Are you sure these are MOCK negotiations?

I am learning SO much here at summer school. There is a well of knowledge to draw from, and the water is terribly refreshing. As an college student and summer intern with AFSCME Council 13, I have a lot of opportunities to learn this summer, but this week has been a great resource for equipping me with an enormous amount of background knowledge - and it isn't over yet! I tried to sign up for some of the more fact-oriented classes in order to gain a framework of knowledge with which to understand a lot of union dynamics. So, I signed up for Employment Law, Labor Law, and Collective Bargaining.


Let's take a look at Collective Bargaining. At the heart of the union movement, understanding the fundamentals of collective bargaining is essential to being able to work with people who are directly affected by its power. The very first thing we talked about was the meaning of collective bargaining. Of course, there are dictionary definitions for it, but collective bargaining means something different to each of the people who are affected by it. For me, collective bargaining is the opportunity for two or more parties to discuss issues which they have in common with one another in order to reach a consensus on the best way to resolve those issues regarding all parties involved. My definition sounds much like the one a dictionary might give, but that comes from my analytical nature (which I learned a small bit about in my leadership skills class, but that is another story). To the other students in my class, collective bargaining meant a great deal of different things. What is your definition of collective bargaining?


Anyway, I want to get to the most important part of the class: contract negotiations. Having been present for a portion of the contract negotiations at AFSCME Council 13, I know more about the process than someone who has never had the opportunity to witness it. However, my knowledge is still greatly limited. So, taking collective bargaining has been a great way for me to understand more of the process. Especially when we started to role play. Our instructor, Claudia Schacter-deChaber, definitely knows that you learn more by applying and doing than just sitting in a chair taking notes. Her enthusiasm for the subject matter helps a great deal as well.


At the moment, Claudia has us divided into two groups, management and union, to hold a mock negotiation. We've been meeting outside of class to define our requests and formulate our strategies. Today, we met at the bargaining table to begin our negotiations. After a brief moment, we went to caucus. Even though very little felt like it got done today, the process was intense. And I don't mean like camping, either.


Negotiating is HARD. There is a lot of stress between parties as they lay out their needs and wants, abilities and limitations. Everyone has to be formal and polite, but also assertive and aggressive at the right times. As if that weren't enough, during caucus, members of your own team need to discuss issues at length to reach an agreement before presenting a unified stance. Requests for clarification. Questions about our needs. Disagreements about how much we can give and take. Voices get raised in excitement, but sometimes in anger.


All this left me thinking: are you sure these are MOCK negotiations? It felt real, but that is the point of role playing. This is the best way, short of witnessing or taking part in an actual contract negotiation, to learn what needs to be done and how to get it there.


In the course of our learning process and our excitement, we forgot some key notions and had to be reminded of them. At the same time, we remembered a lot of things that we had learned in the previous two days of class and were able to apply them to our bargaining. It's a developing skill at this point, but a quickly evolving one.


The hands-on approach is incredibly effective. While collective bargaining has the largest scale example of hands-on learning, the method is used in my other classes as well through hypothetical situations which force us, the students, to apply the knowledge we are learning to choose what is the best course of action in specific types of cases.


I cannot stress enough how much I am learning. I applaud and thank our teachers for this week. And my fellow sisters, too, for sharing their experiences to educate all of us.