Conflict Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Conflict - Essay Example Strikes are overt demonstration of employee unrest in the sense that they are a clearly visible form of the demonstration of employee through a collective medium. Covert demonstration of employee unrest on the other hand is not easily discernible as it is an individualistic action that takes different forms like absenteeism and increase in labour turnover. Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) for loss of working days due to overt demonstration of industrial dispute in the form of strikes show a steady fall in number of strikes and the number of working days lost from 2004 to 2007. This indicates a slow down in employees resorting to the collective demonstration of industrial disputes through strikes. Absenteeism is a temporary withdrawal of work by an employee as an escape valve for the frustrations experienced at the workplace, which is proving costly to industrial productivity on an increasing basis. This can be seen from the estimates in 1998 that put the loss on productivity by absenteeism as $2.6 billion to the Australian industry, while in 2006 the loss increased to almost $7 billion. Industrial employee turnover as a result of employees’ lack of satisfaction at the workplace is also on the rise. Employees change jobs as a covert behaviour in their expression of conflict with their employers.