Which Theory, or Theories of Industrial Conflict, If Any, Can Explain the State of Industrial Conflict in Singapore. Justify Your Answer.
Essay Preview: Which Theory, or Theories of Industrial Conflict, If Any, Can Explain the State of Industrial Conflict in Singapore. Justify Your Answer.
Report this essay
Industrial conflict refers to all kinds of dissatisfaction experienced by
a group of employees within the working environment. This particularly
pertains to the terms and conditions stated in the employment contract. The
industrial relations system in Singapore has often been described as a
tripartite system where the government plays an important role in
coordinating and balancing task in labour- management relations (Rowley and
Benson, 2000). It is more pluralistic in nature when we are looking at
Singapore industrial relations. In actual fact, there is no one straight
forward theory that explains industrial conflict in Singapore. As a result,
we might need to use a few theories to explain the industrial conflict.
When reviewing Petzall theories on industrial conflict, these are the three
theories that are closely link to Singapore industrial conflict; namely
strikes as a product of industrialisation (Ross and Hartman), strikes as a
product of political factors (Korpi and Shalev) and strikes as a product of
institutionalisation (Clegg). Firstly, strikes belong to a form of overt
which also includes lockouts, pickets and bans. Overt is highly noticeable,
direct and aimed at gaining the maximum attention. It is also an organised
conflict. In view of theories regarding strikes as a product of
Industrialisation, Ross and Hartmans (1960) theory states that industrial
relations system is influenced by the pattern of strikes in any given
country, which is one of the most important theories. The four different
“patterns” of industrial nations are classified according to geographical
regions. They are known as North European (type 1), North European (type
2), Mediterranean/ Asian (type 3) and North American (type 4) (Petzall,
Abbott and Timo, 2007). Generally, all the theories except
Mediterranean/Asian are applicable to Singapore system where they are able
to explain the strong labour movement and government involvement in
settling conflicts. In the case of Singapore, this is mainly due to the
presence of National Trade Unions Congress (NTUC) which is the sole
national trade union federation in Singapore. From National Trade Unions
Congress website it showed that they have served 335 cases in 2010 and they
had 540,169 members at June in 2009. These figures are able to justify that
Singapore trade unions were not poorly patronized and did not have unstable
memberships. Secondly, we look at strikes as a product of political
factors, Korpi and Shalev (1979) where it concludes that countries that
have lower levels of strike activity is when labour movements have acquired
political power. In addition for this to happen, political power of the
labour movement had to be secure and enduring. This is the current
situation in Singapore as mention in above, Singapore belongs to pluralist
who implies that conflict should be resolved by the government unlike
unitary. Unitary perceive conflict as disruptive and workplace should be
characterised by harmony (Sheldrake, 2003). National Trade Unions Congress
is virtually a branch of government, two out of the five presidents had
been prominent in the labour movement as National Trade Unions Congresss
secretaries-general since independence. (Benson, 2008). Furthermore,
National Trade Unions Congress has grown steadily as compared to the past
and secured the dominating position in the labour movement with government
support. Since then, relationship that was used to be conflict orientated
has now become negotiation orientated. (Liu & Siu, 2004). The relationships
among labour, employer and government have also achieved harmony. As a
result of the harmonized relationship, this has also help contributed to
the low incidence of strikes in Singapore. To further support Korpi and
Shalev theory, National Trade Unions Congress was created in 1960s and it
is said that since1978 there has been no reports on strikes with the
exception of a two days action in 1986 ( Eur, 2002 ). The following
statistic is provided by Statistic Singapore is able to support the above
statement that in the recent years, industrial disputes was nil from 1977
to 2010. The reason behind this good track record of nil industrial
disputes over the years could be the strong control over organized labour
in Singapore. At the same time, not forgetting the dramatic tightening of
labour legislation in Singapore made it extremely difficult for employees
to organize a strike in Singapore. (Le Blanc, 2008). As such, with the
garner of government support, the likelihood of strike occurring in
Singapore is lower. This could also mean that as an industrial tribunal,
National