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1 Volume 1: Toolkit of TCRP Report 181: LaborâManagement Partnerships for Public Transpor- tation, is the principal research product of TCRP Project F-20, âTransit LaborâManagement Partnerships: What Makes Them Work? What Makes Them Last?â The research showed that cooperation or partnership behavior is a desired component of success for both management and labor, success being defined as achieving their respective goals in the transit enterprise. The Toolkit begins by summarizing the benefits of effective laborâmanagement partnerships (LMPs) found in the case studies of six transit systems. The following benefits of LMPs are reported in the six case studies: ⢠Improved communication ⢠Timely decision-making on operational issues ⢠More effective and efficient labor negotiation ⢠Better employee training opportunities ⢠Long run gains in wages and benefits ⢠More productive workforce LaborâManagement Partnership Toolkit : Overview The objective of the Toolkit is to help transit systems establish, improve, revive, or expand their LMPs. The Toolkit includes the following three key components: ⢠The Charter Document ⢠The LaborâManagement Partnership Guidance ⢠The LaborâManagement Partnership Workshop Framework The LMP Charter Document serves as a starting point for management and union leaders to come together to recognize their existing partnership and plan for improvements, or to identify areas to start a partnership. The Charter is intended as an umbrellaâan aid that helps to re-orient management and unionâs cooperative approach to workplace improvement and to periodically bring them together for a re-examination or renewal of their partnership with different challenges and different people involved. More tangible and immediate results, including those which are cooperative in genesis, may require written, enforceable agree- ments of the type labor relations professionals understand. For example, when the parties determine to fund and operate a workforce training and manpower development project for certain scarce occupations, which are in their mutual interest, the project should be depicted in a detailed and binding agreement for the understanding and protection of all involved. However, this Charter is non-binding in natureâsomething that is novel in the set- ting of collective bargaining. While the Charter may be adopted widely in the transit S u m m a r y Volume 1: Toolkit
2 Laborâmanagement Partnerships for Public Transportation industry, management and the union may modify the final paragraph of the draft to make it binding if that is mutually desired. Collective bargaining with binding contracts is widespread in public transportation and accepted by workers, management, and political leaders. The tough negotiations and resulting binding collective bargaining agreements have, over time, come to provide both labor and management meaningful institutional security. This secu- rity should serve as a foundation to build a more effective, consistent, and long-range mode of doing business on both sides. Management and union can achieve that by finding mutual goals and achieving common successes through this non-binding Charter; these successes can be as important and enduring as the deals management and union strike through tough negotiation. The LaborâManagement Partnership Guidance provides a practical reference with spe- cific recommended actions for both management and union leaders. It lists 14 guidelines that have proven to be constructive in the success and sustainability of LMPs in the transit industry. The 14 guidelines are categorized into five groups. Table S-1 summarizes the 14 guidelines. Actions for management and union leaders are also recommended for each guideline. The complete guidance can be found in Chapter 3 of the Toolkit. The LaborâManagement Partnership Workshop Framework has practical training tech- niques for LMP workshop developers. It recommends a framework for workshop develop- ers to develop a cooperative workshop that prepares management and union representatives with essential skills for establishing LMPs. It emphasizes consensus and relationship building Table S-1. Summary of laborâmanagement partnership guidance. A. Improve the Cultural Environment for Partnership 1. Respect the individuals represenng the other party. 2. Design, implement, and sustain effecve communication. B. Priori ze the Best Partnership Objec ves 3. Separate issues between integrave (or win win) and distribuve (or zero sum) ones. C. Advocate the Partnership 4. Establish broad based buy in from all key stakeholders with formality and structure that is made clear to all. 5. Be confident that managers can cooperate with unions yet still continue to defend prerogatives and efficiency. 6. Be confident that union leadersâ cooperaon with management will not compromise membersâ interests. D. Build Strength within the Partnership 7. Outline shared goals and expectaons of the partnership. 8. Align all necessary resources to support the partnership. 9. Require consistent accountability of everyone in the organizaon with a governing or execung responsibility for the partnership. 10. Provide for comprehensive skill building for both union and management throughout the course of the partnership. 11. Provide an independent facilitator, if affordable. E. Make the Most of Events 12. Support stability in union and management leadership and smooth LMP leadership transions. 13. Take advantage of specific successes (e.g., pension fund governance, apprenceship) to build a broader partnership. 14. Take advantage of shared challenges and crises to catalyze partnership agreements.
Summary 3 as well as the adult learning nature of LMP training. Effective cooperation can be achieved through training in particular skills, which pertain to group work and decision-making, and the employing of a skilled facilitator once the parties have acknowledged and committed to adopting the partnership on an ongoing basis. Supplemental Final Report This Toolkit is supplemented by Volume 2: Final Report of TCRP Report 181: Laborâ Management Partnerships for Public Transportation, which documents the research con- ducted for this project. The Final Report describes the research methodology, telephone survey and case studies processes, and intermediate research findings and analyses such as literature review, data collected from the telephone survey, and summaries of the case studies. The research found that management and union in most transit systems have established cooperative efforts in at least one specific area. In many transit systems they have established cooperation in multiple areas. Most common among the reported areas of cooperation are pension governance, skill training, preventable accidents, health and welfare plan, workplace safety, and schedule preference. Existing laborâmanagement cooperation in the transit industry demonstrates a wide range of forms and conditions. The effectiveness of cooperation also varies from system to system. In some cases, effective laborâmanagement cooperation is confined to a specific area or committee; while in other cases, cooperation starts in one area and later spreads to multiple areas within a transit system. Effective and lasting LMPs are found to share some common success factors. From the literature review, survey findings, and six in-depth case studies, the Final Report presents a list of success factors (and caveats) for LMPs. These success factors (and caveats) form the basis for the LaborâManagement Partnership Guidance in the Toolkit. The Final Report supplements the Toolkit and provides a reference for the specific and detailed experiences of LMPs and lessons learned from LMPs in the transit industry.
