Labor ManagementRelationship Building

Overview

• Rights Based Approach

• Cooperative Approach

• Roles of Labor and Management

• Goals and Interests of Labor and Management

• An Effective Labor-Management Relationship

Primary Approaches to Labor Relations

• Rights Based (Compliance)

and

• Cooperative (Collaboration)

Labor Law and Labor Relations

• Labor law creates rights and obligations to be enforced and obeyed

• Labor relations concerns how people deal with people in an organized union environment

What is a Rights Based Approach?

• Enforcing statutory and contractual rights

• Doing what statute and contract require ‑nothing more and nothing less

• One side wins and one side loses

Some Advantages of Rights Based Approach

• Approach is known to the parties

• Clearly defined winners and losers

• No need to trust the other party

• May be quicker (or not)

Some Disadvantages of a Rights Based Approach

• Litigation can be costly

• Adversarial relations can lead to continued escalation of warfare between parties

• To be successful party must have high degree of skill at advocating its position

• Compliance does not improve relationship of parties

Enforcing Statutory and Contractual Obligations

• Negotiability Appeals

• Unfair Labor Practice Process

• Binding Arbitration

• Binding Impasse Resolution Process

What is a Cooperative Approach?

• Relationship based on problem solving approach

• Union participates pre‑decisionally in management decisions ‑management ultimate decision maker

• Both parties seek solutions where they both are winners

Some Advantages of Cooperation

• Uses interest based problem solving– attack the problem and not the people

• Cooperative decision-making– improves the quality of the solution– reduces problems arising during implementation

• Cooperation increases trust between the parties– leads to better communication– leads to better understanding of each side’s concerns

and better resolution of disputes

Some Disadvantages of Cooperation

• May be perceived negatively by respective constituencies of labor and management

• Can take longer and cost more to come to decision (or may only seem longer)

• Requires new skills which are different than those required in compliance environment

Key Question….

• To what extent is there a commitment to this approach from both labor and management,

or…

• Is cooperation simply doing compliance in an atmosphere where both sides speak to each other more politely or more often?

Roles of Union and Management

• Management - manages

• Union – represents employees

Management’s Goal

• Accomplish the mission of the agency.

• Manage its physical, financial and human resources effectively

• Comply with legal, regulatory & policy mandates

Union’s Goal

• Accomplish the mission of the agency

• Represent the interests of the bargaining unit employees

• Help them obtain safe and effective working conditions.

Elements of Effective Relationships

• Top Management & Union commitment

• Commitment requires understanding

• Communication & trust

• Belief that cooperation will lead to a more effective organization

Characteristics of Success

• Open & candid sharing of information

• Problems identified & solved jointly to better serve the agency’s mission

• An environment that respects & values all employees

• Agreement reached through consensus

Characteristics of Success

• Cooperation even though some may disagree on specific issues

• Patience for & commitment to a cooperative LMR for the long haul

• Shared responsibility & accountability for results

• Employee involvement in problem-solving

Summary

• Rights Based Approach

• Cooperative Approach

• Roles of Labor and Management

• Goals and Interests of Labor and Management

• An Effective Labor-Management Relationship

Questions?