Labor relations
Summarize the duty to bargain and how it flows with contract administration.
You may chose to do this from the Union perspective OR the Management perspective.
The duty to bargain with the union before a business decision is implemented is a source of tension in industry today. Unions increasing concern for job security squarely conflicts with management 's efforts to meet competition by implementing decisions, which affect the employee- employer relationship. Unions no longer accept a business decision that obtains enterprise cost savings at the expense of an employment pattern established in a collective bargaining agreement as a proper exercise of managerial prerogative.
Today, union and management meet periodically to negotiate collective agreements, which, besides establishing the terms and conditions of employment, are intended to prevent interruptions of business operations by labor strikes during the life of the contracts. Traditionally, the emphasis in general negotiations was upon settling questions arising out of employment-such as hours, wages, and working conditions. More recently, however, considerable attention has been paid to measures designed to relieve the hardship of unemployment-for example, severance pay and supplemental-unemployment-benefits. A third subject-forestalling un- employment-is still often ignored and avoided by both sides as too controversial or too speculative. While collective bargaining agreements are not intended to freeze business operations totally during the contract period, agreements do create some limitation on unilateral employer action: Not every cost reduction method is open to a company operating under a collective bargaining agreement. The absence of a provision specifying to what extent the employment relationship is expected to be maintained is the cause of the conflict over midcontractual business decisions.
Unless the parties in their agreement anticipate certain changes in business operations, the
The duty to bargain with the union before a business decision is implemented is a source of tension in industry today. Unions increasing concern for job security squarely conflicts with management 's efforts to meet competition by implementing decisions, which affect the employee- employer relationship. Unions no longer accept a business decision that obtains enterprise cost savings at the expense of an employment pattern established in a collective bargaining agreement as a proper exercise of managerial prerogative.
Today, union and management meet periodically to negotiate collective agreements, which, besides establishing the terms and conditions of employment, are intended to prevent interruptions of business operations by labor strikes during the life of the contracts. Traditionally, the emphasis in general negotiations was upon settling questions arising out of employment-such as hours, wages, and working conditions. More recently, however, considerable attention has been paid to measures designed to relieve the hardship of unemployment-for example, severance pay and supplemental-unemployment-benefits. A third subject-forestalling un- employment-is still often ignored and avoided by both sides as too controversial or too speculative. While collective bargaining agreements are not intended to freeze business operations totally during the contract period, agreements do create some limitation on unilateral employer action: Not every cost reduction method is open to a company operating under a collective bargaining agreement. The absence of a provision specifying to what extent the employment relationship is expected to be maintained is the cause of the conflict over midcontractual business decisions.
Unless the parties in their agreement anticipate certain changes in business operations, the
References: Harband, M. E. (1966). he Duty to Bargain before Implementing Business Decisions. Retrieved from http://scholarship.law.berkeley.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2909&context=californialawreview