Settling Disputes

Collective Bargaining Dispute Seattle's $15 Minimum Wage Agreement: Collective Bargaining Reborn? The article covers the negotiation process that was held over a number of weeks in Seattle between the business class, the labor movement and the concerned task force. It was a classic example of the tradition of collective bargaining as it was used in the case of the Seattle workers to negotiate for the increment of the pay rise from $9.32 per hour to $15 per hour.

The mayor spearheaded the entire process and it came to be adopted by the business community, labor and the task force that were involved in the entire process of negotiation and bargaining. This model of bargaining has been hailed as a unique one since it is like none other experienced in the U.S. Indeed of the 24 members who were involved in the collective bargaining, 21 of them endorsed the proposal and the implementation time frame. The process was also unique since it covered both the union members and nonmembers alike.

The dispute hence can be said to have ben between the employees in Seattle who wanted a pay rise and the employers or the business class that initially never wanted to implement any pay rise above the nationally recognized hourly minimum. Some of the underlying issues in this dispute were the raising of the minimum wage to be above that of the nationally recommended one. The second issue was the inclusion of the non-union members.

The other issue that was centrally discusses in the mayoral debate was the issue of the living cost in Seattle and the need to have a pay that matches the same. It is also noteworthy that there was a deadline of May 1st that Murray was pursuing and that is why he had a spare draft that he indicated he would present to the council for approval incase the negotiations were not conclusive by the deadline date, this too was an issue at stake.

Both sides had either an economic or ethical issue that they used on the other side to make the negotiations a success. For instance, the side of the workers represented by the labor movement was the upcoming mayoral elections which they wanted to use to have their case heard. This meant that they had to use the mayoral quest for their votes, to ask them to push the business class to an agreement on the pay rise otherwise their votes would be at risk.

The mayoral candidates and Murray who was the presiding mayor in particular used the moral question of provision of decent living standards to al people in Seattle hence used this to push the business class to accepting the terms of the negotiations within the required time frame.

In as much as it can be said that the business class agreed to the bargained terms, it was almost like they had no option out of the negotiations since the mayoral seat candidates held them ransom at the behest of the votes that were at risk.

The mayor led negotiations and bargaining had to bear fruits whichever way it was conducted since the elections were on the way, hence it seemed like the mayors blackmailed the business class, it can be recalled that Murray indicated that he had another draft which had terms that were even more hostile which he would forward to the council for adoption should the bargaining process not bear fruits within the stipulated time, hence this can be considered unethical. The dispute in this case study was resolved.

The business class, sat together with the labor task force and the mayor and came up with the $15 per hour rate that would be implemented in amicable time line within Seattle which was what the employees of different establishments within Seattle were agitating for from the start, hence it can be said that the agreement was reached and the impasses were settled.

The third party that was involved in the pressing for better pay for the workers from the employers was the labor task force that was appointed by the mayor to help in the intervention in the negotiation process. The third party here played the role of not just bargaining party but the mediator.