Collective bargaining

o This term is coined by famous authors Sydney and

Beatrice Webb which is concerned with the relations
between trade unions & management.
o It is an on going process of negotiation between
representatives of workers and employers to establish
the conditions of employment.
o The collectively determined agreement may cover not
only wages but hiring practices, layoffs, promotions,
job functions, working conditions and hours, worker
discipline and termination, and benefit programs.
Definition
 All negotiations which take place between an
employer, a group of employers or one or more
employers' organisations, on the one hand, and
one or more workers' organisations, on the other,
for:
(a) determining working conditions and terms of
employment; and/or
(b) regulating relations between employers and
workers; and/or
(c) regulating relations between employers or their
organisations and a workers' organisation or
workers' organisations.”
Characteristics
 Collective: Collective bargaining is a two way
group process where the employers representative
and employees representatives sit together to
negotiate terms of employment.
 Strength: Both the parties in collective
bargaining are strong and equal.
 Voluntary: Both parties come to the negotiation
table voluntarily in order to go in particular
negotiation. It is based on discussion, mutual trust
and understanding.
…
 Formal: It is a formal process in which certain employment
related issues are to be regulated at National, organization
and workplace levels.
 Flexible: It is a flexible and continuous process and not
fixed or static.
 Improvement: It is a method to improve the employer-
employees relation in organization and resolve management
and employees conflicts.
 Representation: Collective bargaining is between the
representatives of employees and management. The
management does not directly deal with employees. It carries
negotiations with the representatives/executives of unions
and association.
 Dynamic: Collective bargaining is dynamic, that
go on changing over a period and grows and
expand the way of agreement, the way of
implementation and way of discussion.
 Continuous: Collective bargaining is continuous
and begins with agreement, the implementation of
agreement and further negotiations.
 Bipartite Process: Because the employee and
employers representatives negotiate directly face
to face across the table.
OBJECTIVES
 To maintain cordial relations between management
& the workers
 To settle disputes/conflicts relating to working
conditions & wages
 To protect interest of workers through collective
action.
 To ensure participation of Trade Unions
 To resolve the differences between workers and
management.
Principles of CB
 Principles for Trade Unions-:
a) They should have open mind on various issues.
b) There should not be any room for confusion &
misunderstanding.
c) Trade Unions should fully support management.
d) Strike calls should be the last resort.
 Principles for Management-:
a) Mgt.should give proper recoginition to trade unions.
b) Rules governing labour should be periodically examined.
c) All the clauses of agreements should be accepted in true
spirit.
Types of collective bargaining
1. Conjunctive or Distributive Bargaining:
 Both the parties viz. The employee and the employer
try to maximize their respective gains.
 It is based on the principle, “my gain is your loss, and
your gain is my loss” i.e. one party wins over the other.
 The economic issues such as wages, bonus, other
benefits are discussed.
 Here the employee wishes to have an increased wage
or bonus for his work done, whereas the employer
wishes to increase the workload and reduce the wages.
2. Co-operative or Integrative Bargaining:
 Both the employee and the employer sit together and
try to resolve the problems of their common interest
and reach to an amicable solution.
 In the case of economic crisis, such as recession, which
is beyond the control of either party, may enter into a
mutual agreement with respect to the working terms.
 For example, the workers may agree for the low wages
or the management may agree to adopt the modernized
methods, so as to have an increased production.
Process of CB
 Preparing for negotiations: Careful and advance preparations for
employees and employers are necessary because of the complexity
of the issues and broad range of topics discussed during
negotiations.
 Identifying the bargaining issues: The major issues discussed in
CB fall under the following four categories:
a. Wage related issues
b. Supplementary economic benefits
c. Institutional issues
d. Administrative issues 
 Negotiation: This phase begins with each side presenting initial
demands. Negotiation goes on until final agreement is reached.
 4. Reaching the agreement: After the initial agreement is
made, both the parties come to a conclusion.

 Ratifying the agreement: In this stage union- negotiating

team explains and puts the agreement to the union
members for a vote. If voted, this agreement is formalised
into a contract.

 Administration of the agreement: The agreement must

be implemented according to the letter and spirit of the
provisions of the agreement.