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A Single-Union Agreement also informally known as strike free or new style agreement entails granting a single union in a company recognition in exchange of guarantees of conflict avoidance and promotion of cooperation between the employees and the management within an organisation. Most companies have different unions representing different groups of employees. Single-Union Agreements aim is to grant just one of these unions the responsibility of representing all employees in labour negotiations and labour related issues. By signing a Single-Union Agreement, a company is only left with one union to deal with in all matters relating to unions and labour relations. The agreements contained in a Single-Union policy are usually made up of measures pertaining to both employers and union. Employers must agree to support the union and also to grant necessary facilities to the unions representatives, be committed to training of employees, as well as involvement and employees single status. The union on the other hand must agree that all industrial disputes will be resolved via arbitration, agree for company council representation during the arbitration process that may include representatives that are non-union and the union must also agree to offer only consultative or advisory roles.

The history of single union agreement dates back to the 1980s. Single-Union Agreement was pioneered in the United Kingdom in the 1980s by electricians union known as EETPU. Traditionally, Single-Union Agreement was being viewed by some sectors as a means of British industrial relations reconstruction on a cooperative basis. This led to controversy in the movement of trade unions, especially because union bids for agreements from employers were being carried using what was known as competitive beauty contests. In several cases, rival unions were being derecognised by the agreement hence the hostility towards single union agreement. Following this controversy, electricians union was expelled in late 1980s from TUC. From the 1980s, the single union agreement is not very common among industries although today, some companies have started adopting it as a means of resolving labour conflicts and to increase cooperation between the employers or management and the workforce. However, not many employees and even employers today are familiar with Single-Union Agreement and its provisions but for companies like Nissan, Toshiba, Panasonic and Sony, single union agreement has been beneficial to them.
Advantages of Single-Union Agreement

To the employees
One of the major provisions and an advantage of Single union agreement to employees is that a company must be willing to recognise the union and its mandate to represent the interests of members employed within the company. The management must commit to negotiations with unions being the representatives of the employees of a company to a predetermined level with exclusion of individuals who have other arrangements of bargaining. This is a great advantage to the employees. By accepting to recognise and negotiate with the union representatives, the company commits itself to the welfare of its workforce and the employees gain an avenue to forward their grievances. In a normal union arrangement, the management may refuse to seek audience with the union members and to negotiate with them. However, single union agreement makes it mandatory for management to negotiate with union members. This way, better terms of employment can be achieved for the employees.

Through a single union agreement, the voice of employees via their representatives is strengthened. In a multi-union company, unions tend to compete for managements attention and this usually leads to conflicts of interest. Lack of unity between employees and unions weakens their negotiation capacity as each group consists of a few members. However, with single union agreement, all employees are able to unanimously agree on an issue and stand by it during the negotiation without any conflicts. Single union agreement strengthens the union hence employee representation.

Single union agreement also mandates that before any major changes are made in employment agreements, such changes must be communicated to and negotiated with the union. This is essential in limiting the power of the employer and ensures that terms and conditions of employment included or changes made are favourable to the employees. Without single union agreement, employers are at liberty to make changes to employment terms without consulting the employees or the union.

To employer
The major advantage accruing to employers from single union agreement is simplified bargaining structure. Following the institution or formation of a single union agreement policy, employees representation role is given to only one union. Traditionally, a company can have several unions representing different groups of individuals. The bargaining structure hence becomes very complicated as each union seeks to negotiate with the management. With enactment of single union agreement, only one union is mandated to represent the workforce and this simplifies the bargaining structure. This way, the management can effectively deal with and negotiate with the union pertaining to labour related issues.

The second advantage to the employer is reducing of competitive multi-unionism. As mentioned earlier, some companies have multiple unions dealing with different employees within it. Each union being a representative of its employees tries to compete with other unions in fighting for their groups employment rights and for improvement of working conditions and pay. As such, there is a lot of competition that leaves the management unwilling to cooperate with any union group. With single union agreement, such competition for attention from management by unions is eliminated and the management is able to concentrate on one union while resolving labour conflicts and while negotiating with labour unions. Single union agreement also leads to elimination of demarcations between unions which may have a negative impact on productivity and functional flexibility requirements.

Single union agreements also ensure that there is increased cooperation between the employees and the management. Most single union agreements have a strike free agreement that states that the single union cannot call a strike for its members. This ensures that production is not tampered with even during time of negotiations and or disagreements between the management and the union. Single union agreements hedges an employer from losses associated with strikes.

One condition of single union agreement is that the union takes up a consultation tasks. Under this form of agreement, a union must acknowledge the employers right to plan, manage and organise operations and also his duty to communicate and seek consultation with the employees in matters relating to their employment. By agreeing to these terms, an employer is guaranteed of minimum interference of the union in management functions and this may help in increasing cooperation between the employer and his employees. The management and union also agree to maintain good industrial relations so as to ensure growth of an organisation as well as that of the employees and the shareholders. This is essential for smooth running of an entity and an advantage to employees and employers.

Conclusion
Single union agreement has many potential advantages to both the employers and the employees. The major advantage to employees is the agreement by the management to fully recognise unions as true representatives of workers and its agreement to commit to negotiations with the union. Also, the clause that limits the powers of the management in making changes to employment prior to notifying the union is advantageous to employees. On the other hand, single union agreement helps in eliminating strikes hence ensuring production of goods is not hampered at any time. Also, it limits the unions power to interfere with management functions thus ensuring flexibility in part of management. Single union agreement has many potential benefits to employees and employers hence should be adopted.