Transcript Document

INTEREST BASED PROBLEM SOLVING
(IBPS)
Does the Statutory scheme in BC support IBPS?
Is IBPS new; or is it simply basic principles of effective
problem solving?
Initiating IBPS in collective bargaining and during
the term of the collective agreement?
STATUTORY FRAMEWORK
… As stated previously, labour legislation in this
Province … is premised on an adversarial
relationship. The right to engage in collective
bargaining, backed by the power to invoke
economic sanctions necessarily pits labour against
management. We believe that, because there will
always be a divergence of interests between labour
and capital, the continuation of an adversarial
component to the legislation is necessary.
However, we also believe management and labour
must engage in a more fluid and adaptable
relationship than that envisaged by the traditional
bargaining model, to achieve work place change and
improvements on an ongoing basis that will be to the
mutual benefit of the employer and employees and
the Province.
(Recommendations for Labour Law Reform – 1992)
…
labour
legislation
should formally
acknowledge the value and importance of
ongoing consultation and cooperation … By
its nature, labour legislation encourages an
adversarial relationship.
That is not
necessarily undesirable.
xx x
In finding the balance … we recognize that it is
in each party’s interest to build a viable
enterprise while at the same time preserving
their right to freely negotiate the division of the
economic pie created by their joint efforts. Put
another way, while labour and management
might argue over how the pie is divided, they
should be working together to bake a bigger pie.
(Recommendations for Labour Reform – 1992)
Section 53 of the Labour Relations Code
Section 2 of the Code
2.
(a)
(b)
(c)
The board and other persons who exercise powers
and perform duties under this Code must exercise
the powers and perform the duties in a manner that
recognizes the rights and obligations of
employees, employers and trade unions under this
Code,
fosters the employment of workers in economically
viable businesses,
encourages the practice and procedures of
collective bargaining between employers and
trade
unions
as
the
freely
chosen
representatives of employees,
(d)
(e)
(f)
(g)
(h)
encourages cooperative participation between
employers and trade unions in resolving workplace
issues, adapting to changes in the economy,
developing workforce skills and developing a
workforce and a workplace that promotes
productivity,
promotes conditions favourable to the orderly,
constructive and expeditious settlement of
disputes,
minimizes the effects of labour disputes on
persons who are not involved in those disputes,
ensures that the public interest is protected during
labour disputes, and
encourages the use of mediation as a dispute
resolution mechanism.
Section 53 of the Code
(4) The purpose of the consultation committee is to
promote the cooperative resolution of workplace
issues, to respond and adapt to changes in the
economy, to foster the development of work
related skills and to promote workplace
productivity.
(5) The associate chair of the Mediation Division must
on the joint request of the parties appoint a
facilitator to assist in developing a more
cooperative relationship between the parties.
Section 11 of the Code
“bargain collectively in good faith and
make every reasonable effort to
conclude a collective agreement”
Hey-Way’-Noqu’ Healing Circle for
Addictions Society, BCLRB No. B414/95
• disclose information which is necessary to
foster rational, informal discussion thereby
minimizing the potential for unnecessary
industrial conflict
• Duty to disclose
1. obligation to make unsolicited disclosure
2. requests for information
Health Employers Association of British Columbia,
BCLRB No. B393/2004
(Leave for Reconsideration of BCLRB No. B415/2003)
•Parties cannot afford to ignore each others concerns
•Encouraged to engage in a form of continuous problem
solving between rounds of collective bargaining.
•Section 53 indicates wide range of topics to be
discussed
•Interest based bargaining assumes that common
interests of employers and employees are greater
than their different interests. Not always the case.
•IBPS requires a cultural shift – change in mindset.
•Not just in collective bargaining – day to day.
IBPS new?
There are elements of interest based and traditional
bargaining that overlap
Interest
vs.
Traditional
state interests
give positions
•vague
•stuck on position
•Problem solve asks questions,
probe, reframe to understand
concern
Interest
vs.
Traditional
Evaluate options
Review positions
•Wasting time on
unworkable solutions
•Gradual adjustment
of position
•Successful outcome based on flexibility
Interest
Traditional
Evaluate options
Exercise power
•Unrealistic to assume power will
not be utilized
•Must be used wisely
•Sharing information
•Focus on issues not personalities
•Conflict not necessarily bad
•Letting conflict surface and allowing
parties to vent may be the catalyst to
initiate IBPS
Initiating IBPS
In Mediation
•summarize issues
•do not review positions initially
•creates active listening
•joint sessions
•limited note taking
•stop producing paper
Fairness
Open and Objective
Committed to Process
Understand the issues
Sensitive to concerns of group
Enthusiastic about the process
Determined to reach a consensus
•Focus on the institutions mission or purpose
+ accept
- reject
? discuss further
Communication and Trust
•Collective bargaining examples
http://www.lrb.bc.ca