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The Transport Worker June 2012
10
traininG
Bargaining training
DELEGATES from Hillside, Otago Rail
and Port Otago branches attended a
two day training course in mid April
entitled ‘Organising for Bargaining’. This is
the first time that the RMTU has used this
particular course, and from the response
from attendees it appears to have been a
resounding success.
The course is built around a simulation
of a wage negotiation in a medium sized
business. Participants take the roles of
management and union negotiation teams.
Day one is spent covering the theory of
collective bargaining and de-bunking some
of the widely held beliefs and myths about
negotiations. The simulation can then
last for the whole of the second day, with
time put aside to brief and de-brief the
participants.
Strategy & tactics
The premise is that negotiations, or
the face to face encounters at the table, are
part of a wider process – that of collective
bargaining. Collective bargaining includes
preparing for negotiations, identifying
aims and objectives, gathering claims and
supporting information, and agreeing on
strategy and tactics in pursuit of these aims.
In other words, if the parties don’t do
their homework and figure out what they’re
trying to achieve then this is a recipe for
failure.
(l - r) Brian McKay Otago, Tim Spence
Otago and Don Bates KiwiRail.
(l - r) Joe Carson OETT, Rusty Wild
Dunedin KiwiRail and Dave Kearns
Hillside.
In even plainer English: How do
you know whether or not you’ve ‘won’
if you haven’t taken the trouble to work
out what ‘winning’ looks like?
The theme of the workshop is that
the process takes organising and that
bargaining is part of organising not
the other way round. So, recruiting
members, setting up a strong delegate
structure, having efficient communications
(yes, that means social media and
texts as well as notices boards and flyers),
educating members, building a strong
union profile through branded clothing,
regular meetings and encouraging activists
is basic organising – and it all helps us
when we engage in collective bargaining. A
well organised union has more bargaining
strength than one that is poorly organised.
Experienced team
Our delegates worked hard through the
exercises on day one. We were fortunate to
have a great deal of experience in
the room. One table of five delegates
had 142 years’ experience
between them! Also, many of our
Dunedin delegates had been active
in the campaign to save jobs at
Hillside and Hutt Workshops and
were part of ‘Keep Kiwis Working’.
They understood the value
of building an organis-ation – on
and off the job.
It helped also that
the Hillside, rail and port
branches were all going to be involved
in collective bargaining this
year.
By day two the teams were ready
to assume their roles and put the
theory into practice. Brian McKay was a
frighteningly good advocate as the
CEO of a medium sized engineering
firm and Stu Johnstone made
a first class union organiser. The
simulation was scarily realistic and
Wayne Butson and John Kerr had
the privilege of eavesdropping on
both parties in caucus. The debates
were fascinating and demonstrated
the high calibre of RMTU delegates.
All in all this was a valuable two
(l - r) Joe Carson OETT, Les Ingram Hillside
and Steve Wilson Hillside.
(l - r) Ken Latherby, Stu Johnston Hillside
and Marty Duncan KiwiRail.
days’ work. We’re already reaping the
benefits in the understanding our delegates
are demonstrating in current bargaining
rounds in KiwiRail and Port Otago.
Thanks to everyone for their energy and
enthusiasm.
(l - r) Lyall Kelpe OETT, Pat Tutty OETT, Larry Beattie
Hillside and Stu Johnston Hillside.