed a worker during his work hours was at the company's disposal to get as much production from him as was possible..The internal leadership of the TTS could not perceive the impact of the company's policies. In 1976 it consented to the skill benefit scheme. The feeling spread amongst the workers that the union leadership was not standing up for their rights, while the ma nagement was asserting its rights. In the 1977 TTS elections the workers elected a new leadership which was perceived to be more militant. Under this leadership the workers conducted their first strike which went on for 22 days. This strike was against what is popularly described as ganging of machines and double designations.Ganging of machine meant that a worker who was until then required to load Jobs on one machine and attend to it was now required to load one bob on one machine and immediately attend to another machine or several machines depending on the nature of the Job before returning to the first one. Double designations meant one worker was called upon to do two Jobs. While the former method clubbed machines the latter clubbed Jobs. The state government intervened and referred the dispute for adjudication after which the strike was declared illegal. A number of activists were dismissed and other neutralized, and yet others won over.The workers attributed the failure of t he strike and the crushing of the TTS leadership to the absence of strong outside leadership and support. They then turned to the Sara Ashrams Shantung, a trade union affiliated to the Ala Ionians Party. The membership of the Sara Ashrams Shantung was not widespread over all shops and departments, and was concentrated in a few plants and departments. In 1980 the workers of the foundry section began agitation. Once again this was against work norms and methods. The company declared a lock-out of the foundry which other department workers in support of the foundry workers.The foundry workers' agitation fizzled out. The workers were compelled to give an undertaking of good conduct and report back to work. Some more activists were dismissed after this agitation. In order to defeat the Sara Ashrams Shantung, the company had to rely on the TTS leadership amongst other things. The TTS leadership, in the absence of over-whelming support of workers had to align with the management to defeat the Sara Ashrams Shantung. In the process the TTS leadership acquired privileges and concessions from the company that alienated them more and more from the workers.If workers were intimidated or strong-arm methods were used within the company premises the management looked the other way. Workers say the company actually circuited toughs to deal with the situation. Officers of the company deny this at times and at other times have Justified it saying strong-arm methods must be countered by strong-arm methods ‘sometimes'. The company also began to focus on what it describes as its welfare activities. Since 1981 there has been a sharp increase in industrial co-operatives of employees formed with the active support of the company.Between 1981 and 1987 the company has helped establish nine industrial cooperatives, for various purposes like recycling of scrap wood, conservancy, manufacturing safety shoes, printing, computer revise, felting, foundry-casting, battery cable assembly, welding, etc. Previously such societies were limited to helping widows of deceased employees, canteens and the like. Now it spilled over the industrial production. These co-operatives were intended to provide employment to the dependents and family members of the employees. The TTS leadership was the main agent for the implementation of these schemes.They therefore acquired enormous clout over the workers. Though out of a total workforce of 9,600, only 252 employees were members of the nine cooperatives formed between 1981 and 1987, and these cooperatives employed 698 rocker, the worker could always hope that by being on the right side of the TTS leadership, he could better the position of himself and his family. Besides it put enormous resources at the disposal of the TTS leadership. For the year 1987-88 alone the total turnover of these nine co-operatives was over RSI. 107 lack.The leadership of the TTS increasingly lost their identity as spokesmen of the workers. This got reflect ed in their style of functioning as union office-bearers. Issues were no longer represented on the basis of any clearest principles or rights, but on ad hoc basis. They were no longer resolved on the basis of the workers' strength but the clout of their office. Sometimes issues relating to production and shop floor problems were resolved satisfactorily, but most often they were not. It was an alienated leadership providing patchwork solutions.While these trends were developing within the TTS leadership, amongst the workers other developments were taking place. After the failure of the foundry workers' agitation, the workers began to look once again towards the internal union – the TTS. Leaders, Raja Nair and a few others who they perceived as being better. In the ginning of 1982, Raja Nair was elected general secretary of the TTS. Along with other members of the negotiating team, he too signed the 1981 settlement on wage revision. This settlement evoked widespread anger and r esentment among the workers.When compared to the increase in their productivity and the profits of the company the workers felt the settlement gave them very little. The 1979 settlement had revised the wages by between RSI 150 and RSI 210. The 1982 settlement had increased them by RSI. 350 to RSI. 370. Besides, the skill benefit and versatility benefits schemes had been modified to give more leverage to the management and o say to the union in matters relating to production. A large number of workers who gathered at the company's gate beat up the leaders and engaged in stone throwing.It is said that at this Juncture Raja Nair publicly admitted that he had signed the settlement under pressure from other committee members. He had been recruited in the company around 1979. When he became general secretary he had barely six year's service behind him. It is difficult at this Juncture to assess what subjective factors weighed with him in this turnabout. But from the point of view of under standing the Tells agitation this is hardly important. What is important is before the workers it refurnished his image as an honest leader.The workers at this stage needed a hero in whom they could concentrate their aspirations. The steps that the company took thereafter only reinforced that need and catapulted one individual into the position off hero. After the disturbances at the company's gate in September 1982, the company declared suspension of operations for over a week and demanded good conduct bonds from the workers. The workers gave this bond and returned to work. A few weeks after this the company suspended Raja Nair and after holding an enquiry smiled him from service in the beginning of 1983.To the company this was sure way to tackle rebellion. It had yielded results in the past, more particularly in 1977 and 1980 and there was no reason why it should not succeed this time. What the company did not take into account is the fact that the workers too were learning someth ing from their experiences and were growing more mature in their understanding of the company. Coincidentally it was during this time that Raja Nair himself was arrested in a murder charge. He was under trial for six months or so after which he was discharged for want of evidence.This factor added to his image as a leader capable of taking on the Tells management amongst the workers. The rebel group within the TTS now rallied under the banner of the Raja Nair Panel (RAN) and began working as a group. In December 1984 once again the TTS elections were held. In these elections RAN put up a panel of 20 candidates of whom 17 won the elections. In a committee of 42 members they were still a minority and from this point of time the RAN worked as a faction within the TTS. The RAN did not focus much on the wage revision agreement of 1985.They concentrated instead on building up grassroots organization. In order to do this, they first of all changed their style of functioning. Until now by v irtue of their working hours. The leaders were not required to work on the shop floor. They were given secretarial assistance by the company for their union work. The RAN decided they would not avail any of these privileges. They began to work on the shop floor. As a result, they were able to build up a rapport with the workers and tackle day-to-day shop floor problems directly. Workers too began to approach them for resolving day-to-day problems.Throughout the period between 1983 and 1987 the RAN focused on building grassroots support and organization. All this time Raja Nair was closely associated with the work of the activists of around 2,000 workers and staunch sympathizers of around 4,000 workers. Together with the fence-sitters the RAN had the overwhelming support of the Tells workers. In December 1987 when the TTS elections took place, the RAN put up a panel for all the seats. The RAN won 34 out of 42 seats. More significant was the fact that all the old leadership of the TTS lost badly in the elections.The language this new committee spoke was different. It actively took up issues on the shop floor. It questioned the supervisors on the methods of work distribution and allotment, on transfers and quantum of work and other issues. It must be mentioned here that the manner in which the productivity of the workers had been raised, as described above, required extensive supervision. The ratio of supervisors to workers is high in the company, roughly around 1:10. The supervisory staff rang the alarm and the management pushed the panic buttons. As a result a chain of events followed leading to the present impasse.At this stage it may be possible to argue that had the management shown greater statesmanship, balanced Judgment ND perceptiveness what followed need not have happened. But today this question will only be academic. In May 1988 the company suspended and later dismissed the vice president of the TTS. A group of workers went on a one-day hunger strike. The rest of the workers boycotted tea, snacks and lunch in the company's canteen as a mark of solidarity with the hunger strikers. In July 1988 the TTS held a general body meeting and decided to amend their constitution to allow admission to honorary members who were not Tells employees.Since there is a provision in the Trade Union Act which allows admission of honorary members, and there is nothing unusual or illegal about the amendment, the registrar of trade unions, Pun, allowed the amendments and registered the same. Raja Nair was then admitted as honorary member and elected working president. The wage agreement had in the meantime expired and the TTS now terminated the old agreement and submitted a fresh charter of demands. The management refused to speak to the negotiating committee on the ground that they would not deal with outsiders.Later the reasons for not talking to the committee kept changing giving rise to doubts among workers and the outside world of management's bon a fide. At this stage the government on its own motion referred the issue of wage revision for adjudication. As yet there was nothing to indicate that anything extra-ordinary company took the stand that the matters had been referred for adjudication to a tribunal by the government and so they would not negotiate with the new committee as the matter was subsidize. The workers were obviously not in agreement. Before Dalai of 1988 came the bonus issue.A large number of workers refused to accept bonus. The company declared 8. 33 per cent plus a production bonus of RSI. 1,207. 987-88 had been an excellent year for the company financially. Between 1985-86 when the last settlement was signed and 1987-88 when the next wage revision became due, turnover had gone up 37 per cent, net profits by 66 per cent from RSI. 16. 17 core to RSI. 26. 95 core and value added by 43 per cent. The workers could not therefore understand why only 8. 33 per cent was paid by way of statutory bonus. A large numbe r of workers (around 1,100) who had been lured into accepting the bonus returned the same.All these years the company had deducted the TTS subscription from the workers' wages and paid it to the TTS. This year the company refused to deduct the subscription. The TTS had to therefore organize a membership collection drive. It opened accounts in banks around the residential areas and called the workers to deposit the subscription amounts in those accounts. Workers began lining up in banks. By January 31, 3,811 members had paid subscriptions, by the end of February another 1,810 had paid and by the end of March a further 1,722. By now the company began suspending active supporters of the new committee.It Justified its action by saying that it would not tolerate indiscipline. Amongst the workers this argument had no takers because workers knew the company had allowed and tolerated far more indiscipline from the older committee. In the midst of all this the workers resorted too tool down strike in the beginning of January 1989. This agitation was peaceful and organized. On January 30, Rattan Data was to have visited the factory at Pun. On January 29 Raja Nair was suddenly detained by the police preventively under Section 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code.This action triggered a wave of anger. Though he had been detained on the January 29 the news spread to the factory on the 30th. The following day, when he was produced in court, rockers collected in the court premises spontaneously. The numbers began to swell. After arguments for his release, the Judgment was reserved for the next day and the police tried to whisk him away. But workers, whose number was swelling all the time, refused to let the Jeep go and resolved to sit in the court premises until the release of Raja Nair. The police then applied to the court and Raja Nair was released.In the meantime certain events happened outside the trade union scene in Tells which was to have a great impact on the Tells wor kers' struggle. In January 1989, the Trade Union Council was formed. In the past Joint action committees had been formed by the trade unions in Pun on the basis of events or issues. For sometime the idea that the Trade Union Council be constituted as permanent body had been suggested by a number of unions, but unions were also cautious since in the past joint councils tended to fizzle out after an agitation or campaign.For six to eight committee had fizzled out. In the meantime Baja] auto workers in Arranged were having their agitation and workers in Pun through a Joint action committee collected funds for the Arranged workers. During this time it was decided to form the trade onion council. The formation was announced on January 19, 1989 at a public meeting of over 20,000 workers and 31 organizations. The general mood of the Pun workers therefore was responsive to the Tells workers. Soon after the arrest and release of Raja Nair, the Tells Employees Union (TIES) was formed in Febru ary 1989.The company was all along saying they could not negotiate with the TTS because the matters were pending in court. Now TEE came out with a hand bill that the company was willing to negotiate with them. The members of the old committee who had lost in the TTS election were office-bearers of the TIES. The TEE then challenged the status of the TTS in the courts. Five office-bearers of the TTS went on a hunger strike outside the company and the workers boycotted canteen food in solidarity.On the intervention of Madman Banana, the ‘guardian minister' for Pun in the Maharajah's council of ministers, the hunger strike was withdrawn and assurances were made that their problems would be looked into by the government. The workers were under tremendous pressure to Join the TEE between middle of February and March but the membership of the TEE could not go beyond a few hundred. The company now started saying since the validity of the TTS elections was before the courts they would not talk to TTS unless the issue was decided.Within the company the atmosphere was tense and there was widespread feeling that the company would lock-out the factory. The leaders foots had prepared the workers and decided that nothing should be done in the company which may precipitate a lock-out even under gravest provocation. At this point on March 14, 1989, one of the office-bearers of the TTS was assaulted badly within the company premises by TEE members. Since the TTS had given strict instruction not to do anything that would precipitate a lock-out, the workers remained under control, but the anger had cached flash-point.The following day TEE members who were on their way to work were accosted and beaten up in various parts of the city. Now the company suspended around 70 – 75 persons of the TTS for engaging in violence. The company now began to say they would not talk to TTS because they had engaged in violence. However when things became too obvious the company suspend ed and charge-sheeted one of the office-bearers but continued to recognize the TIES. In the meantime the chief minister's statement in the Vida Saba that the Tells must talk to the TTS and government would mediate raised the hopes of the workers.The TTS in the meantime began to step up its organizational work and began holding meetings in the residential localities of workers. These meetings though intended for Tells workers were attended by other workers in the locality. The Tells agitation was spreading to those factories too. It appears that at this point other managements in the region began to get anxious about the developments in Tells and began to press for a resolution of the dispute there. On August 18 was the annual general meeting was seen as the architect of the industrial relation policy in Tells, was not given further extension after retirement.The company temporarily clubbed the responsibility of personnel with production by handing charge of industrial relations to t he works deputy director (auto division). All this also raised the hopes of the workers and gave a feeling that the changes reflected a reappraisal by the company. As a matter of fact tripartite meetings were fixed between TTS, the company and the government. Though nothing substantial came of it further meetings were fixed. Then suddenly the company signed a wage agreement within the TEE on September 19. By the wage agreement the company sought to give a rise of RSI. 85 on an average.Perhaps it was felt this would lure the workers into the fold of TEE. The company then sought to apply to the industrial tribunal to pass an award in terms of the agreement so that it binding on all the workers. The workers had reached a point of desperation. On September 20 the TTS organized a huge rally of Tells workers, where on the spot the workers decided to fast indefinitely. Around 6,000 workers are estimated to have gone on a indefinite hunger strike. This was in the middle of the city, and gen erated a massive wave of public sympathy. For the first time perhaps a racketing agency conducted an opinion poll on a workers' agitation.The opinion poll conducted by the Marketing and Econometric Consultancy Service revealed that 86 per cent of the respondents, all Pun citizens, were aware of the Tells issue, 82 per cent said they believed TTS was the majority union, 68 per cent felt workers were peaceful in their methods of agitation, 69 per cent felt the union was Justified in its agitation and 67 per cent felt the struggle of the Tells workers was for democratic rights. The Trade Union Council called for a one-day sympathy strike by Pun workers which was a complete success. Further tripartite negotiations had been fixed for October 1 .On September 29, the trade Union Council gave a call for demonstrations and street meetings in as many parts of the city as possible by the workers of other companies to draw attention on the Tells issue. The police used this as a pretext and swoo ped down on the hunger strikers and arrested over 4,000 Tells workers. Of these 2,000 were taken in buses and left off on the outskirts of the city, and 2,000 or so were taken into custody at places like Rating and Nashua. The TTS had been in quandary about how to call of the mass hunger strike without appearing to be back racking or weakening.The police action solved that problem. The company had not been too keen on the tripartite meeting and that problem too was resolved as no meeting could take place after the arrests. This triggered off a new wave of anger which spread throughout the city. The Trade Union Council called for an indefinite industrial strike of Pun workers. But the sight of Tells workers who had been on hunger strike for 10 days being beaten, pushed into buses and carried away evoked stone throwing and numerous incidents all over Source : Economic & Political Weekly,