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Unit 7: Industrial Relations

legislation and increased government intervention, a proposition to which most employers, Notes
and also many trade unions, in the region would object as a matter of principle. So the only
remedy is to improve the practical application of basic agreements by delegating more
power and authority to the central bodies of employers’ and workers’ organizations.”
The desire to formulate and practice a tripartite approach to the solution of social policy
issues depends very much on the existence of a value system in a society which underpins
the whole system, and reflects an acceptance of the principles of cooperation, consultation
and, most important, pluralism. Such a value system generally operates in the industrialized
market economies. In societies where a tradition of democracy is absent so is tripartism, or
else it tends to be a cosmetic exercise.

The contribution which tripartism can make to the establishment of a sound industrial
relations system can hardly be over-emphasized. Tripartism’s rationale is to be found in the
principle of democracy, the essence of which is a sharing or diffusion of power flowing from
the encouragement or recognition of various pressure groups in a society as an effective
safeguard against the centralization of power. It has been aptly remarked that “every source
of independent power in a democracy is part of its strength, so long as it can be guided to
seek its outlet through the democratic political system”. Tripartism as a process is a part of
a pluralistic outlook on society through which stability is maintained, freedom of association
being the sine qua non, because without the right of association the interest groups in a
society cannot function effectively. As expressed by H.A. Clegg, “Pluralism’s theme is that
men associate together to further their common interests and desires; their associations exert
pressure on each other and on the government; the concessions which follow help to bind
society together; thereafter stability is maintained by further concessions and adjustments
as new associations emerge and power shifts from one group to another.”
Acceptance of the principle of sharing power entails recognition of the fact that capital and
labour represent two important pressure groups in society, if for no other reason than that
both of them taken together are the principal providers of goods and services and wealth-
creators in a market economy.

Tripartism, the provision on tripartism as state policy was not originally
contained in the Labor Code when it was first adopted in 1974. It was
only a sometime later, through Presidential Decree No. 850, which took
effect on December 16, 1975, that the Labor Code categorically adopted
tripartism as a state policy.

7.3.3 The Role of the Law
Industrial relations systems are founded on a framework of labour law which exerts an
influence on the nature of the industrial relations system. However, recourse to the law and
its potential to influence the resulting industrial relations system may sometimes be over-
emphasized. It is useful, therefore, to examine, from three points of view, the role of the
law in influencing an industrial relations system what its objectives should be and the areas
it should cover, as well as what the law cannot achieve.
In any working situation people need to cooperate with each other if there is to be maximum
gain to themselves, to management and to society as a whole. Cooperation, however, is not
easily obtained as people working together have conflicting interests. Employees are primarily
concerned with the security of their jobs and what they can earn, and the employer with what
he can produce as cheapor as possible to obtain the maximum profit. When these conflicting
interests have taken definite form and shape, the State has often stepped into protect some
of these interests through legal control. Labour law has amply demonstrated the sociological
theory that “Law is a social institution which seeks to balance conflicting interests and to

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