A Critical Examination of the Process of Workplace Negotiation

Abstract

With the Australian industrial relations system in a state of transition towards a system wherein management-union relations are based on enterprise bargaining, it is appropriate to re-examine the nature of negotiation at the workplace. This paper draws upon a case study of a management-union negotiation to explore aspects of the negotiation process and finds a number of ways in which the process is asymmetrical: in the nature of the constituency; in the manner in which issues emerge; and in the alternatives which are available to the parties. This asymmetry appears to give management a number of strategic options not open to those negotiating on behalf of employees. Some implications for the conduct of negotiation in the workplace are explored.