Question

Collective bargaining not in the good faith

What is surface bargaining? How is it impact to employee behavior? Provide solution to improve.

Answer 1

Surface bargaining refers to the strategy followed by the parties in the collective bargaining process where the parties merely go through the different motions, discussions and alternatives, without any intention to reach upon an agreement. It is a bad strategy, that develops a lack of trust and faith among the employees regarding the collective bargaining process and the intentions of the concerned parties involved.
It impacts the employee behavior in a negative way as employees become demotivated due to the lack of progress in the collective bargaining process. It reduces the productivity level and efficiency also suffers. Besides, the negative rumors spread in the organizational setting and employee turnover also increase. Surface bargaining can also lead to lock off, strike or forceful closure of the factory area.
As a part of the solution, there should be definite time bound collective bargaining process to achieve the amicable solution for all the parties. The negotiation should time bound and milestone goals should be set as a micro objective. Further, the key focus should be to find the solution that is best for the employees as well as employers within the guidelines prescribed by the regulatory bodies. The employees should be offered the regular updates so that they don’t get demotivated and discharge their responsibilities with full dedication.