Interest based bargaining: The role of the trust relationship between employer and employee

Abstract

This paper highlights the inherent adversarialism of traditional collective bargaining, and the various attempts that have been made by academics and practitioners to find ways to minimize the adversarial nature of the process. The paper then examines a number of cases where Interest Based Bargaining was used to create a positive, co-operative collective bargaining climate, and derives a number of guiding principles. Finally, the paper shows that building and maintaining a relationship of trust is a prerequisite for constructive collective bargaining.