Bargaining by the rules.

When workers and management sit down to negotiate a contract, they must follow a clear set of rules

Collective bargaining is the process that labour and management use to come to a working agreement.

Negotiators on both sides of the bargaining table have many factors to keep in mine, including the personalities of the people they are facing.

They have to consider the standard wages in the industry; the state of the economy generally; whether the employees are highly skilled and hard to replace or unskilled and easily replaced; how difficult it would be to keep the company functioning in the event of a work stop-page; the size of the union strike fund; the members' solidarity (the extent to which they are united) in the event of a strike or lockout and, above all, what each side will settle for.

Each side prepares its strategy long before they meet at the bargaining table. Each side has a negotiating committee. Management usually appoints its committee. The union committee is either elected by members or appointed by officers who were themselves elected by members. And, both sides approach the table with a list of proposals or "demands," based on talks with the people they represent.

While pay increases are the collective bargaining gains that make headlines, a collective agreement covers a lot of other items too.

Workers' contract goals vary by industry. Auto workers, for example, have successfully sought extra days off because of the pressure and boredom of their work. Employees in particularly hazardous industries seek special health-and-safety provisions in their collective agreements.

Unions also are concerned about unemployment. They have seniority clauses, under which workers with long service are laid off or discharged only after employees hired more recently are let go. And, they have job security clauses to ensure that employees are fired only "with cause" and to make sure those who are laid off receive severance or extra pay.

Contracts also outline grievance procedures to ensure that any problems will be handled fairly. An employment opportunities clause may say that qualified inside workers must have first crack at job openings before they are advertised to the public. Other common clauses cover shift work, overtime pay, and fringe benefits such as medical care plans, pension plans, dental care and insurance plans, part, or all of which might be paid for by the employer. Some contracts also include education benefits by which employers pay workers for the cost of some educational courses, or for educational leaves of absence.

For first contracts, the union negotiators will also seek "union security" provisions. The most common is the "union shop" provision under which newly-hired people are required to join the union after a certain period of employment. Another type is the "Rand formula" under which an employee doesn't have to join the union but must pay dues anyway. A third type of union security provision is the "closed shop" where only union members may be hired.

In the same way that unions try to negotiate the best deal for their members, employers bargain for "management's rights" clause. These outline all the aspects of the employer's operations that are not subject to collective bargaining: issues over which the employer retains complete control. They may include such matters as hiring, production, manufacturing, and sales.

Reaching an agreement may take days, weeks, or months. It all depends on how much the two sides are willing to compromise. First agreements usually take longer than renewals. A settlement may be reached more quickly if either party can't afford a work stoppage. Or, it could take longer if it involved complex issues, such as the effects of technological advances on workers.

But, the two sides usually come to an agreement without work stoppages. The people the two sides represent approve or ratify the agreement before it's signed. The resulting contract can last one, two, or sometimes three years.

Then, both sides have to agree there will be no work stoppages during the term of the contract. So, workers agree not to strike and employers agree not to lockout employees by closing the workplace. If there are any problems that the two can't sort out between themselves, then they follow "arbitration" procedures. This means going to an impartial third person -- or a board of three persons -- authorized to make a decision that both sides must accept (thus, the term binding arbitration).

In most jurisdictions, a labour relations board has the power to decide whether or not strikes and lockouts are legal. This board also decides whether or not employers or workers are guilty of unfair labour practices. For example, an employer is forbidden to threaten or punish employees for engaging in legal union activities. Also, a union is not allowed to penalize a member for refusing to engage in an unlawful strike, or for making a complaint against the union.

It's all designed to try and strike a reasonable balance between the rights of workers and employers.

SUGGESTED ACTIVITIES:

1. A "semi-unemployed" person in Victoria wrote a newspaper article complaining about how unions exclude non-members -- unemployed labourers who are eager to work at just about anything. "Weren't unions supposed to be the answer to elitism and patronage that is so common in higher-level corporate management posts?" he asks. Writing in 1995, he said that most conflicts in strike situations are not between workers and management but between non-union people trying to cross the picket lines and go to work. "The conflict is between the employed and the unemployed or lower paid workers." Instead of serving only their working members, the writer thinks they should be working with the unemployed within their specific field as well, not seeing them as the enemy. Is it the union's job to fight for unemployed, non-members? Discuss

2. The aboye writer also feels unions must be pioneers in forging job-sharing strategies, encouraging new life-style altitudes revolving around working fewer hours and living in a less consumer-oriented fashion. Discuss these and other ways of helping t he unemployed who would be only too happy to work if there were jobs available.