Interest Based Bargaining Paper

How to Keep bargaining simple and focused on the essential issues.
Many negotiators overload their proposals in the hope that they can be used as “traders” for movement on wages and benefits (or on other items they see as important). In reality, overloading the plate with issues that are at best a medium or low priority simply muddies the water, and makes real change harder. This is an environment when real and focused time can be brought to bear on workplace issues that have great value to members and organizations alike – use this environment to actually dig deep on the small number of important and long-standing issues. Since the monetary side is operating in a much more limited range, there should be time and energy for some of the issues that have been pushed off to the side for too long. …show more content…
No, I did not say start using Interest Based Bargaining (IBB). IBB works for some organizations, and the more power to you. I’m referring to an approach at the table that focuses not just on the positions of each party, but on the underlying reasons and needs of each party, as an invitation to find better and more creative solutions at the table. In times of plenty, positional bargaining seems to end with solutions everyone can live with (even if it does nothing for building the union-management relationship). When times are tough, however, positional bargaining tends to entrench parties in a far more emotional way, often ending in bitter