The Resolution of Sydney Rail Strike, Unitarist V/S Radical Approach

The Resolution of Sydney Rail Strike, Unitarist V/S Radical Approach
The feud between the employee unions and the NSW authorities is resolved; we can term it
as a resolved issue because both the parties are busy in the process of the negotiation. The
process of negotiation is necessary to satisfy the condition of the “Complex
Interdependence." This theory is apt to define the relationship between the employer and the
employee in the case of "proposed Sydney Rail Strike" and its aftermath.
The intervention of the "Fair Work Commission" brought in two changes into the equation.
They forced the employee unions to think with a pluralist approach. Rail authorities were
always thinking in a pluralistic manner. They are running a profit based organization where
employees are earning their salaries in return on the work and the efforts that they are doing.
The complex interdependence between the rail authorities and the employees can be seen in
some newspaper cuttings where they published some alternative methods to commute on the
day of the strike. It was a direct challenge from indirect competitors (Hawke, 2018). Regular
strikes can always force the customers to migrate to other options. This could force the rail
authorities to bring down the number of the services. The "fair work commission" also
introduced a negotiation manual in the deal. This manual was aimed at the removal of radical
feeling among the employees. This manual gave them the assurance that the existing system
has some rooms ready where authorities can listen to their demands (Folker, 2012). The
introduction of this negotiation pattern triggered the change and employee unions also
adapted Unitarist stance instead of a radical stance to make it work. A radical stance can only
lead to the abolishment of a system or a relation. A unitarist stance, on the other hand, opens
the roads towards a solution.
When the employees demanded that they want a control over the rostering process then it was
a radical thought. It was an attempt to challenge the authority of the institution. The rostering
and staffing practices is a domain of the management, they are running a system and
employees are only playing a role in a big system. (Sullivan, 2018).
This controlling power should work for the best and sometimes optimum results to facilitate a
system. In the case of NSW rail authorities, they have all the rights to complain against
overwork or unhealthy working conditions. Even under a unitarist approach if we check the
proposal of an increase in the pay and the rights to keep a check on the staffing options. Then
authorities have another option if they have the resources to increase a pay-out then instead of