Negotiation skills for effective collective bargaining

The promotion of collective bargaining at all levels is key to productive, equitable and stable employment relations. While an enabling regulatory framework and other measures to promote collective bargaining are essential, its effectiveness is often hampered by the poor negotiation skills of the bargaining parties. They may adopt a negotiating style that precludes satisfactory outcomes. More often than not, the negotiation skills of the parties are confrontational and undermine trust, which is the foundation of sound labour relations. The Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87) and the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) lay the basis for democratic and stable labour relations. The importance of promoting collective bargaining is enshrined in the Collective Bargaining Convention, 1981 (No. 154) and its accompanying Recommendation (No. 163). The skills, knowledge and capacity of those representing employers and workers' organizations are critical in preventing labour disputes and achieving outcomes and agreements that take into account the interests of all parties. Effective negotiation skills are not merely 'common sense'. They are acquired through a combination of training and experience. The course aims to develop participants' capacities to improve their negotiation skills and therefore to reach satisfactory outcomes for their organizations.