Lecture NO.

8
LABOR MANAGEMENT RELATIONS
 Good-Faith Bargaining

• Good-faith bargaining is an interactive

process in which each side makes offers and
counteroffers in an effort to reach an
agreement over wages, hours, and other
terms and conditions of employment.
• According to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA),
USA, both employer and the employee must meet at
reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to
wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of
employment. It is an unfair labor practice for either party
to refuse to bargain collectively. Neither party may engage
in fictitious or surface bargaining if it has no real intent of
reaching agreement. Both parties must make a sincere
good faith effort to participate in negotiations. They must
do more than just go through the motions of bargaining.
 Conditions opposing good Faith
Bargaining
The followings are the major conditions that oppose
the good-faith bargaining:
• Surface bargaining. Going through the motions
of bargaining without any real intention of
completing a formal agreement.
• Inadequate concessions. Unwillingness to
compromise, even though no one is required to
make a concession.
• Inadequate proposals and demands. The NLRB
considers the advancement of proposals to be a
positive factor in determining overall good faith.
• Dilatory tactics. The law requires that the parties meet
and “confer at reasonable times and intervals.” Obviously,
refusal to meet with the union does not satisfy the positive
duty imposed on the employer.
• Imposing conditions. Attempts to impose conditions that
are so onerous or unreasonable as to indicate bad faith.
• Making unilateral changes in conditions. This is a strong
indication that the employer is not bargaining with the
required intent of reaching an agreement.
• Bypassing the representative. The duty of management
to bargain in good faith involves, at a minimum,
recognition that the union representative is the one with
whom the employer must deal in conducting negotiations.
• Committing unfair labor practices during negotiations.
Such practices may reflect poorly upon the good faith of
the guilty prty.
• Witbbolding information. An employer must supply the
union with information, upon request, to enable it to
understand and intelligently discuss the issues raised in
bargaining.
• Ignoring bargaining items. Refusal to bargain on a
mandatory item (one must bargain over these) or insistence
on a permissive item (only bargain over these).
• Boulwareism: In good faith bargaining either should not
take the role of opposing party by imposing its judgment of
what is reasonable and refusing to bargain further. This
“take it or leave it” position, disfavored by the law, is
termed as Boulwareism, after the Lemuel R. Boulware, the
GE vice president, who advanced it.
 Bargaining Items

Labor law sets out categories of items that are

subject to bargaining: These are
• mandatory,
• voluntary, and
• illegal items.
 Mandatory
mandatory bargaining issues are those which
are permitted by the Labor Law. These
include:
• Rates of pay
• Wages
• Hours of employment
• Overtime pay
• Shift differentials
• Holidays
• Vacations
• Severance pay
• Pensions
• Insurance benefits
• Profit-sharing plans
• Festival bonuses
• Company housing, meals, and discounts
• Employee security
• Job performance
• Union security
• Management-union relationship
• Drug testing of employees
 Voluntary (or permissible)
bargaining items
These are neither mandatory nor illegal; they become a part of
negotiations only through the joint agreement of both management and
union. Neither party can compel the other to negotiate over voluntary
items. You cannot hold up signing a contract because the other party
refuses to bargain on a voluntary item. These issues include:
• Indemnity bonds
• Management rights as to union affairs
• Pension benefits of retired employees
• Scope of the bargaining unit
• Including supervisors in the contract
• Additional parties to the contract such as the international union
• Use of union label
• Settlement of unfair labor changes
• Prices in cafeteria
• Continuance of past contract
• Membership of bargaining team
• Employment of strike breaker
 Illegal bargaining items
These are forbidden by Law. A clause agreeing to
hire union members exclusively would be illegal in
a right-to-work state, for example. Showing the
mandatory bargaining items, over which
bargaining is mandatory under the law. They
include wages, hours, rest periods, layoffs,
transfers, benefits, and severance pay. Others, such
as drug testing, are added as the law evolves.
• Closed shop
• Separation of employees based on race
• Discriminatory treatment
 Meaning of Collective
Bargaining
• Collective bargaining is the process by which
labor and management negotiate and reach
agreement on matters of importance to both. It is
an interactive process between two parties that
often have opposite goals. In many instances,
gains made by one party represent losses for the
other party, a zero-sum game. There are few
opportunities for both parties to “win” on
compensation issues.
• Typically one party will compile a set of
proposals into a first offer. For example, the
union may select a team of representatives
(the bargaining committee) who seeks to
improve or maintain the benefits currently
received by employees. These negotiations
and agreements are made on the terms and
conditions of jobs, fair wages, and other
employment related matters.
 The followings are the major
functions of labor negotiation
process:
        Establishing work rules
        Selecting the form and mix of employee
compensation
        Providing uniformity among competitors
        Setting priorities for both labor and
management
       Permitting economic pressure to shape labor-
management relations
 Collective Bargaining Agent

A collective bargaining agent is defined in clause

(52) of section 2 of the Bangladesh Labor Code, in
relation to an establishment or industry, means the
trade union or trade union federation of any
establishment or group of establishments, which
under section 202, is the agent of worker in the
matter of collective bargaining. .
 
According to section 202(1) of Bangladesh Labor Code,
where there is only one registered trade union in an
establishment or a group of establishments, that trade
union shall, if it has as its members not less than one-
third of the total number of workmen employed in
such establishment or group of establishments, be
deemed to be collective bargaining agent for such
establishment or group. But if there exists an
establishment more than two registered trade unions
and all of them cannot raise industrial dispute or
negotiate with the employer. One of these trade
unions which is declared collective bargaining for a
particular period can represent the workers.
 
 Mode of Selecting the
Collective Bargaining Agent
Collective bargaining agents are the
employees’ representatives to initiate
negotiation and enter into agreements with
the employers in relations to their job
related matters. The body is formed and
represented according to the provisions of
Bangladesh Labor Code 2006.
 1.One Registered Trade Union
  Where there is only one registered trade
union in an establishment or a group of
establishment, that trade union shall be
deemed to be collective bargaining agent
for such establishment or group.
 2.      More than One Registered
Unions:
• Where there are more than one registered
trade unions, the Director of Labour shall,
upon an application made in this behalf by
any such trade union or by the employer,
hold a secret ballot within 120 days to
determine as to which one of such trade
unions shall be the collective bargaining
agent for the establishment or group.
3.Upon receipt of an application under sub-
section (2), the Director of Labor shall, by
notice in writing, call upon every registered
trade union in the establishment, within the
period specified in the notice, which shall
not be more than fifteen days, whether it
shall contest the secret ballot.
4. If a trade union fails to inform the Director
of Labor, within the time specified in the
notice, its desire to be a contestant in the
secret ballot, it shall be presumed that it
shall not be a contestant in such ballot.
5. If no trade union informs the Director of
Labour anything with the time specified in
the notice, as to its desire to be a contestant
in the secret ballot, the trade union applying
under sub-section (2) shall be declared to be
the collective bargaining agent for the
establishment, provided it has its member
not less than one third of the total number
of workers employed in the establishment.
6.Every employer, if requested by Director of
Labour, shall send to the Director of Labour
a list of those workers who are in the
service of his establishment al least for a
period of three months excluding causal and
badli workers, and the list shall contain the
following particulars, such as
1. the name of every worker,
2. the name and age of his parent,
3. The name of his section or department,
4. Name of the place in which he is employed,
5. His ticket number and the date of his
employment.
7.Every employer, if requested by the
Director of Labor, shall supply required
number of additional copoies of the list
referred to in sub-section (b) and shall
provide necessary facilities for verification
of the list submitted.
 
• 8. On receipt of the list of workers form
employer, the Director of Labor shall send a
copy of the list to each of the contesting
trade unions and shall also affix a copy of
thereof in a conspicuous part of the
establishment concerned, together with a
notice inviting objections, if any, to be
submitted to him within a specified time.
9. The Director of Labor shall dispose of the
objections, if any received by him, after
necessary enquiry.
10. The DoL shall make such amendments or
alterations in the list of workers submitted
by the employer as may be required by any
decision given by him under sub-section (9)
(11) After amendments, alterations or modifications,
if any, made under sub-section (10) or where no
objections are received by the Registrar within the
specified time, the Registrar shall prepare a list of
workers employed in the establishment concerned
and send copies to thereof to the employer and
each of the contesting trade unions at least four
days prior to the date fixed for the poll.
 
(12) The list of workers prepared under sub-
section (11) shall be deemed to be the list of
voters, and every worker whose name
appears in that list shall be entitled to vote
in the poll to determine the collective
bargaining agent.
 
•  
(13) Every employer should provide all such
facilities in his as may be required by
Registrar for the conduct of the poll but
shall not interfere with, or in any way
influence, the voting.
(14) No person shall canvas for vote within a
radius of fifty yards of the polling stations.
(15) Holding Secret Balloting: for the purpose of
holding secret ballot to determine the collective
bargaining agent, the Registrar shall do the
following functions:
(a)    Fixation of the date of poll and communicate it
to the contesting unions.
(b)   Setting up of polling stations
(c)    Conducting the poll on the fixed date
(d)   Concluding and counting the votes
(e)    Declaring the winning union that will act as the
CBA.
 
Provided that no trade union shall be declared
to be the collective bargaining agent for an
establishment or group of establishments
unless the number of votes received by it is
not less than one-third of the total number
of workmen employed in such
establishment or group.
 
16. The trade union declared to be the CBA
for the establishment, will have a period of
2 years from the date of declaration. In the
case of group of establishments the period
of a CBA shall be three years.
18. The Director of Labor is to get request
from the existing CBA or any other trade
unions to conduct poll within 120 to 150
days ahead of the expiry of the tenure of the
existing CBA.
18. The secret ballot is to be held within 120 days
from the date of submitting the application for
determining the CBA for the next term.
19. Where the holding of election has not been
possible for reason beyond the control of DoL
before expiry of the tenure of the existing CBA, it
shall continue as the CBA of such establishment
till new CBA is determined.
20. Where any application under sub-section
17 is not received, the DoL shall declare a
date for election of the CBA within 120
days after the expiry of the tenure of the
existing CBA.
21. If any dispute arises in the electioneering
of the collective bargaining agent, it is to be
referred to the Labor Court and the decision
of the Labor Court in this respect shall be
final.
22. If any contesting trade union gets less than ten
percent of the total votes cast, the registration of
such trade union shall stand automatically
cancelled.
23. A collective bargaining agent may, without
prejudice to its own position, implead as a party to
any proceedings to which it is itself a party to any
federation of trade unions of which it is a member.
 Scope of the authority of CBA
• According to subsection 24 of Section 202, the
CBA in relation to an establishment be entitled
to:
(a) undertaking collective bargaining with the
employer on matters connected with non-
employment, the terms of employment or the
conditions of work;
(b) Represent all of any of the workers in any
proceedings;
(a) Give notice of, and declare strike in accordance
with provisions of Labor Law.
(b) Nominate representatives of workers on any
welfare establishment or provident fund and on
the Board of Trustee of Participation Fund
established under labor law.
(c) Conduct cases on behalf of any individual or
group of workers.
 Unfair Labor Practices on the
Part of the Employers
The unfair labor practices may inhibit employees’ free
choice of whether to unionize. According to general
labor-management relations, the followings are
treated as unfair labor practices:
        Interfering with employee efforts to form, join
or assist labor organizations
        Interfering with employees’ concerted activities
for mutual aid or protection
        Dominating a labor organization
        Supporting a labor organization
  
• Discriminating in hiring, firing, benefits, or other
conditions of employment due to employee’s union
affiliation.
   Discriminating due to employee’s exercise of rights under
the labor law
    Refusing to bargain collectively and in good faith with a
duly certified labor organization.
   Agreeing with a labor organization to conduct a secondary
boycott.
 
•  
According to section 195 of the BLC 2006,
the following activities are treated as unfair
labor practices:
(a)    Impose any condition in a contract of employment
seeking to restrain the right of person who is a party
such contract to join a trade union or continue his
membership of a trade union;
(b)   Refuse to employ or refuse to continue to employ
any person on the ground that such person is, or is
not , a member or officer of a trade union; or
(c)    Discriminate against any person in regard to any
employment, promotion, condition of employment or
working condition on the ground that such person is,
or is not, a member or officer of a trade union; or
    
 
 (d) Dismiss, discharge, remove from employment or threaten to
dismiss, discharge or remove from employment a workman
or injure him in respect of his employment; or
(e)    Inducing any person refrain from becoming or to
cease to be a member or officer of a trade union, by
conferring or offering to confer any advantage, or by
procuring or offering procure any advantage for such
person or any other person.
(f)     Compel any officer of the collective bargaining
agent to sign a memorandum of settlement by using
intimidation, injury, disconnection of water, power,
and telephone facilities and such other methods.
  (g) Inference with or in any way influence
the balloting provided for in section
22.
(h)  Recruit any new workman during the
period of strike under section 28.
 
 
(i) Fail intentionally to take measures as per the
recommendation of the Participating
Committee;
(j) Fail to give answer to any letter sent by the
CBA regarding industrial dispute;
(k) Transfer President, the General Secretary, the
Organizing Secretary, or the Treasurer of any
trade union in contravention of the provision of
section 187.
(l) Commence or continue an illegal lock-out or
persuade any other person to take part in that.
 Unfair Labor Practices by
Employees
It is defined in Section 196. According to the
provisions of the section employees unfair labor
practices include the followings:
 1. No worker shall remain engaged in any trade union
activities during his working hour without the
permission of the employer.
2. (a)   Intimidate any person to become, or refrain
from becoming, or to continue to be , or to cease to
be a member or officer of a trade union; or
 
(c)    Induce any person to refrain from becoming or cease
to be a member or officer of a trade union, by conferring
or offering to confer any advantage on, or by procuring
or offering to procure any advantage for, such person or
any other person; or
 
(d)   Compel or attempt to compel the employer to sign a
memorandum of settlement by using intimidation,
coercion, disconnection of telephone, water and power
facilities and such other methods; or
 
(e)    Compel or attempt to compel any workman to
pay, or refrain from paying, any subscription
towards the fund of any trade union by using
intimidation, coercion, pressure, threat,
confinement to a place, physical injury,
disconnection of telephone, water, and power
facilities and such other methods.
(f) Create blockade, obstacle in transport or
communication system or cause damage to any
property for the purpose of satisfying any demand
or object of a trade union;
3.    It shall be an unfair practice for a trade union to
interfere with ballot held under section 22 by
exercise of undue influence, intimidation,
impersonation or bribery through its executive or
through any person acting on its behalf.
Unfair Labor Practices of Unions

•  Restraining or coercing employees who are

exercising self-organization rights
•   Coercing an employer to discriminate against
nonunion employees
•    Refusing to bargain in good faith with an
employer if the union is certified as the
employees’ representative
•    Engaging in illegal strikes, picketing, or
secondary boycotts       
• Charging excessive or discriminative dues in a
union shop
  Featherbedding—requiring the employer to
pay for work not actually performed.
Picketing to coerce the employer to recognize a
noncertified union
   Agreeing with an employer to engage in a
secondary boycott
 
 Penalties
• Section 283: Penalty for non-compliance of
Court’s Order
• Section 284: Penalty for employment of
child and adolescent
• Section 285: Penalty for any contract with
regard children in violation of section 35.
• Section 286: Penalty for violation of
maternity rules
• Section 287: Penalty for work for wages
during approved leave:
• Section 288 : Penalty for violation of
section 67.
• Section 289: Penalty for payment of wages
below the minimum rate;
• Section 290: Penalty for failure to give
notice of accident;
 Section 291
Penalty for Unfair Labor Practice
1. whoever contravenes the provision of section 195 will
be punishable with imprisonment up to two years or fine
up to Taka ten thousand or with both.
2. Any worker who violates the provision of section 196 ,
will be punishable with imprisonment for a period of one
year or fine up to taka five thousand or with both;
3. Any person other than a trade union or a worker shall be
punishable with imprisonment for a period up to two
years or fine up to ten thousand or both;
 What is a trade union?

According to Section 2 (b) of the Trade Unions Act

of 1926, “ a trade union is any combination of
persons, whether temporary or permanent,
primarily for the purpose of regulating the
relations between workers and employers, or
between workers and workers and for imposing
restrictive conditions on the conduct of any trade
or business, and includes the federation of two or
more trade unions.”
 
From this definition it appears that a trade
union is :
        An association
        Relatively permanent combination
        Engages in securing economic benefits
of employees
        It is a constantly changing
        Its origin and growth has been
influenced by a number of ideologies.
 
From this definition we can define a trade union as:
“A voluntary and continuous association of the
salary or wage earners engaged in whatever
industry or trade, formed for safeguarding the
interests of its members, maintaining and
improving the conditions of their working lives,
raising their status and promoting their vocational
interests; and securing better relations between
them and their employees, through collective
bargaining.”
 
Why Do Workers Join a Trade
Union?
Employees are unionized after an extensive and
sometimes-lengthy process called the organizing
campaign. The most common objectives of
employees’ unionization are mentioned below:
 
        To get economic security
        To restrain the management from taking any
action which is irrational, illogical, discriminatory or
prejudicial to the interest of labor.
       
• To communicate their views, aims, ideas,
feelings, and frustrations to the management;
that is, they want to have an effective voice in
discussions which affect their welfare;
        To secure protection from economic hazards
beyond their control; for example, illness,
accident, death, disability, unemployment and
old age;
        To get along with their fellow—workers in a
better way and to gain respect in eyes of their
peers;       
• To get job through the good offices of a
trade union
        To get authorization card: it is a card
signed by prospective union members
indicating that they are interested in having
a union election held at their work site.
 The Role of Unions Today
The success of unions in the next one or two decades
clearly will be based on how well they match their
objectives and strategies with the opportunities and
threats for unions in the environment. Unions must
establish a strategic fit just as must other organizations.
This means unions must re-evaluate their roles in the
society given the major changes in the workplace over
the last twenty years. In 1985 AFL-CIO report
recognized that change was needed. Let’s look at some
of these potential roles, positions and fits and discuss
how are changing or might change. To aid our
understanding, let’s review those roles from both the
unions and managerial perspective.
 
 From the Members
Perspective
• Wages and Benefits
• Job Security
• Social Affiliation
• Training and Development
• Political Advocacy
 From Management’s
Perspective
• Common Wage Scales
• Reduced Number of Negotiations
• More Efficient Communication
• Predictable Standards
“Avoiding Labor Management Conflict” Alexander
Trowbridge has identified several new approaches
that unions and companies are exploring. These
include the following:
• Gainsharing, that is, paying workers exceeding base
productivity levels
• Employee participation in decision making
• Employment security and productivity agreements
• Corporate acceptance of the union in partnership role
 MANAGEMENT
PHILOSOPHY TOWARD
LABOR
• As a general rule, management has resisted
unionization and has viewed unionization as
a severe limitation of its power and
discretion. Management resistance can be
classified into two types of strategies: (1)
union suppression and (2) union
substitution.
• Union Suppression includes a variety of active
legal or perhaps illegal opposition tactics during
the organizing campaign. Union substitution
entails progressive and proactive human resource
policies designed to desire for a union. Such
tactics may include high wages, complaint
systems, and participation plans. In Labor
Relations, Sloane and Whimey have defined the
following five different management philosophies
toward labor:
• Conflict Approach: Conflict involves open
hostility and direct opposing the objectives
of labor. It was widespread before World
War II and led to bitter strikes, union
militancy, and even sometimes physical
violence. Today open conflict is rare
because of laws protecting the rights of both
employers and employees.
 Armed Truce Philosophy
• An armed truce philosophy consists of a letter-of –
the-law approach. The company believes that the
interest of the union and the company are far
apart. The company will stay inside of the law but
be very rigid in bargaining and then insist on strict
adherence by the union of even the smallest details
of the contract.
•  
•
 Power Bargain Approach
• : a power bargain approach recognizes the
reality of a union but focuses on
maximizing the power and posture of the
company at the bargaining table.
 Accommodation Philosophy
• The accommodation philosophy is not full
cooperation but does not recognize the
rights of union members. The company
adjusts to the reality of the union and tries
to minimize conflict and disputes. There
still is, however, a clear distinction
between management and union roles.
 Cooperative Approach
• A cooperative approach means accepting
the union as an active partner in decision
making process.
 Strategic Variables for HRM
• Competition
• Union Sentiment
• Dispersion of Labor
• Economic Condition and Employment
• Law
• Enlightened Management
• Changing Demographics
 STRATEGIC CHOICES
MADE BY UNIONS
• Bread and Butter Versus Political
Objectives
– Wages rates
– Life and Health Insurance
– Paid Vacations
– Seniority
– Working Conditions
– Security
Factors Affecting Strategic
Choices of Unions
– Declining Smokestack Industries
– More Global Competition
– Changing Technology
– Changing Views of Society Toward Unions
– Legislation Covering Workers Rights
– Small Business Growth
– Declining in Defense Spending
– Growth in Public Sector Jobs
– Relocation of Jobs
– High-Technology Jobs
– Move Toward a Service Economy
– Growth of Women and Minorities in Work Force
 Strategic Collective Bargaining

• When faced with a collective bargaining situation,

managers must make many strategic choices.
Some of the more important ones are:
• Managers must decide when to open the
negotiations.
• Must examine the possibility of a strike and decide
what actions to take if the chances for strike are
good.
• It is also important for management to understand which
issues to raise first and which to wait on.
• Managers must decide whom they will use to represent
their side in the negotiation process. The importance of the
contract should help determine who should be involved.
• Managers need to decide how closely they will follow the
contract, once it is agreed to. Management may want to
take some issues through the grievance process in order to
get a ruling that is opposite of what the contract stipulate.
•  
 STRATEGIC VARIABLES

Managers many times faced with the reality

of working a union. Regardless of how and
why the company became unionized, the
managers face several key strategic
variables in the collective bargaining
process. The following section describes
five variables that managers should be
concentrated about.
 Harmony

• Probably the biggest change to occur during the 1980s

from a strategic standpoint was a reduction in the
confrontational approach between union and management
and an increase in the more collaborative approach. Most
managers recognize the value of harmony in creating a
work climate that can lead to high productivity. Harmony
is working together on common goals without conflict or
discord. T the same time, experienced managers would
also agree that harmony maybe a necessary but not
sufficient condition for productivity.
•
• Managers must examine their history with union
and keep in touch with the current attitudes of
supervisors and union members in order to
increase the commitment to harmony whenever
possible. With the fast-changing environment,
managers and union officials may find that past
bitter disputes color the present attitudes, which
may be highly detrimental to the current interest of
both sides.
 Power

• Much of the relationship between unions and

companies is of a political nature. Paradoxically, two
extreme conditions can lead to the perception that
union power is fading. Unions exist to deliver
benefits to their members. Many union members
candidly admit that if mangers managed m,ore
effectively, perhaps unions would not be necessary.
Union members, and particularly the union leader,
may become worried if things go too much smoothly,
especially if the history has been one of winning
bitter fights with management.
 Corporate Strategy

• A company’s overall strategy must be considered in

relationship to the collective bargaining process. The
company’s grand strategy drives its strategy toward
the union. For example, if a company is pursuing a
low-cost price strategy, it may have to take a very
tough stance in negotiating any significant increases
in wages and benefit costs that would negate its
competitive advantage. It may be more agreeable to
quality of work life issues or sharing in decision
making as ling as the costs are not forced up as a
result.
• On the other hand, another company may choose
to pursue a product differentiation strategy that
relies on a special, highly trained labor force. If
the company can more easily pass along these
costs, it may yield on wages but seek concessions
that require a reduction in the number of labor
classifications, which will allow flexibility in
scheduling skilled craftspeople for a variety of
tasks.
 Management Philosophy

• Managers hold different views toward unions. Some

are opposed to unions at any cost and are even willing
to engage in intimidation to avoid or get rid of an
existing union.
• Another aspects of management philosophy may be
the belief that management has improved and that
unions may actually inhibit the company from doing
what is in the best interest of the workers. If
management cannot remove the union, it may at least
seek amore cooperative atmosphere with union and
workers.
 Cost/ Benefit of Unions

• It is important that managers should closely

analyze the cost and benefits of having a
union. The possible cost and benefits of
unions are mentioned below:
•  
 Costs associated with unions

• Higher wages and benefits

• More time spent in negotiations
• More grievances to adjudicate
• Lower productivity growth rate in some industries
• Potentially higher compensation of older workers
associated with seniority system
• More staff devoted to labor issues
• Losses associated with slow down, strike
• Potential boycotts if union does not achieve its
objectives
 BENEFITS ASSOCIATED
WITH UNIONS
 
• May be more skilled, mature work force
• Reduces the amount of time needed to manage
individual workers-can deal with employees as a group
• Unions provide training/ apprenticeship program for
members
• Potentially higher level of pride and craftsmanship
associated with union membership
• Potential partnership for excellence and productivity
may be easier to implement if a union is supporting it.
• Stable, predictable labor cost once contract
is settled
• Clear enforceable, discipline is possible.
•  
 UNION AVOIDANCE

• Moving to Another Region of the

Country
• Moving Offshore
• Outsourcing
 MAKING A UNION
UNNECESSARY
• Economics-related issues
– Wages and benefits
– Secure pension and retirement benefits
– Assignment of hours, overtime
– Layoff provisions and protection
– Profit sharing
– Promotions
– Subcontracting limitations
•  
 Quality of Work-life issues

• Clean, safe working environment

• Recreational facilities
• Work team involvement, such as quality teams
• Grievance procedures
• Recognition for work
• Training and development programs that can lead
to advancements
• Internal hiring policies whenever possible
•  
 PATTERNS OF
BARGAINING
The most common structure of bargaining
relationships are:
• Single employer negotiating with a single
union or unions
• Multiemployer or industry-wide bargaining
• Multiunit bargaining
• National-local bargaining
•  
 Mandatory, Permissive, and
Prohibited Bargaining Issues

1. Mandatory issues: Mandatory issues include such

item as wages, benefits including insurance,
vacation, holidays; overtime rules and
compensation, subcontracting workout, vacant job
posting procedures, layoff plans, shift differentials,
safety, promotions, stock purchase plans, seniority,
management rights clause, retirement age etc.
These have the direct impact on the worker’s day-
to-day functioning. It should be pointed out that
these issues are mandatory for both employers and
employees.
1. Permissive Issues: Permissive issues may be
discussed if both parties agree to it. It is not
mandatory that these issues be put on the table.
Permissive issues often linked include items that are
of mutual interest. Examples include pricing policy
of the firm, pensions and benefits level and rights of
the retired employees, supervisory compensation,
supervisory disciplines, etc. Neither the union nor the
company can refuse to sign a contract based on future
to reach agreement on a permissive issue.
•  
3. Prohibited or Illegal Issues: Prohibit or
illegal issues are strictly forbidden by law.
They cannot be subject to negotiation
even if both parties want to negotiate
them. Included in the prohibited issues are
closed-shop agreements, discrimination
against protected classes of individuals,
featherbedding, and hot-cargo agreements.
 THE COLLECTIVE
BARGAINING PROCESS
Collective bargaining is the process through which
representatives of management and the union meet
to negotiate a labor agreement. This agreement
will contain specific provisions covering wages,
hours and working conditions. The bargaining
process consists of five stages:
• Preparation
• Negotiations
• Compromise
• Settlement
• Mediation and Arbitration
•