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Solution
Adopting the definition in CIPD (2024c), the collective bargaining strategy entail a strategy where working individuals through unions are found negotiating contracts with employers for establishing employment terms. These include remuneration, hours of working, workplace health and safety policies and work-life balance. Collective bargaining is also relevant in non-unionised environment where the outcomes are identified in Doellgast and Benassi (2020) to include collective agreements which are duties and terms and conditions of employment (pay, hours of working and holidays). The different forms of collective bargaining can be identified as including;
Distributive Bargaining (Unionised)
This form of unionised collective bargaining which entail achieving a zero-sum or win-lose bargaining process. According to Blanchard et al. (2021), it entails the embrace of a competitive negotiation approach embrace for making decisions on distributing the resources. For example, in UK where trade unions are legally allowed, this form of collective bargaining is used in negotiating on pay and different financial support. Focusing on the Game Theory, (Bhuller et al., 2022) argued that the involvement of trade union is to ensure that their members win while the management incurs costs. A case example of the distributive bargaining is the 2009 British Airways dispute with their cabin crew. The disputes was emerging from the intention of the organisation imposing fresh work strategies and manning level. The outcome of this distributive bargaining process was the cabin crew receiving a pay increase of 13.1% in an 18-months’ timeline and £1,000 one off-payment (Gallagher, 2023). The strengths of application of distributive bargaining process is that all the engaged parties are in a position of gaining in optimum from the collective bargaining process. Nevertheless, for disadvantage, there is a likelihood of parties in the conflict becoming entrenched to their positions leading to challenges in arriving at a mutual agreement. Also, with trade unions involved in negotiating with management, they lack essential creativity and flexibility to source appropriate solutions.
Strengths: Assertive negotiation is possible under distributive bargaining and pushes employers to increase pay or their benefits. With collective agreement, trade unions have a sure way of maximising employee gains, all while avoiding individual workers worrying about job security. This bargaining form also fully harnesses group power in order to have a stronger stance on major issues (Blanchard et al., 2021). Moreover, distributive bargaining serves as a balancing tool feature in labour relations in that employers are accountable for fair pay, thus, creating a motivated workforce and therefore reducing turnover.
Strengths: According to Blanchard et al. (2021), the main strength of distributive bargaining is its capacity to harness group power to obtain better pay and benefits for employees. This assertive approach serves to protect workers without risking individual job security so that trade unions may do everything to maximise employee gains through collective agreements. This provides power for fairness and retention of employees because it creates balanced bargaining power across parties of the labour relations.
Weaknesses: Entrenched positions are what often results from distributive bargaining. Because each side is competing to win it can result in continuing conflict that goes on to strikes or lockouts harming both sides. It also restricts creative solutions, focusing negotiators on pay and conditions, rather than on things like skill development or flexible working that can add so much value (Molina et al., 2022). There is also a likelihood of parties in the conflict becoming entrenched to their positions leading to challenges in arriving at a mutual agreement. Also, with trade unions involved in negotiating with management, they lack essential creativity and flexibility to source appropriate solutions. Additionally, distributive bargaining can raise an adversarial workplace environment, where management and employees perceive themselves as opponents rather than workforce, and therefore may damage the company’s long-term productivity and trust.
Weaknesses: The major drawback to distributive bargaining is that it creates an adversarial relationship between management and employee whereby the parties see themselves as opponents (Molina et al., 2022). Such an environment makes it more likely that such disputes will turn into strikes and lockouts which will disrupt operations, hurt workers and employers alike. This lack of trust often leads to a lack of open communication and collaborative problem solving, thereby hindering the ability to maintain positive working relationships.
Role in determining pay and resolving differences– In distributive collective bargaining, the different engaged parties power influence on the remuneration, hours of working and work conditions agreed upon by different engaged parties (Keune, 2021; Molina et al., 2020). In most instances, when negotiating on pay, the employers have the upper hand since they negotiate from the point of providing other facilitation and support to employees as they are advancing on their functions. For example, in the case of British Airways, in the course of bargaining with trade unions, they had opted for replacing striking cabin crew to engage expatriates from low costs locations. According to Keune (2021), this is since distributive collective bargaining offer the employees with an opportunity of negotiating on pay offered to the employees. This is with an argument of lacking sufficient resources to support pay rise or changes in other workplace challenges. Further, as part of distributive bargaining process, for the experience employees who ask for increased pay, they can potentially be legally replaced by junior employees who would not require immense pay and differences. The power of the trade union in this arrangement cannot be understated. According to Svarstad and Kostøl (2022) as a representative of the employees, the trade unions call the employees to strike until their interests are considered hence impacting organisation productivity. In UK for instance, in the British Airways distributive bargaining process, after firing all striking cabin crew, they had to reconsider their decision. This is since the country has less labour since it is tight market. For Saudi Aramco case, with no unions allowed in Saudi Arabia, distributive collective bargaining process is not applicable.
Cooperative collective bargaining (non-unionised form)
For this form of collective bargaining, the different engaged parties expect to obtain a solution beneficial to all parties in a simultaneous fashion (ACAS, 2024). In most instances, the non-unionised environment involve employee committees to negotiate for the employees with their management. According to Svarstad and Kostøl (2022), the outcome of this is reaching to an amicable outcome primarily in the area of work terms and conditions and pay. In Saudi Arabia for example, the National Committee for Labor in the Kingdom has been established (Prince Sultan University, 2024). This is an employee committee which is involved in looking at the interests of private and public workers in KSA and defending their rights an issues allocated to them by law an in line with the international conventions and standards ratification in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).,,,,,
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