Train 18 series part 12.....industrial relations

While delivering a talk on the cultural changes at ICF and the development of Train 18, a participant asked me whether the HR initiatives that we took made Train 18 possible and whether these HR initiatives were undertaken to realize the Train 18 goal. To me it seemed a bit like the well-known question, first the chicken or the egg? Well, the question was settled, or so they thought in the Christian world, because in the biblical story of origin describing the creation of animals, it allowed for a first chicken that did not come from an egg. In case of ICF, however, just the reverse was true and my reply was rather simple. We would certainly have taken these HR initiatives to bring about cultural changes with a view to improving productivity and performance of ICF in all fields, Train 18 or not. At the same time, indubitably, Train 18 would not have been possible had these measures not been in place.

These initiatives included simple soft measures like inauguration of facilities by staff, openness in dealing with staff, socializing with abundance, creation of icons, inculcating pride in the organization by wearing uniforms with imprint of ICF, shedding petty protocol and attendant strait-jackets etc. on one plane. On another plane, it included huge investments. Investments into improvement of work place environment with measures like upgradation of protective gear and clothing, locker room facilities, drinking water outlet, canteens, seating and toilets in the factory. Investments in staff colonies, community halls, parks and sporting facilities. I will talk about it later in detail. I bring it in here briefly to align the readers with the fact that palpable soft and hard measures were well on way within months of my joining ICF. 

I need to talk about industrial relations here. Unions are a part and parcel of any organization. They are necessary to act as a bridge between the management and the workers. It is not possible to have good industrial relations without an active union unless you have a genuine model of workers’ participation in management in place; such a model is rare and usually, some loose and occasional instruments pass on as workers’ participation measures as lip service. In the industrial environment of IR, whether in open line, repair workshops or production units, solid presence of organized union(s) is a desideratum for industrial harmony and peace.

The problem starts when either the management is too docile and weak, giving upper hand to unions who then interfere in day to day working just for keeping their supremacy intact. On the other hand, any tendency of management to deal with unions in a supercilious manner, treating them merely as necessary evils without any measure of sensitivity and empathy towards them leads to a situation simmering for industrial unrest.

I have had very good relations with unions all my serving life with some obvious give and take thrown in. This would never mean that I needed to pander to unjust demands or keep my eyes closed to patently wrong practices. I had learned how to deal with unions from some great seniors, picking up something here and something there. What I learnt, in short, was firmness sans any false ego and but with empathy were clear mantras to constructive harmony. Let me give an example. I had recently joined as the Chief Workshop Manager (CWM) of Lallaguda coaching workshop of South Central Railway. As the May Day was nearing, I was told that although the day is not a holiday, the tradition was that no one would work on the day, all would assemble near the workshop gate to listen to speeches by all union leaders and that done, the entire work force would leave for home. The CWM would also sit on the dais and address the gathering. I readily agreed to be a part of the gathering and speak as well but I told them there was a catch. As CWM, I had no authority to declare a holiday. The holiday is not on paper, only in practice, I was told. I told them, “Well, in that case, I would not permit it as I, just like you all, was a govt. servant and my job was to see that no such unauthorized activity took place.” Immediate response from all the big leaders, “You are not the first CWM here. This has been going on for decades. Why are you being so anti-labour?” I maintained, “Far from being anti-labour, I think I am a part of the labour force of this workshop. But you cannot ask me to overstep my authority.” All hell broke loose and the unions threatened that this ‘whimsical’ attitude would not be permitted. I had, meanwhile, privately talked to the higher command leaders of the unions, apprised them that I was ready to listen to all grievances of staff but the May Day function would not be a show of indiscipline; I was able to persuade them to keep aloof in the matter. All officers and supervisors kept advising me not to open a can of worms as we would end up with more trouble than we bargained for but since my mind was made I was unyielding; I asked the same officers that staff must work in the first half and then we would all join for meeting. The idea was to send a clear message that discipline and dignity of labour is more important than a peace purchased through docility. As the date approached, all officers were clearly told that work has to be ensured or the staff marked absent. It became clear that the CWM would keep meeting the unions politely but just would not relent as a matter of principle. The local leader sulked and kept passing impotent threats. A day before the first day of May, I was told that the staff would work for some 2 to 3 hours but after that they would march to the function site and I must join the dignitaries to garland whoever and deliver some kind of address praising the May Day concept. I readily agreed. At 9 AM on 1^st May, Sri Krishnamurthy, a competent and dedicated Works Manager called me and said excitedly, “Sir, people are working!” Thank God for small mercies but isn’t that exactly what workers are supposed to: work!! For sure but there is no way to controvert the importance of what was happening; for the first time in the history of the workshop in recent decades, some work was being done on the May Day.

I did face a situation of sorts in my posting as Divisional Railway Manager, Bangalore as the main union there had acquired a status of such primacy that the management could not question them on such seemingly trivial issues like entering a officer’s room in large numbers without any appointment or placing union posters and banners all over the office and even the station. I tried to reason with them politely but to no avail; the refrain was simple that I being the DRM should not get into these small trivial matters. These are not trivial matters, these reflect the culture of the division, I would beseech them. Giving up the immunity and impunity acquired over the years of dealing with a pliable management was a matter of ego for the unions, which they tried to hide behind their obviously petty and false sense of honour and prestige among the staff. I came down hard on them with the assistance of some brave officers in the team. I need not go into what all happened over the next two years there; suffice it to say that it was forever a battle of attrition. It did cause a lot of stress for self and even family. There was pressure as well from some senior officers of Board advising me to backtrack and be a judge, not an executioner. For whatever this advice meant, I was not prepared to let my officers down after many of them had committed to change the culture of the division. I would not say we succeeded but there certainly was a clear impression among all the staff and officers that anything conspicuously wrong that the union wanted would not be accepted. That I had a very tactful lady officer, Smt. Lily Pandeya, as the head of HR of the division helped in preventing the things going to boiling point; simmer it did nearly all the time but the divisional working was not disturbed. (An aside; Smt. Pandeya had to bear the brunt of the unions too at times when they would tell her that her mesmerizing and benign personality held the unions back from an all out war against the DRM. Her ‘mesmerizing’ presence or not, what really helped was her untiring efforts to take up staff welfare measures in right earnest which somewhat blunted many attacks.) Every time we had a confrontation, another competent colleague, Sri Y.N.Babu, the senior most among the divisional branch officers would say, “What’s the issue? Just ego?” Well, almost. Except occasional major issues like when we wanted all staff to take their salary through bank payment. Unions for obvious reasons wanted only cash payment. This was pandered to by Board as well as other divisions of the railway; just the easy way out. It, however, did not need any research to  know that bank payment was the way to go, if not today, very soon in future. We stood firm on the issue and the unions threatened to stop trains. We put some small time media photographers at the stations and called their bluff; they knew that they could not meddle with media and their clearly illegal action would be caught on camera. There was lot of bluster at the platform but no one was willing to get down to the tracks to cause real hindrance to train movement. Eventually, trains left in time and Ms Pandeya provided them with a face-saving option which they readily bought.

What am I trying to say here? Whether dealing with men or their organized unions, it’s all about the value you put on your human capital. As long as you recognize the primacy of human resources over all other resources and you deal with them without the baggage of any false ego but with sensitivity, warmth and empathy, half the battle is won. The above example was only one of the few exceptions where you have to show extra firmness but otherwise this simple mantra would always work. Time to digress a little for this universal truth, on to the superior intelligence of Shakespeare in Macbeth when the lady was dead and the lord was nearing his end:  

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

When uncontrolled ambition and berserk ego take over, the end is not far. When ego rides roughshod over respect and goodness, when a selfish and self-centred ethos is the guiding light into a world of self-serving, all meaning begins to be drained out of the human story: “Life’s but a walking shadow....”. We must devise a counterweight to the force of ego and resist the seduction of misplaced ambition, especially when it seeks the destruction of others, and in this action lies salvation for self, people and organizations. Be it egoistic leaders of management or unions, the story is the same. While such egoistic management leaders I have met many, I encountered such union leaders rarely. Treating this rendezvous as an aberration, let me come to the story of the unions at ICF.

In production units of IR, unions have been replaced by a staff council of elected members. The candidates are nearly always from some union or the other but the elected body has to act as the sole representative trade union. Unions have been fighting to install a regular system of unions as prevalent on zonal railways. At ICF, the unions had gone to court over the issue and the matter being sub-judice, there was no functioning recognized staff council. There were some ten unions with different trade union and political allegiances, some strong and some not so strong. There were two recognized associations, one for SC/ST and the other for OBC staff and even here the former was split in two factions with both of them prevented from official sanction. Officially, and effectually, we needed to engage with only the OBC association. The situation was ripe to manage ICF without any intervention of unions. But we never went that way; I was convinced that a healthy relationship with a functioning body of representative of staff was a must for progress. We, therefore, decided that we would deal with all of them. And we would listen to them with empathy and responsiveness; at no stage we would make any bone about talking to them in a condescending manner. Without any compromise with firmness, we would always convey to them that they were partners in progress and their views and concerns mattered. I would call it de jure absence of unions but de facto presence of a vibrant group of staff representatives.

While telling this story, I realize that I hardly have any interesting anecdotes of dealing with the unions at ICF. It’s not as if ICF has been a tranquil island of peace in the industrial arena of IR. Not at all. ICF has seen very militant unionism in the past. We always kept that in mind should we go too soft or too harsh. We did have the pleasure, by the way, of sacking a particular erstwhile leader who had kept a large group of officers under siege for nearly 6/7 hours on some trivial issue a decade back. He had gone to court against the disciplinary proceeding ordered against him. We pursued the case to take it to readiness for action and simultaneously manoeuvred it strongly in court; as soon as it was cleared from court, we moved swiftly and dismissed this delinquent staff. 

This is not an over simplification. I was fortunate that our HR management, incidentally called rather poorly as the Personnel department, was headed by a very calm and composed officer, the Principal Chief Personnel Officer, Sri Mohan Raja. He had an excellent connect to the ground realities of ICF and his judgement never went wrong. He could be very assertive but at the same time he was not lacking in sensitivity and compassion. It made by job very easy. No matter, howsoever precarious and touchy, ever turned into a crisis. There were some top leaders who had disciplinary proceedings going on against them for some earlier incidences. While the cases were pursued on fast track and brought to the logical conclusion, we did not act on them as these leaders, to their credit, were playing a mostly constructive role in our progress. My intuition in the issue was that if I went the way of a copybook disciplinarian and took strong action, we would lose the bond with unions and then the men at large. While it may seem like a deviation from our policy, it was not so. It felt that recognizing the leaders who actually led your men, like it or not, with some indulgence would be beneficial in keeping the work force aligned with our larger goals. Be that as it may, it worked wonderfully, with a very active role played by Sri Mohan Raja. All other key officers were also on board with the way we handled the unions. The bottom line was that throughout my tenure, we were happy that there was hardly any incidence of industrial unrest in ICF. Connected somewhat with this story is the success of Biometrics experiment and we would talk about it soon.

Chacha Ghalib was bewildered some 150 years back, unable to find an insan. If you can find your insan to some extent and if those around you respond as insans as well, most of your problems would be easy to address, the chacha might be constrained to rewrite this sher in heaven:

Bas ki dushvar  hai  har  kaam  ka  asan hona

Aadmi  ko  bhi  mayassar  nahin  insan hona

(to be continued…)