Collective Bargaining

Dr. Jitendra Mohanty

KIIT School of Management
KIIT University
Bhubaneswar
 Collective Bargaining - Concept
• Before Industrial Revolution, employers enjoyed
unquestioned power regarding matters related to
wages, working conditions, and other maters affecting
employees
• Workers became restless – widespread protests
followed – realised importance of joint fight
• Collective bargaining is the outcome of this fighting
spirit
• Collective bargaining is a procedure by which the
terms and conditions of workers are regulated by
agreements between their bargaining agents and
employers
 Features of Collective Bargaining
• Collective: amicable solution through negotiations between
employers and employees
• Strength
• Flexible
• Voluntary
• Complementary: labour can increase productivity – management
can increase wages
• Continuous: Negotiation – agreement – implementation – further
negotiations etc
• Dynamic
• Power relationship
• Representation
• Bipartite process
• Complex: procedures, techniques, tools – preparation for
negotiations, timing, selection of negotiators, agenda, ratification,
enforcement etc
 The Process of Collective Bargaining
• Identification of the problem: simple or complex – helps determine the
representatives, size, period of negotiation, period of agreement
• Collection of data: both internal and external – trends – wages – benefits
– working conditions – current economic forecasts – cost of living etc
• Selection of negotiators: skills and knowledge of negotiators – working
knowledge of trade unions – economics – psychology – labour laws – good
judges of human nature – ability to get along – when to listen, when to
speak, when to horse trade, when to make counter proposal – timing –
effective speaking and debating skills
• Climate of negotiations: tone of negotiation should be one of mutual trust
with ‘nothing up our sleeves’
• Bargaining strategy and tactics: conflict-based, armed truce, power
bargaining, accommodation, cooperation
• Formalising the agreement: formal document, simple, clear, concise form,
signing
• Enforcing the agreement: scrupulous implementation in letter and spirit
 Conditions Essential for Collective
Bargaining
1. Unanimity among workers: representatives to present
demands of majority of workers, else management will
take advantage
2. Strength of both parties: should be equal in strength –
one party dominating the other is against the whole
nature of collective bargaining – give and take process and
not ‘you give, we take’
3. Attitude: positive both sides – give something to gain
something – observe and follow terms and conditions of
previous agreements
4. Representative Authority: representatives to have
authority to alter minor terms without referring to higher-
ups – not to confine to monetary terms alone – parties to
have mutual trust and confidence and respect for each
other- process to be free from unfair practices and conflict
– parties to respect rights and responsibilities of other
party