I. INTRODUCTIONIndustrial peace is one of the central issues in the field of industrial relations. Moore (1951) suggests that industrial conflicts can be minimized or prevented by resorting to two types of procedures: first, a procedure of regulating and limiting the power of the two interest groups, in particular by restricting the power that can be exercised; secondly, a positive interference procedure in industrial disputes. Both procedures suggest that in addition to workers and employers, an important third actor can also directly interfere in industrial relations processes. Pluralist theory, the traditional theory of industrial relations, focuses primarily on the bipartite relationship between workers and employers. The third actor, government agencies, although equally important, is largely overlooked (Keller, 1991). However, as a theory of politics in its essence, pluralist theory requires considerable elaboration on this missing piece, as it leaves itself open to questions of power inequality between different interest groups: some groups can exert an influence on public policy that it may not be. be the interest of other groups. Legislation and other public policy decisions often work through a complex process of political party structure (Hameed, 1982). Politics is one of the most important underlying developmental dynamics within industrial relations; as such government interference must not be absent from existing theoretical frameworks. The main objective of this article is to examine pluralist theory by focusing on its explanation of the role of government agencies in industrial relations. Furthermore, I hope to demonstrate that the absence of a state role may be a theoretical flaw within Pluralis...... middle of the paper ......up] McGuinty is being the lapdog of a hating right the left-wing Mayor unions because he is afraid of Ford's political clout, not because he cares about public transportation in Toronto. (CBC News, March 30, 2011) While these statements may be purely the expression of Mr. Kinnear's personal interests, an interesting fact about this controversy is that TTC management and TTC employees in fact unanimously oppose this provision . Management fears that the unintended consequences of government intervention could inversely cause wages to rise; TTC employees fear they may lose the right to strike as a powerful channel for expressing themselves. All in all, it is without doubt that the government is actively involved in this industrial conflict and, once again, pluralism theory fails to explain why the government has taken such an active role in interfering in the labor relations between management TTC and employees..