Collective Bargaining

Catalog description

The primary areas of focus of this course are the legal framework of collective bargaining and the factors involved in the dynamic relationship between management and labor. We begin with coverage of the nature and characteristics of the collective bargaining process, which spans many dimensions, such as economic, legal, and psychological. These dimensions also include the implications of personal behavior, the behavior of others, and interactions following from thesebehaviors. Next, we turn to an overview of management / union utilization of traditional and interest-based negotiations. The course culminates with a team-based collective bargaining project in which students engage in a group contractnegotiation with assigned Union and Management teams. The outcome of this negotiation is a negotiated agreement, a process that students analyze and defend with information on costs, needs, and legal requirements. Throughout the course, current topics in the dynamic, political, and ever-changing field of labor relations and collective bargaining are addressed.