Tumultuous Times:TUMULTUOUS TIMES A Look at Collective Bargaining & Labour Relations Approaches & Strategies in BC
Presenters: Debbie Cameron Keith Murray & Ryan Anderson
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Context
Develop mandate – “Wish List”
Understand the rules
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Identify labour and other resources necessary and available to continue essential operations
Develop and implement training / orientation for managers and exempt staff
Develop and deliver necessary communication to clients / other stakeholders
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Assess impact on customers
Are Essential Services a factor?
Press?
Picketing issues?
What should be communicated to principals and members during the negotiation process?
How often should this communication occur?
What parts of the negotiation process, if any, can be made public during bargaining?
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What will be the most efficient strategy: Go on Offense?
Play Defense?
Be Cooperative?
Pace & order of negotiations: Chronology
Time delay
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Exchange of information and timing
Where, when and frequency
Package versus individual sign-off
Bargaining committee composition/roles
Sensible goals Active Listing Non-verbal behavior Interest based problem solving Emotional Intelligence Understanding power dynamics Consider the need for
momentum Assessing and managing credibility
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Arrive prepared – new proposals cannot be added later
Traditional approach – non-monetary first, monetary later
Establishing momentum – pick the low hanging fruit
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“Accountant”
What’s your “safe word”?
Issue Specialist
Hired Guns
White Knights
Number crunching
Mobile printer / copier
Using words like … “final”
Ambiguous language
Frustration & fatigue
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AVOIDING BAD FAITH BARGAINING AND UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICES
How can the parties move the negotiations along when they stall?
How should bad faith bargaining be identified and avoided?
In what circumstances will withholding information constitute bad faith bargaining?
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AVOIDING BAD FAITH BARGAINING AND UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICES
What's the difference between failing to bargain in good faith and failing to make every reasonable effort to reach a collective agreement?
When will a party be found to be illegally taking a bargaining issue to an impasse in contravention of the obligation to make every reasonable effort to form a collective agreement?
What approaches can be used to bridge an impasse?
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Refusing to engage (distinct from hard bargaining)
Illegal proposals
Proposals and conduct which infer unwillingness to conclude bargaining
Bargaining without a bona fide intent to reach an agreement (distinct from failure to agree)
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Reliance on challenge to certification to justify refusal to negotiate
Refusal to meet or provide information
Taking a patently unreasonable position (e.g. refusal allow discharges to be arbitrated)
Violation of statutory freeze
Refusal to negotiate – take it or leave it
Linking proposal to matters beyond the authority of a party to accept
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Do not react: distance yourself and view the situation objectively
Step 2: Step to their side! Presenting views as additions vs. contradictions Listen actively
Ask clarifying questions and paraphrase Apologize , when appropriate Focus on areas of agreement
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rather than positions
Step 4: Build them a golden bridge
Make it easy to say yes by removing obstacles
Avoid temptation to tell them the solution but ask for their ideas and constructive criticisms
Use education to assist them understand that an agreement in their best interest
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Christopher W. Moore, The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies fro Resolving Conflict, 3rd ed. (Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA, 2003) p. 64.
DYNAMICS OF CONFLICT
*Atlanta Justice Center
Brain
Mind
Relationships
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COGNITIVE BIASES
Selective Perception: We gather evidence that supports our pre- conception and disregard the balance
Individuals create their own “subjective social reality” from their perception of input.
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COGNITIVE BIASES
Fundamental attribution error: we dislike the position therefore we dislike the person
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COGNITIVE BIASES
Reactive Devaluation: if something is offered, we rate it lower than a concession withheld
High Priority
COGNITIVE BIASES
Negotiation Script: interpret the behaviour of others based on our expectations of the process
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Rigid Thinking: difficulty seeing relationships amongst concepts and data where they don’t fit our terms of reference
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COGNITIVE BIASES
Anchoring: reference points chosen can be arbitrary and have too great an influence on subsequent bargaining judgement
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COGNITIVE BIASES
Framing : refers to how decision makers formulate the issues or outcomes
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STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS Say what you mean and mean what you say
Walk the talk
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Longer Term Agreements – ranging from 5-10 years Implications include:
reduction in costs of bargaining cycle even greater need for clear understanding of intent and
application increased need for functional problem solving and healthy Union
Management relationships during the term of the agreement strategic grievance management
Work Place Health Impact of Age Demographics
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Preparing For bargaining
Preparing For bargaining
AVOIDING BAD FAITH BARGAINING AND UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICES
AVOIDING BAD FAITH BARGAINING AND UNFAIR LABOUR PRACTICES
Bargaining in bad faith
Bargaining in bad faith
Cognitive Biases
Cognitive Biases
Cognitive Biases
Cognitive Biases
Cognitive Biases
Cognitive Biases
Cognitive Biases