Contract Negotiations
Contract Negotiations
Cathy Piersall
OMM618: Human Resources Management
Instructor: Fabio Moro
March 14, 2013
The producers said the WGA was not bargaining in good faith. What did they mean by that, and do you think the evidence is sufficient to support the claim?
Firstly, everyone understand what Good Faith bargaining stands for: Good-faith bargaining generally refers to the duty of the parties to meet and negotiate at reasonable times with willingness to reach agreement on matters within the scope of representation; however, neither party is required to make a concession or agree to any proposal (USlegal.com, 2001-2013).
Good faith bargaining requires employers and unions involved in collective bargaining to: 1.) use their best endeavors to agree to an effective bargaining process; 2.) meet and consider and respond to proposals made by each other; 3.) respect the role of the other 's representative by not seeking to bargain directly with those for whom the representative acts 4.) not do anything to undermine the bargaining process or the authority of the other 's representative (USlegal.com, 2001-2013).
It is dishonest labor practice for any union to reject to bargain in good faith with the employer concerning wages, hours, and other employment conditions (Dessler, 2011). Dessler (2011) states, that in” October 2007, the Writers Guild asked its members for strike approval, and the producers were maintaining that the guild was just trying to delay negotiations until the current contract expired at the end of October”. Both the Writers Guild and the producers knew that timing for these negotiations is crucial. Television series are in full production during the fall and spring. If the writers were to go on strike now would have a bigger impact than they would have if they waited until the end of October. The proof the producers had at that time was the WGA negotiating committee stayed less than an hour at the bargaining table before leaving
Cathy Piersall
OMM618: Human Resources Management
Instructor: Fabio Moro
March 14, 2013
The producers said the WGA was not bargaining in good faith. What did they mean by that, and do you think the evidence is sufficient to support the claim?
Firstly, everyone understand what Good Faith bargaining stands for: Good-faith bargaining generally refers to the duty of the parties to meet and negotiate at reasonable times with willingness to reach agreement on matters within the scope of representation; however, neither party is required to make a concession or agree to any proposal (USlegal.com, 2001-2013).
Good faith bargaining requires employers and unions involved in collective bargaining to: 1.) use their best endeavors to agree to an effective bargaining process; 2.) meet and consider and respond to proposals made by each other; 3.) respect the role of the other 's representative by not seeking to bargain directly with those for whom the representative acts 4.) not do anything to undermine the bargaining process or the authority of the other 's representative (USlegal.com, 2001-2013).
It is dishonest labor practice for any union to reject to bargain in good faith with the employer concerning wages, hours, and other employment conditions (Dessler, 2011). Dessler (2011) states, that in” October 2007, the Writers Guild asked its members for strike approval, and the producers were maintaining that the guild was just trying to delay negotiations until the current contract expired at the end of October”. Both the Writers Guild and the producers knew that timing for these negotiations is crucial. Television series are in full production during the fall and spring. If the writers were to go on strike now would have a bigger impact than they would have if they waited until the end of October. The proof the producers had at that time was the WGA negotiating committee stayed less than an hour at the bargaining table before leaving
References: USlegal.com, (2001-2013). “Legal Terms, Definitions and Dictionary”. Retrieved March 12, 2013 from website http://definitions.uslegal.com/g/good-faith-bargaining/ Dessler, G. (2011). “A Framework for Human Resource Management” (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.