The Collective Agreement CLA

1
The Collective Agreement - CLA

• What are the main types of clauses in a CLA?
• Define and describe residual rights, super
  seniority, and bumping. What do these exist?

2
Main Types of clauses in CLA

• Main types of clauses in a CLA
• Relationship between employer and union and
  control of conflict
• The Wage-Effort Bargain
• Control of Jobs
• Control of Work Behavior and Environment

3
Union-Management Relationship Control of
Conflict

• Management Rights
• Residual Rights Theory
• all rights and privileges that employers
  exercised remain, except those limited by CLA
• exceptions- decision motivated by antiunion
  factors, mgt acted in bad faith or in a
  discriminatory matter
• Union Rights and Security
• rights of shop stewards/union representatives
• super seniority- places union reps at top of
  seniority list
• union security and dues payment
• e.g., closed shop, union shop, etc.

4
Union-Management Relationship Control of
Conflict (Contd)

• Workplace Conflict
• no strike clause
• during term of CLA no strike/lockout
• grievance arbitration
• to resolve interpretation of CLA
• labour-management committees
• matters of mutual interest
• joint governance agreements (AKA social
  contracts)
• longer agreements (4-6yrs)
• frequently involves employers receiving
  concessions in wages/conditions of work in
  exchange for employee security

5
The Wage-Effort Bargain

• Hours of Work and Scheduling - the normal work
  schedules and exceptions
• hours of work schedules
• Overtime
• vacations
• holidays
• leaves of absences
• sick leave

6
The Wage-Effort Bargain contd

• Compensation Benefits
• wage scale/structure - how the wage rates are set
• grades or different types of jobs based on KSAs
• seniority
• wage system - how the pay is calculated
• hourly, weekly, incentives, pay for knowledge,
  pay for performance
• wage premiums/levels - actual amounts paid
• shift premiums, overtime, working on holidays,
  levels (I.e., grades)
• benefits
• pensions, short and long terms illness, health
  care, life, vision, dental, etc.

7
Control of Jobs - internal labour market and
production process

• Hiring and Job Assignment
• job posting procedures
• probationary periods
• Exiting - workforce reductions and contracting
  out
• layoff provisions and procedures
• use of contractors and contracting out
• job rights and seniority
• seniority is often a key factor in employment
  practices/decisions such as job posting, lay off,
  bumping, etc

8
Control of Jobs

• Work Rules - way work is performed
• workload
• job classifications
• Technological change
• dealing with new technology

9
Control of Work Behavior and the Work Environment

• Behavior and discipline at work
• for safety, hygiene, customer relations, general
  standards (conduct), etc
• corrective discipline
• working environment
• health and safety

10
The Process of Collective Bargaining

• Questions
• What Factors Determine Collective Bargaining
  Outcomes?
• Rights, power, interests
• Define the 4 types of Bargaining of Walton and
  McKersie.
• Compare and Contract Integrative and
  Distributive Bargaining Strategies

11
Three Key Negotiation Elements

• Interests
• What are the key interests/goals of the parties?
• Rights
• Who is right?
• Power
• Who has the power?

12
Interests/Goals

• Interests are the fears, needs, wants, desires of
  the parties
• Often not specified or openly discussed
• Takes time to uncover
• Yet, people often evaluate the end result based
  on the extent to which these interests are met
• Failure to address these may mean that key issues
  never resolved
• Ongoing negotiations/disputes

13
Rights

• Examines options relative to fair standards
• Contract language
• Ethics
• Law
• Third party review
• But rights and fair standards are often
  personal, different and even contradictory
• What is fair?

14
Power

• Power the ability to secure anothers agreement
  on ones own terms
• Greatly influenced by dependence
• Means imposing costs on the other side
• Power can play out in terms of
• Power negotiations
• Aggression, threats, etc
• Power contests
• Parties take actions to see who has the most
  power

15
Some Sources of Power

• Environmental factors
• economic, legal, sociocultural
• Organizational characteristics
• product, technology, intra-organizational
  dynamics, organization structures, inventory
• Interpersonal
• Charisma, position, etc.

16
Negotiations

• Links the interests, rights, and power of the
  parties with the contract outcomes
• Negotiation process can assume its own dynamic,
  which can be an important factor in determining
  outcomes

17
Walton and McKersies 4 Types of Bargaining

• Negotiations are comprised of 4 types of
  Bargaining
• Intra-organizational Bargaining
• Attitudinal Structuring
• Distributive Bargaining
• Integrative Bargaining

18
Intra-organizational Bargaining

• Seeks to achieve consensus within each of the
  interacting groups
• Chief negotiator often receives two sets of
  proposals
• one from other side
• one from own organization

19
Attitudinal Structuring

• Designed to to influence the relationship between
  the parties and their attitudes towards each
  other
• trust respect friendliness v.s. hostility
  competitiveness v.s. cooperation, etc.
• Helps attain the desired relationship patterns
  between the parties

20
Distributive Bargaining

• Designed to resolve pure conflicts of interests
• Works best when the attainment of one partys
  goals are in basic conflict with the other
  partys
• Some call it Fixed sum game, win/lose , and
  power-based bargaining
• Resources are fixed and goals are irreconcilable
  
• One partys gain equals the others loss
• Each party will want to maximize their share of
  the outcomes

21
Distributive Bargaining contd

• Results in competitive behavior
• Focus of concern is ones own interests
• Other partys outcome relevant only as it
  pertains to your own outcomes
• What they gain, I lose
• Type of bargaining we traditionally associate
  with car sales

22
Distributive Bargaining contd

• Sample Tactics
• Shade facts
• Manipulate perceptions
• Gather information re the others resistance
  point
• Conceal information which might reveal your
  priorities or resistance points
• Overload negotiations to hide true priorities and
  to allow room for concessions
• Impose artificial time limits
• Note the issue of power here

23
Integrative Bargaining

• Seeks to develop solutions to problems of common
  concern
• Requires that your goals are not in fundamental
  conflict with those of the other party
• Interests can be integrated to some degree

24
Integrative Bargaining Works Best When

• Parties goals not mutually exclusive
• One partys gains do not represent the others
  losses
• Solutions can be developed which benefit both
  parties
• So some call it interest-based bargaining,
  win/win negotiations, mutual gains bargaining
• You focus on identifying a common interest/goal
  and developing a process to achieve it.
• You use collaborative efforts, open
  communication, and information sharing
• Parties are concerned about own and others
  outcomes

25
Integrative Bargaining contd

• Sample Tactics
• Look at past positions
• Uncover needs
• Be flexible regarding how needs will be met
• Clear/accurate/honest communication
• Look for common interests
• Restate interests that you do not share and
  embrace both common and individual interests and
  needs
• Active listening, play back, ask questions, look
  for and generate alternatives, avoid extremes,
  use supposals, remain calm
• Interests are key here!

26
Comparison of Strategies

• Distributive bargaining
• Taking positions and communicating commitment is
  important in distributive bargaining parties
• Attempt to screen and distort information about
  priorities and objectives
• Knowledge of other partys needs us used to own
  advantage (cooperation/trust)
• State positions, use multiple issues to clutter
  and obscure, sign off each issue as agreed

27
Comparison of Strategies

• Integrative bargaining
• Parties look at past positions to determine true
  needs
• Requires preferences and priorities be openly
  shared and true objectives revealed
• Knowledge used to assess the degree to which
  proposes solutions meet both parties needs
  (cooperation, trust)
• State problem as a goal, identify obstacles to
  its achievement, keep formality and record
  keeping to a minimum, keep decisions tentative
  and conditional until final solution is reached

28
Which approach should I use?

• Consider
• Transaction Costs
• Time, money, energy
• Mutual satisfaction with outcomes
• Effects on relationship and importance of the
  relationship
• Likelihood of reoccurrence

29
Which is better at what?

• Focus on interests is better at resolving
  underlying issues
• But interest-based is not always desirable or
  feasible
• Focus on your rights/power is better when
• power dynamics stop interest-based
• fundamental disagreements
• Note key issue may never be resolved