Negotiating and the Collective Bargaining Process
Part 1
Leadership Management Partnership (LMP)
The purpose of Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions (LMP)’s was to develop a joint strategy to develop organizational change and environment of continuous learning and improvement. In addition, it is linked to the involvement of employees in decision making. It is considered the largest and longest-operating partnership in the U.S. (Labor Management Partnership, 2017).
Union Name and Type of Union
One of the 28 unions in the partnership was United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 7, Professional and Health Care Division. As described earlier, the union was a local union just like other 27 unions in the partnership. The local union was chartered by U.F.C.W known as International Union i.e. AFL-CIO, CLC. The type of the union is industrial union. It refers to the collective bargaining company with the workers employed in the industry irrespective of the skills and designation they have. The union includes workers ranging from least skills to most skills (Labor Management Partnership, 2017).
Five Key Elements that make Partnership Successful
Quality
One of the key elements due to which the partnership became successful is the focus on the quality. It can be ascertained by the fact that frontline workers, managers and physicians use the partnership training and tools for problem solving to make the Kaiser Permanente a best place for patients to get care (Labor Management Partnership, 2017).
Service
Service is the second element of partnership success as the demands of the consumers are continuously changing. Hence, the partnership focuses on the innovation. The experts develop new and innovative ways to serve KP members and patients irrespective of time and place (Labor Management Partnership, 2017).
Affordability
High quality, affordable care is the third element that made partnership a successful one. Unit-based teams strive to deliver on high quality, affordable care by decreasing waste, improving working procedures and saving about $35 million a year (Labor Management Partnership, 2017).
Best Place to Work
One of the factors is the best place to work that make partnership a successful one. The focus on the social mission, an effective model of care and workplace engagement, opportunity and satisfaction as part of the plan is a key to success (Labor Management Partnership, 2017).
Total Health and Workplace Safety
The health and workplace safety, including rewards like fuller life, a healthier workforce and more cash is a key reason of partnership success (Labor Management Partnership, 2017).
Use of Model in other Organizations
The model i.e. collaborative partnership can be successfully used in other organizations that can be ascertained by the example of the Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition. The organization achieved strategic benefits, such as synergy, community awareness, shared resources, no duplication and access to constituents, etc. Through collaboration the risk of fragmentation of resources and efforts reduced. In addition, tasks are more manageable with the quality technical expertise and information. The opportunities to funding resources expanded through collaborative partnership (Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition, 2017).
Part 2
Goof Faith Bargaining refers to the process that needs the parties to meet a certain deadline and reach to bargaining table to develop a collective bargaining agreement (Hendry, 2012).
Impasse: In case the parties bargain with intent to reach an agreement, the deadlock of negotiations is not considered a violation of duty to bargain in good faith. However, in case of deadlock i.e. an impasse any side can break off talks with respect to deadlock issue (Cihon & Castagnera, 2008). In case the management and labor comes to an impasse, it is the indication that the management did not engage in good faith bargaining as the management can make the unilateral changes without bargaining like changes in working conditions. It is linked to bad faith in bargaining like continuous shifting of positions based on disruptive contract conditions (Miller & Cross, 2002).
Mandatory Items for a Collective Bargaining Contract
The mandatory items for a collective bargaining contract include the issues that need to be negotiated in case any party brings the matters to table. Some of the items include wages, hours of work, plant rules, work and production standards, pension and employee benefit plans and grievance processes (Sims, 2002). These items are mandatory for a collective bargaining contract as they are linked to the well-being of employees and productivity of the organization. Mutual interests of employees and management are associated with the issues as mandatory items. Hence, these items are mandatory for collective bargaining contract.
Illegal Item
Illegal bargaining items are the issues about which bargaining is not allowed by law. The examples include union security arrangements like closed and open shops (Sims, 2002). This issue cannot be negotiated and is forbidden by law in right to work states. The illegal items are illegal to include in bargaining process because they violates the employment law of any state. It is important to keep into consideration the employment laws of each state, while evaluating the legal and illegal items to develop a bargaining process.
References
Cihon, P., & Castagnera, J. (2008). Employment and labor law. USA: Cengage Learning.
Hendry, C. (2012). Human resource management. USA: Routledge.
Labor Management Partnership. (2017). About Us. Retrieved from: http://www.lmpartnership.org/about-lmp
Miller, R. L., & Cross, F. B. (2002). The legal and e-commerce environment today: business in its ethical, regulatory, and international setting. USA: West Publishing Company.
Ontario Healthy Communities Coalition. (2017). Benefits of Collaboration. Retrieved from: http://www.ohcc-ccso.ca/en/courses/community-development-for-health-promoters/module-three-community-collaboration/benefits-of-
Sims, R. R. (2002). Organizational success through effective human resources management. USA: Greenwood publishing group.
