Unit 8 concepts and applications

¶ … commences by pointing to the differences between the rights and management of the employees in the private and the public sectors. Within the private sector, the evolution of the labor relations was quicker and more positive in favor of the employees, whereas the public sector focused less on its workers. Gradually however, the employees in the two fields came to be better rewarded, motivated and overall managed. Differences are however still observed between the private and public sector and Cayer (2003) pegs them to two primary elements:

The reticence of governments towards unions of workers, and The fact that bargaining is more transparent within the private sector, whereas in the public sector, it can be political.

The bargaining process is complex and in order to ensure that the parties are equally represented and that the process is legal and ethical, supervisory organizations are instated. At the national level, this role is assumed by the Federal Labor Relations Authority, whereas at state and local levels, the supervisory and bargaining processes vary.

Another concept approached within the chapter is represented by unit determination, which is understood as the number of employees perceived as a unit for bargaining purposes. But in order to actually complete a bargaining process, the employees need not only be organized, but also need to have a representative. Within the public sector, this necessity raises concerns as the managers and the representatives of the employees might share different political views. At least in theory, this impediment is not present within the private sector.

It was often the case that the differences in the desires of the employees, in the political views and in other issues, led to the creation of more bargaining processes, each of which approached specific issues. In such a context then, the management of the labor force within the public sector improved as more and more employee issues were addressed.

But another thing which has been neglected in the chapter is represented by the attitudes of the employees in the private and the public sector. In this order of ideas, the employees in the private sector function in a corporate environment, in which emphasis is placed on perfection, development and gains. And they have come to focus on these values, meaning that bargaining is a means of attaining these objectives for themselves. The employees in the public sector however were less eager to demand new rights and rewards. Some professionals even "resisted joining the bargaining movement because they viewed bargaining as an unprofessional behavior" (Cayer, 2003).

As the chapter completes the discussion of the public sector employees and labor relations, it moves on to describing the concept of bargaining, through various lenses, such as those of the negotiation process, the procedures to resolving impasses, mediation, arbitration or referendums. In cases when negation processes fail, strikes can result and they are highly severe when in the public sector, as they impact the entire community. In such a context, emphasis is placed on negotiation and the reaching of mutual understandings.