Bargaining Impasse:

Sometimes serious conflicts occur during the course of

negotiations. As such, labor and management become simply
unable to reach an accord or agreement over certain issues such
as wages overtime, or other work provisions. Thus, when
negotiations break down and the labor and management have
been unable to reach an agreement, a bargaining impasse
results. An impasse usually occurs when one party is demanding
more than the other will offer.

As and when an impasse occurs, there can be three options:

1. The parties may ask a third party, known as mediator or
arbitrator, to resolve the impasse.

2. The labor union may resort to work stoppage or strikes to exert

their force on management.

3. The employer may also, through several pressure techniques,

exert a show of force to suppress union demands.

Let us reflect on these one by one:

Third-Party Involvement: Three types of third-party interventions
are used to overcome impasse: Mediation, Arbitration, and Fact-
finding.
(I) Mediation: A neutral third party acts as a mediator to lead the
two parties to an agreement as a go-between for the labor and
the employer. The mediator usually holds meetings with each
party to determine where each party stands regarding its position.
Then, grounds are prepared for settling the issues. Importantly,
the mediator does not have the authority to impose his/her
decision. To be successful in his mediating role, the mediator
must have the confidence of both parties and is perceived as truly
impartial and unbiased.

(ii) Arbitration: Arbitration is the commonly used and most

definitive type of third party intervention in resolving disputes.
Unlike die mediator, an arbitrator is empowered to determine and
dictate the terms of negotiation. This facilitates the arbitrator to
guarantee a solution to an impasse. Arbitrations may be either
binding or non-binding. In case of binding arbitration, both parties
are bound to accept the arbitrator’s decision/award. The parties
are not committed to the arbitrator’s award in case of non-binding
arbitration.

(iii) Fact-finding: In certain situations of emergency type, a fact-

finder is appointed to resolve an impasse. Like mediator, a fact-
finder is also a neutral party who dissects and studies the issues
involved in dispute and then, based on this, make a public
recommendation of what a reasonable settlement ought to be.
Fact-finding is rarely used in the private sector. This is commonly
used in public sector to settle disputes.

Union Power Tactics:

1. Economic Strike: An economic strike is a strike over an
economic issue such as demand for better wages, benefits,
hours, and working conditions than the employer is willing to
grant.

2. Recognition Strike: This is the typical strike to force the

employer to recognize and deal with the union.
3. Sympathy Strike: A sympathy strike occurs when one union
strikes in support of the strike of another.
4. Wildcat Strike: A wildcat strike is an unauthorized strike not
approved by the union leadership.

5. Sit-down Strike: This is a strike when the employees strike but

remain at their jobs in the plant. Such strike is illegal since they
constitute an invasion of private property.

6. Picketing: Picketing is one of the activities occurring during a

strike. The picket, a line of strikers who patrol the employer’s
place of business, helps keep a plant or building site closed
during a strike. The purpose of picketing is to make the society
know about labor dispute going on in the organization. It also
aims at discouraging others to refrain from doing business with
the struck employer.

Employer Power Tactics:

At times, employers do also use a number of tactics designed to
overcome a bargaining impasse on their terms. These may
include the lockout of employees, hiring non-union employees,
hiring replacement employees and filing for bankruptcy.

Lockout: A lockout is refusal by the employer to provide

opportunities to employees to work. The employees are,
sometimes literally, locked out and prohibited from doing their
jobs, and thus, stop from getting paid. Because an employer
normally halts operations with this tactic, the lockout sees only
limited use in resolving bargaining impasse.
Non-union Workers: One way to maintain operations is let the
non-union employees such as supervisors perform the duties of
striking employees. However, this tactic may be successful where
operations are highly automated or routine and where little
training is required to perform the strikers’ jobs. During 2000 strike
of Telephone and Telegraph Workers Union of India, for example,
supervisors and administrators were able to keep phone lines
open and forced the striking employees back to work with no pay
increase.

Replacement Employees: Yet another anti-strike tactic is to hire

replacement employees for strikers. However, this strategy is not
without problems. First, many workers will be hesitant to accent a
short-term employment. Second, many workers will hesitate to
cross picket lines to be ridiculed by die picketers. Third, the
practice is sure to impair labor-management relations and lower
workers morale if a settlement is reached.

Bankruptcy: In extreme case, an employer can go to the extent

to cancel a union contract and declare oneself, under the
provisions of the Bankruptcy Law, as bankrupt to get rid of striking
workers.