 Contents

 Introduction
 Characteristics of Collective Bargaining
 Levels of Collective Bargaining
 Steps in the Process of Collective Bargaining
 Types of Collective Bargaining
 Prerequisites of Successful Bargaining
 Significance of Collective Bargaining
 Hindrances to Collective Bargaining

1
 Collective Bargaining
 Term first used by Beatrice Webb in Britain in 1891
 A tool that strives to arrive at peaceful settlement of any dispute
existing between the two parties
 A voluntary and formal process of negotiation between one or more
organization(s) of workers and of the employer
 Regarding work, working conditions or terms and conditions of employment
 “the technique by which dispute as to conditions of employment is
resolved amicably by agreement rather than coercion” [Supreme Court
of India]
 Involves participation of workers and management in the process of
reconciliation of conflicting interests through peaceful negotiations
 Workers participate at an equal platform with management in arriving
at an agreement
2
 A formal process
 A collective activity
 Civilized, bipartite confrontation
 Negotiations form the basis of collective bargaining
 Aims at establishing industrial democracy
 Industrial jurisprudence
 Rule making as the main objective
 Underlying purpose
 To resolve issues between labour and management through dialogue
 To compromise, not engage in warfare

3
 Safety valve
 Mutual give-and-take, rather than take-it-or-leave it method of
arriving at a settlement
 Continuous process
 Dynamic in nature
 Complementary rather than competitive process
 Basic requirements: co-operation and understanding between
management and labour

4
 Unit/Plant-level Bargaining
 Negotiations result in decentralized agreements
 May take place with trade union federations at company-level,
involving union representatives of different plants of the
establishment
 Enterprise-level Bargaining
 Between management and enterprise-level union representatives
 Affect all workers in all the units of the enterprise

5
 Practices differ from case to case because there is no uniform
collective bargaining procedure
 Bargaining council (or negotiating committee) constituted by a
proportional representation of many unions in an establishment
 Easier for management to negotiate with one bargaining agent if
multiple unions at the company can form such a single entity
 Otherwise negotiate individually with each registered union

6
 Preferred by employers in private sector
 Uniformity of wage negotiation can be ignored
 Bargaining power of trade unions can be reduced
 Preferred by trade unions
 Paying capacity of the company is much higher
 Labour issues can be resolved more quickly and easily
 Difficult when
 The business is in crisis from market failures or
 Management is reluctant to negotiate with unions

7
 Industry-level Bargaining
 Covers various companies in an industry
 Peculiar to industries where private sector dominates [cotton, jute,
textiles, transport, engineering, tea plantation)
 One or more employers’ organizations and trade union federations
involved
 Includes a range of bargaining patterns
 Results in standardization of terms of employment like wages and
working conditions in an industry or sector

8
 Industry-level Bargaining
 Bargaining generally in two stages
 Company-wide agreements are formed
 Basic wage rates and other benefits usually decided at company
level
 Supplemented with regional (i.e., plant-level) agreements
 Certain allowances, incentives, etc. decided at regional or plant
level
 Regional agreements are only binding on company management if
the employers’ association authorizes it in writing to bargain on its
behalf

9
 National-level Bargaining
 Usually in industries/sectors controlled by the Government
 Where the central government plays a major role as the employer
 Involves more than one national-level trade union federations and
employers’ organizations
 Common in core industries (banks, coal, steel, ports & docks and oil)
 CTUOs do not typically provide any guidelines on charter of demands
 Both sides (government and trade unions) set up a “coordination
committee” to engage in the collective bargaining proceedings

10
 Coal India Constitutes JBCCI-X to Revise Salary of over 3 Lakh
Employees
In yet another historic move under the Union Government, Coal India Limited has
constituted the 10th Joint Bipartite Committee for the Coal Industry (JBCCI) for pay
revision of its over 3 lakh non-executive employees working in its 8 subsidiaries.
The decision in this regard was taken at the 15th meeting of the Standardization
Committee of JBCCI-IX held at Coal India headquarters in Kolkata on Wednesday.
18 nominated representatives will participate in the JBCCI-X to determine the pay
revision for workers in Coal India. They include five Central Trade Unions: INTUC
(04), BMS (04), HMS (04), AITUC (03) and CITU (03), and an equal number of
management representatives.
It is guided by the Central Government to ensure a fast decision-making process
for the benefit of workers. The first meeting of JBCCI-X is expected this month only
to determine the wage structure of (National Coal Wage Agreement) NCWA-X,
which will be effective from July 1, 2016. Over 20,000 non-executives (workers) of
Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) will be among the beneficiaries.
(Odisha Bureau September 1, 2016 Business)

11
I. Pre-bargaining preparations by management and unions
 Preparations by management
 Study the charter of demands and decide the objectives of
bargaining
 Finalize a team for negotiation
 Try to identify if there is any ‘hidden agenda’ of workers
 Gather data on on-going practices in industry on the issues
presented in the charter
 Try to gauge the extent to which workers are willing to
accommodate

12
  Preparations by workers
 Ensure that charter includes interests of all categories of workers
 Make in-depth study of existing practices in the industry before
preparing charter
II. Bargaining
III. Contract administration
 Management and workers must administer the contract properly
 Collectivebargaining agreements typically structured as
memorandum of settlements
 Enumerate the various clauses that govern the relationship
between workmen represented by trade unions and
employers

13
 Divided into three classes
 Bipartite (or voluntary) agreements
 Drawn up in voluntary negotiations between employer and trade
unions
 Such agreements are binding as per ID Act
 Implementation generally non-problematic as both parties reach the
agreement voluntarily
 Settlements
 Tripartite in nature (employer, trade union and conciliation officer)
 Arise from a specific dispute, which is referred to an officer for
reconciliation
 Forms of settlement more limited in nature than bipartite
agreements
 Must relate to the specific issues referred to the conciliation officer

14
 Sec. 2 (gg) (p) of IDA
 A “settlement” means a settlement arrived at in the course of
conciliation proceeding and includes a written agreement between the
employer and workmen arrived at otherwise than in the course of
conciliation proceeding where such agreement has been signed by the
parties thereto in such manner as may be prescribed and a copy
thereof has been sent to an officer authorized in this behalf by the
appropriate Government and the conciliation officer.
 If during the reconciliation process, the conciliation officer feels that
the parties’ viewpoints have indeed been reconciled, and that an
agreement is possible
 He can withdraw himself
 If the parties finalize an agreement after the officer’s withdrawal, they report
back to the officer within a specified time and the matter is settled

15
 Consent awards
 Agreements reached while a dispute is pending before a compulsory
adjudicatory authority
 Incorporated into the authority’s award
 Even though agreement is reached voluntarily, it becomes part of the
binding award pronounced by the authority constituted for the
purpose

16
 Clauses in the memorandum of settlement pertain to
 Term/duration of the memorandum of settlement as may be agreed
between the parties
 Settlement terms with respect to wages, benefits, allowances,
arrears with respect to payment to workers, concessions, works
hours, overtime, etc.
 Conditions with respect to strikes and lockouts by trade unions and
employers respectively
 Obligations of workmen
 Obligations of employer
 Penalties with respect to non-compliance of such obligations
 Dispute resolution
 Miscellaneous clauses including severability, notice, etc.

17
 Distributive bargaining
 One party gains at the cost of the other party
 Integrative bargaining
 Either both the parties have something to gain, or at least none of
the parties loses anything
 Good faith bargaining
 Both parties meet each other with the intent to
 Constructively communicate with each other
 Make honest attempts to arrive at a collective agreement
 Surface Bargaining

18
 FIFTH SCHEDULE: Unfair Labour Practices [Section 2(ra)]
 On the part of employers and trade unions of employers
 To interfere with, restrain from, or coerce, workmen in the exercise of their
right to organize, form, join or assist a trade union or to engage in concerted
activities for the purposes of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or
protection
 To refuse to bargain collectively in good faith with the recognized trade
unions.

 On the part of workmen and trade unions of workmen

 For a recognized union to refuse to bargain collectively in good faith with
the employer.
 To indulge in coercive activities against certification of a bargaining
representative.

19
 Multiplicity of unions
 Out of numerous small unions existing in an establishment, none
may actually be strong enough to pressurize the employer to accept
workers’ demands
 Rivalries between unions, which divides their power
 Management stands at an advantage
 Workers may not choose to be members of any union
 One or more unions may not like to be a part of the settlement
 External leadership
 Outsider cannot understand problems as a factory worker
 May not be as effective while negotiating with employers
 Employers may not be forthcoming in negotiating with outsiders

20
 Lack of legislation on recognition of trade unions
 In either the Trade Unions Act (amendment awaited) or Industrial
Disputes Act
 Only certain States like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan have provisions for recognition of unions in their laws
 Employers may refuse to bargain with a particular trade union and
select the one of its ‘choice’ for negotiations
 Informalization of economy
 Difficult for workers in informal sector to form registered unions
 Increase in number of casual labour
 Workers in unorganized (or informal) sector cannot reap the benefits
of collective bargaining

21
 Legal and Political Framework
 A supportive legislation system to promote the use of bilateral
negotiations as a means to resolve conflicts
 Recognition of the method at par with other methods of settling
disputes
 Attitudinal Framework
 Supportive attitude of both employers and union representatives
 Style of management affects willingness to use collective negotiations
 Better chances of success if management believes in participative style
 Flexible attitude of both
 Existence of Strong Trade Unions
 That can put up the demands of workers emphatically and exert
pressure on the employer to accept such demands
22
 For Employers
 A means to resolve issues peacefully
 A chance to understand workers’ perspective
 Belief in participative management
 A means to increase productivity
 A mechanism to improve public image
 For Workers
 Provides a legitimate platform
 Gives equal status as management during negotiations
 Acts as a means for exercising rights
 Builds solidarity among workers
 Workers get improved facilities as an outcome of the process
 Results in improved quality of work-life
23
 For Industry
 Means to industrial peace
 Facilitation of modernization and restructuring
 Continuous production and profits

 For Nation
 Increased productivity
 Strengthening of economy
 Democracy in industrial relations system

24