CHALLENGES THAT TRADE UNIONS ARE FACING DUE TO GLOBALIZATION AND LIBERALIZATION OF ECONOMY.
Globalization and liberalization has substantially influenced the nature of industrial relations (IR) policies being followed by employers. This has reduced the power of trade unions. Some social scientists caution that severe social tensions will result from acute economic inequality that will result from these policies in the next few decades (Towers, 1997; Szell, 2001). They see a severe weakening of countervailing power in society as well. The frameworks of IR of different organisations in the new environment are being oriented to new business exigencies. Strategic shifts in management's approach to manage IR are noticeable at covert as well as overt levels (Venkata Ratnam, 2001; Saini, 2003). These are resulting in new types of negotiated settlements, which reflect a greater degree of employee cooperation (Venkata Ratnam, 2003).