Labor–Management Relations: Understanding and Practicing Effective Negotiations

Abstract

Periodic collective bargaining between employers and unions, combined with contract administration and workplace dispute resolution, has provided many core insights for the broad field of negotiations. Over the past twenty‐five years, this arena has advanced knowledge regarding the interdependence of integrative and distributive bargaining, the concurrent shaping of attitudes, the management of internal relations (within a party), and the roles of elected and appointed agents. Public sector negotiations have provided new insights into the dynamics of multilateral bargaining as well as a broad array of mediation and arbitration models. While the number of labor agreements negotiated each year has declined over the past half century, at least 23,000 private sector agreements are still executed each year and fundamental changes in industrial relations systems make continued attention to labor–management negotiations of increasing importance. In particular, this arena now features highly structured approaches applying interest‐based bargaining principles and presents profound challenges as power relations shift in multiple ways.

Kraft Foods' 2009 Conflict in Argentina: Turning‐Point Analysis of a Labor–Management Negotiation

“…A collective bargaining is the process that precedes and by which the negotiating parties pursue a collective agreement. In this procedure, an employer or a group of employers and one or more representative of workers' organizations write down a document detailing their agreement on both working conditions and employment terms (Gernigon, Odero, & Guido, 2000;McKersie & Cutcher-Gershenfeld, 2009). The CGT has been Argentina's national league of unions since 1930.…”

Bargaining over Australian public service cuts: Do forcing strategies work?

“…Integrative bargaining provides for value to be enhanced through a process of dialogue, communication and a willingness to explore the other parties’ underlying interests (Walton and McKersie, 1965: 5). This approach to creating value through negotiations is also referred to as ‘interest-based bargaining’ and has been widely used as a framework for labour negotiations (see for example, Cutcher-Gershenfeld et al, 1996, 1998; Cutcher-Gershenfeld and Kochan, 2004; Eaton et al, 2004; Fonstad et al, 2004; McKersie and Cutcher-Gershenfeld, 2009; McKersie et al, 2008).…”

“…Bach has also examined the multi-party nature of public sector collective bargaining, noting that internal conflicts within the respective bargaining parties makes negotiations increasingly complex and can potentially jeopardise the achievement of bargaining goals (Bach, 1999: 12). Internal bargaining, therefore, is a common feature of public sector bargaining (McKersie and Cutcher-Gershenfeld, 2009: 504).…”

From “Good day” to “Sign here”: Norms Shaping Negotiations Within a Face Culture

“…Continued importance is given to management–labor negotiations (McKersie & Cutcher‐Gershenfeld, ), such as wage bargaining, as a means of managing conflicts in work organizations (Putnam, ). Negotiation is defined as a dynamic process (Olekalns & Weingart, ) of communication (Adair & Brett, ) where opposing parties, whether coming from different or the same cultural groups, make moves and countermoves (Cai & Donohue, ; Glenn & Susskind, ; Maynard, ; Putnam, ) to reach a mutual understanding (Carnevale & Pruitt, ) despite conflicting interests over scarce resources (Arminen, ; Liu & Cai, ).…”