There is a language in industrial and employment relations that has developed over the years that mixes stock phrases, industrial patois, cliché and subject specific references all mixed into a melting pot that provides the basis of a lexicon recipe for the world of work and negotiation.
I have often thought of a ‘how to’ model for collective bargaining beginning with a glossary that’s as much a choreography device as it is an explanation of terms.
In my experience, more often than not you will hear the following ad nauseum: ‘we have gone as far as we can go with this’, ‘there is just no more wriggle room’, ‘you have come to the table empty handed’, ‘we are clearly at an impasse’, ‘that offer just won’t cut the mustard’, and ‘it’s time to invoke the failure to agree clause’.
These are phrases I have become so accustomed to that I recite them in my sleep! That’s because they are a precursor to the involvement of the Labour Relations Agency coming in as the honest broker with a view to breaking the impasse. In some industries we are effectively baked into the annual pay round and that is not a good place to be.
Collective conciliation (our dispute resolution process for pay disputes etc) is a unique and highly specialised service, but it should not be a natural extension of the negotiation process when things get a bit heated.
Employers and employees should not have abdication of ownership of a dispute as a standard fallback position and so respective houses often need to be put in order.
The Good Jobs employment rights consultation has just closed, and whilst it provides a vehicle for reform of a floor of rights, it’s also a perfect opportunity to get collective bargaining process and respective houses in order.
This would allow time, space and choreography to get pay deals done rather than wait until the picket line has formed and positions have become entrenched.
January 18 this year saw a co-ordinated day of industrial action that I hope will never have to be repeated as it did not auger well for the future.
Things have settled, for now. But there is always a nagging concern that a ‘rinse and repeat’ cycle is not far away. I hope I’m wrong on that.
Perhaps you might be tempted to say back ‘let’s agree to disagree’ on that. There’s another one for my nighttime list!
- Mark McAllister is chief executive at the Labour Relations Agency for NI
