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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.
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• 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.
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features
Collective
Strength
Flexible
Voluntary
Complementary
Continuous
Dynamic
Power relationship
Representation
Bipartite process
complex
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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 bargaining.
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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.
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objectives
To settle disputes/conflicts relating to wages
and working conditions
To protect the interests of workers through
collective action
To resolve the differences between workers
and management through voluntary
negotiations and active at a consensus
To avoid third party intervention in matters
relating to employment
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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
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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.
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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.
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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
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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 …..
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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
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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………..
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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.
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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.
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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.
