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

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.