Assignment No: 01

Prepared by

Farhad Ali

Submitting

To

Lecturer

Sir Faiz Ahmed

UNDERSTANDING LABOUR RELATIONS OF
COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

UNIONS

A union is an organization composed in whole or in part of

employees, in which employees participate and pay dues,
and which has as a purpose the dealing with an agency
concerning grievances and conditions of employment.
Or
Employee associations are popularly known as unions.
However these unions are not confined to only strikes and
negotiations. Their role is much wider than this. Unions
make their presence felt in recruitment and selection,
promotions, training, termination or lay off. Many programs,
which contribute to the Quality of Work Life (QWL) and
productivity, are undertaken by management in consultation
with and with the cooperation of the unions. Unions also
participate in deciding wage and salary structure and
negotiate revisions once in 3 or 5 years.
Trade unions are voluntary organizations of workers or
employers formed to promote their interests through
collective action. Trade unions Act 1926 defines a trade
union as a combination, whether temporary or permanent
formed primarily for the purpose of regulating the relation
between
1) Workmen and Employers
2) Workmen and Workmen
3) Employers and Employers
For imposing restrictive conditions on the conduct of any
trade or business and includes any federation of two or more
trade unions.
Q: Why Do Workers Join Unions?

A: Worker's Join Union Primarily because of management

failure to address organizational & job-related concerns.

Q: What Do Unions Want?

A: Unions have 2 Sets of aims:

Union Security:

Five Types of Union Security are possible:

I. Closed Shop: The Company can hire only union
members.
II. Union Shop: The Company can hire non-union people,
but they must join the union after the prescribed period of
time and pay dues, or else they are fired.
III. Agency shop: Employees who do not belong to the
union still must pay union dues on the assumption that the
union's efforts benefit all workers.
IV. Open Shop: It is up to the workers whether or not they
join the union, those who do not, do not pay dues.
V. Maintenance of membership arrangement:
Employees do not have to belong to the union. However,
union members employed by the firm must maintain
membership in the union for the contract period.

Improved wages, hours, working conditions, and

benefits for their members:

The Constitution of Pakistan contains a range of provisions

with regards to labor rights found in Part II: Fundamental
Rights and Principles of Policy.

I. Article 11 of the Constitution prohibits all forms of slavery,

forced labor and child labor;
II. Article 17 provides for a fundamental right to exercise the
freedom of association and the right to form unions;
III. Article 18 proscribes the right of its citizens to enter
upon any lawful profession or occupation and to conduct any
lawful trade or business.

ROLE OF CONSTRUCTIVE AND POSITIVE UNION

Unions have a crucial role to play in Industrial Relations.

Unions have following broad role or objectives as mentioned
below.
• To redress the bargaining advantage of the individual
worker vis-à-vis the individual employer, by
substituting joint or collective action for individual
action.
• To secure improved terms and conditions of
employment for its members and the maximum degree
of security to enjoy these terms and conditions.
• To obtain improved status for the worker in his work or
her work
• To increase the extent to which unions can exercise
democratic control over decisions, which affect their
interests by power sharing at the national, corporate
and plant levels.
The union power is exerted primarily at two levels. Industry
level to establish joint regulation on basic wages and hours
with an employer’s association. Plant level, where the shop
stewards organizations exercise joint control over some
aspects of the organization of work and localized terms and
conditions of employment.
Unions are party to national, local and plant level
agreements, which govern their actions to a greater or
lesser extent, depending on their power and on local
circumstances.
UNFAIR LABOR PRACTICES:

Industrial Disputes Act 1947 specifies the following as unfair

labor practices:

• To interfere, restrain, coerce workmen in the exercise

of their right to organize, form, join or assist a trade
union.
• Threatening workmen with discharge or dismissal.
• Threatening of lockout or closure.
• Granting wage increases to undermine trade union
efforts.
• To dominate, interfere with or support financially or
socially by taking active interest in forming own trade
union.
• Showing partiality or granting favor to one of several
trade unions to a non-recognized trade union.
• To establish employer sponsored trade unions.
• To encourage or discourage memberships in any trade
union by discriminating workman by punishing or
discharging, changing seniority ratings, refuse
promotions, giving unmerited promotions, discharging
union office bearers.
• To discharge or dismiss workmen by victimizing, not in
good faith, implicating in criminal case, for patently
false reasons.
• To abolish work of a regular nature.
• To transfer workmen.
• To show favoritism or partiality.
• To replace workers.
• To recruit workmen during legal strikes.
• To indulge in acts of violence or force.
• To refuse collective bargaining.
• Proposing and continuing lockouts.
Q: What is Collective Bargaining or Negotiation?

A: Collective Bargaining is bargaining between and/or

among representatives of agencies and labor unions to set
working conditions for all employees in an appropriate
bargaining unit. Employees have the right to engage in
negotiations (i.e., collective bargaining) over conditions of
employment through their chosen union representatives.
Negotiating or collective bargaining is the mutual obligation
of management and the union to meet at reasonable times
and bargain in a good faith effort to reach agreement with
respect to conditions of employment affecting employees
represented by the union. A condition of employment is a
broad term which encompasses personnel policies, practices,
and matters affecting working conditions. Certain matters
are specifically excluded by law from being considered a
condition of employment (e.g., the classification of a
position).

Q: What is an appropriate bargaining unit?

A: An appropriate bargaining unit is a grouping of

employees that a union represents or seeks to represent and
that the Federal Labor Relations Authority finds appropriate
for collective bargaining purposes.

Q: What is an exclusive recognition?

A: The Statute provides that an agency shall recognize a

labor organization as the exclusive representative of
employees in a bargaining unit, if that organization has been
selected as the representative by a majority of the unit's
employees who voted in a secret ballot election.
Q: What are conditions of employment?

A: Conditions of employment means personnel policies,

practices, and matters, whether established by rule,
regulation, or otherwise [e.g., by custom or practice],
affecting working conditions, except that such term does not
include policies, practices, and matters—
(A)Relating to political activities prohibited under subchapter
III of chapter 73 of this title;
(B) Relating to the classification of any positions; or
(C) To the extent such matters are specifically provided for
by Federal statute.

Q: What Rights do Employees have in the Labor

Relations Statute?

A: Employees have the right to form, join or assist a union

or to refrain from doing so. Employees shall be free to
exercise this right without fear of penalty or reprisal and
shall be protected in exercising this right. Employees have
the right to:

• Act as a union representative, and in that capacity, to

present union views to agency management, the
Congress or other authorities;
• Negotiate over conditions of employment through their
chosen representative;
• Decide whether to be a union member, and if a union
member, how actively engaged.
Q: What are the Representational Rights of the Union?

A: A union that has been accorded exclusive recognition for

a bargaining unit has a duty to fairly represent all employees
in the bargaining unit. The union has the right to:

• Negotiate with management in good faith concerning

conditions of employment
• Obtain data normally maintained by management that
is reasonably available and necessary for full and
proper discussion, understanding, and negotiation of
the subjects appropriate for collective bargaining.
• Have employees representing the union on official time
when negotiating agreements with management
• Be represented at certain discussions management
may have with bargaining unit employees, including:
Formal discussions; certain examinations of employees.

Q: What are Management Rights?

A: Management rights are a term which defines those areas

over which management exercises exclusive decision-
making authority. These rights are spelled out in the Federal
Service Labor-Management Relations Statute. There are two
categories of management rights, "mandatory" or reserved
rights, such as the right to determine mission, budget, and
internal security and "permissive" rights. Permissive rights
are those rights (e.g., numbers, types and grades of
employees assigned to an organizational subdivision, work
project, or tour of duty) that management may bargain, but
is not statutorily required to do so.

Q: What is a negotiated Grievance Procedure?

A: The negotiated grievance procedure is a system for
resolving disputes. It is a method, established by the union
and management, for finding out where problems exist and
solving those problems fairly and quickly. Every collective
bargaining agreement must contain a negotiated grievance
procedure. A grievance is defined in the Collective
Bargaining Agreement and may cover any complaint:

• by any employee concerning any matter relating to the

employment of the employee;
• by any labor organization concerning any matter
relating to the employment of any employee; or
• by any employee, labor organization, or agency
concerning:
o The effect or interpretation, or a claim of breach,
of a collective bargaining agreement; or
o Any claimed violation, misinterpretation, or
misapplication of any law, rule, or regulation
affecting conditions of employment.

Q: What is Interest-Based Bargaining?

A: Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB) (also sometimes called

"mutual gains" bargaining or "win-win" bargaining) is a term
that refers to a form of negotiating where the parties look
for common ground and attempt to satisfy mutual interests
through the bargaining process. Whereas traditional
bargaining focuses on taking and defending positions, in IBB
the emphasis is on exploring the interests of the parties and
how can they be reconciled. IBB is an effort to look behind
positions to determine the needs of the parties and whether
there are mutually acceptable ways that labor and
management can satisfy those needs.

IBB differs substantially from traditional negotiating

techniques in its reliance upon a variety of techniques to
promote open communication, such as brainstorming,
facilitation, and information sharing. The purpose of
exchanging ideas and information is to develop options.
Those options are then evaluated both in terms of their
effectiveness in resolving the problem and their acceptability
to the parties. The objective of the entire process is to reach
agreement by consensus. In consensus decision making, the
intent is to achieve a resolution that everyone can accept
and support even though that course of action might not be
their first choice.

Thanks