Collective bargaining is a process where employers and employee representatives negotiate terms of employment, such as pay, benefits, hours, and health and safety standards. The goal is to reach a collective agreement that sets these standards. The process typically involves representatives from labor unions and employers exchanging proposals and counterproposals until a compromise is reached. Some key aspects of collective bargaining include establishing negotiation teams, determining negotiation procedures and ground rules, exchanging initial proposals, bargaining to find agreement, and formalizing the final agreed upon terms in a binding contract.

1. Collective bargaining

2. Collective bargaining
It is a process between employers and
employees to reach an agreement regarding
the rights and duties of people at work.
Collective bargaining aims to reach a
collective agreement which usually sets out
issues such as employees pay, working
hours, training, health and safety, and rights
to participate in workplace or company
affairs.

3. Definition
“Collective bargaining is an agreement between a
single employer or an association of employers on
the one hand and a labor union on the other, which
regulates the terms and conditions of employment
(Tudwig Teller)
―Collective bargaining takes place when a number
of work people enter into a negotiation as a
bargaining unit an employer or group of employer
with the object of reaching an agreement on
conditions of the employment of the work people‖
(J.H. Rishardwon)

4. Concept
•Is a procedure by which the terms and conditions
of workers are regulated by Agreements between
their bargaining agents and employers.
•The basic objective is to arrive at an agreement on
Wages and other conditions of employment.
•The process of bargaining starting with divergent
views but ultimately try to reach a compromise,
making some sacrifices.
•Before arriving at an agreement, proposals and
counter proposals; offers and counter offers are put
to debate and discussion.

5. • The negotiations take place in an
atmosphere of give and take.
 Every attempt is made to arrive at an
agreement that would reflect the joint
thinking of management and the
representatives of employees.
 It is thus, a flexible, collective and
cooperative way of resolving issues that
affect both management and workers in a
democratic manner.

6. Features
 Collective
 Strength
 Flexible
 Voluntary
 Complementary
 Continuous
 Dynamic
 Power relationship
 Representation
 Bipartite process
 Complex

7.  Collective- it is collective in two ways
 Strength- across the table both the parties
bargain from a position of equal strength; it is
industrial democracy at work
 Flexible- it has sufficient flexibility ; no party can
afford to be inflexible and rigid in such situations,
 Voluntary- both workers and management come
to the negotiating table voluntarily in order to
have a meaningful dialogue on various troubling
issues.
 Complementary- each party needs something
that the other party has
 Continuous- it does not commence with
negotiations and end with an agreement. The
agreement is only a beginning of collective

8.  Dynamic- because the way the agreements are
arrived at, the way they are implemented, the
mental make-up of the parties keeps changing.
 Power relationships- workers wants to gain
maximum from management and vise versa by
offering as little as possible. To reach a
consensus , both have to retreat from such
positions and accept less than what is asked
and give more than what is an offer.
 Representations- the chief participants in
collective bargaining do not act for themselves.
 Bipartite process- there is no third party
intervention.
 Complex- involving a number of procedures,
techniques and tools.

9. Objectives
 To provide an opportunity to the workers, to voice their
problems on issues related to employment.
 To facilitate reaching a solution that is acceptable to all
the parties involves.
 To resolve all conflicts and disputes in a mutually
agreeable manner.
 To prevent any conflict/disputes in the future through
mutually signed contracts.
 To develop a conductive atmosphere to foster good
organizations relations.
 To provide stable and peaceful organization (hospital)
relations.
 To enhance the productivity of the organization by
preventing strikes lock – out etc.

10. The substance of bargaining
 Wages & working conditions
 Work norms
 Incentive payments
 Job security
 Changes in technology
 Work tools, techniques and practices
 Staff transfers and promotions
 Grievances
 Disciplinary matters
 Health and safety
 Insurance and benefits
 Union recognition
 Union activities/responsibilities
 Management rights

11. Types of bargaining
 Conjunctive/distributive bargaining
 Cooperative bargaining
 Productivity bargaining
 Composite bargaining

12.  Conjunctive/distributive bargaining
The parties try to maximize their
respective gains. They try to settle
economic gains such as wages, benefits,
bonus etc. through a zero-sum game.
Unions negotiate for maximum wages.
Management wants to yield as little as
possible- while getting things done through
workers.

13.  Cooperative bargaining
when companies are hit by recession,
they cannot offer the kind of wages and
benefits demanded by workers. At the
same time they cannot survive without the
latter’s support. Both parties realize the
importance of surviving in such difficult
times and they are willing to negotiate the
terms of employment in a flexible way.
labor may accept a cut in wages in return
for job security and higher wages when
things improve.

14.  Productivity bargaining
in this method, worker’s wages
and benefits are linked to productivity.
◦ A standard productivity index is finalized through
negotiations initially.
◦ Workers have to perform at high levels to beat
the index.
◦ If they are able to exceed the standard
productivity norms workers will get substantial
benefits.
◦ Management gains control over workplace
relations and is able to tighten the norms still
further in future negotiations

15.  Composite bargaining
it is alleged by workers that
productivity bargaining agreements have
increased their workload. As a result labor
has come to composite bargaining
In this method, labor bargains for wages, as
usual but goes a step further demanding equity
in matters relating to work norms, employment
levels, environmental hazards …..

16. Collective bargaining process
 Collective bargaining generally includes negotiations
between the two parties (employees‘ representatives
and employer‘s representatives).
 Collective bargaining consists of negotiations between
an employer and a group of employees that determine
the conditions of employment. Often employees are
represented in the bargaining by a union or other labor
organization.

17. Collective bargaining process
 The result of collective bargaining procedure is called
the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
 Collective agreements may be in the form of procedural
agreements or substantive agreements.
 Procedural agreements deal with the relationship
between workers and management and the procedures
to be adopted for resolving individual or group disputes.
 A substantive agreement deals with specific issues, such
as basic pay, overtime premiums, bonus arrangements,
holiday entitlements, hours of work, etc.

18. Steps

19. Steps
 1. Prepare: This phase involves composition of a
negotiation team. The negotiation team should consist
of representatives of both the parties with adequate
knowledge and skills for negotiation. In this phase both
the employer‘s representatives and the union examine
their own situation in order to develop the issues that
they believe will be most important.
 2. Discuss: Here, the parties decide the ground rules
that will guide the negotiations. A process well begun is
half done and this is no less true in case of collective
bargaining. An environment of mutual trust and
understanding is also created so that the collective
bargaining agreement would be reached.

20. Steps
 3. Propose: This phase involves the initial opening
statements and the possible options that exist to resolve
them. In a word, this phase could be described as
brainstorming‘. The exchange of messages takes place
and opinion of both the parties is sought.
 4. Bargain: negotiations are easy if a problem solving
attitude is adopted. This stage comprises the time when
‘what ifs‘ and ‘supposals‘ are set forth and the drafting of
agreements take place.

21. Steps
 5. Settlement: Once the parties are through with the
bargaining process, a consensual agreement is reached
upon wherein both the parties agree to a common
decision regarding the problem or the issue. This stage
is described as consisting of effective joint
implementation of the agreement through shared
visions, strategic planning and negotiated change.

23. The process
 Identification of the problem
 Collection of data
 Selection of negotiators
 Climate of negotiations
 Bargaining strategy and tactics
 Formalizing the agreement
 Enforcing the agreement

24.  Identification of the problem
the nature of the problem influences whole
process. whether the problem is very
important that is to be discussed immediately
or it can be postponed for some other
convenient time, whether the problem is
minor so that it can be solved later with other
party’ s acceptance on its presentation etc…
 Collection of data
both management and labor initially spend
considerable time collecting relevant data
relating to grievances, disciplinary actions,
transfers & promotions, layoffs, overtime,
former agreements covering wages, benefits,
working conditions etc………..

25.  Selection of negotiators
the success of collective bargaining
depends on the skills and knowledge of the
negotiators. Effective negotiators should
have a working knowledge of trade unions
principles, operations, economics,
psychology and labor laws.
 Climate of negotiations
both parties must decide an appropriate
time and climate for initial negotiations. At
this stage the parties must determine
whether the tone of the negotiations is
going to be of mutual understanding or
worst.

26.  Bargaining strategy and tactics
the strategy is the plan and the policies that
will pursued at the bargaining table.
tactics are the specific action plans taken in
the bargaining sessions. It mainly covering
the following aspects;
◦ Likely union proposals & mgt responses to them
◦ A listing of mgt demands, limits of concessions
and anticipated union responses
◦ Development of a database to support proposals
advanced by mgt and to counteract union
demands.
◦ A contingency operating plan if things do not
move on track.

27.  Formalizing the agreement
when a solution comes through; a formal
document must be prepared expressing
everything in a simple, concise form. After
this both parties must sign the agreement
and abide by its terms and conditions
during the entire term of the contract.
 Enforcing the agreement
collective bargaining does not come to an
end with the signing of the agreement.
for the agreement to be meaningful and
effective; both parties must adhere to the
conditions agreed upon and implement
everything accordingly.

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