Reglori

Minimum Wage Rate

Region XII

P2500 for chartered cities and municipalities P2000 for other municipalities

P3000 for cities and first-class

Region XIII

municipalities

P2500 for other municipalities

Do you have complaints about not receiving the pay you are supposed to
receive? Contact Department of Labor and Employment for proper
proceedings. This government office has launched a 24/7 customer service
line for inquiries and assistance.

DOLE Hotline: 1349

You can also directly submit a message to their website through this link.
Whether you are looking for a job or already employed, you must be aware of
your rights from the company aside from the responsibilities you signed for.
After all, a person works to get an income and these employee benefits.
References:

https://bizfluent.com/facts-5751008-definition-employee-services.html

Lasas

TOPIC 15. LABOR RELATIONS AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

LABOR RELATIONS AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Labor relations

are the term used to define the process between employers and employees,
management and unions in order to make decisions in organizations. The
decisions taken refer to wages, working conditions, hours of work, and safety
at work, security and grievances.

is a key means through which employers and their organizations and trade
unions can establish fair wages and working conditions. It also provides the
basis for sound labor relations.

refers to the negotiation, administration and interpretation of a written

agreement between two parties that covers a specific period of time. This
agreement or contract lays-out in specific terms the conditions of
employment, puts some limits on employees and restricts management's
authority. It is the practice in which union and company representatives meet
to negotiate a new labor contract.

consists of the process of negotiation between representatives of union and

employees in respect of terms and conditions of employment of employees,
such as wages, hours of work, working conditions and grievance procedures
and about the rights and responsibilities of trade unions.

It is a rule making or legislative process in the sense that it formulates terms

and conditions under which labor and management may cooperate and work
together over a certain stated period.

It is also a judicial process for in every collective agreement there is a

provision or clause regarding the interpretation of the agreement and how
any difference of opinion about the intention or scope of a particular clause is
to be resolved. It is also an executive process for both management and
union undertake to implement the agreement signed.

The process is 'collective' because representatives of employees and

employers act in groups rather than as individuals to solve issues relating to
terms and conditions of employment. The term 'bargaining' refers to evolving
an agreement using methods like negotiations, discussions, exchange of
facts and ideas, rather than confrontation.

Collective bargaining:

➤ Is a collective process in which representatives of both the management

and employees participate.

Is a continuous process which aims at establishing stable relationships

between the parties involved.

Not only involves the bargaining agreement, but also involves the
Implementation of such an agreement.

➤ Attempts in achieving discipline in the industry.

Is a flexible approach as the parties involved have to adopt a flexible attitude
towards negotiations.

Main Participants in Collective Bargaining: 1. Employer/Owner of the

Company

2. Employees/Workers

3. Government provides a watchful eye on the two parties to ensure that the
rules are followed, and it stands ready to intervene if an agreement on
acceptable terms cannot be reached and the Impasse undermines the
nation's well-being and peaceful process.

4. Financial Institution set limits on the amount that the company can spend
in upcoming negotiations, placing a celling on what management can spend.

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FUNCTIONS OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Economic strength Increase the economic strength of employees and

management.

Uniformity-Establish uniform conditions of employment.

Fair redressal-Secure a prompt and fair redressal of grievances. Norms Lay

down fair rates of wages and other norms of working
conditions. Efficiency-Achieve an efficient functioning of the organization.

Stability-Promote the stability and prosperity of the company.

Regulation - It provides a method of the regulation of the conditions of

employment of those who are directly concerned about them. Solution - It
provides a solution to the problem of sickness in Industry,

and ensures old age pension benefits and other fringe benefits. New
procedures- It creates new and varied procedures for the solution of

the problems as and when they arise problems which vex industrial relations;
and its form can be adjusted to meet new situations. Since basic standards
are laid down, the employee is assured that he will be required to work under
the stipulated conditions incorporated in the agreement; and the employer is
protected from unfair competition by those who are

engaged in a similar industry. Flexible means- It provides a flexible means for

the adjustment of wages and employment conditions to economic and
technological changes in the industry, as a result of which the changes for
conflicts are reduced.

Democratic principles As a vehicle of industrial peace, collective bargaining

is the most important and significant aspect of labor- management relations,
and extends the democratic principle from the political to the industrial field.

Industrial Jurisprudence It builds up a system of industrial jurisprudence by

introducing civil rights in industry. In other words, it ensures that
management is conducted by rules rather than by arbitrary decisions.

FOUR TYPES OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

1. Distributive Bargaining

-It involves haggling over the distribution of surplus. Under it, the economic
issues like wages, salaries and bonus are discussed. In distributive
bargaining, one party's gain is another party's loss. This is most commonly
explained in terms of a pie. Dispu-tants can work together to make the pie
bigger, so there is enough for both of them to have as much as they want, or
they can focus on cutting the pie up, trying to get as much as they can for
themselves. In general, distributive bargaining tends to be more competitive.
This type of bargaining is also known as conjunctive bargaining.

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2. Integrative Bargaining

This involves negotiation of an issue on which both the parties may gain, or
at least neither party loses. For example, representatives of employer and
employee sides may bargain over the better training programme or a better
job evaluation method. Here, both the parties are trying to to make more of
something. In general, it tends to be more cooperative than distributive
bargaining

This type of bargaining is also known as cooperative bargaining. The

Integrative strategies require that both management and the union drop
combative attitudes and adopt a genuine interest in the joint exploration of
solutions to common problems. To work effectively, integrative bargaining
must become a way of life for the two parties that include continual efforts to
improve relationships through regular discussions of problems at all levels
and willingness to attempt to settle these problems

with third party interventions. Solutions to the most difficult problems can be
approached by establishing special committees, whose members are drawn
from both management and labour to study the issues and deter-mine the
facts.
3. Attitudinal Restructuring This involves shaping and reshaping some
attitudes like trust or distrust, friendliness or hostility between labour and
management. When there is a backlog of bitterness between both the
parties, attitudinal restructuring is required to maintain smooth and
harmonious industrial relations. It develops a bargaining environment and
creates trust and cooperation among the parties.

. Intra-Organizational Bargaining 4

It generally aims at resolving internal conflicts. This is a type of maneuvering

to achieve consensus with the workers and management. Even within the
union, there may be differences between groups.

UOR

Advantages and Disadvantages of Collective Bargaining

Advantages: 1. Effective in Protecting and Promoting Interests of Workers:

Collective bargaining has contributed much towards protecting and

promoting the interests of workers, especially in regard to the terms and
conditions of employment. Unions in many countries of the world have
successfully contracted agreements with employers, for higher wages,
improved fringe benefits and cash allowances, job security, better physical
working conditions, social security benefits and so on. In many cases, the
benefits accruing to the workers through collective bargaining have been

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much better than those available or expected under legislation or

Industrial awards,

2. Control of Management's Autocracy Collective bargaining has increasingly

usurped the prerogatives

traditionally enjoyed by the employers of unilaterally laying down the terms

and conditions of employment of their employees. Apart from wages, hours
of work and working conditions, many more subjects have come within the
ambit of collective agreements. Thus, collective bargaining has tended to
impose a substantial check on employers autocracy in taking decision over
matters of concern of their employees.

3. Promotion of Durable Industrial Peace Where the terms and conditions of

employment of employees are

determined by mutual agreement and understanding between the employer

and the union representing the employees, the scope of further differences
over the subjects of agreement is considerably minimized. Besides, the
parties are placed in a better position to understand and appreciate their
respective problems and difficulties, which results in the development of a
co-operative environment in the enterprise. Solution of a contentious issue
imposed from outside, such as an adjudication authority, may not satisfy
either or both the parties. Besides, most collective agreements also provide
for grievance procedure for redressing grievances arising out of the
interpretation or application of collective agreements. Thus, collective
bargaining is expected to ensure

durable Industrial peace in enterprises. 4. Conducive to the Enhancement of

Managerial Efficiency

Collective bargaining enables managers to understand the problems of the

employees in the right perspective. Similarly, the union is also enabled to
understand the genuine problems facing the management and the
enterprise. Negotiations taking place in frank and free atmosphere can
reveal the areas of deficiencies in managerial practices and thereby enable
managers to adopt appropriate measures to rectify them. Besides, the
suggestions of the trade union may provide a useful feedback.

5. Establishment of Industrial Rules and Creation of Labor Standards

Collective bargaining has also been helpful in the establishment of Industrial

rules and creation of useful labor standards. The rules and norms embodied
in the labor contract of one firm often lead to the establishment of similar
rules and norms in other firms, and the process goes on continuing.

In this way, a sort of uniformity in industrial rules and labor standards is

established on a wide scale. It has been experienced that labor standards
uniformly embodied in collective agreements of several firms on major issues
of concern of a large bulk of workers such as bonus, gratuity,

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provident fund and so on have provided the basis for the adoption of
legislation for ensuring their wider coverage.

Disadvantages:

1. Strikes The strike creates a dilemma for those who have accepted the
institution of collective bargaining because it is difficult to have collective
bargaining without the right to strike. At the same time strikes can inflict
considerable damage on the public image. Much attention has been given to
the problem of how to maintain collective bargaining while preventing the
damage that might be inflicted upon by the strikes. No effective solution

has been found yet. 2. Based on Power and Conflict

Collective bargaining is based on power and conflict and does the most for
the people who need it least. The stronger workers in the labor market could
protect the income of their skills while the weakest workers in the work force
have very limited ability to form unions and hence are unable

3 to gain the benefits of collective bargaining. . Lacks Safeguards for Public

Interest

Collective bargaining does not contain sufficient safeguards for the public
interest, which might be ignored by collusion between strong unions and
employers to fix prices. In the case of Toyota Motors Philippines Corp. on the
90's were 2 labor unions were in dispute as to whom will be recognized as
the legal bargaining agent, TMPC did not accept the result of the election
were the other union won, TMPC petitioned the outcome of the result in the
court and started to lay off some employees. If the operations of the
company are paralyzed due to the dispute on the status of the challenged
voters, its entire workforce of 1,600 employees will be adversely affected.
The company will resort to cost-reduction or even the closure of its business,
thus contributing to the already worsening unemployment conditions in the
country.

References:

https://www.businessmanagementideas.com/human-resource-management-
2/collective-bargaining-human-resource-management-2/collective-
bargaining- meaning-definitions-process-types-and-features/19927

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