Collective bargaining

Neil W. Chamberlain

"This book explains the techniques of collective bargaining and explores the influences that have fashioned them. As in previous editions, the authors stress the evolutionary nature of collective bargaining and the complexities of the evolutionary nature of collective bargaining and the complexities of the resulting negotiating processes. They illustrate the mixture of negotiating styles and the ongoing changes in bargaining that arise out of different social philosophies and political values. This new edition reflects the considerable research and development in recent years. Collective bargaining in the public sector is now a significant portion of all bargaining activity, while in the private sector, and particularly in manufacturing, the number of employees involved in it has diminished drastically.^ This edition also examines the implicit bargaining used by managers in nonunion firms - i.e., the adoption of many of the benefits and procedures long enjoyed by employees in union firms. And there is coverage of government's efforts to protect job rights through special legislation, such as the EEOC, OSHA, Mine Safety, and EPA procedures. The authors discuss the influences of such legal protection, not only on union grievance systems, but also on the spread and development of collective bargaining itself. Increasing industrial competition over the past two decades and heightened public concern about productivity gains have made strikes more costly and have increased managerial resistance. Collective Bargaining, third edition, explores the varieties of legal maneuvering used to define the scope of the bargaining unit. Collective Bargaining, third edition includes new data on the duration and frequency of strikes as well as their losses.^ It explores new trends in negotiating tactics and contrasts recent examples of bargaining in different areas such as steel, autos, coal mining, agriculture, the federal government, and the New York City government, for example. Kuhn and Chamberlain provide an up-to-date and judicious analysis of collective bargaining, as it has been shaped by rapidly increasing competition (foreign and domestic) and the opportunities of changing attitudes toward public authority and responsibility. They argue for a continued questioning and re-examination of the role of collective bargaining in a free, industrial society."--Book jacket.