ational policy began in 1935 with the enactment of the Wagner Act. This act pronounced two basic principles: (1) employees were to be permitted to form and maintain labor unions of their own choosing without being subjected to coercion, intimidation, or discrimination by employers; and (2) employers were to be required by law to bargain collectively with labor unions designated by their employees on wages, rates of pay, hours, and other conditions of employment. The Wagner Act and others, like the Taft-Hartley Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act, have provided a framework of law within which the collective bargaining process must operate. The legal regulations extend to both the procedural aspects (the manner in which collective bargaining is to be conducted) and to the substantive aspects (the types of subject concerning which collective bargaining is obligatory and which may or may not lawfully be incorporated into collective bargaining agreements). However, the substantive aspect remains relatively unrestricted by law (Torff, Selwyn H., 4-14).It is the substantive aspect that leaves collective bargaining negotiations subject to emotionalism, and illogical and irrational behavior. John Dunlop and James Healy have described four ways in which negotiations can be depicted. The first is a poker game, "with the larger pots going to those who combine deception, bluff, and luck, or the ability to come up with a strong hand." The second is an "exercise in power politics, with the relative strengths of the parties being decisive." The third, "a debating society, marked by both rhetoric and name calling." Fourth and finally they noted a better way-if followed-that a negotiation can be depicted. This is a "'rational process,' with both sides remaining completely flexible and willing to be persuaded only when all the facts have been dispassionately presented (Sloane, Arthur A.; Witney, Fred; 203)."Sloane and Witney have stated, "all o...
