University of Economic and Finance
Subject: Employment Relations
FINAL REPORT Lecturer: Tran Trung Nam
LEGO GROUP Member:
Thai Tuong Vy
Vuong Thi Uyen Nhi
Le Minh Bao Thy
Nguyen Hoang Mai Thy
Nguyen Trieu Khanh Vy
Dong Thi Duyen
Le Ngoc Nhi
Nguyen Thi Kim Cuong
University Of Economic and Finance Employment Relations Group: Lego
CONTENTS
II. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 2
III. SUMMARY OF EVENTS ................................................................................................ 2
IV. LITERATURE REVIEW AND ARGUMENTS............................................................ 3
A. LITERATURE REVIEW ......................................................................................................... 3
B. ARGUMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 4
From a pluralist perspective ............................................................................................... 4
From a radicalism perspective ........................................................................................... 5
IV. RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................. 5
V. CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................. 6
VI. REFERENCE .................................................................................................................... 6
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II. INTRODUCTION
In order to better comprehend and analyze workplace relations, industrial relations experts have identified
three main theoretical viewpoints or frameworks. Unitarianism, pluralism, and radicalism are the three
theories under the statement. Each has a unique perspective on how employees interact at work, which
influences how they view things like workplace conflict, the function of unions, and employment policy. The
evidence of low pay, poverty, work intensification, work-life balance, and unstable employment indicates that
there appears to be a decline in the quality of jobs, which is a major issue in the development of labor relations
at work. Another matter of concern is the transfer of funds from people at the bottom of the income distribution
to those at the top, which occurs both within and between occupations. Using the most recent event, the strike
in France that started in October 2022 when workers walked out over pay and cost of living, we will
demonstrate the evidence for and effectively solve those problems from three main theoretical viewpoints or
frameworks in this report.
III. SUMMARY OF EVENTS
In his article, "France begins a nationwide strike amid soaring inflation," Reuters (2022) revealed the reason
for the strike in France: asking for higher salaries amid decades-high inflation and as energy companies reap
huge profits. The walkout is a continuation of the weeks-long industrial action that has affected France's main
refineries (three refineries for Total Energy and ExxonMobil remained closed) and put a strain on the country's
transportation system. In his article "France strikes: Transport hit amid nationwide walkout over pay and cost
of living" Alasdair Sandford (2022) showed that the profits of huge firms are exploding, like Total Energy's,
which between April and June this year over doubled to €5.85bn because the state war pushes up world
wholesale energy costs. However, workers are being told their pay can't be increased because there's no cash.
Besides, French shopper costs in October rose at their fastest pace since 1985, driven by rising energy, food,
and manufactured merchandise costs. Specifically, food costs grew by nearly 12 percent, dealing a blow to
the least-well-off households that spend a larger share of their monthly budget at supermarkets. This news by
Alasdair Sandford (2022) also showed that around 150–200 demonstrations were proclaimed for the day
everywhere in France by the CGT trade union. Additionally, the left-wing union CGT called for the strike to
continue into a fourth week at Total Energies, although the oil company reached a more moderate agreement,
including a 7% pay increase and bonuses on October 14, with employees and other unions. Meanwhile, CGT
asked for a 10% salary increase, citing inflation and the company's huge profits. In his article, "France begins
a nationwide strike amid soaring inflation”, Reuters (2022) revealed that French President Emmanuel Macron
suggested that Total executives consider the "legitimate need for a raise" of workers while also calling for the
"responsibility" of unions in the petroleum supply industry by deciding to force some of them to return to
work at petrol depots to get fuel flowing again and quickly stabilize the situation in the country.
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IV. LITERATURE REVIEW AND ARGUMENTS
A. Literature review
In Unitarianism, the group is seen as a peaceful, integrated whole, or as one big happy family. According to
Nick (2010), the unitary approach's fundamental premise is that management, employees, and all other
organization members share the same objectives, ambitions, and intentions and collaborate to achieve these
goals. Additionally, unionism has a paternalistic stance in which it requires devotion from every worker.
According to Fox (1966a), conflict is regarded as disruptive and trade unions as superfluous. The unitary
framework contends that knowledge gaps and poor communication of management's policies are to blame for
staff-management conflicts (Kesler and Purcell, 2003). Each employee's personal goals should be explored
with them and taken into account when determining how best to manage the company.
The pluralists acknowledge the significance of trade unions in maintaining a power balance between labor and
capital through collective bargaining (Budd and Bhave, 2008). Therefore, the operations of trade unions
through collective bargaining can be referred to as the institutionalization of class conflict in industrial
relations. A second pluralist assumption is that collective bargaining is successful because capital and labor
have roughly equal power during the process. As a result, the relationship between management and trade
unions is one of "conflict-looking for a solution" and "antagonistic cooperation."
Radicalism or Marxism suggests that employees and employers are bound to have a conflict as a result of
capitalism. This practice focuses on the idea of control as being most important to industrial relations and the
employment relationship (Wood & Elliot, 1997). Trade unions are used to protect the rights of employees by
maintaining and improving their terms and conditions. The radical organization is a team of people divided
into two antagonistic classes: a high-paid, work-little group of powerful management order-givers and a low-
paid, work-hard group of dependent employee order-observers. Both sides believe a gain for one side means
a loss for the other, so with fully opposed interests and strong mutual dislike or distrust, they are motivated to
pull in opposite directions, continually fight and retaliate with punishment and resistance, hope to liquidate
the other, and together produce a low-performing organization with unhealthy industrial relations. The radical
ideal-type replacement is worker-controlled organizations and a reconstructed form of unitarianism, such as
worker cooperatives in a market economy or enterprises owned and operated by the working class in a socialist
economy (Bruce E. Kaufman, 2020). In a globalized environment, employee relationship thinking has
undergone a dramatic shift. Managers in even capitalist countries have paved the way for more liberal
organizational management ideas. The Marxist framework of radicalism emphasized the need for a wage
disparity between labor and capital. Marx believed that power struggles existed in capitalist countries and that
inequalities in wealth and ownership persisted (Marx, 1978). In order to survive in business, capitalism
demanded a ruthless attitude and the exploitation of labor. However, considering the case of today’s
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environment, it has been witnessed that radicalism is the basis of the extra costs that have to be accounted for
in some form or another (Rose, 2008).
B. Arguments
From a pluralist perspective
Regarding the situation about the strike in France, on October 2022, almost a third of gas stations in France
were addressing fuel shortages, amid an associated progress strike within the country's energy sector. Strikes
by Total Energies and ExxonMobil employees, who are primarily overpaid, have disrupted major storage
facilities and refineries, moving an hour or so of France's output and causing temporary shortages at France's
gas stations. The anger is widespread in Europe. This has directly exploded the strike grievances and demands,
together with a rise in earnings and the re-evaluation of all salaries in line with inflation within the same means
because of the Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), and therefore the re-
evaluation of the pay scale for public sector employees. French unions showed their muscle on the streets of
Paris and dozens of alternative cities within the country in the latest expression of a campaign of nationwide
industrial action to demand improved pay and working conditions, denounce the enlarged price of living, and
demand relief from the government from soaring costs. The marches came back once the leftist CGT union
rejected a deal over a pay increase that got big oil company Total smitten with two alternative unions. The
French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT) and The French Confederation of Management – General
Confederation of Executives (CFE-CGC), which together represent a majority of the group’s French
employees, agreed to a seven-member pay rise and a monetary bonus. However, the CGT rejected the deal,
holding out for a tenth pay rise. Union leaders also hope to increase pressure on President Emmanuel Diaz as
he prepares to resurrect a contentious pension reform. They're both angry at the government’s use of
emergency strike-breaking powers throughout earlier strikes at oil refineries that led to widespread gasoline
and diesel shortages at filling stations on a national scale. The employees' union, the CGT, was able to begin
negotiations on its own and supported the workers' demands. After the union-entailed action, aiming to bring
mutual benefits to each party and, at the same time, produce motivation to search for the most appropriate
answer to the conflict. In an organization that is pluralistic, management and labor unions are seen as two
strong and opposing comment sections. Based on this perspective, managerial and employee disagreements
on the sharing of profits are common and constitute unwanted conflicts of interest. As a result, management
would focus more on convincing and coordination than on enforcing and controlling. Employees' legitimate
representatives are considered to be labor unions. Collective bargaining will be used by unions to resolve the
conflict. Pluralists are more concerned with the issues of disorderly markets than they are with disruptive
employees, and they advocate government solutions to alleged market failures (Kaufman, 2010). These latter
issues include widening income inequality, low pay, exploding CEO compensation, an increase in insecure
labor, deficiencies in training and skill development, and the entrenchment of a low-cost, low-productivity
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dynamic, especially in French-speaking nations (Brady et al., 2013; Green and Whitfield, 2009; Lloyd et al.,
2008). As a result, new areas of conflict have developed with pluralist perspectives on the workplace, as
illustrated by the strike in France that disrupted transportation while there were nationwide walkouts over
salary and living expenses. Workers have a vested interest in their "equity" and "voice" at work, which may
result in conflicts and disagreements with their employers regarding the exercise of management privilege.
Employees, on the other hand, have an associated interest in "efficiency," the effective and sustained operation
of the using enterprise, which may give rise to the concept of a "productivity coalition," a collaborative alliance
with employers to improve business performance. Due to this mutual dependence, moreover, there's perpetual
scope, in keeping with pluralism, to resolve the disputes that inevitably emerge from conflicting interests. The
shared interest of each side in the continuation of their relationship provides an impulse to barter and ask for
a resolution once open conflict breaks out.
From a radicalism perspective
Considering the case of France, in October 2022, French unions led strikes against French businesses and
the government to demand higher wages. In the context of high inflation, which affects the interests of the
French people, the union called for thousands of people to take to the streets in Paris to protest the problem
of soaring prices, which mainly affects public sectors such as schools and transportation. The strikes began
with thousands of individuals taking to the streets of Paris on Sunday to protest against soaring costs.
However, rail and alternative transportation employees, hauling and bus firms, some high school academics,
and associated public hospital workers have heeded a decision by an oil workers' union to push for pay
increases and protest government intervention in plant strikes across France. Radicalism is reflected in the
fact that the union is the one that calls on the workers to stand up and fight for their interests. Besides, on the
government side, in the face of union campaigns, the government used emergency powers to force some
striking refinery workers back to work to release trapped fuel reserves trapped inside blocked facilities. The
president and government ministers urged a negotiated solution to the crisis, but then government
spokesman Olivier Veran issued a statement threatening to use force to suppress and end the blockade that
crippled French refineries and oil storage facilities. Even though the radical perspective acknowledges that
conflict is inevitable, such theorists argue that power is not equal between capital and labor because capital
has access to resources while labor does not. According to Hyman and Mason (1995), collective bargaining
is not a tool for joint conflict regulation but rather for suppressing conflict, and trade unions simply manage
workers' discontent.
IV. RECOMMENDATIONS
According to the above article, the struggle has a very negative impact on the government, workers, the
company in particular, and society in general. According to the context of rising inflation, the fact that Total
Energies retains the salary of the employee despite receiving a lot of profits has caused a conflict of interest,
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leading to a large strike. Although radicalism may help workers achieve their goals, it is only temporary; an
employee cannot fight forever. Therefore, we recommend applying pluralism to solve the problem. From the
pluralist perspective, conflict is not definitely seen as negative; with the right management, it may be used to
stimulate growth and advancement. Realistic managers should anticipate that conflict is more likely to occur
than agreement. They should predict it and reach an agreement by creating standard precautions for resolving
conflicts. The company should have personnel and industrial relations professionals who counsel management
and offer specialized services regarding staffing and issues connected to union consultation and bargaining.
The arbitration of conflicts should be aided by the employment of impartial, outside experts. It is essential to
support union recognition and provide union delegates with adequate room to perform their representational
functions. With unions, comprehensive collective bargaining agreements should be drafted. Finally, in a
pluralistic society, trade unions have a legitimate role; trade unions represent, providing a mechanism to
legalize employees' bargaining rights. According to Bryson and Forth (2011), bargaining by the union is a
wise way for both the employee and the employer to achieve benefits without causing serious loss because it
creates a long-term and sustainable partnership between workers and businesses that are still in development.
V. CONCLUSION
Finally, while workplace disagreements are unavoidable, finding solutions to them should come first. The
disagreement between the employer and the employee is supposed to be resolved through trade unions, but
management will also need to deal with other issues. and not only those of the future. A balance that maintains
workplace stability and ensures the satisfaction of all parties is crucial in this situation. According to Singh
and Kumar (2010), employee issues at work can be resolved collectively through collective bargaining. It
creates a favorable environment for discussing employee issues with employers. Employers are presented with
requests from the workforce, and the latter also receives certain concessions from the former. As a function,
it assures that management cannot make judgments about the work in a way that ignores the workers.
Additionally, it helps in achieving fair pay, favorable working conditions, flexible scheduling, and other perks
for the workforce. It boosts individuals' ability to bargain collectively with their company. Additionally, it
gives employers some control over the workers. In essence, using pluralism through collective bargaining is
the greatest method to protect and enhance labor relations.
VI. REFERENCE
Unions call for a strike at Total Energy’s Donges refinery from Wednesday - report. (2022, October 11).
Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/unions-call-strike-totalenergies-donges-refinery-wednesday-
report-2022-10-11/
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CGT union votes to continue strike at Total Energy’s French refineries. (2022, October 15). Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/cgt-union-votes-continue-strike-totalenergies-french-refineries-2022-
10-15/
The French government set to end a strike by ordering fuel workers back to work. (2022, October 11).
France24
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strikes-continue
Total Energies’ wage agreement in detail. (2022, October 17). Energy news.
https://energynews.pro/en/totalenergies-wage-agreement-in-detail/
French strike pits workers against the government as inflation bites. (2022, October 18). Euro News.
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bites
Workers stage a massive general strike in France. (2022, November 11). Post online media
https://www.poandpo.com/news/workers-stage-massive-general-strike-in-france
France strikes Transport hit amid nationwide walkout over pay and cost of living. (2022, October 19). Euro
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cost-of-living
Strikers set for talks as some French petrol stations run dry. (2022, October 9). Euro News
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France begins a nationwide strike amid soaring inflation. (2022, October 18). New York Post.
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Explainer: Why are French refinery workers striking? (2022, October 11). Reuters
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Kaufman BE (2010) The theoretical foundation of industrial relations and its implications for labor
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Bruce E Kaufman (2020). Using unitarist, pluralist, and radical frames to map the cross-section distribution
of employment relations across workplaces: A four-country empirical investigation of patterns and
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No. Members Responsibilities Rating
1 Thai Tuong Vy Summary 100%
2 Nguyen Trieu Khanh Vy Argument 100%
3 Nguyen Hoang Mai Thy Argument 100%
4 Le Minh Bao Thy Literature review 100%
5 Vuong Thi Uyen Nhi Literature review 100%
6 Nguyen Thi Kim Cuong Conclusion 100%
7 Dong Thi Duyen Recommendation 100%
8 Le Ngoc Nhi Introduction 100%
