My five decades of experience as HRD & IR practitioner and management educator has taught me that a successful IR system consists of four elements: (1) an environmental context (technology, market pressures & the legal framework, especially as it effects bargaining power); (2) participants, including employees and their unions, management, and the government; (3) a “web of rules” that describe the process by which labor and management interact and resolve disagreements (such as the steps followed in settling contract grievances); and (4) a common ideology (acceptance of the capitalist system).
However, I found acceptance does not translate into convergence of of interest. To the contrary, some degree of worker-management conflict is inevitable because, although the interests of the two parties overlap (e.g. survival of firm and thus survival of workers' jobs and investors' profits). They also diverge in key respects (such as how to divide the economic profits between workers and investors). As such, an effective IR system does not eliminate conflict.
Interestingly, I read a candid comment from a reader, Zakaria Mohamad Nor (Pak Zak) on my story entitled “A Possible resurgence of trade unionism in Malaysia: Are workers ready for future Industrial Relations (IR) renaissance?' published 06 May 2026 by newswav.com, I quote, “There are pros and cons of labor unions. Pros: higher/benefits, job security/protection, safer working conditions, collective bargaining power, improved work-life balance etc. Cons: Union fees/dues, seniority-based system vs high performance, reduced individual autonomy, management conflict & adversarial relationships, less flexibility for employer to reward, promote, discipline workers based on merit etc. I took a semester course in Labor Economics at a university in the US.”
Pak Zak is former Senior Manager of LPG Trade Division with ExxonMobil and alumni of Harvard Business School & the Asian Institute of Management.
I realize in Malaysia, the government provides a “web of rules” to amicably resolve conflict in a way that minimizes its costs to management, employees & society. The collective bargaining system is one of the mechanisms that facilitate mediation, conciliation, arbitration & participation in IR decision making.
Zulkifly Baharom (hajizul50@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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