Abstract

This study sought to assess the effectiveness of collective bargaining at Chancellor College. Despite having the collective barganing mechanism, Chancellor College has, in a period of five years between 2013 and 2018, experienced fifteen strikes. The consequences of these strikes were the following: closure of colleges, disruption of the academic calendar (the longest sit-in lasted four months in 2017) and negative financial implications on both the students and the institution. This was a qualitative research and purposive sampling was used. The study interviewed 12 key informants being those with knowledge of collective bargaining at Chancellor College. Data was collected using key informant interviews and was analysed using the deductive approach with thematic analysis. This study further used the Thomas-Klimann Conflicts model to assess the effectiveness of collective bargaining at Chancellor College with regards to resolving disputes. The main findings have been that collective bargaining at Chancellor College is not as effective. This is so because there are multiple trade unions within one institution and also that there are four categories of employees within the same institution with different conditions of service and salary structure. Lack of autonomy for college management to make decisions also affects the effectiveness of collective bargaining. Government interference also hinders the effectiveness of collective bargaining. The findings suggested that there is a need for the college management to have one union and harmonised salary structure and conditions of service were proposed. This would help to reduce the number of industrial action thereby achieving industrial peace. Further to that, it is important to consider the extent to which college leadership can have autonomy to make decisions on behalf of the usual institutions that make such decisuons, namely, government and University Council in order to speed up the collective bargaining process. In conclusion, the study found that collective bargaining is largely ineffective at Chancellor College.

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School	: School of Law, Economics and Government
Issued Date	: 2021

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