Parties to the Collective Bargaining Process

Employee and Labor Relations
7/4/2019
Student’s Name

Employee and labor relations 1
Parties to the Collective Bargaining Process
Collective bargaining can be understood as a process of discussion and negotiation, where
industrial parties to the dispute come to a decision that is acceptable to both of them (DeNisi &
Griffin, 2013). Mainly two parties are involved in a dispute, one is an employer and another one
is an employee. Nevertheless, these parties are not directly involved and act through their
representatives. To present the side of the employee, unions representative is there. The person
can be a union official as well as a professional negotiator. In order to discuss the role of such
representative in collective bargaining, this is to state that the person drafts a proposal on behalf
of employees to present the same before management representative, to negotiate with the same,
signing the agreement and to make sure the implication of the same (Harris, 2019).
Another party of the dispute i.e. employer used to be represented by a labor relationship director
or a solicitor or an HR manager. These people use their specific knowledge and develop the
collective bargaining agreement which is further presented before union representative for
discussion and negotiation. HR managers generally do not take part in the process but if the same
does so, then it becomes the liability of such person to maintain the balance of interest between
employer and employee.
Management Right Clause
In the preparation of the collective bargain agreement employer, generally, develop an employer
right clause. As the name implies, it is a clause, which gives entitlement to the employer that
they can take some unilateral actions. It means in the existence of such a clause, the employer
can decide some matters and are not liable to enter into a bargaining process with the union

Employee and labor relations 2
(Siegel, 2016). These matters refer to terms and conditions of employment. In other words, this
can be stated that the subjective clause gives the employer a right to adopt as well as enforce
regulations, policies, rules, and procedures.
The employer right clause is based on the reserved right doctrine. This doctrine/ theory is not
being supported here because it proves unethical many times. Further, in the context of
employment, the theory does not seem to be effective. The reason behind the same is that
management cannot always rely on such clauses (Lexology.com, 2016). Further, the reserved
right theory limits justice for one of the parties in a bargaining process. At many of the times, the
employee faces issues and they are not able to bargain on a particular matter because it covers by
employer right clause.
Profit Sharing Plan and COLAs along with Pros and Cons
A profit-sharing plan is one of the significant types of defined contribution plans. It is a plan
where in order to encourage employees, company transfers some amount to a separate bank
account when the same earn profits. Company may skip to contributor into the account in any
year if desires so (Bizfilings.com, 2019). The lead benefit of such a plan is that employee
becomes more focused on the profitability of the organization. Another advantage of this plan is
that it promotes the wellbeing of employees. In order to discuss the disadvantages of this plan,
this is to state that it shifts the focus of employee from quality to profit-making that affect the
overall excellence of the organization.
Another plan to discuss here is COLA that stands for cost of living adjustments. This plan covers
the cost of inflation and in this manner influence the cost of living expenses such as gas, food,
rent, and clothing (Burke, 2019). This can be understood as a change in the monthly retirement