Collective Bargaining is considered by government to be the best way for private companies to decide on workers terms and conditions

of service. The procedure for collective bargaining is laid out in the Industrial Relations Act, Section 13. The first step in the Collective bargaining process is when the trade union submits in writing a proposed collective agreement to an employer and invites the latter to begin negotiations, the employer must reply to the invitation within 14 days. If the organization agrees to begin negotiations, the first bargaining session must start within 30 days of the agreement. However, the employer may refuse to negotiate, in which case a trade dispute is deemed to exist and the union may inform the Director General of Industrial Relations (DGIR) and request conciliation. Should the employer fail to reply to the invitation to commence negotiations, the union could take the same action. The DGIR will try to persuade the company to bargain with the union. The law also allows the employer to take the initiative, put forward a proposed and invite the union to bargain. However, in most cases the employer will wait for the union to take the first step. Once the employer has agreed to negotiate, the representatives of the workers and the employer will meet and in a number of sessions, bargain until an acceptable compromise is reached. This agreement will be put in writing and signed by both parties after which it must be deposited with the Industrial Court within one month of its being signed. The Courts function is to check through the agreement to ensure that is complies with the law. This function of the Court is called taking cognisance of the agreement. Once the collective agreement has been given cognisance, it becomes a binding document enforceable by the Industrial Court. What if, after a series of meetings, there is a deadlock. In this situation, either party can request the DGIR to conciliate. If the IR department officers are successful in helping the parties reach a compromise, then an agreement may be reached. If, after conciliation, the parties are still unable to come to an agreement, they can jointly request the Minister of Human Resources to refer their dispute to Industrial Court for arbitration. Alternatively, the Minister can use his authority under the IR Act to refer the dispute, to the Court. The

Industrial Court will examine the issues and items which are in dispute, hear the presentations of both parties and will then make a decision. In this respect, the Court decides on the final outcome of the collective agreement. If the two parties cannot come to an agreement of their accord, the Court will decide for them what should be the contents of the agreement.