For the Management of any multinational company that is trying to operate in India, the Union could be either an asset or a thorn in the feet that threatens to poses hurdles in the path to progress. The management would be right to assume that it would be better off without a union to deal with, at the same time it makes prudent decision making to be prepared for the occurrence of a union in its situation assessment frame. The IR policy of the organization in this regard should be one that either tries to avoid the advent of a union, or in the case were the advent in inevitable, the rolling out of initiatives that renders the union causeless in the near future.

International unions (of the MNC) seek to mobilize their Indian counterparts for the following reasons

1. Workers’ Rights and Organizing, like – freedom of association and ILO core conventions, gender equality, youth development, organizing informal economy and atypical workers, industrial relations and multinational companies, migrant workers
2. Decent Work and Social Protection like – working conditions, employment protection, occupational health and safety, environmental protection for sustainable development, elimination of child labor

The management must then preempt the issues mentioned above to dis-incentivize the forming of unions.

The Rationale that the International Unions may be trying to sell – “Workers in Indian plants of the company must enjoy similar kind of treatment that the workers in France or Germany are enjoying – with liberal working hours and increased pay”

The Rationale that the management must try to sell – While the growth rate in European countries is languishing between 0.5% and 3.5%, the revenues in India are projected to grow at thrice that rate. Thus the concept of ‘right’ being sold by the Unions in Europe can be bought off with the concept of ‘opportunity’ in the Indian context.

Strategy – “The phenomenon of collectivization must be countered by creating an atmosphere of individualization”

Case 1: The way to deter unionization

This case already presents the management with the ideal profile of workforce that can be easily and smoothly inducted in to a non-union way of life. This can be achieved systematically by ensuring that further recruitment is done on the lines of what is mentioned in the next case. There must be special onsite lessons for the employees that would advise them on how to prudently invest their earning so that they are secured for the future. There must also be other recreational facilities that must be extended to the families of workers to reel them into a life that is relatively more comfortable – perhaps sports lessons for the children, or outings for the families etc. Once the employee is committed into a investment plan, and his family has bought into the organization, he becomes more individual, and hence his tendency to collectivize reduces.

Case 2: The advent of unions is inevitable, but must be rendered causeless

In areas where the incentive to operate is the low costs, it does not make sense to completely give in to the union demands, instead the management must realize the fact that most of the young workforce are acquainted to each other (possibly, they are locals from local ITIs) and would easily collectivize. Hence the management must introduce programs that would enable the youth to upgrade their education. This maybe done in partnership with an educational institute, and the workers may be incentivized to pursue this path by promise of promotions and pay hikes. By making the workforce educated the management is creating an informed individualized manpower that would refrain from collectivizing.