In our practice, we are often asked to assist companies with collective bargaining. With a combined experience of negotiating over 140 agreements it is certainly something we can do. However, on several occasions we have had to walk away from a potential contract because the client simply wants someone to act as Chief Spokesperson.
What happens is that the management team believes that the renewal talks are just routine affairs where discussions will be limited to wages and some benefit improvements. They see collective bargaining as being nothing more than a transactional event. Despite the routine nature of the talks the company in these instances feels they need to have a seasoned negotiator at the table, but are not interested in the requisite efforts to conduct the appropriate level of research and planning. They simply do not think having a Plan B (or C or D) is required. Unfortunately, these views are simply wrong.
All Industrial Relations matters are ultimately tied to an organizations long-term strategy, or should be. The failure to recognize this results in missed opportunities and unrealized organizational potential. The sad thing about this is that the senior executives of some unionized firms simply do not understand the impact the collective agreement and the way it is being applied has on their business. It is not the union that impedes the achievement of business results but rather management’s approach to managing the relationship; including treating each round of bargaining with the appropriate level of gravitas. When you treat collective bargaining as a routine transaction you are inadvertently sending a message that having a dialogue about the business with your employees’ representatives is not particularly important. It’s just an event to get through.
If we focus just on renewal bargaining we have several observations that hopefully will shed some light on why all negotiations should be treated as being strategically important. First let’s look at the notion of a renewal being just a routine review of wages and benefits. There is no doubt that in mature relationships this does happen. However, where this is the case both the company and the union have a mutual understanding beforehand that this is the case. So, it only stands to reason that when this is true there is no need for the company to engage a third party to act as their spokesperson. Extrapolating from our experiences over the past 35 years we believe that these conditions only exist in about 2% or less of bargaining relationships.
Being surprised means not being prepared.
What we have seen far more often is organizations believing that the talks will be just transactional and being surprised by the union’s bargaining agenda. Being surprised means not being prepared. This usually results in being forced to make unintended concessions or facing the prospect of a work disruption you are not prepared for. We have had clients engage us after a strike has occurred and they had discovered that they really had little understanding of what the union was seeking or just how much support the union had to drive an agenda radically different than what management had expected.
The most important point though is not that a lack of planning and lack of maintaining a strategic perspective can lead to the need for unforeseen concessions but that management simply misses significant opportunities to fashion an agreement that is consistent with its long-term business vision.
We have often been asked to help organizations find ways through bargaining to either reduce costs or avoid cost escalations that may be embedded in the way the contract has to be administered. What we find almost without exception is that by digging into the agreement and being really well-prepared organizations can find ways to make changes that result in dramatic performance improvements across many metrics without having to seek significant concessions from the union.
The point we want to raise here is simply that bargaining a collective agreement should never be treated as a minor nuisance that management just wants to go away. It is the key document that describes the relationship you have agreed to maintain between the company and its key employees; the ones who make products or deliver services. It is always worthwhile to spend the time to develop a plan and to show your employees you take it seriously.
It is also why, unless there are compelling reasons to hire an external resource as the company’s spokesperson we try to convince our clients to be their own Chief Negotiators – our role is to be their coach and trusted advisors and to help them develop a comprehensive plan. In the end, showing employees that you own the agreement shows them that you respect the efforts they make every day to help you be a success.