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Information for Bargaining

Beginning soon after the successful conclusion of negotiations may be the best advice for any contract bargaining preparation and also probably a good method of involving the membership in the process. This certainly is true with respect to data collection and research.

Assessing internal bargaining power

	Surveying attitudes and interests of members
	Setting local union goals
	Preparing for contract negotiations
	Educating the membership

Questions to Ask

	What is the average member's perception of the union?
	Has management acted to deliberately undermine the union (delaying grievances, discriminatory or retaliatory acts against the leadership)?
	Are there any emotional issues that might be turned into action (health and safety, overtime)?

Assessing the External environment

Financial data is critical and few companies share such information unless asked and even then, the union’s right to obtain data is limited. Additional industry data and information on the cost of living often is important in negotiations.

The external bargaining climate always is important. The longshore workers lockout and the UPS strike of several years ago highlighted the public stake in negotiations for high-visibility workers. While it’s easy to overemphasize public relations as a potential bargaining strategy (markets and relative economic power still are the primary factors of bargaining strength), it shouldn’t be ignored, either.

Structural factors in the economy and the emphasis on transnational production have important effects on bargaining outcomes. Most manufacturing states (Indiana included) are experiencing rapid deindustrialization as a result of trade policies. Besides direct job loss that may affect the local union, shifting production abroad reduces the demand for industrial construction.

External politics can be another factor determining bargaining outcomes. The PATCO strike of 1981 illustrated the confluence of public opinion and political power. The air traffic controllers lost their strike despite several years’ worth of intensive preparation. Politics influences the overall bargaining climate through the President’s power to appoint members of the National Labor Relations Board and to the federal judiciary. Among significant decisions by the NLRB in the last administration included a decision allowing some temporary workers to vote in union elections and, extending to non-union workers the right to representation in disciplinary meetings with management.

Requests for Information

One of the most effective tools unions can use to further their bargaining goals is the request for information from employers. What is the justification for obtaining information that the union might use against the employer in bargaining or reveal sensitive data in public?

The collective bargaining process represents "a balance between economic interest and private enterprise on the one hand and community interest, public accountability and social responsibility on the other." The duty to bargain must include information necessary to determine the merits of any proposal. A union also has a right to information to determine whether a contract violation has occurred, even if a grievance has not been filed.

The free flow of financial and operational information is critical. An employer only is obligated to provide detailed financial information in those situations where an inability to pay is claimed. Otherwise, an employer is free to seek concessions without disclosing financial data.

Access to health and safety data under OSHA is more broad under Hazard Communication and Employee Access to Medical and Exposure Records Standards.

If the employer refuses to provide information based on a claim of confidentiality or concerns over burden but fails to demand bargaining over the claim, it may constitute a waiver of the right to raise such issues in subsequent requests.

Limits on the union’s right to obtain information:

	The union must demonstrate that information requested is necessary and relevant.
	Financial data is limited to specific “pleas of poverty”.
	Confidential, classified or proprietary information may be restricted where reasonable alternatives for disclosure are available.
	A request cannot be unduly burdensome.
	Information granted need not be in the form specified by the union.
	The union may be required to pay reasonable costs for duplication.
	The employer need not interpret data.