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Collective Bargaining

United Auto Workers Vice President Nate Gooden, UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, Chrysler Group President and CEO Dieter
Zetsche, and Chrysler Group COO Wolfgang Bernhard shake hands as they open talks on a new labor contract, July 16, 2003 in
Auburn Hills, Michigan. © REUTERS/CORBIS

THE BARGAINING PROCESS ing. Industrywide bargaining involves one national union
The collective bargaining process begins when the major- bargaining with several employers of a specific industry.
ity of workers of an organization vote to be represented by Many different negotiation styles can be used when
a specific union. The National Labor Relations Board (see union and labor representatives sit down at the bargaining
Labor Unions) then certifies the union. At this point, the table. The two basic modes of bargaining are traditional
management of the organization must recognize the bargaining and partnership bargaining, though there are
union as the collective bargaining agent for all the many variations of each style.
employees of that organization. Once this part of the The traditional style of bargaining has been used
process is completed, collective bargaining can begin. since collective bargaining began between management
Bargaining always takes place between labor and and the early labor unions (see Labor Unions). It is an
management, but negotiations can include more than one adversarial style of negotiating, pitting one side against the
group of workers and more than one employer. Single- other with little or no understanding of, or education
plant, single-employer agreements are the most common. about, the other on the part of either party. Each side
However, if an employer has more than one plant or work places its demands and proposals on the table, and the
site, multiplant, single-employer agreements can be bar- other side responds to them with counterproposals. The
gained. Several different union groups representing the process is negative and involves a struggle of give-and-take
workers of the same employer can use coalition bargain- on most issues. Even with its negative connotations, how-

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF BUSINESS AND FINANCE, SECOND EDITION 121