Do you think it is advantageous for both the union and management to Essay

Do you think it is advantageous for both the union and management to remain flexible during collective bargaining negotiations - Essay Example Whenever there is a collective bargaining negotiation, the employees’ representatives usually take a broad step and approach the employer or the management in an effort to negotiate a deal on behalf of the employees in which both sides (employer and employees) have a take and can come to an agreement. Some of the common employees-employer issues include wages and salaries, the general working conditions, the rules and regulations that govern their activities and practices, the benefits accrued to them among other issues (Wise geek 2010). This piece of work looks into the relationships between the workers unions and the management or employer with much emphasis being given to the flexibility and rigidity of both the union and the management during collective bargaining negotiations and the benefits and problems accrued to either the flexibility or rigidity of either party. Various organizational examples will be used to justify some of the arguments related to collective bargai ning. Rise of Collective Bargaining Howell (1992) asserts that Collective bargaining is a concept that can be traced towards the end of the nineteenth century when most workers were now aware of their rights and hence they had the urge to demand for more rights related to their positions in the work places. They were able to recognize that they were involved in the success of the organizations and therefore they had to be treated well. It is then that most skilled personnel could use their skills and knowledge as the basis of bargaining in an effort to make the employers fulfil their workplace needs. Before, people were aware of the collective bargaining negotiations, they would engage in aspects like demonstrations, strikes and sheer numbers to air their issues and problems to the management until some labour pioneers came up and established a system that facilitated collective bargaining such that the negotiations between the employees and the employers could now run smoothly in a n organized manner and better solutions would be attained. Collective bargaining acts as a means of improving the terms and conditions of trade unions and also restores the unequal bargaining position that may exist between employer and employees. It is however important to note that although the collective bargaining negotiations usually result in a conclusion they do not always lead to a collective agreement. The process of collective bargaining entails various steps for example preparation which entails composition of a negotiation team from both sides, discussion of the rules and regulations to govern the negotiations, proposal which entails bringing forth of various views and embracing aspects of brainstorming, the bargaining process and finally the settlement where the parties come to a conclusion (Industrial Relations 2007). The above chart shows clearly the general aspects that are contained in the process of collective bargaining (MetaPress 1997). Reasons and consequences o f rigidity in collective bargaining negotiations According to Franz and Feiffer (2006), there are various reasons and consequences that are associated with rigidity in the collective bargaining negotiations irrespective of the party that is rigid. The employment condition that is of focus here is the wage rigidity which seems to affect most employees as they feel that they are being oppressed