Contract Negotiations Essay Example

Contract Negotiations Essay Example Contract Negotiations Essay Contract Negotiations Essay Contract Negotiations Cathy Piersall OMM618: Human Resources Management Instructor: Fabio Moro March 14, 2013 The producers said the WGA was not bargaining in good faith. What did they mean by that, and do you think the evidence is sufficient to support the claim? Firstly, everyone understand what Good Faith bargaining stands for: Good-faith bargaining generally refers to the duty of the parties to meet and negotiate at reasonable times with willingness to reach agreement on matters within the scope of representation; however, neither party is required to make a concession or agree to any proposal (USlegal. om, 2001-2013). Good faith bargaining requires employers and unions involved in collective bargaining to: 1. ) use their best endeavors to agree to an effective bargaining process; 2. ) meet and consider and respond to proposals made by each other; 3. ) respect the role of the others representative by not seeking to bargain directly with those for whom the representative acts 4. ) not do anything to undermine the bargaining process or the authority of the others representative (USlegal. com, 2001-2013). It is dishonest labor practice for any union to reject to bargain in good faith with the employer concerning wages, hours, and other employment conditions (Dessler, 2011). Dessler (2011) states, that in† October 2007, the Writers Guild asked its members for strike approval, and the producers were maintaining that the guild was just trying to delay negotiations until the current contract expired at the end of October†. Both the Writers Guild and the producers knew that timing for these negotiations is crucial. Television series are in full production during the fall and spring. If the writers were to go on strike now would have a bigger impact than they would have if they waited until the end of October. The proof the producers had at that time was the WGA negotiating committee stayed less than an hour at the bargaining table before leaving (Dessler, 2011). The WGA did eventually strike. What tactics could the producers have used to fight back once the strike began? What tactics do you think the WGA used? Some of the tactics the producers could have used in fight back once the strike began are: 1. ) agree to stand firm to specific terms while giving some lead way on others; 2) continued to promote for new media. WGAs tactics consisted of delaying until their contracts to run out and declined to write anything until an agreement had been reached. This was a conflict between professional and creative people (the WGA) and TV and movie producers. Do you think the conflict was therefore different in any way than are the conflicts between, say, the auto workers or Teamsters unions against auto and trucking companies? Why? I believe that this conflict could be thought of as talent versus business. On the other hand, WGA writers felt that their work was a form of art and they felt that it should be treated like art should be paid for sharing their art. On the other hand, some of the producers may not see the work of the writers as art but see it as work nothing special. Some people do not consider the passions and commitments that writers put into their work. The producers claimed they wanted a profit-splitting system instead of the current residual system (Dressler, 2011, p. 288). I believe the conflict could have been solved much earlier if the two sides could have come to an answer on the residual system. What role (with examples, please) did negotiating skills seem to play in the WGA-producers’ negotiations? In February 2008, the WGA and producers at last came to an agreement. The new contract was â€Å"the direct result of renewed negotiations between the two sides, which culminated Friday with a marathon session including top WGA officials and the heads of the Walt Disney Co. and News Corp† (Dessler, 2011, pg 288). References: USlegal. com, (2001-2013). â€Å"Legal Terms, Definitions and Dictionary†. Retrieved March 12, 2013 from website http://definitions. uslegal. com/g/good-faith-bargaining/ Dessler, G. (2011). â€Å"A Framework for Human Resource Management† (6th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.