Page 209 - DMGT516_LABOUR_LEGISLATIONS

Labour Legislations

Notes 4. It is a continuous process: This provides a mechanism for continuing and organized
relationships between the managements and trade unions. "The heart of Collective
Bargaining is the process of for a continuing joint consideration and adjustment of plant
problems". It does not end with negotiation, but as Glen Garderner puts it: "It begins and
ends with the writing of a contract. Actually, it is only the beginning of Collective
Bargaining. It goes on 365 days a year.... the most important part of Collective Bargaining......
is the bargaining that goes on from day to day under the rules established by labour
agreements."
5. It is dynamic and not static: It is relatively a new concept, is growing, expanding and
changing. In the past, it used to be emotional, turbulent and sentimental. But now it is
scientific, factual and systematic. Its coverage and style have changed. In this connection,
J.M. Chart says: "Collective Bargaining has become, with surprising swiftness, one of the
greatest forces in our society. In anything like its present scale and power, it is a new thing.
It is a process which transforms leading into negotiation, which permits employees' dignity
as they participate in the formulation of their terms and conditions of employment, which
embarrasses the democratic ideal and applies it correctly and effectively at the place of
work.

6. It is industrial democracy at work: Industrial democracy is the government of labour
with the consent of the governed- the workers. The principle of arbitrary unilateralism
has given way to that of self-government in the industry. Collective Bargaining is not a
mere signing of an agreement granting seniority, vacations, and wage increases. It is not
a mere sitting around a table, discussing grievances. Basically it is democratic: it is joint
formulation of company policy on all matters, which directly affect the workers in a plant.
It is self-government in action. It is the projection of a management policy, which gives
the workers the right to be heard. It is establishment of factory law based on common
interest.
7. Collective bargaining is not a competitive process but it is essentially a complimentary
process: Each party needs something that the other party is, namely, labour can make a
greater productive effort and management has the capacity to pay for that effort and to
organize and guide it for achieving its objectives. The behavioural scientists have made a
distinction between "Distributive bargaining" and "Integrative bargaining". The former is
the process of dividing the 'cake which represents the whole which has been produced by
the joint efforts of the management and labour'. In this process, if one party wins something,
the other party, to continue the metaphor of the cake, has a relatively smaller size of it. So
it is a "win-lose" relationship. In other words, distributive bargaining deals with issues or
an issue in which two or more parties have conflicting or adversary interests. 'Integrative
bargaining' is the process where both the parties can win, each contributing something for
the benefit of the other party. Such a process develops common objectives, a better
understanding of each others' needs and capabilities, a better respect for each other and a
greater involvement of commitment to the well-being and growth of the enterprise as a
whole.
8. It is an art, advanced form of human relation: To substantiate this, one needs only witness
the bluffing, the oratory, dramatics and coyness mixed in an inexplicable fashion which
may characterize a bargaining session.

Task Outline the major collective bargaining issues of companies in India today.
What do you foresee as the major issues of the future? Explain your response.

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