Productivity Bargaining

The advent of productivity bargaining has transformed the way that negotiation ensues. In traditional bargaining, the process of negotiation is one of claim and counter-claim (that is, zero-sum bargaining, where each party receives and gives something that in total adds up to zero). Productivity bargaining, by contrast, involves a situation where both sides gain something. The assumption is that employees agree to make changes that lead to more efficient and effective working. Improved efficiency will lead to economic growth, which will in turn afford increases in employee income. This changes the nature of negotiation, which in the past involved trade-off (that is, one concession against another gain).

Productivity bargaining may involve the following considerations:

· Flexibility – employees can be moved around as demand dictates as opposed to being rooted to one machine or system, which may at times stand idle. 

· Nature of work – elimination of the practices of demarcation, that is, where no one could do the work defined as that of another group.

· Overtime – overtime can be used to keep staffing levels down, achieves more flexibility on labour hours. However overtime can be costly. By reorganizing hours of work, output can be maintained at lower costs.

Productivity agreements can lead to:

· increased pay related to increased savings and/or output;

· reduced hours of work/longer holidays;

· fringe benefits, such as improved sick pay and pension arrangements;

· Increased job satisfaction due to job enlargement or rotation (see Chapter 5.2 for more on this).

Unlike traditional bargaining, productivity bargaining cannot guarantee a fixed increase in standard of living in the face of inflation, because by definition it is based on results to be obtained in the future. Traditional bargaining is based on a ‘conflict model’ (whereby each party seeks to achieve its own, different objectives). By contrast, productivity bargaining is based on integrative (or cooperative) bargaining assumptions, whereby each side has a vested interest in the same proposals (for example, both the employer and the employee benefit from the ‘flexibility’ agreement). Such negotiations necessitate more openness and more information on which to base decisions. Productivity bargaining also presupposes ‘joint control of working practices’ (via joint problem solving procedures) with neither side assuming a position of greater power of dictation (see below, ‘Disputes over Limited Resources: The psychology of Negotiation’). 

Collective bargaining is the means by which conflict between parties is institutionalized and ‘contained.’ The means of resolving conflict (that is, defined as an instance where the rights and interests of one party are threatened) involves the negotiating process by which each side seeks to persuade the other of the importance of their case. Sanctions can be used to indicate the seriousness of a claim. Sanctions include:

Employer sanctions 

Employee sanctions 

Lay-offs. 

Dismissal – if the strike is official, the employer may risk claims of unfair dismissal unless everyone concerned is dismissed. In the unofficial strike, any or all employees concerned can be dismissed without fear of reprisal. 

Withdrawal of overtime (depending on economic circumstances). 

Closure – large companies may ‘rationalize their operations’ when operations at a particular site become untenable due to industrial action. 

Unofficial sanctions – for example,pedantic enforcement of rules (but these can damage relations in the long term). 

Overtime ban – this can disrupt operations in instances where overtime is ‘built into’ the system. 

‘Work-to-rule’ – perform minimum required under contracts of employment. 

Go-slow – the job being carried out much more slowly than usual. The employee must achieve the fine line between going slower than usual and going too slow in which case dismissal is likely. 

Sit-ins – occupation of the employer’s premises by the workforce. 

Boycott – a term used to indicate a refusal to work a certain machine or work on certain material. 

Ballot – In the 1980s, a rule was enforced indicating the need to hold ballot before industrial action. The pre-strike ballot may be used as a tactic for pressurizing the employer during negotiation. 

Sanctions can be costly to both parties. The aim of sanction is to engender a reappraisal of the situation.

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Ditulis oleh Unknown pada tanggal Jumat, 21 Juni 2013