EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS

THEME 6

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND EMPLOYEE

PARTICIPATION
 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

 Characteristics
• Process
• Conflict and commonality
• Power

 Content and extent

• Procedural
• Substantive
• 'Any matter of mutual concern between employer and
employee'
 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING (2)

 Objectives

• Provision of institutionalised structures and processes

for conflict resolution

• Negotiation of collective agreements

• Enhancement of employee participation in decision-
making that affects employees

• Enhancement of democracy, labour peace and

economic development
 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING (3)
 Bargaining levels
• Centralised (national and sectoral)
• Decentralised (plant level)
 Variables influencing bargaining levels
• Trade union representation, organisation and strategy
• Preference of members
• Inter-union rivalry
• Bargaining items
• Management organisation and policy
• Labour legislation
 COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN SOUTH AFRICA

 Freedom of association

 Organisational rights

 Bargaining councils

 Bargaining at plant level

 EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION: INTRODUCTION

 Definition

Employee participation is a process recognising the needs

and rights of employees, individually and collectively, to
participate with management in organisational decision-
making

 Considerations for introducing employee participation

 EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION: TYPES

 Direct employee participation

• Disclosure of information

• Teams

• Financial participation

• Co-operatives
 EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION: TYPES (2)

 Indirect employee participation

• Works councils

• Workplace forums

• Collective bargaining

• Representation at board level

• Participation in policy development at national level

(NEDLAC)
 EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION: MANAGEMENT AND
UNION PERSPECTIVES

 General

• Diverse expectations regarding purpose and form

• Organic process

 Management

• Consensus
• Limited influence
• Little/no influence on strategic decisions
• Participation paradox (planning versus implementation)
 EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION: MANAGEMENT AND
UNION PERSPECTIVES (2)

 Trade unions

• Management emphasises intrinsic rewards (increased job

satisfaction) rather than extrinsic rewards

• Management motive the improvement of productivity rather

than increasing the employee's role in decision-making

• Direct form of participation regarded as an attempt to

undermine the representational role of the union

• Co-option within the system

 EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION: MANAGEMENT AND
UNION PERSPECTIVES (3)

 Trade unions

• Eradication of traditional boundaries between unionised

and non-unionised employees (loss of power)

• Role conflict experienced by trade union representatives

• Participative versus collective bargaining issues
 EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION: OPPORTUNITIES

 Opportunities

• greater competitiveness through improved quality and

productivity

• better communication and co-operation

• greater legitimisation of decision-making
• individual employee development
• improved conflict handling
 EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION: REQUIREMENTS

 Requirements

• trust
• new vision and commitment from management
• a shift in frame of reference from adversarial to less confrontational
modes of interaction

• new information flow

• new skills
• on-going training
• appropriate fit of participative forms to the goals and capacities of
those involved
 EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION:
CONCLUDING REMARKS
 Employee participation is a philosophy, not a particular institutional form.

 Employee participation can take place in any organisational framework.

 Employee participation requires management to be genuinely and

unreservedly prepared to share responsibility for the decision-making
process with employees and/or their representatives.

 Management favour direct forms of participation, whilst trade unions

favour indirect forms of participation.
 EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION:
CONCLUDING REMARKS (2)
 The most effective structure of employee participation within an organisation is a
combination of direct employee involvement in decisions relating to their immediate
work situation with indirect participation at the strategic level on organisational
decisions, while not undermining the collective bargaining representational role of
established trade unions.