With the right approach, collective bargaining can be a genuine opportunity for an organization to address industry challenges, competitive threats and operational goals.

Because of the operational and financial importance of negotiating an effective contract, we believe that bargaining should command the attention not only of an organization's employee relations or human resources departments, but its senior leadership and executive teams as well.

Moreover, in an era of fast and easy communications and skilled union communicators, it is increasingly likely that the issues that arise at the bargaining table and the rhetoric that accompanies negotiations will travel far beyond the walls of your company and into the public domain. This means that the tone and tenor of your labor relations has a direct and potentially significant impact on your reputation and employee morale.

IRI Consultants works with clients to establish effective negotiating strategies and improve employee relations. Our work helps clients craft a multi-pronged approach to negotiations with a focus on:

• Aligning labor contracts with operational performance
• Building management cohesion and confidence
• Effective problem-solving and interest-based bargaining
• Coordinating employee and stakeholder communications to support the negotiating strategy

Union leaders increasingly are skilled and strategic in making use of the media and allies at other union shops in order to "make an example" of employers during contract talks, and to promote agendas that are often far broader than the contract issues at hand. In modern-day contract negotiations, both sides often "bargain over how to bargain," craft complex communications protocols, and involve mediators and facilitators. Some unions use contract negotiations as a platform to carry their message to other workplaces they'd like to organize.

IRI's approach relies on research, training and the development of an effective labor relations team to direct the bargaining process. We guide clients through creating negotiations strategies that support organizational goals, as well as helping them explore the costs, timing and possible outcomes of different approaches.

Preparation and training are the most critical keys to establishing effective employee relations. Our negotiations services will guide your efforts to:

• Prepare the committee to bargain effectively
• Establish effective negotiations protocols
• Identify alternative approaches to conflict resolution
• Evaluate and cost out proposals
• Anticipate the risks and likelihood of protests and work stoppages
• Establish appropriate contingency plans
• Achieve settlement and ratification

Also key to this process is helping clients educate their workforce and outside constituencies on business realities, in order to help them understand the company's challenges and objectives in crafting a contract that will serve the best interest of the organization and its employees.

Finally, clients have access to IRI's extensive database and library of collective bargaining agreements and union backgrounders, as well as our research service that provides custom reports on union leadership and finances, contracts, negotiations history and NLRB filings.

Through our library, clients also have access to exclusive reports detailing recent bargaining trends, settlements, organizing efforts, alliances and insider information that's valuable to organizations preparing for contract negotiations or facing a corporate campaign.

For more information about Negotiations Support and Research, contact IRI Consultants at info@iriconsultants.com or by calling (313) 965-0350.

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