Explain the role of labour unions in maintaining labour-management relations.

Labour unions are organizations to which workers belong and that deal with employers on the workers' behalf. They are found in many industrial and business occupations, as well as among public-sector employees like teachers, police officers, and government workers. Such unions serve as a collective "voice" for their members and act as bargaining agents to negotiate labour contracts with employers. These contracts specify the rights and obligations of employees and management with respect to wages, work hours, work rules, seniority, hiring, grievances, and other conditions of employment. The foundation of any labour and management relationship is collective bargaining, the process through which labour and management representatives negotiate, administer, and interpret labour contracts. It typically involves face-to-face meetings between labour and management representatives. During this time, a variety of demands, proposals, and counterproposals are exchanged. Several rounds of bargaining may be required before a contract is reached or a dispute over a contract issue is resolved. As you might expect, the collective bargaining process is time consuming and can lead to problems. Too often, labour and management sides view each other as "win-lose" adversaries. Ideally, the goal is a "win-win" outcome that offers benefits to labour in terms of fair treatment, and to management in terms of workforce quality.