Collective Bargaining
Introduction
Collective bargaining is a negotiating process which determines the terms and conditions of employment between an employer and the union of the employees or their representatives (CanadianLabourRelations.com, 2015). It is used to solve the conflict between the economic interests of workers and employers. While workers seek job security and good income, employers care about their profit so their wish to minimize costs and maximize returns due to employees’ performance. In our work we will discuss how collecting bargaining process is organized in Canada and find out if it is as useful as earlier. We will describe how the current economic state impacts the collective bargaining process. Finally, we will examine the correlation between collective bargaining process in the private sector and in a government organization.Thesis: Collective bargaining process is greatly influenced by the economic state. Union membership is more common for government organizations than a private sector.
Main Body
Collective bargaining in Canada
Collective bargaining process in Canada is conducted by bargaining unions, a labor union which is proved by the support of the majority (50% + 1) of the employees (CanadianLabourRelations.com, 2015). A bargaining unit makes a collective agreement which is supported by the labor legislation and regulated with the thorough legal framework. It is important that agreement is collective, so employees can protect their rights and influence the employment conditions more effectively. In Canada collective bargaining process is decentralized. It means that most of the important decisions are taken at the local level. What is more, the labor unions in Canada are divided into groups according to the industries, kinds of services and other factors. Therefore, labor unions in Canada do not have such power as in many countries in Europe (Warner, 2012). Thus, in Denmark, 68% of employees were members of unions, while in Austria 99% (Warner, 2012). On the other side, employees trust more labor units and take part in collective bargaining more often than in the USA. For example, in the USA only 11.4% of employees had union membership, while in Canada there were 30.3% of workers in the unions (Warner, 2012).
On June 8th, 2007 the Supreme Court of Canada recognized collective bargaining as a constitutional right protected by the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Fudge, 2012). However, today many employers continue to struggle with collective bargaining and some employees do not consider that it is necessary. For example, the polls prove that 46 percent of Canadians agree that unions improve the lives of other Canadians, while 42 percent do not think so (The Canadian Press, 2012). However, collective bargaining has its advantages as the parties should abide by the terms of the agreement, the collective agreement contracts set out terms of the employment, the employees can be sure in their future, while employers cannot be afraid of strikes and lockouts which are prohibited during the collective agreement period.
Influence of the state of economy on collective bargaining process
The state of economy influences greatly …
