The collective bargaining process is defined by Holley, Jennings and Wolters as ôan activity whereby union and management officials attempt to resolve conflicts of interests by exchanging commitments in a manner intended to sustain and possibly enrich their continuing relationship.ö Any number of issues in addition to wages and benefits and elements of working conditions are typically addressed in the context of collective bargaining processes. Included are questions regarding employee discipline, institutional relations, administration of the agreement, and economics. This brief essay will explore these issues and discuss their inclusion as a matter of form in the collective bargaining agreement. It will use the recent National Hockey League Collective Bargaining Agreement to illustrate these concepts and issues.
Sloane and Witney stated that almost all contract negotiations pivot upon four major areas: 1) wages and issues that can be directly related to wages, or economic issues; 2) employee benefits or economic ôfringeö supplements to the basic wage rate; 3) institutional issues dealing with the rights and duties of employers and unions; and 4) administrative clauses that treat such matters as work rules and job tenure. Of these four broad categories of issues that are always incorporated into the collective bargaining process, it is wages that tend to garner the most attention; however, wages may ultimately be less significant in shaping the overall relationship between workers and employers and unions and management. Indeed, Sloane and Witney state that while wages are still ônumber oneö in terms of the most critical or controversial issues addressed in collective bargaining, job security considerations are now running a close second. In the NHL, the collective bargaining agreement recently signed includes a waiver rule for players that provide them security if they are moved down to the minor leagues. As Czu...