Nature of Conflict and the Negotiation Process

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Nature of Conflict and the Negotiation Process

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Introduction

Conflict is among the most genuine and raw human reactions in response to interactions and engagements with others. In fact, it can be said to be an indication of the different perspectives that are healthy for human-human interactions. Conflict arises from the different points of view regarding what is of value and importance to an entity. It also emerges out of priorities and the process of prioritizing. Different opinions and points of view yield power struggles. A power struggle is defined by Van Bunderen, Greer, and Van Knippenberg (2018) as a situation where different entities compete for the control of a particular element. For example, in negotiating for better employee benefits, union members and employers will likely be entangled in power struggles as each group competes for control of what is of value and priority. In this essay, the overall purpose is to provide a reflection on the nature of conflict within the negotiation process. It also looks at power struggles and how they end up being scenarios for negotiations and bargaining. Specifically, the NBC Universal Media case (02-CA-262640 JD(NY)-02-21) will be analysed regarding the decision, the conflict, the negotiation issues, and the outcome. Ultimately, power struggles birth negotiations and bargaining.

The Case

The NBC Universal Media case (02-CA-262640 JD(NY)-02-21) was tried remotely by administrative law judge Kenneth Chu on December 21, 2020. It was found that NBC Universal Media had engaged in unfair labor practices. The decision made was for the organization to compensate employees for the earnings and costs suffered. This was against the organization’s decision to rescind the 2020 merit wage increase. It was ruled that NBC Universal Media’s wage rollback was unlawful.

Before the pandemic, NBC News employees were not represented by a union until recently, which was a significant change. A group of editorial employees on the company’s digital side won union certification, signaling the beginning of a sea change in the media corporate culture. The New York NewsGuild has been designated as the bargaining unit for this contract. In opposition, NBC Universal Media was determined to protect its margins and shareholder bottom lines from the effects of the pandemic by rescinding all wage increases for a specific group of employees. The company went further to carry out this policy without adequately involving the employees and their bargaining platform. The conflict was regarding the Union of NBC Universal Media employees, NewsGuild, was denied an opportunity to bargain over the changes to the pay structure that has traditionally defined the relationships between the employer and the employees. According to an administrative law judge, NBC Universal Media should have given NewsGuild a chance to bargain over the pay structure changes before going public with the decision. An administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board raised concerns about the decision to rescind the wage increases. NBCUniversal violated labor laws by implementing pay changes without giving the NewsGuild a chance to bargain, as required by the National Labor Relations Act. It is important to note that NBC is not the only company that has had to make difficult pay decisions as a result of the pandemic. power struggles led to the issue being taken to the National Labor Relations Board. NBC employees now have a say in wage negotiations, thanks to a successful organizing drive in 2019, and the company can no longer unilaterally cut wages without a CBA in place.

The negotiation issues are quite straightforward. NBC employees affected by the decision to rescind wage increases wanted a chance to bargain through their union. The issue is that NBC’s executives had made an executive decision and policy that was not up to debate. The style of breaking the news and the consequent ramifications for the workers led to a need to at least provide a counter offer in relation to the percentage or merit wage increase that should be expected by the employees. The employees, through their union, had offered and were willing to table a discussion on the need for wage reductions due to the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. They even requested to discuss the issue multiple times yet the management refused. There was a power struggle between the employees and the management, with the latter attempting to bulldoze its way on the decision to rescind merit wage increases that have been a part of the organization for a while making a tradition. Overall, the main issue is the obligation by NBC to bargain with the workers’ union over all matters relating to their welfare, whether there have been severe financial effects or otherwise. In their brief to the National Labor Relations Board, NBC presented that their position on the matter was not aimed at unlawfully or unfairly affecting the welfare of union members. However, the issues and ensuing conflict point to an effort by the media company to subvert the collective bargaining representative.

Evaluation of Conflict Present in the Case

In the NBC workplace, the type of conflict present was labor relations with a particular emphasis on the need to retain the right to bargain and the collective bargaining representative of the employees through their union. The main issue is that NBC ignored its obligation to listen to what the employees and their bargaining platform, NewsGuild, had to say and the counter offer they were willing to present on the issue of the decision to rescind merit wage increases. Therefore, there was industrial conflict that led to labor disputes.

Industrial action is a term that refers to a situation in which employers or employees take collective actions to exert necessary pressure on other collective bargaining parties so as to accomplish their objectives. The term is frequently used interchangeably with labor dispute. Conflicts of interest can cause people, groups, and organizations involved in the industrial relations system to engage in disagreements of varying intensity as a result of their involvement. The relationship between business owners/shareholders/managers and their employees/unions/workers is frequently tense. At any level of industrial relations, whether subtly or explicitly, conflicts can arise. Theft, go-slows, work-to-rule, output reductions, noncooperation, and industrial action are all examples of conflict among employees (strikes, lock-outs, boycotts). Industrial conflict can result from disagreements over values and objectives, as well as differences in power, status, and distribution relationships. If you want to put it another way, industrial conflict is the place to look for both conflict and peace in the workplace. Various explanations for the emergence of industrial conflict have been proposed, ranging from Marxism that is focused on the working class to explanations that link industrial conflict to a clash of economic interests between employers and employees.

How the Negotiation Process Helped Resolve the Conflict

In the event of a disagreement, it is common for the conflict to escalate, with each side accusing the other in ever-more-aggressive terms (Kearney & Mareschal, 2017). A lawsuit could end up being filed, which would permanently harm the relationship. Most of the time, both sides in a negotiation are well-aware of their goals and are willing to compromise in order to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome for all parties involved. The goal of negotiation is to reach an agreement between disputing parties by exchanging information and ideas. Conflicts and problems are frequently resolved through negotiation. It occurs when people are trying to solve a problem by talking to one another. Negotiations are commonplace in the workplace, from securing a raise to drafting a sales agreement. In the case presented above, the negotiation involved a conflict-resolution approach. In this approach, the National Labor Relations Board was used to negotiate between NBC Universal Media and NewsGuild. A distributive negotiation approach was taken. Jeong et al. (2019) define it as an approach to negotiation where the success of one party depends on the failure of the other party. It is also called a zero sum or a win-lose style of negotiation. In a distributive negotiation, the focus is on a single point of contention. NBC Universal Media was unwilling to let the employees practice their right to collective bargaining. Conflict arose due to this. As a result, the court ordered the organization to compensate employees for the earnings and costs suffered. This was against the organization’s decision to rescind the 2020 merit wage increase. It was ruled that NBC Universal Media’s wage rollback was unlawful. The negotiation process brought an end to the contention on whether NBC employees had a right to bargain the salary reduction policy. It also set precedence for media house executives in future to consider the right to collective bargain for all employees.

References

Jeong, M., Minson, J., Yeomans, M., & Gino, F. (2019). Communicating with warmth in

distributive negotiations is surprisingly counterproductive. Management Science, 65(12), 5813-5837.

Kearney, R. C., & Mareschal, P. M. (2017). Labor relations in the public sector. Routledge.

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Case 02-CA-262640. JD(NY)-02-21.

https://apps.nlrb.gov/link/document.aspx/09031d45833853d0

Van Bunderen, L., Greer, L. L., & Van Knippenberg, D. (2018). When interteam conflict spirals

into intrateam power struggles: The pivotal role of team power structures. Academy of Management Journal, 61(3), 1100-1130.