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chapter 7 | Dealing With Problems and Conflicts 99 CikguOnline
Case 3

Collective Bargaining
The chief executive officer (CEO) of a large home health agency in a southwestern resort area called a
general staff meeting. She reported that the agency had grown rapidly and was now the largest in the area.
“Much of our success is due to the professionalism and commitment of our staff members,” she said. “With
growth come some problems, however. The most serious problem is the fluctuation in patient census. Our
census peaks in the winter months when seasonal residents are here and troughs in the summer. In the
past, when we were a small agency, we all took our vacations during the slow season. This made it possible
to continue to pay everyone his or her full salary all year. However, given pressures to reduce costs and the
large number of staff members we now have, we cannot continue to do this. We are very concerned about
maintaining the high quality of patient care currently provided, but we have calculated that we need to
reduce staff by 30 percent over the summer in order to survive financially.”
The CEO then invited comments from the staff members. The majority of the nurses said they wanted
and needed to work full-time all year. Most supported families and had to have a steady income all year. “My
rent does not go down in the summer,” said one. “Neither does my mortgage payment or the grocery bill,”
said another. A small number said that they would be happy to work part-time in the summer if they could
be guaranteed full-time employment from October through May. “We have friends who would love this work
schedule,” they added.
“That’s not fair,” protested the nurses who needed to work full-time all year. “You can’t replace us with
part-time staff.” The discussion grew louder and the participants more agitated. The meeting ended without
a solution to the problem. Although the CEO promised to consider all points of view before making a
decision, the nurses left the meeting feeling very confused and concerned about the security of their future
income. Some grumbled that they probably should begin looking for new positions “before the ax falls.”
The next day the CEO received a telephone call from the nurses’ union representative. “If what I heard about
the meeting yesterday is correct,” said the representative, “your plan is in violation of our collective bargaining
contract.” The CEO reviewed the contract and found that the representative was correct. A new solution to the
financial problems caused by the seasonal fluctuations in patient census would have to be found.

and the availability of a written grievance procedure to their clients. The collective bargaining contract
that specifies both the employee’s and the employer’s also adds another layer of rules and regulations
rights and responsibilities if an issue arises that can- between staff members and their supervisors.
not be settled informally (Forman & Merrick,2003). Because management of such employee-related
Having a say in practice and work-related issues rules and regulations can take almost a quarter of a
empowers nurses (Budd, Warino, & Patton, 2004; manager’s time (Drucker, 2002), this can become a
Crochette, 2008). Another advantage is salary: nurs- drain on a nurse manager’s time and energy.
es working under a collective bargaining agreement
can earn as much as 28% more than those who do Conclusion
not (Pittman, 2007).
The greatest disadvantage of using collective Conflict is inevitable within any large, diverse
bargaining as a way to deal with conflict is that it group of people who are trying to work together
clearly separates management-level people from over an extended period. However, conflict does
staff-level people, often creating an adversarial rela- not have to be destructive, nor does it have to be a
tionship. Any nurses who make staffing decisions negative experience. If it is handled skillfully by
may be classified as supervisors and, therefore, may everyone involved, conflict can stimulate people
be ineligible to join the union, separating them to learn more about each other and how to work
from the rest of their colleagues (Martin, 2001). together in more effective ways. Resolving a
The result is that management and staff are treated conflict, when done well, can lead to improved
as opposing parties rather than as people who are working relationships, more creative methods of
trying to work together to provide essential services operation, and higher productivity.