Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Collective Bargain
Collective Bargain
misunderstandings are often removed. Although all major differences might not
always be sorted out collective bargaining helps in resolving many minor
differences and there are many cases in which even major disputes have been
settled without work stoppage or outside intervention. Accordingly role of
collective bargaining in conflict resolution is very significant.
Thus collective bargaining:
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not only involves the bargaining agreement, but also involves the
implementation of such an agreement.
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2. Its a method use by trade unions to improve the terms and conditions of
employment of their members.
3. It seeks to restore the unequal bargaining position between employer and
employee.
4. Where it leads to an agreement, it modifies rather than replaces the individual
contract of employment.
It is a group process, wherein one group, representing the employers, and the
other, representing the employees, sit together to negotiate terms of
employment.
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tend
to
argue
that
productivity
bargaining
increases
their
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representatives
and
employers
representatives).
Collective
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Its duration - when it will terminate or may be terminated, and how it can
be terminated
The contents of CBA vary considerably from plant to plant and from industry to
industry. Usually, they cover items relating to wages, working conditions, working
hours, fringe benefits and job security.
Legally, a CBA binds only the parties to it and the persons on behalf of whom
they were acting. It often happens that all workers in a given undertaking may
not belong to the union which signed the agreement or they are non unionized.
Therefore, in a number of countries the law provides for compulsory coverage of
agreements or settlements on employers and all the employees in an
establishment. The implementation and supervision of collective agreements, in
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some countries, depends on the good faith of the parties. They are gentlemens
agreements without any legal sanction, for instance, in the United Kingdom.
In India, there are three types of agreements, namely
1. voluntary agreements,
2. settlements, and
3.
Consent awards.
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- Set out the agreement reached in a letter to the union and, on confirmation,
prepare a draft agreement.
- Alternatively provide the union with a draft agreement. This would be the better
course of action as the actual agreement reached will be clearer. It also leaves
less room for further negotiations between the time agreement is reached and
the draft agreement is approved.
The signing of an agreement does not ensure its successful implementation.
Managers and supervisors should be acquainted with the agreement through the
most appropriate means. A combination of written and oral communication is
often useful.
CONDITIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Trade Union Recognition
The existence of the freedom of association does not necessarily mean that
there would automatically be recognition of unions for bargaining purposes.
Especially in systems where there is a multiplicity of trade unions, there should
be some pre-determined objective criteria operative within the industrial relations
system to decide when and how a union should be recognised for collective
bargaining purposes. The accepted principle is to recognise the most
representative union, but what criteria is used to decide it and by whom may
differ from system to system. In some systems the issue would be determined by
requiring the union to have not less than a stipulated percentage of the workers
in the enterprise or category in its membership. The representativeness may be
decided by a referendum in the workplace or by an outside certifying authority
(such as a labour department or an indepenedent statutory body). There could
be a condition that once certified as the bargaining agent, there cannot be a
change of agent for a prescribed period (e.g. one or two years) in order to
ensure the stability of the process.
Observance of Agreements
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Where
there
is
frequent
non-observance
of
agreements
or
understandings reached through the collective bargaining process, the party not
in default would lose faith in the process.
Support of Labour Administration Authorities
Support by the labour administration authorities is necessary for successful
collective bargaining. This implies that they will:
Provide the necessary climate for it. For instance, they should provide effective
conciliation services in the event of a breakdown in the process, and even
provide the necessary legal framework for it to operate in where necessary, e.g.
provision for the registration of agreements, will not support a party in breach of
agreements concluded consequent to collective bargaining.
As far as is practicable, secure observance of collective bargaining agreements.
Provide methods for the settlement of disputes arising out of collective
bargaining if the parties themselves have not so provided.
Good Faith
Collective bargaining is workable only if the parties bargain in good faith. If not,
there will be only the process of bargaining without a result viz. an agreement.
Good faith is more likely where certain attitudes are shared among employers,
workers and their organizations e.g. a belief and faith in the value of compromise
through dialogue, in the process of collective bargaining, and in the productive
nature of the relationship collective bargaining requires and develops. Strong
organizations of workers and employers contribute to bargaining in good faith,
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because there would be some parity in the bargaining strength of the two
parties.
Proper Internal Communication
Both the management and union should keep their managers and members
respectively well informed, as a lack of proper communication and information
can lead to misunderstandings and even to strikes. Sometimes managers and
supervisors who are ill-informed may inadvertently mislead workers who work
under them about the current state of negotiations, the management's objectives
and so on. In fact, it is necessary to involve managers in deciding on objectives
and solutions, and such participation is likely to ensure greater acceptance - and
therefore better implementation - by them.
TRENDS IN COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
In recent years, in India as in almost elsewhere, collective bargaining has
faced the challenges stemming from falling trade union membership, increasing
individualization of labour relations and the difficult quest for greater
competitiveness and flexibility in a situation of economic globalization. In this
context, certain trends in India could be enumerated as follows:
Coverage of collective bargaining is high in the formal sector and very low
portion of workers in the informal sector are covered by collective
agreements.
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The new issues in the bargaining are bankruptcy, equality, careerdevelopments, leisure time, evaluation systems etc. and overall the
issues covered in collective bargaining are broadening.
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
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In India, the workers working in the formal sector, who constitute only seven
percent of the total workforce are generally, in a position to gain from the
collective bargaining mechanism and the vast majority of the workers engaged in
the informal sector are largely untouched by this instrument in its standard form
for improvement of their terms of employment. Generally, all enterprises which
are either registered under the purview of any one of the acts like the Indian
Factories Act, 1948, Mines and Minerals (Regulations and Development) Act,
1957, Plantation Labour Act, 1951 the Companies Act, 1956 the Central/ State
Sales Tax Act, Shops and Establishments Acts of the State Governments are
defined as part of the organized sector. Also included are all government
companies, Departmental Enterprises and Public Sector Corporations. Also, all
workers in the agricultural sectors except those working in the plantations are
regarded as informal sector workers.
In India, Collective Bargaining and rise in Trade Unionism came into existence
mainly in the early 20 th century. The movement got impetus from Constitutional,
statutory and voluntary provisions. Article 19(c) of the Indian Constitution
guarantees freedom of association as a fundamental right. The Trade Unions
Act passed in 1926 provides for registration of Trade Unions of employers and
workers and in certain respects, it defines the law relating to registered Trade
Unions. It confers legal and corporate status on registered Trade Unions. The
Amendment to the Trade Unions (Amendments) Act, 1926 in 2001, enforced with
effect from 9th January 2002 provides for reducing multiplicity of Trade Unions,
orderly growth of Trade Unions and promoting internal democracy.
In India, trade unions gained prominence much later only after 1900. In 1918,
Gandhiji - as the leader of the Ahmedabad textile workers advocated the
resolution of conflict through CB agreements.
But the idea gathered interest only after the Second World War.
The
Government of that time took steps like setting up of machinery for negotiations,
conciliation and arbitration. The trade union movement and also CB agreements
became popular after Indian independence.
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