Wally Cox has been given a new assignment by the mayor to serve as the chief negotiator for the city government in the upcoming collective bargaining contract discussions. While adversarial bargaining is typical in many settings, Wally hopes he can minimize the extreme behavior witnessed in past bargaining sessions. In reviewing the recent history of union-management negotiations, he notes some unethical behaviors taken by his counterpart on the union side in negotiations. Specifically, he cites the following instances of unethical behavior:

-Deliberately misrepresenting management's position in an attempt to win agreement

-Distorting the facts in an employee grievance case to gain bargaining leverage

-Using tactics to force management to compromise on compelling needs

-Displaying ineptitude when resisting an agreement due to insufficient understanding or unwillingness to engage in problem-solving

-Making ambiguous demands for the purpose of polarizing management's position

 

Wally notes that the management side has reacted in kind, referring to upcoming negotiations as a "war," with meetings described as "tactical battles." Management looks to protect its prerogatives as a primary champion of the organizational good, considering the union to be largely self-serving and unhelpful. Meetings occur only over grievance cases and in the collective bargaining cycle at the end of the contract period. While adversarial bargaining is typical in many settings, Wally hopes he can work toward breaking this self-perpetuating and dysfunctional cycle. 

Directions/Questions

Discuss how Wally might improve the technical aspects of this situation as well as the vitriolic culture.

1. What might he do on the management side to decrease an "us versus them" mentality, to invite in union participation for joint problem-solving, to regain more trust, and to foster a view among union leaders that members of management are more their colleagues than their foes?

2. What might he do to set up better ground rules with the union and encourage them to take a higher road and be more selective and qualitative in their wins?

3. How typical do you think that this type of negative cycle is in organizations with labor unions? Why?