Union and Firm Preferences for Bargaining Outcomes in the Private Sector

A study investigated union and firm preferences for bargaining outcomes in the Canadian private sector. In a survey, firm and union respondents were asked to rate the absolute importance of obtaining 12 categories of bargaining outcomes, such as union security, overtime and premium pay, technological change, and fringe benefits, if they were to negotiate an entirely new collective bargaining agreement with their current union or firm. A conceptual model of the process of bargaining outcome determination was presented. The results showed that firms ranked wages and pay guarantees, employee security, worker-management relationship, and hours and days of work categories the highest. The highest ranked categories by unions were employee security, union security, and wages and pay guarantees. The exploratory regression results for the determinants of individual outcome rankings revealed that different variables determined the rankings of the parties. Union characteristics, such as gender composition of memberships and affiliation, had differential effects on the rankings of the outcomes.