Deck 8: The Collective Bargaining Process

Question 1

Which of the following is a criterion to consider when analysing the costs of a bargaining process?

A) Transaction costs
B) Strike funds
C) Labour rates in the industry
D) All of the above

Answer 1

A

Question 2

During which of the negotiation stages must the parties decide whether to settle or use economic sanctions to pressure the other side?

A) The memorandum of agreement stage
B) The crisis stage
C) Narrowing the bargaining range
D) Ratification

Answer 2

B

Question 3

During which of the negotiation stages do the parties begin to retreat from their initial positions in order to find an agreement?

A) The memorandum of agreement stage
B) The final negotiation stage
C) Establishing the bargaining range
D) Narrowing the bargaining range

Answer 3

D

Question 4

In which of the negotiation stages do the parties determine their priorities and goals?

A) The negotiation stage
B) The pre-negotiation stage
C) The collective bargaining phase
D) The pre-ratification stages

Question 5

In the context of the integrative bargaining sub-process, which of the following is a strategy for identifying problems?

A) Convening frequent negotiation sessions at the request of either side
B) Developing agenda items that have the potential for joint problem solving
C) Formulating negotiation subjects as specific problems
D) All of the above

Question 6

Which of the following best describes the term "factional conflict"?

A) Disputes between chief negotiators on bargaining priorities
B) Disputes within an organization about conflicting demands
C) Disputes between bargaining committees on key issues
D) All of the above

Question 7

What is the intermediary area between the two sets of proposals wherein both parties would rather settle than undertake a strike or lockout called?

A) The collective agreement
B) The bargaining zone
C) The zone of agreement
D) The memorandum of settlement

Question 8

In which of the negotiation stages do the parties meet to present their proposals to each other?

A) The pre-negotiation stage
B) The negotiation stage
C) Narrowing the bargaining range
D) Establishing the bargaining range

Question 9

Which of the following is not a factor that can affect the amount of the employer's bargaining power?

A) Size of inventory
B) Inflation rate
C) Competitiveness
D) Labour costs

Question 10

Which of the following is a factor that can affect bargaining power?

A) Environmental factors
B) Socio-economic factors
C) Hierarchical factors
D) Demographic factors

Question 11

In the context of the distributive bargaining sub-process, which of the following is not a strategy used to discover the other side's bottom line?

A) Observing non-verbal behavioural cues
B) Using probing and clarifying questions to elicit reactions to proposals
C) Negotiating for long periods of time
D) Using open-ended questions to determine the other side's interests

Question 12

The attitudinal structuring sub-process is part of how relationship patterns are established. Which of the following is not one of the characteristics associated with these relationship patterns?

A) Motivation to be competitive
B) Level of trust toward the other side
C) History of the relationship
D) Feelings of friendliness or hostility toward the other side

Question 13

Which of the following is not one of the principles of mutual gains bargaining?

A) Separating the people from the problem
B) Focusing on interests rather than positions
C) Insisting that the result be based on some objective standard
D) Emphasizing the wishes of both parties

Question 14

How does the negotiation process begin?

A) With the issuance of a notice to bargain collectively
B) On notice from the Ministry of Labour
C) On request from the union
D) On request from the employer

Question 15

What is the term used to describe the competitive behaviours in negotiations that influence the division of limited resources?

A) Attitudinal structuring
B) Intra-organizational bargaining
C) Integrative bargaining
D) Distributive bargaining

Question 16

Which of the following best describes the ratification process?

A) It allows both side's constituents to have a voice on the resulting collective agreement
B) It ensures that all of the parties' priorities have been achieved
C) It requires unanimous support for the memorandum of settlement to be confirmed
D) All of the above

Question 17

Which of the following statements best describes the integrative bargaining sub-process?

A) A gain for one party is a gain for the other
B) A gain for one party is a loss for the other
C) A process to achieve improved relationships between the parties
D) An attempt to reduce the expectations of the parties

Question 18

When talks broke down in 2014 during the collective bargaining of a new agreement between some 47,000 health care workers in British Columbia and the Health Employers Association of British Columbia (HEABC), what turned the tide for the unions involved? ?

A) The unions' willingness to take what was being offered
B) HEABC's realization that negotiations were complex and things would only get worse
C) No single factor impacted the ability of the parties to eventually reach agreement
D) The Hospital Employees' Union (HEU) voting 96% in favour of strike action

Question 19

Which of the following is not one of the specific stages in the negotiation process?

A) Establishing the negotiating range
B) Narrowing the negotiating range
C) The critical stage
D) Ratification

Question 20

Who controls the ratification process?

A) The employer
B) The union
C) Each party controls its own process
D) The process is directed by the relevant labour legislation

Question 21

The 2012 NHL talks and the bizarre exchanges reported in the media between the National Hockey League Players' Association's (NHLPA) executive director, Don Fehr and the NHL commissioner Gary Bettman could be characterized as what stage of the bargaining process?

A) The Crisis Stage
B) Narrowing the Bargaining Range
C) Obscuring the result
D) Establishing the negotiation range

Question 22

What stage marks the exchange of counter proposals?

A) Pre-negotiation stage
B) Ratification stage
C) Critical stage
D) The second and third stages

Question 23

Integrative bargaining is characterized by the notion of win/ loss.

Question 24

What is the purpose of a strike or lockout?

A) To cause financial distress
B) To shorten the negotiation process
C) To lengthen the crisis stage
D) To bring speedy resolution to the adversarial process

Question 25

Environmental factors affecting negotiations include public opinion, legislation, and the economy.

Question 26

The decision whether to settle or invoke economic sanctions can be triggered by disputes over a single issue or by a package deal involving the acceptance of a set of proposals on several interrelated items.

Question 27

What is occurring when the term concessions is used during the Narrowing of the bargaining range?

A) The parties are taking a needed break from their proposal and counter-proposal process
B) The parties stay in the same room until the settlement is reached
C) Wage concessions are agreed to after discussion
D) Decisions are made to agree to proposals made or change one's own position

Question 28

In traditional negotiations the parties generally accept that ________ is a way to obtain desired outcomes.

A) Co-operation
B) Concession bargaining
C) Conflict
D) Take away bargaining

Question 29

The most highly visible negotiation sub-process is the integrative bargaining process.

Question 30

Which industrial relations theorist(s) presents a framework for understanding negotiation behaviour?

A) Marx and Engels
B) Walton and McKersie
C) The Webbs
D) John Commons

Question 31

In the crisis stage, the distributive bargaining sub-process becomes more apparent as the parties move toward settlement of a collective agreement.

Question 32

Intra-organizational bargaining sees the chief negotiators seeking to convince the other team of the merit of the argument.

Question 33

A large inventory would give the union more bargaining power since they could tie up that inventory with picketing.

Question 34

It is common for each party to have on a laundry list of proposals some items that are considered essential.

Question 35

What is a variable in the negotiations that can determine whether the party gets what it is looking for in an outcome?

A) Bargaining team cohesiveness
B) Negotiator compatibility
C) Public opinion
D) Bargaining power

Question 36

When we look at the 'costs of disputes model', which criterion most closely approximates outcomes similar to the attitudinal structuring sub-process?

A) Transaction costs
B) Inter-relational problems
C) Recurrence
D) Ultimate resolution costs

Question 37

What realities work against achieving the goal of maintaining positive relationships in negotiations?

A) Historical
B) Economical
C) Institutional
D) All of the above

Question 38

During the Pre-negotiation stage why does each side often group proposals into categories like "essential" and "dropped off the table"?

A) So that they can indicate the category when presenting
B) To make it easier to link similar proposals
C) To set the stage for distributive bargaining
D) So that those that can be traded are identified early

Question 39

If lead negotiators and their constituencies share the same bargaining priorities their unity of purpose can increase their side's bargaining power.

Question 40

During this spirited stage of establishing the negotiation range, both sides demonstrate how serious they are about their proposals.

Question 41

List and describe the factors affecting the union's bargaining power.

Question 42

Why is it difficult to determine the amount of bargaining power held by either union or management in the negotiation process?

Question 43

What are the four distinct stages of union-management negotiations? (Pages 206-209)

Question 44

There have been a number of attempts to change the adversarial model of union management negotiations. Discuss the Mutual Gains Model of Bargaining and how it has attempted to impact attempts at change. (Page 222)

Question 45

List and describe the factors affecting the employer's bargaining power.

Question 46

Why is ratification considered one of the stages through which negotiations proceed? (Pages 210-211)

Question 47

Describe the bargaining sub-processes known as intra-organizational bargaining and attitudinal structuring.

Question 48

What is the purpose of a strike or a lockout?

Question 49

Describe what is common during the pre-negotiation stage and why it is important.

Question 50

Describe the transaction costs associated with negotiations.

Question 51

During the "establishing the bargaining range" stage of negotiations, the chief negotiator for each side orally presents the rationale for their proposals. What are the purposes of these presentations?

Question 52

Describe the ratification process.

Question 53

What role does bargaining power play in determining the outcomes of the bargaining process? (Page 218)

Question 54

Why is the timing of counter-proposals and concessions during the "narrowing the bargaining range" stage important?

Question 55

Describe the four negotiation sub-processes and explain how they interact with the pre-negotiation stage. (Pages 212-213)