Mutual Gains Bargaining
In today's highly adversarial unionized workplace, both union and management negotiators involved in collective bargaining are constantly trying to find better ways to improve efficiency and relationships at the bargaining table. For years unions and management have fought against each other's positions, not taking into consideration the relationships between the two. In the traditional bargaining approach, the two parties exchange proposals in order to obtain target positions. There are several reasons this approach is not always the best approach, which I will explain in detail later in this paper. The traditional collective bargaining process is described as being "based on mistrust and conflict - that is, there is a fundamental divergence of interest between employers and employees" (Pettinger, 2000, pp 59). In traditional bargaining, the two sides act as adversaries, causing the two sides to lose trust in each other. When this happens negotiations often break down resulting in impasses. When an impasse is reached, the union can strike or management can lockout causing workers valuable working time and companies to lose valuable production time. To help avoid impasses, a more allied approach to negotiating has been dev
The last contract negotiations had been rather complex and it carried on for eight grueling months. Perhaps the most important factor in this case was the people. All of these issues should have been addressed in training (Friedman, 1994, pp 219). Both of these factors played important roles in the success at Midwestern University. The MGB process uses a problem-solving approach by identifying common issues of concern between the two parties and then working together to achieve alternative decisions that benefit both parties. The lead union negotiator warned his crew on the first day of negotiations that the principles of MGB would take a lot of time, trust, and credibility to work correctly. In the seventh and final section, I will conclude with my thoughts on MGB as well as wrap up everything that will be presented in this paper. The New Model of Bargaining: "Mutual Gain" or unilateral loss? A critical view of win-win bargaining. On top of that committees were formed to better aid in the labor-management relationship. Survey Data on MGBThis section of the paper will summarize different statistics relating to MGB. Both parties' members had little previous experiences with any negotiating, but after the training sessions, both sides were excited about bargaining in this new manner and were ready to get started. Several matters must be addressed during this phase and there are many matters involved. Mutual gains bargaining (also known as principled negotiations, interest-based bargaining, integrative bargaining, or win-win bargaining) focuses on the interests of the two parties instead of the positions. Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Joel; Kochan, Thomas; Wells, John.
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