Collective Bargaining Agreement Negotiation

Ques­tion: How can com­pa­nies pre­serve the right to col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing? How­ev­er, a pol­i­cy of eco­nom­ic sta­bi­liza­tion imposed by a gov­ern­ment, for exam­ple. B with regard to rates of pay, may impose severe restric­tions on nego­ti­a­tions. In this case, the restric­tion should be imposed as an excep­tion­al mea­sure and only to the extent it is nec­es­sary. Answer: The ILO‘s Free­dom of Asso­ci­a­tion Com­mit­tee has con­clud­ed that wages, ben­e­fits and allowances can be the sub­ject of col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing. [1] Only one in three OECD work­ers has wages agreed upon through col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing. The 36-mem­ber Organ­i­sa­tion for Eco­nom­ic Co-oper­a­tion and Devel­op­ment has become a strong sup­port­er of col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing to ensure that falling unem­ploy­ment also leads to high­er wages. [17] How­ev­er, the exis­tence of free­dom of asso­ci­a­tion does not nec­es­sar­i­ly mean that unions are auto­mat­i­cal­ly rec­og­nized for bar­gain­ing pur­pos­es. In par­tic­u­lar, in sys­tems where there are a large num­ber of unions, pre-defined objec­tive cri­te­ria are need­ed with­in the frame­work of the labour rela­tions sys­tem to decide when and how a union should be rec­og­nized for col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing. Dur­ing the nego­ti­a­tion process, many dif­fer­ent statutes come into play. For most work­ers, nego­ti­a­tions in the pri­vate sec­tor are gov­erned by the Nation­al Labour Rela­tions Act (NLRA). As far as rail and air per­son­nel are con­cerned, the Rail­way Works Act (RLA) gov­erns negotiations.

Fed­er­al work­ers are cov­ered by the Pub­lic Ser­vice Reform Act. Pub­lic and local gov­ern­ment staff are sub­ject to pub­lic sec­tor gov­ern­ment col­lec­tive laws. Under the cur­rent statutes, work­ers have the right to orga­nize and select exclu­sive nego­ti­at­ing part­ners. These agents nego­ti­ate col­lec­tive agree­ments that set their wages, hours and work­ing con­di­tions. Plenipo­ten­tiaries can engage in a con­cert­ed activ­i­ty of mutu­al assis­tance and mutu­al pro­tec­tion. Nego­ti­a­tion and nego­ti­a­tion in the work­place is also a unique oppor­tu­ni­ty to cre­ate a strong local union. Claims and agree­ments are a great way to recruit new mem­bers and involve more mem­bers in the union. To reach an agree­ment, both sides must be open to new ideas and be ready to accept change. If there is no agree­ment, nego­ti­a­tions may be inter­rupt­ed and trade unions may resort to trade union action. If union action is need­ed, UNISON‘s region­al offices par­tic­i­pate and advise you on best prac­tices. The union can nego­ti­ate with a sin­gle employ­er (who usu­al­ly rep­re­sents a company‘s share­hold­er) or with a group of com­pa­nies, depend­ing on the coun­try, in order to reach an indus­try-wide agreement.

A col­lec­tive agree­ment func­tions as an employ­ment con­tract between an employ­er and one or more unions. Col­lec­tive bar­gain­ing is con­duct­ed in nego­ti­a­tions between union rep­re­sen­ta­tives and employ­ers (usu­al­ly rep­re­sent­ed by man­age­ment or, in some coun­tries such as Aus­tria, Swe­den and the Nether­lands, by an employ­ers‘ organ­i­sa­tion) on the con­di­tions of employ­ment of work­ers, such as wages, work­ing time, work­ing con­di­tions, redress pro­ce­dures and trade union rights and obligations.