2. The style of management of government in differentcountries
can also be anywhere on the scale, from fullyauthoritarian at one
end of the scale to fully participative(policy decided by the
people) at the other end. Under participative, government and
democracy thegovernment and leadership put into effect the wishes
ofthe people, the policy decided by delegates directlyappointed by
and directly responsible and accountable tothe people. 3. Works
committees & Joint consultation started in 1945under legal
sanctions prescribing that all non-stateorganization must have
works committees. These bodies perform advisory &
administrative functionsby offering valuable suggestions on
increasingproduction,fixing prices etc 4. Australian Representative
Employee Participation has beenhistorically focused on Trade
unionism. Non union forms of employee representation are
lessinstitutionalized then in other industrialized countries &
nolegislation exists for work councils. Employee share ownership
(ESO) schemes was operated inAustralia since at least the 1950s,
despite only having beenspecially targeted in federal legislation
since 1974. There is no mandated form for ESO schemes in
Australia.On the whole, Australia is not far away from the United
Statesas regards the right to strike.However, in Australia strikes
are illegal since arbitration iscompulsory. This places Australia
close to the USA but alsocloser to the authoritarian style of
management. 5. In UK the term works council does not have the
samespecific meaning as in other countries: in the UK it coversa
wide range of committees at workplace level, possiblyinvolving only
trade unionists, joint committees ofunionists and managers, and
non-union committees ofmanagers and employee representatives.
Agreements between management and unions becameenforceable at law
which meant damages could beclaimed, it being possible to prosecute
unofficial strikeleaders. Before the Act, there was no legal
limitation to the right tostrike but ownership was private so that
the UK occupiedroughly first position. 6. In a widely sense, the
term may be applied to all forms ofworkers involvement in
managerial decision-taking atany level that fall short of outright
workers control. Consultation is a process of discussion and
debatebetween unions and employers, or between employersand
employees, usually distinguished from collectivebargaining and
negotiation.It does not imply a process of bargaining,
compromiseand joint agreement but is rather a means through
whichemployers seek views before deciding on action. 7. Japan is a
democratic country. Life is in many waysrestrained, stylised and
formal. Strikes are legal andthe workforce does strike. Japan is
fairly authoritarian in its style ofmanagement. There is little or
no power sharing.People have the right to strike but striking is
limitedby the Japanese equivalent of the Western fear ofthe sack,
by pressure to conform. In Japan represetative participation for
employeeswas based largely on the presence of enterpriseunions, the
dominant form of unionism after WorldWar II. Management councils,
or joint consultationcommittees, include management and employee 8.
collective bargaining mostly takes place at enterpriselevel,
industrial relations within an enterprise being themost important
part of the Japanese industrial relationssystem. There is no doubt
that collective bargaining is avery important form of worker
participation in thecompanys decision- making process. There are
many statutory provisions requiring theemployer to acquire the
consent of the employeesrepresentatives. 9. Any Chinese institution
down to a primary school or smallfactory had been run by a
revolutionary committeeconsisting of veteran administrators,
representatives ofthe younger staff and often military men as well.
But during the previous few years they had been used tochallenge
the parallel party committees. The lives of all citizens are in the
hands of the state and itseems that the Chinese worker lives all
his life inside hiscommune and that the quality of life - how well
he istreated - depends largely on the leadership of thecommune. 10.
Authority is clearly centered at the top and strikes areillegal.
The right to strike is not recognized in the SovietUnion. It
appears that co-operation with management isenforced and that the
collective contract between theadministration and the workers does
not necessarily offerreal job security. Rewards include prizes such
as publiccommendation, certificates of merit, bonuses or gifts
ofvalue.The workers right to participate in the management ofthe
enterprise (plant, establishment) directly or throughtheir
representative bodies.Restructuring covers a multitude of different
forms of re-organizing the activities of the enterprise, many of
which have serious 11. Main forms of workers participation are the
following: a) Taking account by the employer of the opinion of
theworkers representative body in cases specificallyenvisaged in
the LC or collective agreements; b) Employers consultations with
the workersrepresentatives on the matters concerning the adoptionof
the local normative legal acts;c) participation of the workers
representatives in collectivebargaining;d) other forms provided for
by the LC, collectiveagreements or enterprise level regulations 12.
The United States is a democratic country and it ismore difficult
to determine to what extent authority iscentred at the top and to
what extent it is balanced bythe authority of the working
population exercising theirpower through the withdrawal of their
labourA workplace program often referred to synonymouslywith
quality of working life, quality circles, and labour-management
participation teams, which seeks toimprove organizational
performance through increasedinvolvement of employees in
organizational decisions. In the US tradition, collective
bargaining represents aneffective form of representative
participation. 13. In the USA there is no legislation providing for
workscouncil-type structures or board-level employeerepresentation.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Act(1970), passed
to assure every working man or womanin the nation safe and
healthful working conditions,employers are legally obligated to
provide employeeswith a safe and healthy environment. In the USA
there is no legislation requiring employers toinform, consult, or
negotiate with employees overrestructuring, with the exception of
the stipulation in theWorker Adjustment and Retraining Notification
Act(WARN Act, 1988) that larger companies must give 60days notice
of plant closures or mass redundancies. 14. The works constitution
forms the basis for the institutionof employee representation
bodies within establishments,and their rights and obligations. As
the form of institutionalized representation of interestsfor
employees within an establishment, the works councilis an organ of
the works constitution. The concept of co-determination refers to
two distinctlevels and forms of employee participation:
co-determination at establishment level by the works counciland
co-determination above establishment level, on thesupervisory board
of companies, which is the mainsubject of this entry. Staff council
is the equivalent in the public sector of theworks council in the
private sector. 15. A term referring to the participation of the
employees of acompany in its equity capital or profits.
Employeesfrequently acquire shares in equity capital by way
ofinvestment made possible by capital-forming paymentsor
profit-sharing schemes. West Germany has had worker participation
in the coaland steel industries since 1951. The extent
ofrepresentation was 50:50 but apparently in largercompanies the
shareholders had two-thirds and workersone-third of the votes on
these policy-making (that issupervisory) boards. The system has
worked well andhelped to maintain good industrial relations in this
keyarea. 16. EVALUATION OF WPM ABROAD 17. In 1982 Tisco celebrated
the first silver jubilee of workersparticipation scheme. Right from
its inspection,TISCO finally believed inachieving success through
employee involvement &participation in organisational work. To
regulate employer-employee relations,two forums areconsistently put
to use.ie,wage related issues throughcollective bargaining issues
forums & safety. Since 1957,wpm at TISCO has been functioning
at twolevels.- One to discuss production & productivity
issues.- Other to discuss safety & welfare matters. 18. The
concept of codetermination in Germany in its formalsense,had its
origin as early as in 1835 when prof.VanMohl,National
Economist,advocated for the association ofworkers representatives
in industry as their spokesmen. Voluntary works council were setup
in Germany in four printingworks way in 1850. In 1933,Hitler banned
all trade organisations & replaced themwith Workers Front. The
present system of co-determination had its real originwhen the
trade union was revived after second world war. The trade union
demand for parity co-determination led to thepassing of
co-determination act of 1951. In april 1976,all the parties
concerne came to an agreement &a new law was passed extending
co-determination to allindustries. The law came into force in 1976.
19. Now co-determination has taken deep roots in the former federal
republic of Germany.Under German law,eacch company has a two tier
board system-supervisory board & management board.1.General
meeting2.Supervisory board3.Board of management4.Workss council 20.
The workers self management in Yugoslavia dates backto 1949 when
president Marshal Tito dissented from theRussian authority. He
emphasised the need for development of adistinctively Yugoslavian
system with a completedeparture from that of the bureacratic
Russian system ofstate ownership. In fact,the system of social
ownership in Yugoslaviadiffers from most othe socialists society as
a whole themanagement of an enterprise is delegated by society
tothe workers collective-those people who work in it &create
social wealth. 21. The main aim of Yugoslavia self management is
defined in premable of the constitution as the Liberation of
work.The major institutions under Yugoslavians model are:1. Workers
Council2. The Management Board3. The Director4. The Peoples
Committee 22. In Australia: representative employee participation
(REP) Joint consultative committees (JCCs). National Occupational
Health and SafetyCommission (NOHSC).In Belgium: Works council
system is highly developed in Belgiumby law.In Finland: Cooperation
within Undertakings Act (1978), the Act on Personnel Funds (1989)
and the Act on the Representation of the Personnel inthe
Administration of Enterprises (1990). 23. THANK YOU
