Definition of Collective Bargaining:

Industrial disputes between the employee and employer can also be settled by
discussion and negotiation between these two parties in order to arrive at a
decision.

This is also commonly known as collective bargaining as both the parties

eventually agree to follow a decision that they arrive at after a lot of negotiation
and discussion.

According to Beach, “Collective Bargaining is concerned with the relations

between unions reporting employees and employers (or their representatives).

It involves the process of union organization of employees, negotiations

administration and interpretation of collective agreements concerning wages,
hours of work and other conditions of employees arguing in concerted
economic actions dispute settlement procedures”.

According to Flippo, “Collective Bargaining is a process in which the

representatives of a labor organization and the representatives of business
organization meet and attempt to negotiate a contract or agreement, which
specifies the nature of employee-employer union relationship”.

“Collective Bargaining is a mode of fixing the terms of employment by means

of bargaining between organized body of employees and an employer or
association of employees acting usually through authorized agents. The essence
of Collective Bargaining is bargaining between interested parties and not from
outside parties”.

According to an ILO Manual in 1960, the Collective Bargaining is defined

as:
“Negotiations about working conditions and terms of employment between an
employer, a group of employees or one or more employers organization on the
other, with a view to reaching an agreement.”

It is also asserted that “the terms of agreement serve as a code defining the
rights and obligations of each party in their employment relations with one
another, if fixes large number of detailed conditions of employees and during its
validity none of the matters it deals with, internal circumstances give grounds
for a dispute counseling and individual workers”.
Collective Bargaining Involves:
(i) Negotiations

(ii) Drafting

(iii) Administration

(iv) Interpretation of documents written by employers, employees and the union

representatives

(v) Organizational Trade Unions with open mind.

Forms of Collective Bargaining:

The working of collective bargaining assumes various forms. In the first place,
bargaining may be between the single employer and the single union, this is
known as single plant bargaining. This form prevails in the United States as
well as in India.

Secondly, the bargaining may be between a single firm having several plants
and workers employed in all those plants. This form is called multiple plants
bargaining where workers bargain with the common employer through different
unions.

Thirdly, instead of a separate union bargaining with separate employer, all the
unions belonging to the same industry bargain through their federation with the
employer’s federation of that industry. This is known as multiple employer
bargaining which is possible both at the local and regional levels. Instances in
India of this industry-wide bargaining are found in the textile industry.

The common malady of union rivalry, small firms and existence of several
political parties has given rise to a small unit of collective bargaining. It has
produced higher labour cost, lack of appreciation, absence of sympathy and
economic inefficiency in the realm of industrial relationships. An industry-wide
bargaining can be favourable to the economic and social interests of both the
employers and employees.

Essential Pre-Requisites for Collective Bargaining:

Effective collective bargaining requires the following prerequisites:
(i) Existence of a strong representative trade union in the industry that believes
in constitutional means for settling the disputes.
(ii) Existence of a fact-finding approach and willingness to use new methods
and tools for the solution of industrial problems. The negotiation should be
based on facts and figures and both the parties should adopt constructive
approach.

(iii) Existence of strong and enlightened management which can integrate the
different parties, i.e., employees, owners, consumers and society or
Government.

(iv) Agreement on basic objectives of the organisation between the employer

and the employees and on mutual rights and liabilities should be there.

(v) In order that collective bargaining functions properly, unfair labour practices
must be avoided by both the parties.

(vi) Proper records for the problem should be maintained.

(vii) Collective bargaining should be best conducted at plant level. It means if

there are more than one plant of the firm, the local management should be
delegated proper authority to negotiate with the local trade union.

(viii) There must be change in the attitude of employers and employees. They
should realise that differences can be resolved peacefully on negotiating table
without the assistance of third party.

(ix) No party should take rigid attitude. They should enter into negotiation with
a view to reaching an agreement.

(x) When agreement is reached after negotiations, it must be in writing

incorporating all term of the contract.

It may be emphasised here that the institution of collective bargaining

represents a fair and democratic attempt at resolving mutual disputes. Wherever
it becomes the normal mode of setting outstanding issues, industrial unrest with
all its unpleasant consequences is minimised.

Main Features of Collective Bargaining:

Some of the salient features of collective bargaining are:
1. It is a Group Action:
Collective bargaining is a group action as opposed to individual action. Both the
parties of settlement are represented by their groups. Employer is represented by
its delegates and, on the other side; employees are represented by their trade
union.

2. It is a Continuous Process:
Collective bargaining is a continuous process and does not end with one
agreement. It provides a mechanism for continuing and organised relationship
between management and trade union. It is a process that goes on for 365 days
of the year.

3. It is a Bipartite Process:
Collective bargaining is a two party process. Both the parties—employers and
employees— collectively take some action. There is no intervention of any third
party. It is mutual given-and-take rather than take-it-or-leave-it method of
arriving at the settlement of a dispute.

4. It is a Process:
Collective bargaining is a process in the sense that it consists of a number of
steps. The starting point is the presentation of charter of demands by the
workers and the last step is the reaching of an agreement, or a contract which
would serve as the basic law governing labour-management relations over a
period of time in an enterprise.

5. It is Flexible and Mobile and not Fixed or Static:

It has fluidity. There is no hard and fast rule for reaching an agreement. There is
ample scope for compromise. A spirit of give-and-take works unless final
agreement acceptable to both the parties is reached.

6. It is Industrial Democracy at Work:

Collective bargaining is based on the principle of industrial democracy where
the labour union represents the workers in negotiations with the employer or
employers. Industrial democracy is the government of labour with the consent
of the governed—the workers. The principle of arbitrary unilateralism has given
way to that of self-government in industry. Actually, collective bargaining is not
a mere signing of an agreement granting seniority, vacations and wage increase,
by sitting around a table.

7. It is Dynamic:
It is relatively a new concept, and is growing, expanding and changing. In the
past, it used to be emotional, turbulent and sentimental, but now it is scientific,
factual and systematic.

8. It is a Complementary and not a Competitive Process:

Collective bargaining is not a competitive process i.e., labour and management
do not coopt while negotiating for the same object. It is essentially a
complementary process i.e., each party needs something which the other party
has, namely, labour can put greater productive effort and management has the
capacity to pay for that effort and to organise and guide it for achieving the
enterprise’s objectives.

The behavioural scientists have made a good distinction between “distributive

bargaining” and “integrative bargaining”. The former is the process of dividing
up the cake which represents what has been produced by the joint efforts of
management and labour.

In this process, if one party wins something, the other party, to continue the
metaphor of the cake, has a relatively smaller size of the cake. So it is a win-
lose’ relationship. The integrative bargaining, on the other hand, is the process
where both the parties can win—each party contributing something for the
benefit of the other party.

9. It is an Art:
Collective bargaining is an art, an advanced form of human relations.

Means of Collective Bargaining:

Generally, there are four important methods of collective bargaining, namely,
negotiation, mediation, conciliation and arbitration for the settlement of trade
disputes. In this context R.F. Hoxie said that arbitration is often provided for in
collective bargaining under certain contingencies and for certain purposes,
especially when the parties cannot reach agreement, and in the interpretation of
an agreement through negotiation.

Conciliation is a term often applied to the art of collective bargaining, a term

often applied to the action of the public board which attempts to induce
collective bargaining.

Mediation is the intervention usually uninvited, of some outside person of body

with a view of getting conciliation or to force a settlement, compulsory
arbitration is extreme mediation. All these things are aids or supplement to
collective bargaining where it breaks down. They represent the intervention of
outside parties.

Constituents of Collective Bargaining:

There are three distinct steps in the process of collective bargaining:
(1) The creation of the trade agreement,

(2) The interpretation of the agreement, and

(3) The enforcement of the agreement.

Each of these steps has its particular character and aim, and therefore, each
requires a special kind of intellectual and moral activity and machinery.

1. The Creation of the Trade Agreement:

In negotiating the contract, a union and management present their demands to
each other, compromise their differences, and agree on the conditions under
which the workers are to be employed for the duration of the contract. The
coverage of collective bargaining is very uneven; in some industries almost all
the workers are under agreement, while in others only a small portion of the
employees of the firms are covered by the agreement.

The negotiating process is the part of collective bargaining more likely to make
headline news and attract public attention; wage increases are announced,
ominous predictions about price increase are reduction in employment are
made.

2. The Interpretation of the Agreement:

The administrative process is the day-to-day application of the provisions of the
contract to the work situation. At the time of writing the contract, it is
impossible to foresee all the special problems which will arise in applying its
provisions. Sometimes, it is a matter of differing interpretations of specific
clause in the contract, sometimes; it is a question of whether the dispute is even
covered by the contract. Nevertheless, each case must somehow be settled. The
spirit of the contract should not be violated.

3. Enforcement of the Agreement:

Proper and timely enforcement of the contract is very essential for the success
of collective bargaining. If a contract is enforced in such way that it reduces or
nullifies the benefits expected by the parties, it will defeat basic purpose of
collective bargaining. It may give rise to fresh industrial disputes. Hence, in the
enforcement of the contract the spirit of the contract should not be violated.

However, new contracts may be written to meet the problems involved in the
previous contract. Furthermore, as day-to-day problems are solved, they set
precedents for handling similar problems in future. Such precedents are almost
as important as the contract in controlling the working conditions. In short,
collective bargaining is not an on-and-off relationship that is kept in cold
storage except when new contracts are drafted.

Administrative Tribunals Act, 1985

22. Procedure and Powers of Tribunals. –

(1) A Tribunal shall not be bound by the procedure laid down in the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5
of 1908), but shall be guided by the principles of natural justice and subject to the other provisions of
this Act and of any rules made by the Central Government, the Tribunal shall have power to regulate
its own procedure including the fixing of places and times of its inquiry and decided whether to sit in
public or in private.

(2) A tribunal shall decide every application made to it as expeditiously as possible and ordinarily every
application shall be decided on a perusal of documents and written representations and after hearing
such oral arguments as may be advanced.

(3) A Tribunal shall have, for the purposes of discharging its functions under this Act, the same powers
as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908), while trying a suit, in
respect of the following matters, namely :

(a) Summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him on oath;

(b) requiring the discovery and production of documents;

(c) receiving evidence on affidavits;

(d) subject to the provisions of section 123 and 124 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (1 of
1872), requisitioning any public record or document or copy of such record or document from
any office;

(e) issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses or, documents;

(f) reviewing its decisions;

(g) dismissing a representation for default or deciding it ex parte;

 (h) setting aside any order of dismissal of any representation for default or any order passed
by it ex parte; and

(i) any other matter which may be prescribed by the Central Government.

5. Composition of Tribunals and Benches Thereof. –

(1) Each Tribunal shall consist of a Chairman and such number of Vice-Chairman and judicial and
Administrative Members as the appropriate Government may deem fit and, subject to the other
provisions of this Act, the jurisdiction, powers and authority of the Tribunal may be exercised by
Benches thereof.

(2) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, a Bench shall consist of one Judicial Member and one
Administrative Member.

(3) Omitted

(4) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) the Chairman –

(a) may, in addition to discharging the functions of the Judicial Member or the Administrative
Member of the Bench to which he is appointed discharge the functions of the Judicial Member
or, as the case may be, the Administrative Member, of any other Bench;

(b) may transfer the Vice-Chairman or other Member from one Bench to another Bench;

(c) may authorize the Vice-Chairman or the Judicial Member or the Administrative Member
appointed to one Bench to discharge also the functions of the Vice-Chairman, or, as the case
may be, the Judicial Member or the Administrative Member of another Bench; and

(d) may, for the purpose of securing that any case or cases which, having regard to the nature
of the question involved, requires or require, in his opinion or under the rules made by the
Central Government in this behalf, to be decided by the Bench composed of more than two
members, issue such general or special orders, as he may deem fit:

Provided that every Bench constituted in pursuance of this clause shall include at least one Judicial
Member and one Administrative Member.

(5) Omitted

(6) Notwithstanding anything contained in the foregoing provisions of this section, it shall be competent
for the Chairman or any other Member authorized by the Chairman in this behalf to function as a Bench
consisting of a single Member and exercise the jurisdiction, powers and authority of the Tribunal in
respect of such classes of cases or such matters pertaining to such classes of cases as the Chairman
may by general or special order specify:

Provided that if at any stage of the hearing of any such case or matter it appears to the Chairman or
such Member that the case or matter is of such a nature that it ought to be heard by a Bench consisting
of two members, the case or matter may be transferred by the Chairman or, as the case may be,
referred to him for transfer to, such Bench as the Chairman may deem fit.

(7) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the Benches of the Central Administrative Tribunal shall
ordinarily sit at New Delhi (which shall be known as the principal Bench), Allahabad, Calcutta, Madras,
New Bombay and at such other places as the Central Government may, by notification, specify.

(8) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, the place at which the Principal Bench and other Benches
of a State Administrative Tribunal shall ordinarily sit shall be such as the State Government may, by
notification, specify.
21. Limitation. –

(1) A Tribunal shall not admit an application, -

(a) in a case where a final order such as is mentioned in clause (a) of sub-section (2) of section
20 has been made in connection with the grievance unless the application is made, within one
year from the date on which such final order has been made;

(b) in a case where an appeal or representation such as is mentioned in clause (b) of sub-
section (2) of section 20 has been made and a period of six months had expired thereafter
without such final order having been made, within one year from the date of expiry of the said
period of six months.

(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where –

(a) the grievance in respect of which an application is made had arisen by reason of any order
made at any time during the period of three years immediately preceding the date on which the
jurisdiction, powers and authority of the Tribunal becomes exercisable under this Act in respect
of the matter to which such order relates; and

(b) no proceedings for the redressal of such grievance had been commenced before the said
date before any High Court, the application shall be entertained by the Tribunal if it is made
within the period referred to in clause (a), or, as the case may be, clause (b), of sub-section (1)
or within a period of six months from the said date, whichever period expires later.

(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1) or sub-section (2), an application

may be admitted after the period of one year specified in clause (a) or clause (b) of sub-section
(1) or, as the case may be, the period of six months specified in sub-section (2), if the applicant
satisfies the Tribunal that he had sufficient cause for not making the application within such
period.