Good Faith Bargaining - Essay
ESSAY – GOOD FAITH BARGAINING
The objective underlying the Fair Work Act 2009 was to “get the balance right” (Smart Company, 2010 ; Forsyth, 2005) between fairness and flexibility in Australian workplaces while getting rid of the harsher aspects of Work Choices which preceded it. The Fair Work Act sought to restore collective bargaining in the Australian workplace relations system, including enhanced rights for union involvement and, most importantly, the good faith bargaining requirements.
Good faith bargaining is an important requirement placed on the parties by the Fair Work Act 2009. The concept of ‘good faith bargaining’ is not a “novel concept”. It has been defined as “negotiations in which two parties meet and confer at reasonable times, minds open to persuasion, with a view to reaching agreement on new contract terms” (Cox, 2009). Essentially, good faith bargaining relates to the ‘method’, not the ‘outcome’ (Cox, 2009) of the agreement. Nevertheless, good faith bargaining (GFP) does not imply that either party is required to make “concessions or reach agreements on any proposal” (Australian (Vic) Government (n.d.), Retrieved on September 16, 2010). In essence, good faith bargaining seeks to establish an ideal framework for bargaining processes and relationships. In addition, good faith bargaining is about ‘evening up’ the relationship between parties to a negotiation by providing a level of confidence that the conduct of the parties and the information they bring to the negotiations will be directed towards a sensible resolution of the issues in disagreement. Under Work Choices, there was no provision or requirement to bargain in good faith and employers could “unilaterally determine the conduct and outcome of negotiations” (Australian (Vic) Government (n.d.), Retrieved on September 18, 2010) between the parties. This change under the ‘Fair Work Bill 2008’, in that, by contrast, this placed obligations on parties to bargain in ‘good faith’. This essay
The objective underlying the Fair Work Act 2009 was to “get the balance right” (Smart Company, 2010 ; Forsyth, 2005) between fairness and flexibility in Australian workplaces while getting rid of the harsher aspects of Work Choices which preceded it. The Fair Work Act sought to restore collective bargaining in the Australian workplace relations system, including enhanced rights for union involvement and, most importantly, the good faith bargaining requirements.
Good faith bargaining is an important requirement placed on the parties by the Fair Work Act 2009. The concept of ‘good faith bargaining’ is not a “novel concept”. It has been defined as “negotiations in which two parties meet and confer at reasonable times, minds open to persuasion, with a view to reaching agreement on new contract terms” (Cox, 2009). Essentially, good faith bargaining relates to the ‘method’, not the ‘outcome’ (Cox, 2009) of the agreement. Nevertheless, good faith bargaining (GFP) does not imply that either party is required to make “concessions or reach agreements on any proposal” (Australian (Vic) Government (n.d.), Retrieved on September 16, 2010). In essence, good faith bargaining seeks to establish an ideal framework for bargaining processes and relationships. In addition, good faith bargaining is about ‘evening up’ the relationship between parties to a negotiation by providing a level of confidence that the conduct of the parties and the information they bring to the negotiations will be directed towards a sensible resolution of the issues in disagreement. Under Work Choices, there was no provision or requirement to bargain in good faith and employers could “unilaterally determine the conduct and outcome of negotiations” (Australian (Vic) Government (n.d.), Retrieved on September 18, 2010) between the parties. This change under the ‘Fair Work Bill 2008’, in that, by contrast, this placed obligations on parties to bargain in ‘good faith’. This essay