preview

Advantages Of Collective Bargaining

Decent Essays

Discussion of collective bargaining must begin with recognizing the fundamental differences between public and private employment. The terms and conditions of employment in the private sector are determined by private decisions made by private parties shaped by market forces. In the public sector, the terms and conditions of employment are public decisions made through governmental officials and shaped by political processes as well as by market forces. In a democratic society, this means that decisions are confined by constitutional limitations and must ultimately reflect the will of the electorate (Summers, 2003). Organizing efforts are a constant and much more difficult in the private sector due to the rise and fall of businesses. Once a union organizes in the public sector, they will usually remain intact as there is no worry about the government going out of business. Therefore, maintaining membership levels in the public sector is not a problem. Public employees have other major advantages over their private-sector counterparts in that they are constitutionally protected, which prohibits termination or other adverse action without good cause. In other words, they are not at will. Many of the terms and conditions of employment such as benefits and pensions are not subject to individual or collective bargaining, but are prescribed by statute. They also exert more power or influence over their employers by using the political process to their advantage through the

Get Access