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CUTTING EDGE COMMUNICATION68. Unions and Collective Bargaining

Video Guide and Script

CUTTING EDGE COMMUNICATION © Seven Dimensions www.7d-tv.com

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PROGRAM 68: Unions and Collective Bargaining video 8 minutes

Work together and communicate. Achieve common goals.

Synopsis Tammy isn’t sure how she feels about striking over pay and conditions. Collective bargaining, as

Carol points out, is when employers and employees meet to discuss the terms of their collective

agreement. Marcus tries to persuade Serena that the collective agreement for Cutting Edge staff is

fair; however Serena is unconvinced – noting that there is a picket going on. They realize that Casey

is picketing Cutting Edge because Marcus and the staff forgot the anniversary of her pet ferret’s

death. Marcus and Serena call staff together to discuss the problem, with the aim being

“communicate, not escalate”. Meanwhile Carlos practices bargaining for better work conditions

with “Sanjay” (Dion). Marcus placates Casey by promising that the office will henceforth

commemorate Hercules’ life.

Key Learning Points Unions and Collective Bargaining

Don’t Do

Don’t be uninformed Understand your rights at work

Don’t bully and complain Be clear about your position

Don’t be uncompromising Allow for some flexibility

Don’t be unreasonable Negotiate carefully


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Discussion Questions

1 What is collective bargaining and is it useful?

2 Discuss who belongs or has belonged previously to a union? Discuss the benefits.

3 What do you understand about the role that unions play?

4 If you’re in a non-‐unionized workplace, how did this come about?

5 Why might unions and employers attract negative perceptions?

6 What are the positives that unions bring?

7 What types of industries and jobs threaten the work structures and collective bargaining positions that we currently experience?

8 Are unions and collective bargaining still relevant with more and more people working in casual / short term contractual situations?

9 Would the world progress if anyone simply represented themselves?

More to Discuss Discuss this quote. Find other key points to discuss in the PowerPoint Slides.

Work together and communicate Achieve common goals

Psychologist Eve Ash


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Activities Activity 1 RESEARCHING AND LEARNING Gather and hand out some company collective bargaining agreements (try for a range from different industries).

• Draw up a table on a whiteboard and note what they have in common and where they differ.

• Discuss why this might be the case (take into account the different industries, state of the economy, growth sectors and so on).

Unions and employers need a starting point where there is goodwill. What do you think this entails? For example:

• Avoiding unfair labor practices (either side might resort to this tactic) • Agreeing on give and take • Nominate some other areas where goodwill can be generated.

Activity 2 NOT TOO BAD AT ALL

Discuss how well your organization pays and provides benefits to staff. • Are there published or agreed award rates for your roles – and if so is that what you are

receiving? • Discuss things like training, access to support, career mentoring, meals, extra time off. What

might this be worth in $ value? • Discuss the offset factor for other aspects of your role – experience in unique company or

role, prime location, access to transport, great culture – and whether this compensates for lower income.

Activity 3 PLEA BARGAINING AND GRIEVANCES Have some fun with role-plays: 1. Divide into pairs and practice, as Dion and Carlos did, an enterprise bargaining agreement. One

of you be the slightly unreasonable employer, the other is seeking a renegotiation / improvement of conditions. Swap roles and note what works (both in terms of what’s asked for, what’s agreed to and how best to couch an argument.).

2. Set up a grievance scenario and assign roles of employer, union, and aggrieved parties to try and resolve the issue. Invent a scenario that relates to your industry. After the role play: • Was there a satisfactory outcome? • Who was flexible? Who was inflexible? • Who contributed best to solving the issue? • Discuss how grievances can be mediated. Who should be the umpire? • Which grievances should require a union to be called in to bargain with an employer?


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Activity 4 WHEN DO RIGHTS BECOME ENTITLEMENTS? A job is no longer a “job for life”, which means that very few people are in a position to develop entitlement mentality concerning their right to a career. A better way is to consider your rights and then see how these weigh up against your responsibilities as an employee. (Do the same for your employer.)

• Discuss some examples of “entitlementality” – why might this syndrome develop? (It can occur for both understandable and unfounded reasons.)

Activity 5 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITY

ANALYZE THE KEY MESSAGES AT THE END OF THE PROGRAM For each item, reflect on your own track record and consider how you might approach collective bargaining and negotiations in the future.

UNIONS AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

• Don’t be uninformed

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• Don’t bully and complain

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• Don’t be uncompromising

_________________________________

_________________________________

• Don’t be unreasonable

_________________________________

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• INSTEAD: Understand your rights at work

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_________________________________

• INSTEAD: Be clear about your position

_________________________________

_________________________________

• INSTEAD: Allow for some flexibility

_________________________________

_________________________________

• INSTEAD: Negotiate carefully

_________________________________

_________________________________


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SCRIPT 68: Unions and Collective Bargaining 8 minutes 17 seconds Opening animation and Cutting Edge Communication logo SUPER:


Eve Ash

Psychologist FULL SCREEN TITLE: UNIONS AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING BARNEY: (VO) Unions are a (100%) means for a group of workers to be able to have a voice to their employers. Sometimes they don’t see eye to eye on working conditions and that’s why there need to be things called ‘Collective Bargaining Agreements’ – agreements between the employer and the employees. FULL SCREEN TITLE: 1. Understand your rights at work TAMMY: (VO) Would I ever (100%) go on strike? I don’t know. We (VO under image of striking workers) stop working and we stand outside and hold a sign... (100%) But if nobody else does it, I don’t want to do it. SERENA & MARCUS SERENA: (Fierce whisper) We cannot have this. We cannot have a strike. We cannot have people with placards on the street in front of our business. MARCUS: (Low tone) We have… we have covered just about everything in our Collective Bargaining Agreement. I don’t know what it possibly could be. We treat our employees very fairly. CAROL: Collective bargaining is when the employer and the union get together to discuss the terms of their agreement. SERENA & MARCUS SERENA: I’ll tell you what’s NOT in that Collective Bargaining Agreement… MARCUS: What is that? SERENA: …is deciding (VO under Marcus demonstrating the swinging pendulum to decide to fire someone) who to fire by a little thing that goes like this. (Marcus points to the answer from pendulum; Serena sinks head in hands) I hope you haven’t been using those techniques lately. MARCUS: Not out in the open. Serena closes her eyes in despair. Vision continues. SAM: (VO) I see a union as a double-edged sword. (100%) On the one hand, a union is very handy, because you don’t want to be taken advantage of by an employer, so it should guarantee a base amount of rights. However, unions can often abuse their power so that it gets to the point where people are getting so many benefits for very little work. (VO under vision of Cutting Edge building) I think here at Cutting Edge, (100%) we don’t really need a union because we have minimum wage laws, so I think that’s plenty. MARCUS & SERENA SERENA: Casey is, I think, the darling of the workplace. MARCUS: Well, why would she have strike signs in her office? SERENA: I don’t know. Does it have something to do with the ferret? MARCUS: Hercules? SERENA: Everyone’s always talking about that ferret. MARCUS: We missed the anniversary date of the ferret’s death. Vision of Serena and Marcus continues


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SANJAY: (VO) I personally am in charge of the union here at Cutting Edge. (100%) I’m not exactly sure what we do, but I do know it does give me more control over things and it is the one area in which I’m able to have (vision of team meeting; Sanjay sits with nose in air) some power over Carol and Marcus, which is so sweet. TEAM MEETING Marcus addresses team while Casey is making protest posters MARCUS: We, as a group, uh… from time to time need to get together and discuss what’s on our minds. There… there may be some dissatisfaction within the ranks. And we have a Collective Bargaining Agreement in place that covers a lot of the issues and items and ways to discuss our issues and problems. I just want to make sure that we can talk it out. (Serena nods furiously in agreement, Casey continues cutting paper). SERENA: Yes, I agree. I think it’s very, very important that if anyone for any reason has any sort of difficulty with the workplace of any kind (Casey handles a ‘WE HAVE RIGHTS’ page) that we can discuss this and talk it out and solve these problems without making it into a huge to-do. SANJAY: Well, as union rep, I resent that. We are here as a unit. If we have something to say, we come to you as a unit, not one on one, because we know how crafty you can get. And I personally would like to say, Casey, I’m very proud of you for taking the initiative for doing this whole thing and bringing it to our attention. FULL SCREEN TITLE: 2. Be clear about your own position TEAM MEETING Barney looking in on meeting BARNEY: There’s nothing positive about collective or bargaining. SANJAY: There’s every positive about collective bargaining. It’s what we need to get our fair share of our rights in this place. SERENA: OK. Let’s communicate and not escalate. MARCUS: Can you please voice your opinion? CASEY: First… SANJAY: (whispers encouragement) Go. CASEY: (Whispering to Sanjay) Thank you. (To the group) I would like to say… (she picks up placard, turns the words to audience) that ferrets are people too. (Sam sinks head in hands) SANJAY: Yeah. Wait, what? CASEY: And when your company deliberately dismisses the anniversary of your ferret’s death… (indicates new placard) I smell a rat. SANJAY: I move to a motion to have her removed from this meeting. SANJAY: I for one would never strike at work, for the only reason that once you strike, you have to stand outside with pickets and sort of say, like, sort of slogans, and there’s nothing more pedestrian. BARNEY: Many collective bargaining agreements prevent the employer and the employees from going on strikes, or having a lock-out. Unless there is unfair labor practices, which is, to me, why you would go on strike. FULL SCREEN TITLE: 3. Allow some flexibility SANJAY: There must be give and take by both sides in any contract worth the paper it’s written on. Slide to CARLOS & DION DION: So, what are some of the things you would like from Sanjay as the union rep? CARLOS: More pay. More money. DION: Alright. CARLOS: Vacation. Vacation. DION: More time? CARLOS: Insurance. DION: OK. So, better insurance. CARLOS: Yeah. DION: So now that you have those type of things… CARLOS: Awards. I want trophies too. DION: More recognition? CARLOS: (Emphatic): Yes.


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DION: OK. And anything else? CARLOS: How about a nice, pretty partner in the reception? DION: No. DION: You can’t ask for that. CARLOS: No? TEAM MEETING Casey still assembling placards MARCUS: Let me make sure I have this clear. The signs that were drawn up for the strike were because we missed the anniversary death date for Hercules? CASEY: Mm-hm. (Indicating new placard) It’s unfair. And it’s time for change. SERENA: (Looking at placard) I do have to point out, however, that there are two rats and it says “We smell a rat”. So, just kind of from a … BARNEY: That’s a good point. SERENA: …proofreading point of view … BARNEY: You’re gonna have to do this (He steps in and rips off one rat image from the placard; Casey is horrified) SERENA: Yeah. SANJAY: Yeah, get rid… Yeah. SERENA: Yeah. There. That’s one rat. “Who’s the rat?” It’s obviously that rat. (Indicates specific rat on the placard). MARCUS: We will make sure that we honor the anniversary death date… SANJAY: No. That’s you. MARCUS: …for Hercules. SERENA: Hercules. CASEY: So my posters worked? I fought for the rights of my ferret. It really means I am a number-one mom! FULL SCREEN TITLE: 4. Negotiate carefully

BARNEY: (VO) Grievance procedures. (100%) You have a problem with the business you’re working for, the employer, an employee. This is usually laid out as to how you are going to relate this grievance to the company. And it usually extends into arbitration. CARLOS & DION DION: (Mimicking Sanjay) “Hello, I’m Sanjay. What would you like?” CARLOS: Sanjay, I want more money. DION: OK. CARLOS: I want more vacation. DION: Alright. CARLOS: I want more insurance. And I want… What else do I want? DION: Recognition? CARLOS: Yes. Recognition. DION: (Mimicking Sanjay) Alright. Well… CARLOS: Recognition. DION: Over the past two years, as you are aware, we have increased our insurance policies. CARLOS: OK. DION: (Mimicking Sanjay) Now, what I can do is I can petition for recognition for you. CARLOS: OK. DION: (Mimicking Sanjay) We should have Employee of the Month. CARLOS: OK. DION: (Mimicking Sanjay) And maybe the person gets an extra vacation day for each Employee of the Month they receive. CARLOS: OK. TEAM MEETING SERENA: I think this was great teamwork. MARCUS: Wonderful SERENA: I think we all came together and communicated… MARCUS: That’s correct.


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SERENA: …extremely well, and this is how we can address our issues. MARCUS: I’m glad we were able to get to ‘Yes’. DION: (to Casey) This union stuff is fun. CASEY: (Smiling nervously) Mm-hm. SERENA: (Shaking hands with Casey) Thank you. CASEY: (Happily) Thank you. Thank you, Marcus. (Casey shakes with Marcus, Sam shakes hands with Serena). MARCUS: Thank you very much. SANJAY: Ahh. Don’t get so close. Finale with music and key points Casey righteously assembling placards at team meeting DON’T be uninformed INSTEAD: Understand your rights at work Casey holding up “Ferrets R People 2!” placard DON’T bully and complain INSTEAD: Be clear about your own position Carlos & Dion practicing bargaining DON’T be uncompromising INSTEAD: Allow for some flexibility Serena shaking hands with vindicated Casey DON’T be unreasonable INSTEAD: Negotiate carefully FULL SCREEN GRAPHIC UNIONS AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING ü Understand your rights at work ü Be clear about your own position ü Allow for some flexibility ü Negotiate carefully SERENA: (VO) And this is how we can address our issues. (100%) We do not need… (Barney steps in to steal pens). BARNEY: Excuse me. (He is whispering whilst collecting pens and paints) I want some … I’ll grab these. SERENA: Barney, what are you doing? SANJAY: Wait, what are you doing? CASEY: Ah… BARNEY: (Taking the marker pens and paints) Well, you guys are done with your strike. SERENA: Uh… BARNEY: I like these colors. 7D logo © Seven Dimensions


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10/28/15'

1'

Program 68 UNIONS AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

CUTTING EDGE COMMUNICATION

CUTTING'EDGE'COMMUNICATION'©'SEVEN'DIMENSIONS'''''''''''CREATED'BY'EVE'ASH'''''''''''WWW.7D=TV.COM'''


Eve Ash Psychologist

UNIONS AND COLLECTIVE BARGAINING



CUTTING EDGE PEOPLE

•  Who did you see in this program?

•  Who would picket and who would negotiate?

•  When it’s a question of negotiating rights, there can be lots of disagreements

•  Both sides usually have strong expectations so progress is often slow, unless people talk openly and constructively and actively seek resolution

Unions and Collective Bargaining




DON’T be uninformed

•  Don’t assume you know – make sure you’re familiar with employment laws

•  Whatever you feel about unions, you should at least know what’s required of you at work, and what you’re entitled to from your employer in return

INSTEAD understand your rights at work

•  Take steps to be informed so you are not exploited – get the balance right

•  Collective bargaining is when the employer and the union get together to discuss the terms of their agreement

•  Know that while you’re employed to “give”, there’s certain rights you’re allowed to “take”


DON’T bully and complain

•  Don’t exaggerate or escalate – this can work against you – instead communicate openly and factually

•  Don’t demand and insist unrealistically – be informed about what the laws are, and start from there

INSTEAD be clear about your position

•  Be clear – have in mind what you can and will not do and be mindful of what management will ask for

•  Many collective bargaining agreements prevent the employer and the employees from going on strikes, or having a lock-out unless there are unfair labor practices



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10/28/15'

2'


DON’T be uncompromising

•  It should not be all one sided – there should be give and take on both sides

•  Don’t expect it to all go your way without effective research on what is possible

INSTEAD allow for some flexibility

•  Consider all your needs and if there’s areas you can give (some) way on

•  See what you can extract by way of concessions in return

•  Your flexibility might prove a golden opportunity later



DON’T be unreasonable

•  Don’t be totally unrealistic – it signals that you’re only prepared to take into account your side of the arrangement

•  It is a red flag quality to be inflexible and unreasonable (whether you’re an employer or employee!)

INSTEAD negotiate carefully

•  Treat yourself and the other party with respect

•  Inform yourself of the options available before a discussion

•  Show how you can lead the way while making it possible to strike a deal




“Getting to yes” can be quite difficult for both sides at times, but definitely worth the pain



Don’t& Do&

Don’t be uninformed !  Understand your rights at work

Don’t bully and complain !  Be clear about your own position

Don’t be uncompromising !  Allow for some !exibility

Don’t be unreasonable !  Negotiate carefully

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