Political Science

Labour Relations Legislations
Labour law defines obligations and the rights of the employees. The employees representatives are also called the unions in the workplace. Labour laws generally cover three sectors which include the Employment standards, which cover the working hours, minimum wage, holidays, unjust dismissals and the annual vacation. The other areas covered are the industrial relations, which entails the unfair labour practices, certification of unions, management and the labour. Lastly it covers the workplace health and safety. Lock out happen to avoid intermittent work-stoppages or slow downs. Lock outs also put pressure on the employee representing association thus reducing the number of people able to work. Lock out can also happen to pressure the employees to accept the final offer of the employer.

Lock out is only lawful, if the existing collective agreement has expired or when a part of the collective agreement or contract is illegal or there has been suspension of the part of the collective agreement by the employment court although this occurs in very rare cases (Henry, 2000).According to Henry(2000)The Airtex Manufacturing Partnership lock out should be notified within a period of twenty eight days stating the causes of the lock out, duration of the lock out and the place and whether the lock out will be continuous The Airtex Manufacturing Partnership bargained collectively with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1XXX (the union).  Airtex Manufacturing Partnership was to discriminate the employees who would not make it to return to job in the name of termination of the employees contracts. If the employees are not admitted to the workplace by the Airtex Manufacturing Partnership that is a lock out.

According to Gangaram and Ellen (2002), employee representative union, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1XXX and the employer normally reaches an agreement on the terms and conditions of the work of the employments, including the wages and the hours of the work in a day, this process is referred to as the collective bargaining. Collective bargaining agreement is a written document that is set after the negotiations between the parties after collective bargaining. Collective bargaining agreement is also referred as contract.

The United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1XXX and the Airtex Manufacturing Partnership have the obligation to bargain in good faith. Gangaram and Ellen (2002) states that collective agreement promotes peace between the employee and the employer. Collective agreement must contain the expiry date, holiday act provision for the employees and a coverage clause. The language written should be plain thus helping to sort out the employment problems. If Airtex Manufacturing Partnership has made some changes to the original condition s and terms of employment, employees often complains .change in the terms and conditions of the employment by the Airtex Manufacturing Partnership can leads to dismissal of some employees (Royden, 2008). The existing employment contract is terminated effectively and it is substituted by new contract. Therefore after the Airtex Manufacturing Partnership makes the alterations without the consultation of the employees this can lead to protected strike action, and a breach of contract.

Terms and conditions of employment after the collective agreement ends
The Airtex Manufacturing Partnership can impose new terms unilaterally because the union is no longer a bargaining unit of the agreement thus the employees need to either agree or disagree to the new terms of work. Royden, (2008) suggest that the employee can also claim constructive dismissal or resign. United States upholds the lockout right if the Airtex Manufacturing Partnerships main intention for the lock out is to promote the bargaining position of the company and not to destroy the unions collective bargaining position (Gangaram and Ellen, 2002).

 The Airtex Manufacturing Partnership can only make changes after consulting with the employee on the proposed changes after which the agreement of the employee is obtained. Contract of employment contains Airtex Manufacturing Partnership party and alterations and the employees and can only be made with the consent of both parties. Airtex Manufacturing Partnership can change terms and conditions of the employment included that the employees should resume working on Monday failure to which they will be dismissed (Royden, 2008).

The role of the union was also omitted in the imposed terms and conditions. They omitted the non-discrimination clause thus the workers will be faced with issues like, intimidation, discrimination, restrain and interference that will be practiced to the employees. Union security clause was also omitted whereby the employees will not be union members and the employees will not be deducted the union dues. There would also not be any representation of the employees grievances and no communication between the employer and the union about the issues affecting the employees. Recognition clause was also omitted thus there is no bargaining unit of the employees grievances in the employment.

Employees Approval of the Unilaterally Imposed Terms by the Employer
Change in the working condition, must be agreed between United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1XXX (the union) and Airtex Manufacturing Partnership. Airtex Manufacturing Partnership and agree on the terms and conditions and the benefits.  If the Airtex Manufacturing Partnership unilaterally imposes terms that do not affect the way workers work then, workers agree to the terms.
Royden (2008) points out that the employer, Airtex Manufacturing Partnership, can impose some terms and conditions that can lead to resignation or dismissal of the employees. The employer should give notice to the employee before the employee is dismissed. In order for the Airtex Manufacturing Partnership to conduct fair dismissal, the employer should establish a business reason that is sound, the changes in the business should also be reasonable, the employer must have followed the right procedure while dismissing the employee. The reason for the employee dismissal must also be proved and lastly the Airtex Manufacturing Partnership must also submit reason as to why the employee was dismissed.

If the employee is dismissed from employment Airtex Manufacturing Partnership is not liable. Tribunal must consider whether Airtex Manufacturing Partnership had good reason to come up with a new contract by consulting the unions or the employees (Royden, 2008).Changes in employment can be in the form of salary reduction, there can also be reduction of various benefits such as the bonus. Changes in the terms and conditions of a contract must consist of agreement between the two parties. Any unilateral changes in the contract without consultation with the employee are a breach of law as a result the employee may gain right to claim constructive dismissal or to resign. Civil courts that are ordinary have both the employment tribunal as well as the jurisdiction.

The significance of this is that the courts have powers to award  compensation if the contracts are breached as compared to the tribunals and because aid that is legal is available in civil courts but not in the tribunal cases of employment. Thus the employees should be advised legally.

Exclusion of all the related to the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1XXX (the union) by the Airtex Manufacturing Partnership unilaterally

In order for the employer to effectively exclude all the terms and conditions by the work unions, the employer must consult with the unions and come up with a common goal. There should also be consent between the employers and the employees by enforcing or imposing unilateral change. Imposing of the unilateral terms and conditions of employment leads to direct termination of the contract if the existing contract is not expired. The employer therefore has the rights to make alterations in the contract and these changes can only be made after consultation with the employees.
Airtex Manufacturing Partnership can do some variations in a contract agreement after collective bargaining with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local. In our case, after a collective bargaining with the United Food and Commercial Workers Local, the Airtex Manufacturing Partnership had the ability to impose new terms and conditions to the employment as the union and the employer did not have a collective agreement and the old collective agreement was terminated. Airtex Manufacturing Partnership excluded all the references of the United Food and Commercial Workers Local after a good collective bargain, Airtex Manufacturing Partnership terminated contract and offer new terms and condition. Normally the employer is not allowed to unilaterally impose terms and conditions.

Collective Bargaining
Airtex Manufacturing Partnership did not practice bad bargaining faith because, before the lock out, both parties were involved in intense collective bargaining out of which they came up with an impasse and the union was no longer a bargaining unit of the company. Collective bargaining consists of four major points which includes, the mandatory subjects of the terms and conditions of the employment must be fully negotiated those subjects include the hours and the wages (Gangaram and Ellen, 2002). The employer must not refuse to be involved in a collective bargain with the representatives of the employees as long as the union has a major support in the bargaining unit.
The employer and the representative of the employees must bargain in good faith to reach impasse but not necessarily to reach a common agreement. If the two parties are bargaining and have not yet reached an impasse the employer should not unilaterally impose terms and conditions of the employment. After the impasse had been met between the Airtex Manufacturing Partnership and the union.

Airtex Manufacturing Partnership could then impose unilateral changes as long as he had presented the changes intended to the United Food and Commercial Workers Local for consideration.  If Airtex Manufacturing Partnership and the union failed to come up with an impasse, Employment of Employment Authority fixes the provisions of a contract and the authority only fixes where there has been a serious breach of a bargaining in good faith. If all the alternatives have been exhausted the authority only offers the collective agreement.

Conclusion
 The employees should be represented by the union to avoid intimidation and discrimination. The grievances of the employees should also be known by the union. Collective bargaining results to equality in employment. Both the employer and the union are affected by various factors such as the social factors and economic factors, but they are not favoured by the bargaining power.