Communicating during Union Negotiations

Communications is a critical component of a company's relations with the labor unions representing its employees. Integrating communications planning into labor relations strategy helps the collective bargaining process achieve its goal of assuring fair employee compensation while helping the company compete. Ignoring this vital communications element can result in short-term damage to a company's external reputation and a long-term, perhaps irreparable, rift in employee relations. Like other business processes, such as investor relations, labor relations has unique rules, procedures and legal considerations. Public relations practitioners need to understand the process and work as a team with company labor relations staffers and attorneys. The objective of collective bargaining is to negotiate a mutually agreeable contract. The process begins with the parties in opposing positions and, ideally, ends with compromise. The company communicator's role is to sustain the organization's credibility with employees and other stakeholders and to achieve accurate, balanced news media coverage in an adversarial contest. Before bargaining: anticipate, educate Before labor negotiations begin, anticipate "red flag" issues by understanding the company's bargaining strategy and listening to union pronouncements on its bargaining goals. This is the time for formulate answers to likely media questions, draft position statements on potential areas of conflict and train company spokespersons in media interview techniques. Better yet, begin educating employees on key issues, such as the rising cost of employee health care or the company's competitive position, a year or so before labor negotiations. Backgrounding sessions for union leaders can help ensure that union positions are based on accurate information about the company's financial situation and future prospects. While company officials can prepare for negotiations in the privacy of conference and board rooms, union leaders often must "go public" to mobilize the support of their members. They might use rallies, informational picketing, publicity and even advertising to get their message across. Throughout the labor bargaining process, union leaders use communications to win and sustain the support of their own members. This usually means the union takes the initiative in the external communications arena. The company, however, needs to minimize disruption of its business and maintain relations with investors, customers and other constituencies. So when the news media respond to union saber rattling, company spokespersons generally should minimize conflictk by expressing confidence in the upcoming negotiations, setting the record straight when reporters have inaccurate information, and resisting the urge to debate. Although many reporters are union members themselves, most do not understand the labor relations process and inevitably focus on its adversarial aspects. For example, most unions take a strike authorization vote before bargaining begins. It's a pro forma move that merely gives union leaders the authority to call a strike if talks break down. But members of the news media, ever alert for potential conflict, might report that "union members today voted to strike." During bargaining: provide the facts Negotiations are best confined to the bargaining table. Both sides can be most flexible when negotiators aren't locked into publicly stated positions. Ideally, the company and union should agree in advance not to release details of talks until an agreement is reached. Communications in this best-case scenario are unexciting: "Talks are in progress. ...Company negotiators are optimistic." Bargaining might move into the news media when talks break down. Some unions even use publicity as a deliberate bargaining tactic with a full-scale campaign of news releases, press conferences and other initiatives. …