Collective Bargaining

Nitin Kutre Pooja M Ankit Majhetia Mihir Mehta Nirav Mehta 31 32 33 34 35

Collective Bargaining?

Collective Bargaining is a procedure by which the terms and conditions of workers are regulated by agreements between their bargaining agents and employers The basic objective of collective bargaining is to arrive at an agreement resolving the difference between workers and management through voluntary negotiations and arrive at a consensus

Strikes and Lockouts from 2002 to 2005

Labour Bureau, Government of India

ITEM

2002

2003

2004

2005

A. No. of Strikes

295

255

236

227

No. of Workers Involved

900,386

1,010,976

1,903,054

2,722,784

No. of Man days lost

9,664,537

3,205,950

4,828,737

10,800,686

B. No. of Lockouts

284

297

241

229

No. of Workers Involved

179,048

804,969

169,167

190,817

No. of Man days lost

16,921,382

2,70,49,961

19,037,630

18,864,313

Most Common Issues Negotiated

Wages and working conditions; Work norms; Incentive payments; Job security; Changes in technology; Work tools, techniques and practices; Staff transfers and promotions; Grievances; Disciplinary matters; Health and safety; Insurance and benefits; Union recognition; Union activities/responsibilities; Management rights.

Machinery for Prevention and Settlement of Industrial Relations

Voluntary Methods Government Machinery Statutory Measures

Code of Discipline

Tripartite Machinery

Workers Participation

Collective Bargaining

I.D. Act, 1947

State Acts

Labour Administration (States & Central Levels)

Works Committee

Conciliation

Voluntary Arbitration

Court of Enquiry

Adjudication

Conciliation Officers

Conciliation Board

Labour Court

Industrial Tribunal

National Tribunal

Levels At Which Collective Bargaining Is Undertaken

Enterprise or Plant level

Industry Cum Region wide Agreements

Sectoral collective bargaining at national level

Different Types of Bargaining

Single Plant Bargaining

Bargaining between management and single trade union

Multiple Plant Bargaining

Bargaining may be between a single factory or establishment having several plants and the workers employed in all these plants

Multiple Employer Bargaining

Bargaining between all the trade union of workers in the same industry through their federal organisations, and the employers federation

Characteristics of Collective Bargaining

Both the parties negotiate voluntarily in order to have a meaningful dialogue. Through negotiations, they try to probe each others views thoroughly before arriving at an acceptable solution. The implementation of the agreement resulting from such a bargaining process is also voluntary.

Voluntary

This process begins with negotiations but does not end with an agreement. Implementation of such an agreement, which is an on-going process, is also a part of CB.
Continuous

The whole process of CB is influenced by the mental make-up of the parties involved. As a result, the concept of CB changes, grows, and expands over time.
Dynamic

Power relationship

Each party wants to extract the maximum from the other To reach a consensus, both have to retreat from their original positions and accept less than what is asked for and give more than what is on offer. While doing so, the management tries to retain its control on workplace matters and unions attempt to strengthen their hold over workers without any serious dilution of their powers.

The participants in CB do not act for themselves. They represent the claims of labour and management while trying to reach an agreement. Representation Each participant is an authorized representative of workers and employers.

Functions of Collective Bargaining

Agent of Social Change

Collective bargaining acts as a technique of long run social change, bringing rearrangements in the power hierarchy of competing groups.

A Peace Treaty

Collective bargaining has served as a peace treaty between two parties in continued conflict

Creates a system of industrial jurisprudence

It is a method of introducing civil rights into industry, that is, of requiring that management be conducted by rule rather than by arbitrary decision.

Process of Collective Bargaining

Breakdown in Negotiation
Third party intervention Union strategies for overcoming breakdowns Management strategies for overcoming breakdowns

To decide who or which union is to be recognized as the representative of the workers for bargaining purpose. To decide what should be the level of bargaining ;and To decide what should be the scope and coverage of issues under collective bargaining.

Collective Agreement
A collective agreement or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is an agreement between employers and employees which regulates the terms and conditions of employees in their workplace, their duties and the duties of the employer. It is usually the result of a process of collective bargaining between an employer (or a number of employers) and a trade union representing workers.

Collective Bargaining Agreement

y Written document regarding working

conditions and terms of employment y Legally, a CBA binds only the parties to it. y In India, there are three types of agreements, namely  voluntary agreements,  settlements, and  Consent awards. y procedural agreements or substantive agreements

Collective Bargaining in India

1920-1950

Bargaining was in the stage of infancy It was not a very common method of regulating labormanagement relations in India

In this period actual emergence of bargaining was witnessed It was established as a method of settlement of industrial disputes and determination of terms and conditions of 1951-1969 employment

1970 onwards

Collective bargaining took a more general form It widened its scope from plant or enterprise level to the industry or the national level During this period some new trends in CB also developed

Conditions For Successful Collective Bargaining

y Trade Union Recognition y Observance of Agreements y Support of Labour Administration y Good Faith y Proper Internal Communication

Authorities

Causes of limited success of CB in India:

Problems with unions: y CB mainly depends on the strength of unions. y Weak trade unions cannot initiate strong arguments during negotiations. y Not many strong unions in India. y Indian unions are bogged down by the problems of: multiplicity, inter and intra-union rivalry, weak financial position and nonrecognition. y So, unanimous decision is unlikely to be presented at the negotiating table.

Causes of limited success of CB in India:

Problems from Government: The Government has not been making any strong efforts for the development of CB. Imposition of many restrictions regarding strikes and lockouts has removed the `edge` of the CB process. Political interference: Interference of political leaders in all aspects of union matters has increased over the years. Almost all unions are associating themselves with some political party or the other.

Causes of limited success of CB in India:

Legal problems: Now that adjudication is easily accessible, the CB process is losing its importance. Management attitude: In India, managements have a negative attitude towards unions. They do not appreciate their workers joining unions.

Collective Bargaining in Tea Companies in India

Ducans Industry

Part of the Goenka family Tea gardens encompass over 7500 hectares of land spread over the Dooars, Terai and Darjeeling regions of North Bengal Implemented Quality Systems in line with ISO 9002 standards One of the finest clonal gardens in the world.

Goodricke group ltd Established tea gardens progressively in 1977 17 existing tea gardens of Goodricke Group Ltd. Covers 12 estates

State Government

2nd largest employer >2 million workers

Tea Board of India

(Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Govt of India)

Indian Tea Association

Plantation Labor Act

Plantation Labor Act (1951) Only Goodricke and Duncan provide 100% housing, others involve in local bargaining Cannot bargain on wage and ration 1 meeting in 3 years for wage revision Main dispute on efficiency of workers (output)

In case of any dispute meetings are held

if not solved in the first level the move to the next level

Local Level - Bipartite Meeting between company and union Tripartite Meeting mainly at Jalpaiguri local worker union, the tea garden union and company Case forwarded to District Labor Commissioner Case forwarded to Assistant Labor Commissioner

Case forwarded to court (rare occation)

Suggestion
The Indian Government needs to adopt comprehensive statutory measures with regards to collective bargaining For an effective Collective Bargaining in India the following measures are taken: Recognition of trade union has to be determined through verification of fee membership method. The union having more membership should be recognized as the effective bargaining agent. The State should enact suitable legislation providing for compulsory recognition of trade union by employers. State has to play a progressive role in removing the pitfalls which stand in the way of mutual, amicable and voluntary settlement of labor disputes.

THANK YOU

The case of Viva Global

y 400 male workers and 200 females workers in company --- demand for wage

y y y y y y y y

increment in April 2010 after minimum wages revised in January 2010--stopped the work for two hrs every day April 8-10 One worker dismissed---protest----15 workers taken in custody Workers started their efforts to form trade union Protest ended-demands fulfilled---minimum wage, formal contract-ESI and PF But Soon management started throwing out workers one by one Workers successfully registered union in May 2010; collectively protested against this move Aug 21: all contract workers thrown out-protest at the factory gate Management locked out the factory, regular workers also thrown out August 25: 20-25 local goons brutally attacked the factory workers

The case of Viva Global

y One worker was caught and abducted by the goons. y Accounts of Abducted worker: I was put in backside box of a car. Lastly the

car stopped and the goons closed my eyes with some cloth before taking me out of the box. They took me to a house and hit me with whatever they had till they received directions on phone to take me to another place. Thereafter they took me to a jungle and threatened to kill me. But soon after they received directions on phone and therefore they again put me in the same backside box of the car and threw me out at Delhi-Gurgaon Border. As soon as I reached my residence from there, the police also reached there and took me to the Police Station and then to the hospital and from there I again came to the place where sit-in-protest of workers was going on.

New Trends

Informalisation and New Paradigm of CB y Emphasis on Community organizing rather than at shop-floor; Collective Bargaining at Industry or National level rather than factory level; adopting more political forms of struggle than traditional union tactics y In many industrial sectors, for example in garment-the situation provides only two options: individual bargaining or Industry level/national level bargaining and requires political forms of struggle New initiatives to organize informal sector workers: Many local level unions of rural workers and also regional platforms of rural workers have started emerging Particularly around NREGA.