Collective Bargaining

Collective means a group effort. Bargaining is concerned with negotiating It also conveys give and take. So collective bargaining means bargaining as groups. Collective bargaining can help bring industrial peace in our country by promoting mutual understanding and cooperation between workers and managements.

According to Dale Yoder,

Collective bargaining is the term used to describe a situation in which the essential conditions of employment are determined by bargaining process undertaken by representatives of a group of workers on the one hand and of one or more employers on the other.

According to Flippo
Collective bargaining is a process in which the representatives of a labour organisation and the representatives of business organisation meet and attempt to negotiate a contract or agreement, which specifies the nature of employee-employer-union relationship.

As for machinery being efficient, it has three aspects:

(a) Availability of full information (b) Selection of proper representatives (c) Recognition of natural temperament of each other.

 Political Climate: For effective collective bargaining in a country, it is important to have sound political climate. The Government must be convinced that the method of arriving at the agreements through mutual voluntary negotiations is the best for regulating certain conditions of employment. Therefore, positive attitude of the political parties is a must for the promotion of collective bargaining.

Types of Collective Agreements in India

Bipartite Agreements:
These are most important types of collective agreements because they represent a dynamic relationship that is evolving in establishment concerned without any pressure from outside. The bipartite agreements are drawn up in voluntary negotiation between management and union. Usually the agreement reached by the bipartite voluntarily has the same binding force as settlement reached in conciliation proceedings. The implementations of these types of agreements are also not a problem because both the parties feel confident of their ability to reach the agreement.

 Settlements:
It is tripartite in nature because usually it is reached by conciliation, i.e. it arises out of dispute referred to the appropriate labour department and the conciliation officer plays an important role in bringing about conciliation of the differing view points of the parties. And if during the process of conciliation, the conciliation officer feels that there is possibility of reaching a settlement, he withdraws himself from the scene. Then the parties are to finalise the terms of the agreement and should report back to conciliation officer within a specified time. But the forms of settlement are more limited in nature than bipartite voluntary agreements, because they strictly relate to the issues referred to the conciliation officer.

 Consent Award: Here the negotiation takes place between the parties when the dispute is actually pending before one of the compulsory ad judicatory authorities and the agreement is incorporated to the authorities, award. Thus though the agreement is reached voluntarily between the parties, it becomes part of the binding award pronounced by an authority constituted for the purpose.

Process of collective bargaining

Organising and Recognition Preparation for Negotiation Negotiation Contract administration

I- Organising and Recognition

The first thing to be done by the employees is to form a group of seven persons or more (as per Trade Unions Act, 1926) and get the trade union registered under the Act. The registration of the union is advisable, because there are certain advantages of getting the union registered. It can use its general funds for certain specified purposes; it can create a separate fund for political purposes; it gets immunity from civil suit in certain cases; it can have representation of its members to the works committee; etc.

II- Preparation for Negotiation

After a union has been recognised as the exclusive bargaining agent, both the union and management begin preparation for negotiations. The preparation for negotiation is basically composed of three activities: a. Fact gathering b. Goal setting c. Strategy development.

Facts are gathered from both internal sources and the external sources. The internal data would include things like: Grievance and accident record
Employee performance report Overtime figures Reports on transfers Turnover

 External information should include Statistics on the current economy Economic forecasts for short and intermediate terms Data on communities in which the company operates Industry labour statistics This information helps management in knowing its position and the position of similar other organisations under the existing circumstances, and in anticipating the same in the near future. On the basis of these data, the management sets tentative goals for achieving in the negotiations.

III- Negotiation
For negotiating a contract, the first meeting between labour and management negotiation teams usually establishes rules, policies, and schedules for future meetings. At the first meeting, the representatives of labour formally present their specific proposals for changes in the existing labour agreements. At succeeding meetings, management submits counter-proposals. Both groups seek opportunities to suggest compromise solutions in their favour until an agreement is reached.

IV- Contract Administration

The final phase in the process of collective bargaining is contract administration. Once a contract is agreed upon, it then must be administered. The way it will be administered is included in the contract itself.

Thank you!!