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#1 Lanette Gonzalez Ramirez

Sep 3, 2017Sep 3 at 6:22pm

Collective bargaining is a negotiation between the employee (union) and the employer. Preparation for collective bargaining involves four steps and depending on how complex the issue is can take months to prepare for. The four steps involved in the preparation are identifying the issue, researching, strategizing, and setting ground rules. The step I feel would be the most important would be the process of identifying the issues. The union must go through the process to understand what the issues are. Often time’s unions will hold town hall meetings or online campaigns so they can get feedback directly from the members. This allows the union to gather information pertaining to issues that are considered most important to the members. Sometimes the town halls and online meetings lead to more meetings so the union can come to an agreement on which issue to address. The size of the union will depend on who handles the task of identifying the issue. It can be a committee, members, or the leadership (Seaquist, 2015). I feel identifying the issue is the most important step because the union is forced to listen to its members by seeking feedback. This encourages the union to take the feedback received seriously and make changes to protect the members. If the step of removing the ground rules were to be removed it could create a form of chaos at the meeting. There would be no structure behind how things are to be handled. Without structure there is a risk that it may impact the overall outcome of the collective bargaining process.

Reference:

    Seaquist, G. (2015). Employee and labor relations: A practical guide. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education. 

#2 Shannon Lane

TuesdaySep 5 at 1:15pm

Preparation for collective bargaining requires four steps that make the process easier and more structured. The steps include identifying the issues within the organization, researching the issues, developing a strategy to the tactics used when bargaining, and setting the ground rules for the engagement (Seaquist, 2015, p. 7.2).

I think the most important step is the research step because, after identifying what the issues are in the workplace, research needs to be done to move onto the next part of the process. This step requires research on random aspects of the interaction such as the issue, potential solutions, and even the people involved. As Seaquist mentions, this step is a way for negotiators to understand what they are up against (Seaquist, 2015, p. 7.2). Without understanding how this problem is fixed in other organizations, or what is fair to offer in this situation, a solution cannot be chosen. Strategizing and setting ground rules for the bargaining agreement depend on the research step to layout the groundwork for what will be established in the end. This step helps the employer side understand the opposing side more thoroughly, and that is crucial to the agreements they make with one another.

I think each step is very important to the success of the collective bargaining process, and agreements would not be made properly if a step were to be skipped. Without identifying the issues, there is no bargaining at all. Without research, both sides do not understand the needs and desires of the other. Without strategizing, civil tactics and relationships cannot be made. Without ground rules, the entire process would be chaotic, messy, and unorganized, leading to unsuccessful bargaining. According to the legal dictionary, “employees covered by collective bargaining often have better working conditions, higher wages, and better benefit packages than employees who are not members of a labor union.” (Legal dictionary, 2017). Without these deals agreements, issues are passed onto the NLRB, and the board members decide a final solution, which may be unfair to either side. Structure is important, so the steps for collective bargaining must be followed for the agreements to be successful.

References

Legal Dictionary. (2017). Retrieved from https://legaldictionary.net/collective-bargaining/Links to an external site..

Seaquist, G. (2015). Employee and labor relations: A practical guide. San Diego: Bridgepoint Education.