Reference no: EM133095651

You are on a bargaining team for the City of London. You are a valuable member of the Human Resources team responsible for providing guidance to a diverse group of managers and bargaining the incoming collective agreement for employees. Your team is well prepared for bargaining with the union. You are very aware that tensions are high and you can expect a challenging negotiation.

The bargaining is between the City of London and London Civic Employees Union Local 214. There are approximately 2,300 employees involved. The main issues are compensation and job security. The workers are a very diverse group that includes outside and inside workers including garbage collection, snow removal, parks and recreation, water supply and treatment, and municipal licensing and permits.

After seven months of negotiations, the parties were unable to reach an agreement. The union members held a vote and reached a strike mandate. A manager asked you: i) when can the employees go on strike? and ii) how does the fact that the employees are public sector impact the ability of the employer to force the employees to engage in their role (despite a strike mandate).

Another manager, Seema, also asked if he could change the vacation entitlement for his employees. This will only impact 7 employees so he argued that it wouldn't be a big issue for the group. Do you see any issue(s) with the unilateral change that would benefit employees?

Address the first three steps in the Woods Analysis using external and internal resources to support your arguments:

1. Define the problem: (1 page)

2. Think about the problem: What laws and knowledge about collective bargaining are applicable? (1-2 pages)

3. Plan a solution: What advice would you provide the manager? Apply the knowledge (laws, etc). (2 pages)

As a component of the advice, include Your opinion on these specific issues raised by a manager, Seema, using external and internal resources to support your arguments:

1. When can the employees go on strike?

2. How does the fact that the employees are public sector impact the ability of the employer to force the employees to engage in their role (despite a strike mandate)?

3. Regarding Seema's request to change the vacation entitlement for his 7 employees while the parties are engaged in collective bargaining, do you see any issues with the unilateral change?