The employer's perspective on collective bargaining centralization: an analytical framework

Despite the continuing debates about the performance implications of different degrees of collective bargaining centralization, our understanding of the determinants of bargaining structures is still limited. While recent research has largely focused on macro-level factors, the role of micro-level determinants has still not been systematically scrutinized. This article develops a multi-disciplinary framework for analysing the employer's perspective on collective bargaining centralization and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of different forms and levels of collective bargaining from the perspective of management, the main focus being on the comparison between single-employer and multi-employer collective bargaining. This framework can be used for qualitative and quantitative empirical research as well as for discussions of the costs and benefits of different levels of collective bargaining.     

A trade without collective bargaining

The contract cleaning industry has hitherto managed to avoid the establishment of collective bargaining machinery. Will this situation be remedied in the light of the N.B.P.I, report, pressure from the unions concerned and the T.U.C. ?     

The future of collective bargaining

Kevin Hawkins argues that collective bargaining, long regarded as the most effective method of controlling industrial conflict, is no longer in accordance with accepted norms of behaviour. He contends that this is the most important single factor which should influence the future development of collective bargaining.     

Worker directors and collective bargaining

Elizabeth Chell and Derek Cox report on some of their findings of a study into worker directors and collective bargaining which was carried out between 1976 and 1979 and funded by the Department of Employment. The research involved seven private sector companies which have some form of worker director system.     

Recent trends in collective bargaining in Nigeria

During the 1970s Nigerian industrial relations moved away from the voluntarist tradition into much greater formalisation of processes and practices. This article describes the present structure and scope of collective bargaining in Nigeria in the light of this development.     

The changing union and bargaining landscape: union concentration and collective bargaining trends

Unions in Western Europe have tended to merge in larger organisations, straddling across traditional bargaining demarcations. Despite the trend towards union concentration, cross‐national differences remain in the degree of fragmentation and the balance across private and public sectors. In the past years, wage moderation was common to nearly all bargaining systems, partly as a result of coordinated incomes policies or pattern‐setting wage settlements. Tripartite concertation has proven more difficult because of increased dissatisfaction with modest pay increases and insufficient employment effects.     

Corporate merger and collective bargaining in the UK

Corporate merger since the war has transformed the private sector of the economy in Britain. This has had significant effects on collective bargaining arrangements and outcomes. In this article the authors review these effects and consider their implications for trade union organisation.     

Disclosure of information: stratification and collective bargaining

Research has continually emphasised the lack of interest of management and trade unions into greater disclosure of information in collective bargaining. In this article the author explains this failure in terms of the stratification of new and existing information along hierarchical lines which do not disturb existing property rights and maintain status structures.     

Decentralisation of collective bargaining: a case study

While a number of surveys have identified a trend towards decentralised bargaining, this article is one of the first to examine the process of decentralisation. The decision of Coats Viyella PLC to decentralise bargaining in its apparel division is examined in detail and the outcomes of the first round of decentralised negotiations are analysed.     

Real and nominal wage rigidities in collective bargaining agreements

An earlier study of wage agreements, reached in the Canadian unionized sector between 1976–99, found that wage adjustment is characterized by downward nominal rigidity and significant spikes at zero. We extend this earlier approach to encompass the possibility of real as well as nominal wage rigidity. The addition of real wage rigidity variables enhances earlier results and suggests that real rigidity increases significantly the mass in the histogram bin containing the mean anticipated rate of inflation, as well as in adjacent bins. Downward nominal wage rigidities and spikes at zero remain important.     

Individual contracting,collective bargaining and wages in Australia

We examine wages in Australia under federally registered individual contracts and collective agreements (CAs) using unpublished data from a national earnings survey. The distribution of earnings under registered individual contracts was more unequal than under CAs. Average and median earnings under registered individual contracts were lower than under CAs. There was little evidence that individual contracting raised wages through raising productivity. The link between contracting and pay appears contingent, varying between occupations, industries, and firm size bands and dependent upon employees' position in the labour market and employers' use of union avoidance strategies. This has implications for the interpretation of studies of union wage effects.     

The role of employers in collective bargaining in Britain

Phil Beaumont and Mary Gregory seek to provide some substance to Alan Flanders’ long-held view that employers, in certain circumstances, have played a positive role in influencing the extent of collective bargaining arrangements in the UK.     

The reform of collective bargaining: a managerial revolution?

The company-based reform of collective bargaining has been frequently advocated as a way towards dramatic improvements in industrial relations. In this article the author tests this view against the available evidence, including a case study in a multi-plant manufacturing company.     

Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the termination of collective bargaining contracts

In 1984 the Supreme Court ruled that employers can unilaterally break an existing collective bargaining contract upon filing a chapter 11 bankruptcy petition. This ruling changed both the contractual responsibilities of the employer to honor the collective bargaining agreement and the rights that workers have under the National Labor Relations Act. The purpose of this article is to show the conditions under which a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding will lead to the termination of a labor contract. Our results suggest that (a) legal rulings that reduce the costs of bankruptcy will increase the number of contractual dissolutions and (b) a Chapter 11 bankruptcy is more likely to occur when a firm operates in a climate of uncertain expectations.     

Trade unions,collective bargaining and macroeconomic performance: a review

Coordination through collective bargaining is recognised as an influential determinant of labour market outcomes and macroeconomic performance. This article provides a systematic review of the empirical literature on the subject. What emerges from the review is that it is different types and coverage of bargaining coordination, rather than cross‐country variation in trade union density, that matter for economic performance. High levels of bargaining coverage tend to be associated with relatively poor economic performance, but this adverse relationship can be at least mitigated by high levels of bargaining coordination. In the absence of formal bargaining arrangements, economies often develop informal bargaining mechanisms whose effects are similar to those arising from formal bargaining provided they both operate at similar levels of coordination. The consequences of labour market coordination or absence thereof depend on the monetary policy regime as non‐accommodating monetary policy can eliminate some of the adverse unemployment consequences otherwise associated with industry‐level collective bargaining. Finally, bargaining coordination seems to matter most in times of rapid economic change rather than under more stable conditions. Overall, we conclude that it is the total ‘package’ of (formal and informal) labour market institutions that matters for the performance of the economy rather than unionisation as such or individual aspects of unionism.     

The impact of collective bargaining for teachers on resource allocation in public school districts

This paper presents a theoretical and empirical evaluation of the impact of teacher bargaining on the demand for school inputs, the compensation of school personnel, and the level of educational expenditure in public school districts. It is demonstrated that the major impact of bargaining for teachers has been on a regional rather than on a district by district level, and, contrary to the results of previous studies, bargaining does appear to have a substantial and significant effect on teachers' salaries. The empirical analysis is carried out on a sample of public school districts located in the state of California.     

The council approach to collective bargaining: A report on 3 real world precedents

What will come of the unique situation in public employment to test, develop, refine, and advocate new dimensions in all employer-employee relations? Experimentation is proceeding in several states with several different approaches. The most successful mechanisms may be combined into a total program and advocated—not only to other public employers—but to the private sector as well. The employee-council approach, discussed here, may be the most productive of the possibilities.     

European dimensions to collective bargaining: new symmetries within an asymmetric process?

The impact of economic and monetary union on the structures, processes and agenda of collective bargaining at sector and company levels is explored. Drawing on cross–national evidence from two sectors, considerable differences between sectors within national boundaries are identified, but also some striking parallels within sectors across national boundaries. Convergence and greater diversity are simultaneously evident.     

High performance work system and collective OCB: a collective social exchange perspective

Despite an increasing number of studies showing a positive relationship between collective organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and unit or organisational performance, relatively little is known about the antecedents of collective OCB. In this study, we developed a collective social exchange approach to collective OCB. We hypothesised that a high performance work system (HPWS) is positively related to collective OCB through collective affective commitment (AC). We obtained data on HPWS, collective AC and collective OCB, all at the middle management group level, from 454 firms in China. Empirical results support the hypotheses.