Wage negotiations - Solidarity lays out its store

[Dave A]

Solidarity is already laying the ground for this year's round of wage negotiations. Justified or not, there is something of a chicken and egg problem here. Each increase is inflationary and one would hope that everyone will be doing their bit to keep in line with government's inflation targets.

Clearly, corporate top management's penchant for personal self enrichment over the last few years isn't going to help the cause of business much in these negotiations.

Solidarity says the scene this year is set for significantly larger salary increases for South African workers than last year.

The trade union attributes this to the fact that the inflation rate has exhibited a continuous upward trend since the beginning of 2006.

Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans said increased food inflation, which currently stands at more than 10 percent, is a particularly worrying aspect.

"We anticipate that 2007 will be a year of strenuous negotiations, partly because of higher worker demand due to deteriorating financial circumstances, and partly because large increases in the remuneration of top management lead to friction in the wage negotiations process.

"Companies will have to start telling their workers that alternatives to the infamous share option scheme are being investigated. If companies do not act in a more transparent manner this year, the discontent and impatience of workers could make for extremely arduous negotiations," Kleynhans said.
full story from Business Report here

[Snoopy_inc]

Hrm.... how about an article on how to negotiate?

That would be something i would read

[Dave A]

First lesson - always so no to the first offer.

[Graeme]

Negotiations

Been there, done that. Second aspect is to find out how far away the next election of that union's officials is. Third - what would an arbitrator award?

Much more. This is a real art.

[Snoopy_inc]

Hrm... Maybe a short guide on what to expect going into a negotiation and what kind of attitude one should have.

From the kiss scream kiss attitude to the counter offer/negotiate

[Dave A]

I have always managed to get on quite well with trade union officials. Perhaps this is because I tend to seek opportunities to get to know them at a personal level.

I seek areas of agreement first, and then list areas of disagreement before we start discussing the merits of each particular point.

Ultimately there are entirely predictable stages in negotiations. The first step is the laying out of the stall. Lots of posturing and "nonnegotiable" positions.
After that follows a long sequence of jockeying for position. Very much a case of probing for strength and weaknesses. A sort of chess match.
After some time of this it is always a good idea to take a break somehow. Contrive a lunch, dinner, tea or whatever else you can to take a break from serious discussion and kind of just mingle. At this point the main role players will have identified each other and will huddle in the corner and probably get more business done in five minutes then you have for the previous five hours/5 days.

You return to the meeting and magically all agreements are made and settled just about as quickly as someone can write them down. Often this is less to do with anyone actually agreeing to all aspects, and more to do with the departure flight time to the next big thing.

What can I say - it would be great fun if it wasn't all so serious.