Collective Bargaining A Research Assignment

Collective Bargaining A Research Assignment

1. Define the term “collective bargaining” and list and describe four issues that are mandatory components of a collective bargaining agreement.

Often there are times when employees and employers do not see eye to eye. Employees may feel that their safety is at risk; they may feel that they do not earn enough money commensurate with their job, or they may feel threatened by their managers.
Employers are faced with shrinking profits and budgets that get smaller and smaller. The pressures from shareholders to earn a dividend lurk over every decision that a company makes and the need to complete a task quicker, better, and cheaper are the norm.
You can see how the goals of the employer and employee can sometimes clash; they truly are conflicting forces. In 2011, the governor of Wisconsin, Scott Walker, citing a budget deficit of $137 million, announced that he would use the National Guard to help break public unions (Shapiro, 2011). Governor Walker’s attempt to deprive the state’s public workers their collective bargaining rights sparked protests throughout the state as well as neighboring states.
Similar legislation in Indiana and Ohio attempted to eliminate collective bargaining rights of state employees. Ohio’s bill would eliminate collective bargaining for its public workers as well as the teachers at Ohio’s state colleges and universities (Hall, 2011).
Collective bargaining is a process where the employer and the employees sit together as a group and negotiate the terms and conditions of employment (Budd, p. 13). It is about democracy in the workplace where employees elect representative to work with the employer on work agreements (Bentley, 2011). Democracy is about having a voice and collective bargaining provides that voice to the employees.
Our text lists six components of collective bargaining and I have chosen four that I believe to be the most important based on my past experiences. The four issues that are mandatory components of a...

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