ABSTRACT
Workplace industrial relations systems serve three functions: conflict resolution and assurance of due process; the supervision, motivation, and par ticipation of individual employees; and the de termination and operation of work rules and work organization (Katz and Kochan 1992). When the workforce is unionized, these functions are ne gotiated between the employer and the union on behalf of the employees. Conflict management and protection of individual rights are ensured through grievance and arbitration procedures de fined in a legally binding collective bargaining agreement. The terms of the labor exchange, in the form of the wages and benefits to be paid for hours of work, levels of job performance, work attendance, and adherence to organizational rules, are likewise specified in the contract, as are the ways in which work is designed and is to be dis tributed among groups of employees. Collective bargaining allows labor and management joint control over the terms and conditions of employ ment-workers join unions to be able to influ ence their employers’ decisions about hiring and firing, hours and wages, job assignments, and assessment of job performance.
