Mgt 610 - Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining

...

Collective Bargaining and Teachers Union; Resolving Conflicts

- Good Faith and Exclusivity in Bargaining Agreement

In any form of organization, employers and employees forms a union, which bounds both private and public unions to handle the conflicts that may arise between workers and their employers exclusively. Therefore, the elected union should bargain for the collective interests of its members bargaining unit. The union representing teachers should therefore bargain in good faith and solve the underlying disputes (Martin & Keaveny, 1985). This is a significant especially to the responsibilities and duties of both parties to bargain in good faith during the collective bargaining process. This is important because during the bargaining process, the negotiating teams may turn an intense heat against each other creating further disputes (Collective bargaining and labour relations, 2015).

According International Labor Organizations, the term ‘good faith’ generally focuses on fairness, openness, cooperation, and mutuality of conduct between the disagreeing parties. Many states also define the term ‘good faith’ similarly while other provide more specific rules that regards what comprises good faith bargaining. However, refusing to negotiate in good faith leads to an unfair labor practice as indicated in the International Labor Relations and states statutes.

- Guidelines of the Collective Bargaining Agreement

In most cases, some government policies do not allow the schools to bargain on matters that involves educational policies of the institution board (Mabry, 1966). Therefore, most governments require the institutions board and their labor unions to bargain on working hours, wages, terms and conditions of employment. However, some states restrict bargaining on some compulsory issues like insurance, benefits, or sick leave. When a government insists on compulsory issues, the above issues should be bargained again on the request of either the teaching staff union or the university board (Cox & Dunlop, 2015).

If either party refuses to negotiate over the compulsory issues, the government deems the refusal to have an agreement in good faith and therefore concludes the practice as an unfair labor practice. In the absence of governmental laws specifying the scope of collective bargaining, members of the union and the board of the university should consult relevant law in that government to determine if the Legislature have set forth parameters. However, a collective bargaining agreement for instance, cannot contradict or violate the existing statutory laws or the constitutional provisions and therefore, the bargaining agreement should recognize the terms and conditions of a contract, which may exist in other contracts (Collective bargaining and labour relations, 2015).

- Impasse

In some instances, negotiating teams may have an agreement between the teacher’s unions and the institutional board. In case good faith fails to reach an agreement between the conflicting parties, a legal impasse happens. When the impasse happens, the active bargaining parties is normally suspended from the negotiations. To come up with an agreement, both parties should undergo a process once the impasse has occurred though private and public institutions may disagree. The first initiative after the occurrence of an impasse is declared as a mediation. This involves both parties employing a mediator to take them through the mediation process (Cox & Dunlop, 2015).

At this level, the mediator who acts as a neutral third party listens to both parties before making a ruling. However, a mediator may fail to come up with a binding solution, and thus the mediator becomes an advisor to the parties. Indeed, a number state statute normally use mediators in the public sector after the declaration of an impasse. On the other hand, private institutions unions and schools can employ a mediator from the federal government even though federal labor laws have no regulations regarding conflict resolution. Finally, if both parties fail to have an agreement, other options include finding a fact finder, and eventually if the fact finder cannot find a possible solution, parties may go on strike to air their concerns (Collective bargaining and labour relations, 2015).

Conclusion

Following the disagreement between the president and the union at the faculty, I as the Human Resource director proposes to the president the Good Faith and Exclusivity in Bargaining Agreement as way of resolving the underlying problem. This is because, the agreement between the union and the president is a misunderstanding having in mind that the president has no experience of handling his current position. Workers are therefore invited to discuss the challenges and also trust the president on the new developments he intends to bring in the institution. The president wishes to introduce beneficial programs thus it’s the obligation of the staff to listen to the new upcoming changes and find ways of coming to conclusion, which is both beneficial to the staff, students, president, and the entire institution. The above proposal should follow the following schedule for implementation.

Action Plan: Schedule for the Plan Implementation

Venue

Time Period

List of Goals

Tasks

Success Criteria

Time Frame

Resources

Abolition of Faculty Union

Meeting Discussion (Good Faith and Exclusivity in Bargaining Agreement)

Members of the Union and The President’s agreement.

Successful by Maintaining the Labor Union

Five hours Meeting. Implementation of the Findings and Results in a Fortnight

Board Members and President attendance

Increasing the Number of Students (10,000-18000)

Meeting Discussion

Introduction of New Classes and New Faculties at the end of specified period

(Over the next 10 Years)

Over