Page 223 - DMGT516_LABOUR_LEGISLATIONS

Labour Legislations

Notes 8.8.6 Managing Change through Collective Bargaining

Negotiated change will be the order of the day. All types of flexibility and work place practices
required to increase productivity & competitiveness will require collective bargaining process.
Like many other countries, in India, collective bargaining got some impetus from various
statutory and voluntary provisions. The Trade Disputes Act 1929, the Bombay Industrial Relations
Act 1946, the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, and the Madhya Pradesh Industrial Relations Act 1960,
provided machinery for consultation and paved the way for collective bargaining. Among the
voluntary measures, mention may be made to the different tripartite conferences, joint
consultative machineries, code of discipline, and Central and State Implementation and Evaluation
Units.
Collective bargaining was traditionally conducted at the level as in the case of TISCO, Indian
Aluminium Company, and Bata Shoe Company. In some industrial units, detailed grievance
procedures have been laid down by mutual agreements. The collective agreement signed between
the TISCO and the Tata Workers' Union in 1956 embodies a provision for grievance procedures
and closer association of employees with management.

8.9 Summary

Collective bargaining may take place at various levels, for instance, plant, locality,
employer, area or region, company, industry and national levels.
Even at a particular level, a number of situations may be envisaged. For example, at the
plant or establishment level, collective bargaining may take place between the employer,
on the one side and one or more industrial unions or one or more craft unions or one or
more general unions separately or in combination, on the other.
At the industry level there may be various units of bargaining, for example, one or more
employers or a company corporation or one or more employers' associations on the one
side, and one or more trade unions established at the industry, region, plant or national
level, on the other.
The term 'bargaining unit' refers to the parties, that is, employers and workers/trade
unions represented in negotiations, and to whom the resulting collective agreement applies.

The 'level of bargaining' is a broad term denoting the nature of ownership of undertakings,
the geographical area, the industry, the jurisdictions of employers and trade union, or the
layer where collective bargaining takes place.
Negotiation is the deliberate interactions of two or more complex social units which are
attempting to define or redefine the terms of their interdependence.

Negotiation is a process for resolving conflict between employee and employer where in
their demands are modified to arrive at an acceptable agreement.

8.10 Keywords

Bilateral Approach: In it the employer and worker negotiate with each other.

Collective Bargaining: It is a process of discussion and negotiation between two parties, one or
both of whom is a group of persons acting in concert. The resulting bargain is an understanding
as to the terms and conditions under which a continuing service has to be performed.
Government Concept: It regards institution as a constitutional system or rule making process,
which determines relation between management and trade union representatives.

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