Collective Bargaining

Topics to be covered Collective Bargaining Evolution Of Collective Bargaining Types Of Bargaining Collective Bargaining Process Collective Bargaining Agreement Levels At Which Collective Bargaining Is Undertaken Conditions For Successful Collective Bargaining Trends In Collective Bargaining Case Study On Collective Bargaining: The General Motors – United Auto Workers Deal Perceptions

Collective Bargaining “Collective Bargaining is a process in which the representatives of a labour organization & the representatives of business organization meet and attempt to negotiate a contract or agreement, which specifies the nature of employee-employer union relationship”. – FLIPPO Process involving discussions and negotiations ‘collective’ – group 'bargaining' – proposals and counter proposals to reconcile their conflicting interests is a flexible approach

Evolution Of Collective Bargaining Coined by Sydney and Beatrice Webb Industrial Revolution – Great Britain The Indian Scenario: Gandhiji - the leader of the Ahmedabad textile workers Idea gathered interest only after the Second World War GOI took steps like setting up of machinery for negotiations, conciliation and arbitration.

Types Of Bargaining Conjunctive/Distributive Bargaining - zero-sum game; win – lose Co-operative Bargaining - more open to coming down from their high horses; win – win.

Collective Bargaining Process Prepare Discuss Propose Bargain Settlement

Collective Bargaining Agreement Written document regarding working conditions and terms of employment Legally, a CBA binds only the parties to it. In India, there are three types of agreements, namely voluntary agreements, settlements, and Consent awards. procedural agreements or substantive agreements

Contents of Collective Bargaining Agreement The date of commencement of the agreement Its duration A definition of terms The procedure for settling disputes regarding interpretation, as well as other disputes. The consequences in the event of breaches of the agreement As regards wages, exactly how conversion of employees' wages to the new scales is to be effected.

Levels At Which Collective Bargaining Is Undertaken Enterprise Or Plant Level Industry-Cum-Region wide Agreements Sectoral Collective Bargaining At National Level

Conditions For Successful Collective Bargaining Trade Union Recognition Observance of Agreements Support of Labour Administration Authorities Good Faith Proper Internal Communication

PERCEPTIONS ON COLLECTIVE BARGAINING CB essentially means negotiations between the labour and management CB should just not stop at the negotiations but also go on to be implemented; otherwise the entire process of CB will be rendered futile. It is mostly the formal sector that benefits out of the CB process. The parties have to adopt a flexible attitude throughout the process of bargaining It is based on give and take approach and take or leave approach. Once both the parties know what they want, negotiations become easier and better. Obviously all the above mentioned conditions are required successful for CB but the most essential among them is the “good faith”

CB agreement is a written format and it is essential because that acts as a legal framework and as a guide to their relationships on certain matters for a specified period of time. Collective bargaining is not highly practiced in India, several factors are responsible for this: Multiple unions Defective laws Mediation by political leaders Organisations understand the importance of human resources hence they take care of the workers well enough so that collective bargaining is not highly required. It is also because most MNC’s are setting up their plants in India, because of which compensation levels have gone up so also the terms of employment has become favourable in most parts of the country. It is necessary to create a win – win situation for both the parties, if this is not done, the process of CB just acts as a temporary solution. Also, if CB is used as a temporary solution, it would infact create an environment of distrust.