Case Study on Labor Negotiations
PUB503: Personnel Issues in Public Service
Pleasant Ridge Collective Bargaining Case
Pleasant Ridge Collective Bargaining Case Many times, the process of collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations is referred to as being “an art”. Although it is guided by various labor laws and there are multitudes of theories that claim to have established best practices in the field, every negotiation simply has too many unique variables to consider to ever be approached as anything more than an art. Even in the short span in which new negotiations are required to reach an updated contract, too many changing factors on both sides of the table are apt to make the extrapolation of one bargaining scenario to the next inefficient and ineffective. There is no “one-size-fits all” approach.
What worked best in one instance could potentially fail with dire consequences in another. To attempt to define, or even identify a structured component to the process would be futile. People, personalities, economics, demographics, policy and law are not static, nor are needs, wants, concepts, trends or priorities. Deception and intimidation during negotiations is commonplace, and unfortunately sometimes holds more relevancy than fact. For these reasons, it is important for labor negotiators to be able to anticipate the worst, but hope to ultimately achieve a best case scenario. The final, ratified contract is applied to both parties, and hopefully in the end, it represents what is best for all involved. There are many potential stakeholders depending on the industry, but in the case of the community of Pleasant Ridge, it is the students and that ultimately have the most to lose. This can easily be forgotten when bargaining teams’ self-interests take hold. Deciding on the appropriate bargaining techniques and strategies requires a very well-thought out, careful approach. Whatever approach is used has to take into
Pleasant Ridge Collective Bargaining Case
Pleasant Ridge Collective Bargaining Case Many times, the process of collective bargaining agreement (CBA) negotiations is referred to as being “an art”. Although it is guided by various labor laws and there are multitudes of theories that claim to have established best practices in the field, every negotiation simply has too many unique variables to consider to ever be approached as anything more than an art. Even in the short span in which new negotiations are required to reach an updated contract, too many changing factors on both sides of the table are apt to make the extrapolation of one bargaining scenario to the next inefficient and ineffective. There is no “one-size-fits all” approach.
What worked best in one instance could potentially fail with dire consequences in another. To attempt to define, or even identify a structured component to the process would be futile. People, personalities, economics, demographics, policy and law are not static, nor are needs, wants, concepts, trends or priorities. Deception and intimidation during negotiations is commonplace, and unfortunately sometimes holds more relevancy than fact. For these reasons, it is important for labor negotiators to be able to anticipate the worst, but hope to ultimately achieve a best case scenario. The final, ratified contract is applied to both parties, and hopefully in the end, it represents what is best for all involved. There are many potential stakeholders depending on the industry, but in the case of the community of Pleasant Ridge, it is the students and that ultimately have the most to lose. This can easily be forgotten when bargaining teams’ self-interests take hold. Deciding on the appropriate bargaining techniques and strategies requires a very well-thought out, careful approach. Whatever approach is used has to take into
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