Collective Bargaining Negotiation Process

• This session addresses the process of negotiating a collective agreement and bargaining structures

Initiating Collective Bargaining

• After one party provides the other with written notice to bargain, the negotiation process starts
• This typically occurs 2-4 months before the current agreement expires
• Both sides then select a chief negotiator
• The union's negotiator is a professional, a business or staff representative, or the local union president
• The employer's negotiator is a manager, often from labour relations, or a lawyer
• The parties agree to a bargaining protocol
• Non-monetary issues are usually addressed before monetary ones
• Negotiating clauses is done one-by-one or collectively
• Protocols require approval from workers or senior executives/board of directors
• Ontario law requires majority support from workers to ratify any agreements

Three Stages of Negotiation

• Pre-negotiation is the first stage
• Preparation begins early, and the book example starts 1.5 years ahead of any negotiation
• Compilation of proposals occurs afterwards
• This starts when the union submits a "laundry list" of demands to the employer
• The union integrates various constituents into the process
• The employer then prepares and submits counter-proposals
• Negotiation is the second stage
• This is a serious consideration of proposals
• It involves exchanges with many meanings
• During this stage, parties search for a "zone of agreement"
• Settlement is the third stage
• Bottom-line stances are revealed
• Agreement is made, or industrial action is near

Legal Basis: Key Points

• Statutory freeze provisions:
• Certification freeze
• Collective bargaining freeze
• Procedural Duty to bargain in "good faith" means stipulations on how to bargain:
• Meeting and being prepared to negotiate
• Providing information
• Honesty about firm plans
• On stipulations on what can be bargained:
• Illegal terms
• Terms that cannot be "bargained to impasse"
• Surface vs. hard bargaining

Bargaining Structures Defined

• A formal bargaining structure is the bargaining unit
• That is, workers and employers are bound to a collective agreement
• An informal bargaining structure affects agreements negotiated in bargaining units
• This is due to pattern bargaining or other non-binding processes
• In multi-level bargaining, bargaining can take place at multiple levels
• An example is settings broader standards at across sectors, while leaving room for negotiations within sectors and establishments
• In Quebec's public sector

Centralization of Bargaining Structures

• Centralized structures are multi-employer
• An example is regional (QC daycares), or industry/sectoral (ON construction)
• De-centralized structures are single employer or establishment
• The most decentralized is single-employer-single plant (McMaster's security)
• Less decentralized is single-employer multi-plant (Loblaws)
• De-centralization occurs when:
• The proportion of the overall workforce in a region is covered by the master agreement diminishes
• The scope of issues addressed in the master agreement diminishes
• When bargaining coverage declines
• A Master agreement is an agreement covering multiple employers at the sectoral, regional, or company levels
• This imposes common standards for all workers covered

Employer Perceptions

• Sometimes employers prefer centralized models because:
• Unionized employers fear low-cost competition
• High-skilled workers have less power to pit employers against each other
• It's more efficient to negotiate a single agreement
• But Canadian employers are generally opposed:
• Big businesses are conglomerates (at least partially non-union)
• Fear of empowering the labour movement
• Addiction to low-cost HR strategies
• Small businesses perceive it as unfair (economies of scale issue)

Union Perceptions

• Many in the labour movement would like a shift towards centralized bargaining because:
• Decentralized structures are a barrier to improving working conditions for many
• Path to a more solidaristic labour movement (reduces union competition)
• Distances bargaining from local management
• It's more efficient to negotiate a single agreement
• But it remains controversial because:
• Effects on current membership levels
• Concerns about who will be responsible for negotiation
• Effects on shop-floor democracy
• Contradicts other initiatives (e.g. Fight for $15)
• Canadian and US labour experts discuss this using the term broader-based bargaining

Bargaining Centralization

• ICTWSS data demonstrates the diversity of union density rates, erga omnes effects, and extensions across countries
• Bargaining coverage in Canada is on the lower end
• Erga omnes means un-unionized workers covered by collective agreements are excluded by extensions
• OECD data shows the connection between bargaining coverage and low-wage work
• Canadian industrial relations is among the most decentralized in the OECD
• With a high rate of low-wage work

Pattern Bargaining

• When terms applied to one bargaining unit are used to gain the same in another
• This is a key example of an informal bargaining structure
• In North America pattern bargaining refers to patterns negotiated across companies or establishments
• An example is the big three automobile manufacturers (General Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler) in Ontario and the U.S.
• Aims to achieve goals through coordination

The collective bargaining negotiation process begins with written notice to bargain. Both sides select a chief negotiator and agree to a bargaining protocol. The negotiation proceeds through stages, addressing non-monetary issues before monetary ones.