Collective Bargaining: Principles and Processes

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
Question 1
The collective bargaining agreements are enforced through the use of arbitration. The
broad principles with regards to labour arbitration have been outlined in the landmark
Supreme Court cases referred to as Steelworkers Trilogy. These essentially refer to the three
cases involving Steelworkers in 1960 in US (SOL, 2015).
One of the key principles highlighted is that arbitration is a contractual matter and
hence arbitration is not necessary if there is not an agreement to submit arbitration on a given
dispute. Another principle highlighted is that if there is any ambiguity with regards to
agreement of a party to arbitrate, the court needs to decide the same. However, in instances
where it is clearly stated that the given matter would not be subject to arbitration, then the
court cannot intervene regarding the same (Burchill, 2014). The third principle states that the
merits of any claim made under the collective bargaining agreement is to decided by the
arbitrator and not the court even if the underlying claim may seem frivolous. The fourth
principle relates to the labor contracts where there is presence of arbitration clause. In such
contracts, there is “presumption of arbitrability” unless a positive assurance exists which
indicates that the underlying arbitration clauses are not prone to interpretation whereby the
dispute is covered. Any doubts ought to be resolved in coverage favor. The fifth principle
relates to translation of labor agreement where mediator is not bound by the agreement
expressions. The mediator is free to consider external variables such as customary law, past
practice along with parole proof (Carrell & Heavrin, 2013).
In case of non-union environment, bargaining is typically done in accordance to the
company policies with regards to various aspects of employment. Also, a key role in this
regards is played by the various employment laws which are implemented by Federal as well
as state government so as to ensure the welfare of employees. The attitude of management