Essay Sample on Collective Bargaining: Negotiations for Improved Conditions for Employees

Introduction

Collective bargaining is a common term used by labor unions and employees around the globe. It refers to the process of negotiation between trade unions and employers on behalf of the employees in terms of their employment contract and terms of work (Havelick, 2019). Industrial actions and labor court cases characterized the labor industry before the adoption of collective bargaining. Workers often used demonstrations to air their grievances and negotiate for improvement in their terms of service. The research questions for this report will be to what extent has the collective bargaining process and reaching a contract aided in solving labor conflicts? While the collective bargaining process is tedious and time-consuming, the techniques and tools utilized are useful in solving labor conflicts enhance worker's motivations.

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The success of any organization depends on the ability of the management and employers to keep their employees highly motivated. Different theories have been adopted to try explaining things that keep employees highly motivated in their workplace. However, without understanding the nature of the staff, it is impossible to understand their motivation factors. Employees have to devise strategies of having their voice listened to by the management to reach a concession with the employers. Therefore, trade unions were formulated to aid in mediating between employee's conflicts and their employers.

The collective bargaining process replaced the traditional methods of airing views and negotiating for better working conditions. Before its introduction, workers had to negotiate individually with their employers on the terms of their employment. The resulting outcomes were favorable to the employers mostly, which resulted in industrial actions. Many employees did not understand their rights in an organization. Therefore, the management took advantage of their ignorance to exploit them for profit maximization while ignoring their compensation rights.

Beatrice Webb first introduced collective bargaining in 1981. The term was put in action in British (Deakin, Fraser, McLaughlin & Polanska, 2015) to replace the already existing industrial tribunal, which oversaw labor-related disputes. Before its introduction, labor unions presented their grievances to the industrial tribunal, which took much time to solve the cases due to their complexity. However, after the introduction of collective bargaining, man trade unions preferred using the negotiation approach rather than solve their disputes in the courts.

Arguments have been made by different scholars on the effectiveness of the negotiation process in solving labor conflicts (Deakin et al., 2015). Apart from the labor contract issues in the workplace, other challenges such as gender inequality and racial discrimination have been a significant challenge in the industry. Therefore, for collective bargaining to be effective in solving the problems, trade unions need to understand the nature of the conflicts and the organizational structures.

Many organizations prohibit their workers from belonging to trade unions before they sign the work agreement (Havelick, 2019). The competition level in the labor market is very high, which forces the workers to sign the agreement without considering its implications. When challenges are experienced in such organizations, it becomes difficult for the employees to reach a consensus with the management due to their contracts obligation. The resulting outcomes are highly demotivated employees leading to organizational failure.

To understand the nature of collective bargaining and reaching a contract, different tools and processes have to be analyzed, and their effectiveness measured. The tools employed depend on the nature of the industry and the willingness of the management to take part in the process. The labor factor of production is the most sophisticated in an organization, and without proper factors to maintain it, organization failure is eminent. The union and the employers are both independent parties in the industry, but they have to work together to ensure that the employee's rights are protected.

Steps in the Collective Bargaining Process

Preparation

Preparation is the first step in the collective bargaining process. The management and the trade union select representatives to undertake the task and present the ideologies of each team. The negotiating team should be well aware of the need and the requirements at the end of the process. According to Pallini (2016), the collective bargaining teams formulated depends on the nature of the organization. The process can be classified into centralized, which involves an independent union and one employer or decentralized, which involves specific units within a firm and the employer.

The participants have to understand the need for the negotiation and agree on what needs to be discussed and agreed upon. The nature of the collective agreement depends on the specific need addressed. For example, in many organizations, the collective bargaining process involves the following elements: economic, legal, political, and moral. In a typical organization, the collective bargaining process aims at negotiating for improvement in the labor contracts, salaries, and working environment. The negotiating parties have to familiarize themselves with these needs before sitting down for negotiation.

Discussion

The collective agreement teams from both parties that is the employer and the trade unions need to set the grounds rule for their negotiation. After the preparation process for both parties, a meeting is held to discuss the terms and conditions of the discussion. Each party is expected to adhere to the stipulated rules that are set during the concession. For any fruitful negotiation, which involves two distinct parties with different interests and motives in the negotiation process, rules provide a neutral ground for the negotiation.

The discussion on the guidelines is started before the real issues that warranted the collective bargaining are introduced. The parties involved in the process are independent of each other, with the only linking factor being the employees. Therefore, the participants are not familiar with each other, and conventional rules do not restrict them. The discussion step in the collective bargaining process enables the negotiators to understand each other and to understand where each party stands before the proposal is introduced.

Proposal

In this step, both parties make their opening remarks on the issues being negotiated. The trade union representatives present the terms of the contracts that they would like adjusted. The proposal from the team may involve working conditions, salaries, promotions, and other issues affecting the employees. The trade union is registered by the employees to protect their rights. Therefore, the proposals made by the team are for the benefits of the employees.

The trade unions analyze the salaries and wages paid by most companies in the same industry with their negotiators. After analyzing the salaries, a draft is made by the team on the adjustment that they would want for their members. The proposals draft is dependent on the objectives of collective bargaining. For example, if the aim is to negotiate for better working conditions for the employees, the team drafts for improvement things that they want for the workers. In the past, most proposal drafts presented by the trade unions have leaned mostly on health insurance for their members who have been a significant issue in many countries (Einhom, 2016). The collective bargaining teams for civil workers have to be more adamant in their proposal writings as their projections affect a more extensive range of employees in the country.

For private organizations, the negotiating team, which is selected by the management drafts their proposal based on the company's provisions. The drafts formulated are counteroffers for the proposal already made by the trade union. In the drafts proposal, the negotiators lean on the side of the company, and they try to give recommendations that would be beneficial for the company. For public organizations, the proposal is made in line with the ministries provision. The negotiating teams include representatives from the government and the departments that the employees work. The draft presented in the negotiation process aims at setting limits to which both parties cannot compromise.

The parties exchange their ideas, and the discussion is made on the proposed suggestions. The negotiators at these stages are not rigid to change in their stand as it is only a brainstorming forum. Each party's message is discussed in this process, and the ideas noted to provide a ground for negotiation.

Bargaining

After presenting their proposals, the bargaining process provides a platform for each party to reconsider its suggestions. The collective bargaining is impossible without each party making some compromises on their proposals. Therefore, to facilitate the negotiations, each party has to be open to new accommodate the ideas and suggestions of the other group. However, to ensure that the process is conclusive, the parties have to ensure that they do not divert from their original objectives.

The bargaining process has to involve both parties before a conclusion is made. The trade unions have to engage their members to ensure that the concession reached is for their best interest. The salaries agreements and contracts affect the members and not the union. Therefore, the most crucial stakeholder in the process is the employees. However, owing to their representation by the trade union, the agreement made on their behalf is considered a permanent contract which cannot be violated.

The employers represented by their team have to make adjustments in their proposal to accommodate the terms of the trade union. However, before reaching an agreement, they must be sure that they will fulfill all promises made. The bargaining step is essential in the collective bargaining process as it is where both parties reach a concession.

Final Agreement

This is the last step in collective bargaining, where the decisions made are put in writing. The final agreement provides the contract that has been reached through the bargaining by both parties, and each party is held liable if they fail to honor their part. A collective agreement is null and void if it fails to include the signatures of both parties (Havelick, 2019). The implementation of a collective agreement contract solves the industrial problems experienced by the workers when the employers honor its terms.

Arguments Supporting Collective Bargaining

Before the introduction of collective argument in the labor industry, strikes and demonstrations were the essential tools utilized by employees to reach an agreement with their employers. Workers organized riots in their places of works, which was not only disastrous to the organization but also them (Julius & DiGiovanni, 2016). Authorities utilized excessive force in many countries in trying to resolve these conflicts, which often destroyed properties. Labor unions were discouraged by employers, making it impossible for workers to air their grievances as a team. However, after its introduction in Britain, workers around the globe joined trade unions, which provided a peaceful platform for negotiating with employers.

The trade unions had previously adopted industrial courts methods of reaching a consensus with employers of their members. The method was tedious and expensive as the union workers spent many money filing cases with th...