“Collective Bargaining” – Prof.M.S.Rao

"As negotiations about working conditions and terms of employment between an employer, or a group of employers, or one or more employers' organizations, on the one hand, and one or more representative workers' organization on the other with a view to reaching agreement." - I.L.O

Collective bargaining is all about the bargaining between the employers and employees to set right the problems they have. It contains issues related to wages, salaries, healthy, safety, welfare and other affairs. It differs from country to country but basically collective bargaining is the negotiation between the employers and employees about the roles and responsibility, the rights and duties, the pay and perks, healthy and safety etc.,

Perlman aptly stated, “Collective bargaining is not just a means of raising wages and improving conditions of employment. Nor is it merely democratic government in industry. It is above all technique, collective bargaining as a technique of the rise of a new class is quite different ...... from the desire to displace or abolish" the "old ruling class"... ... to gain equal rights as a class ... ... to acquire an excessive jurisdiction in that sphere where the most immediate interests, both material and spiritual, are determined, and a shared jurisdiction with the older class or classes in all other spheres.”

Collective bargaining as a concept gained momentum in late nineteenth century as employees began demanding for more rights. Collective bargaining is good for both the employees and employers where employees assert their rights through unionization and the employers get to know the pulse of the people and mould themselves to ensure peace and harmony at workplace for better productivity and performance.

Objectives:

The fundamental objective of collective bargaining is to improve the conditions of employees. It ensures peace and harmony between the employers and employees. It creates cordial and amicable relations thus avoiding any governmental intervention. Finally it provides industrial peace, prosperity and democracy.

Characteristics of Collective Bargaining:

• It is a flexible process where there is room for give and take. At times, it also involves ‘carrot and stick’ policy.
• It takes place between the group of employees and employers.
• Negotiations are an integral part of collective bargaining.
• It is a complementary rather than a competitive process where the right contribution of employees leads to better pay and perks from employers.
• If required, there is involvement of professional troubleshooters and negotiators to resolve the issues amicably.

Conclusion:

“Never fear to negotiate and never negotiate out of fear.” – John F.Kennedy
Collective bargaining involves several steps such as preparing for negotiations, identifying bargaining process, negotiating, arriving at mutually beneficial agreement, approving and finally administering the agreement.

Collective bargaining is essential to protect the rights and duties of the employees to avoid any kind of exploitation. The concept of collective bargaining remains the same at the core level although it varies at the surface level from country to country. It must be made win-win for both employees and employers for ensuring organizational excellence and effectiveness.