Collective Bargaining Continued

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thenegotiation process begins when...

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oneside issues a formal notice to bargain to theother side.

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negotiationsproceed through three specific stages

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thestage of establishing the negotiating range, the stage of narrowing thebargaining range, and the crisis stage preceding the decision to settle or toinvoke economic sanctions such as a strike or lockout

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5 stages of negotiation

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-the pre-negotiation stage

-establishing the negotiating range

-narrowing the negotiating range

-the crisis stage

-the ratification stage

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pre-negotiation stage

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each party determines goals and proposals, longer and more inclusivelists disguise real priorities and enhances each side’srelationship with its own constituents by demonstrating to them that theirnegotiating team has heard and responded to their concerns. It is common forthe two sides to agree to meet jointly during the pre-negotiation stage tosound each other out informally on negotiating protocol and procedures. Thepurpose of these pre-negotiation informal meetings is to ensure that the negotiationsthemselves do not get bogged down in procedural wrangling. It is also a moreefficient use of the parties’ time to agree on procedural and protocol issuesbefore negotiations begin, so that the time scheduled for negotiations canactually be spent in bargaining.

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negotiating range

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normally established during the exchange of proposals. The proposals areoften presented orally so that the teams can offer their rationale for theirproposal. confrontational.

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zone agreement model (narrowing the range)

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-The initial offer isthe first proposal given to the other side and is usually the team’s mostoptimistic out- come for that item (dream item).

-In contrast, the bottom line position is the absolute minimum ormaximum that the team would be willing to accept as a settlement for that item.

-counter-proposals and concessions(i.e., deciding to agree to the other side’s proposal or to change one’s ownposition) narrows range

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crisis stage

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parties must decide if they are going to settle or use some form ofeconomic sanctions or strike. High tension. Once the desired concession occurs,both sides will settle on the terms and conditions of a collective agreement,and recommend acceptance of the tentative agreement to their members orshareholders.

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Ratification stage

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Should the parties end up with mutually acceptable contract terms thetentative agreement goes to the union membership for a ratification vote. Ifone side rejects the negotiated agreement, the parties will have to return tothe bargaining table and attempt to fashion an agreement that is acceptable toall constituencies. Once the ratification from each side has been completed,representatives from each side officially sign the collective agreement tobring it into legal effect

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sub-processes of negotiating

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-intra-organizational bargaining - each side’s negotiators seek to achieve consensus within their own bargainingteam and within the organization their team represents

-attitudinal structuring - formation of each side’s attitude toward the other side andtoward the relationship between the bargaining teams.

-integrative bargaining - two sides try to resolve issues by identifying common interestsand thereby influencing the joint gain, or “win-win,” available to each side

-distributive bargaining - two sides compete with one another over the division of limitedresources. In this subprocess, when one side wins, the other side loses

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bargaining power

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the actual or perceived ability ofone side to secure the other side’s agreement to its terms

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factors that affect amount of bargaining power held by both sides

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-environmental - publicopinion, legislation, and the economy

-socio-demographic - diversityof bargaining priorities among negotiators and their constituencies. Whennegotiators and their constituencies have the same bargaining priorities, theirunity can increase the negotiators’ bargaining power

-organizational - intra-organizational dynamics of both the union andmanagement. Because unions and management interact daily in the workplace, eachbargaining team is usually well aware of the internal disputes or conflictswithin the other team or the workplace and can exploit these problems to gainpower in negotiations.

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Models of Union-Management Negotiations

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-cost of disputes model

-mutual gains model

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Cost of Disputes Model

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focuseson the interactions among the bargaining power, the interests (desires/motivators that underlie their position), and the rightsof each side, and how these interactions affect the costs associated withnegotiating disputes. ideally,a focus on interests in bargaining, rather than on rights or power, results inlower costs

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Cost of Disputes Model: four criteria to determine amount of cost

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-transactioncosts (expenditure of time/money)

-satisfaction with the outcome (if not satisfied now, will be costs later)

-the effect on relationships (contentious relationshipwill be costly because it will lead to disputes between the parties)

-whetherthere has been a recurrence of a problem (Recurringissues will be costly because of the expenses associated with each subsequentresolution)

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Mutual Gains Model

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Foundedon four principles that define a straightforward method of negotiations:

1) People - separate people from problem

2) Interests - focus on interests, not position

3) Options - Generatea variety of possibilities before deciding what to do

4) Criteria - Insistthat the result of negotiations be based or evaluated on some objectivestandard

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Approaches to resolve adversarial conflict causedby the differences between the distributive bargaining and integrativebargaining subprocesses

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First, each side should strive to establish a minimum degree of trust inand level of communication with the other side. Second, each side shoulddetermine a minimum level of acceptance of the other side. Third, both sidesshould recognize the common dependency they share

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Outcomes when there is no resolution during the bargaining process

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-the workplace continues to function as is without a new collectiveagreement while the respective bargaining teams continue to negotiate

-theparties bring in third party assistance in an effort to successfully concludetheir negotiations

-or a strike or lockout may occur.