- 6500 Electricians to strike in two weeks over pay rates – February ‘14
- SIPTU to set a picket at UCC’s Tyndall Institute over pay issues – February ‘14
- SIPTU 350 members at Shannon Aerospace are to ballot for industrial action at the end of this week – February ‘14
- Labour Court Proposal rejected by SIPTU Staff at Liebherr – January ‘14
These are
some of the newspaper headlines over the last number of weeks. Sometimes they
appear on the front page sometimes the articles are on the back page. However
what is clear from all this, that for some months, that Irish unions are back
in action. Two central themes are coming up protection of pension
arrangements, especially regarding Defined Benefit pension schemes and pay
claims from around 2.5 % which need to be back dated over a couple of years.
If you
heard SIPTU’s Jack O’ Connor on RTE Radio recently in discussion with Mark
Fielding of ISME and RTE’s George Lee, well discussion you couldn’t really call
it as Jack kept interrupting Mark and George consistently. Jack meant business
and was highlighting that SIPTU had achieved pay increases in over 100
companies of around 2 – 2.5%.
What is clear is that the worst of the
recession is over, the troika have left and the unions are claiming their fair
share. With Irish unions this leads to a scramble for who can get most, with
around 50 unions trying to out manoeuvre each other. You see Irish Industrial
Relations has a tendency to reward the most militant unions, the ones with the
highest demands. In industrial action it is not always important what the
majority of employees in a company find reasonable and acceptable. No, if a
majority of the members of one union decide something then that agenda has to
be followed and it doesn’t matter that the union has only a minority of the
employees in the company. Here are some golden rules to apply if
wage bargaining is to be an issue: -
1.
Do not negotiate if you do not have
to. In
most small and medium size companies there is no union recognition and no
agreement with the union that new salaries have to be negotiated. So if you do
not have an agreement with a union do not negotiate even if the unions
would like to have a place at the table.
2.
Setting the agenda. Many
companies have been caught out by starting talks and not sorting out the agenda
and procedure. You could be making a far reaching deal with the union officials
only to be confronted with the fact that the union members have the final say
on it and reject it. The already far reaching deal has to be renegotiated to
include even more concessions. Set up and organise a clear agenda and procedure
under which the negotiations take place. Make it clear that what happens when a
deal is negotiated and if the union insists that their members have the final
vote before it can be accepted, maybe your management board has to have the
final vote on it as well and can reject it as well as too far reaching.
3.
Setting your own objectives. Establish
what wage increases you can afford and define three possible settlements from
your company’s point of view: the ideal or best possible deal, a realistic or
best possible settlement and the worst, though still acceptable settlement.
Before setting these objectives make sure you know where your company’s stands
compared to other companies in areas such as salary, benefits, compensation,
economic growth etc. Know your salary levels compared to your industrial sector
and regional salary levels. Is your company paying above or below the average
salary levels in your industrial sector and region? Are your benefits and
compensation on a par with other industries? Most likely unions will start
negotiating with companies they perceive as easy targets to set a trend in wage
negations. Always focus on your own situation and make it clear to the union
that your company cannot be compared to these easy targets.
4.
Preparing the case.
Once the objectives have been defined, it is necessary to put a case for
negotiation together. The bargaining process is one in which attitudes are
swayed by a complex mixture of facts, logic, interest, fears and pride.
Preparation involves consideration of the information which will be needed to
support the case being made. It is essential to consider this from the other
party’s view point. Try to establish the unions and employees objectives at the
wage negotiations. Try to find out what they negotiated at other companies.
Hold a mock bargaining round and let some managers play devil’s advocate,
examining your company’s position and probing the company’s arguments for weak
points and prepare your answers for the real event.
5.
Communicate.
Before, during and after the wage negotiation keep communicating with your
staff, in particular your managers, supervisors and team leaders regarding the
company’s point of view and need. Make sure that your managers and supervisors
are all aware of these essential points which will ensure the company’s
survival. I do not mean to give away the bargaining plan, however, keep them
abreast of what you can do regarding wages and benefits and if union objectives
are in the interest of the company. Very often only the union communicates
effectively with employees during this phase and this will lead to high and
unrealistic expectations and difficulties with staff once an agreement is
reached.
These are just a few of
the practical personnel solutions regarding wage negotiations. There are many
more issues to address and many pitfalls to watch out for. If in the next few
months you require advice regarding wage negotiations or are suddenly caught in
the middle of wage negotiations, I would be delighted to give you any
assistance you may need in these uncertain and difficult times.
If you want to discuss People Management with me do not
hesitate to contact me at 065 7071933.
