Hi...
Collective Bargaining is a process of negotiating by mutual discuss & understanding the various needs and demands of the employees in the organisation. The purpose of collective bargaining is to reach the agreement to regulate the working conditions. The process takes place between employer & group of employees.
It consists of four activities:
i) Distributive bargaining – Also termed as conjunctive bargaining,which connect between two thing. In this form of bargaining any one group win and the other looses.
ii) Integrative bargaining – Also termed as co-operative bargaining, this form of bargaining is for overall improvement in the working of the organization. No party looses here, so the level of co-operation is more between management & employees.
iii) Attitudinal restructuring – It mainly aims at developing a change in the attitude of the management and the employees. The purpose is to reduce the bitterness and develop a congenial atmosphere.
iv) Intra-organizational bargaining – This kind of bargaining aims at achieving the consensus/oneness within the trade union and management group.
Steps of Collective Bargaining:
Preparatory – In this stage the two negotiation team is formed which comprises of the members of both the teams. Both the sides need to take a stock of their situation to find the matters which they need to take up discussion. The matter which they raised should be genuine & with valid reasons.
Discussion – In this stage the ground rules governing the negotiation process are set with the agreement of both the parties.
Proposal – The issue for which the meeting is called is defined and the possible solutions are put forth.
Bargaining – This is the phase where actual bargaining takes place and its the purposes are decided.
Settlement – After a consensus is reached, this stage consists of effective joint implementation of the agreement.
For every procedure there is agreement, so, for collective bargaining process there is Collective Bargaining Agreement which consists of two forms:
1 Procedural Agreement: It deal with the relationship between employees & employers to resolve individual & group issues. It follows the company's rules.
2. Substantive agreements – This kind of an agreement deals with specific issues like Payroll( basic pay), Policy(leave policy), Benefits (bonus payment) etc.
Characteristics features of Collective Bargaining:
1. It is a group process which contains at least two parties.
2. It is a negotiation through mutual understanding, discussion & compromise.
3. It is a formal process where all the parties follow certain rules & procedures.
4. It is a constructive & continuous process.
5. It is a flexible process consisting of various steps.
6. The process works on the basis of mutual trust and understanding between the two parties.