Labor–Management Partnerships for Public Transportation, Volume 1: Toolkit (2015)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

6C H A P T E R 2 This research shows that cooperation or partnership in transit systems contributes to the suc- cess of both management and labor. However, leadership turnover on both sides and other fac- tors cause constant fluctuations in partnership actions and effectiveness. A mutual plan which focuses on joint activities can sustain and promote partnerships without compromising the collective bargaining process. Commitment to Work Together Just as periodic amendment and ongoing administration of the collective bargaining agree- ment prompts the parties to use their advocacy and strategic skills, periodic amendment and administration of a partnership plan reinforces, for management and union, their interdepen- dence and potential for joint accomplishment. If exercised with confidence and common sense, each side—from union members to top officers and from street supervisors to the CEO and Board of Directors—can appreciate and come to depend upon partnership behavior to move the transit agency forward. A partnership plan can help focus both sides on areas where they already cooperate for their mutual benefit, diagnose partnership endeavors which are not as productive as they should be, and reveal new areas of mutual benefit and interest where the parties can seek improvement together. An important objective of this research and its products is to diminish the temporal fluctuations in cooperative behavior. By evaluating their relationship periodically in terms of the partnership, each side can gain strength which will give the partnership more staying power and make it institutional—less dependent on the personal tendencies of individual leaders or the particular issues of the moment. Non-Binding Umbrella Document In order to make institutional progress, it is necessary for both management and labor to commit their plan to writing, if only to establish times and a description of the actions they will take. However, the last thing any labor–management relationship needs is yet another forum to litigate. A Charter is recommended because it encompasses, but does not, by itself, compel the parties’ cooperative endeavors. If used as intended, the Charter should help to re-orient the management and union’s cooperative approach to workplace improvement and, then, periodically bring them together for a re-examination or renewal of their partnership with different challenges and different people involved. This idea should be helpful to any labor– management relationship, whether the existing level of partnership is sparse or abundant. Labor–Management Partnership Charter

Labor–Management Partnership Charter 7 The Charter is intended as an umbrella, an aid. Full-bore activities, even those which are cooperative in genesis and in function, may require written, enforceable agreements of the type labor relations professionals understand. For example, where the parties determine to fund and operate a workforce training and manpower development project for certain scarce occupations, which are to be in their mutual interest, that project itself should be depicted in a detailed and binding agreement, for the understanding and protection of all involved. Finally, this non-binding Charter is novel in the setting of collective bargaining, but it is hoped that it will be adopted widely in the transit industry. 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 security 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 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. Alternative Terms for Labor–Management Partnerships Labor–Management Partnership is one possible term but not the only term acceptable or con- sidered most appropriate by all transit managers and union leaders. Survey results show that most survey respondents, from both management and union, think it is a positive term. But a few respondents commented that partnership may not be an appropriate term as it might sug- gest compromise of union’s independence and/or management’s prerogatives. Management and union leaders can choose a broadly acceptable term for their partnerships. Several alternative terms suggested by survey respondents are • Labor–management cooperation • Labor–management coordination • Labor–management goals

8 Labor–Management Partnerships for Public Transportation CHARTER DOCUMENT PARTNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PLAN The parties share common commitments to improve: the public transit service they provide; the quality of life at work and [insert other shared goals, interests, or objecves that the partnership is intended to achieve]. We have determined that specific changes to meet these shared goals, and others as well, will be best accomplished cooperavely by management and labor representaves. In order to expand the number of cooperave projects and to enhance the representaves’ success in carrying them out, we will take the following specific steps. 1. In joint meengs of union and management representaves to be completed by [insert one date for compleon of 1a., 1b., and 1c.]: a. Idenfy exisng joint or cooperave programs; b. Evaluate each, then take steps to improve those which funcon and either abandon or modify those which do not; c. Establish or revive at least one joint program which does not exist or is not presently in use. 2. Ulize the following measures in establishing the partnership: a. Include top officials from union and management; b. Include lower level officials from union and management ; c. Include workers from each operaonal area who are not union officials but recognized as successful by both sides; d. Obtain from each side facilies and resources to defray the costs of establishing the program; e. Follow up by documenng and adopng (by specific agreement, where appropriate, and contractual amendment, where necessary) one or more specific partnership projects with clearly stated wrien goals, specific allocated resources and measures of progress for purposes of future evaluaon. 3. Assure connuaon of the partnership by the following steps: a. Meet regularly in conjuncon with exisng labor management meetings or otherwise, to review progress and discuss problems or changes which may be required; b. Focus on measurable objecves and on obtaining resources to carry out partnership programs; c. Expand the partnership program wherever consensus may be achieved; d. Renew the partnership program upon the request of either party by convening a meeng as oen as agreed upon but at least every two years; and e. Recognize that strong teaming, problem-solving, and decision-making skills are necessary to sustain successful partnership projects; and, subject to financial resources and at the opon of the pares, engage a neutral professional facilitator to provide focused workshops as needed to ensure that partnership parcipants are equipped to apply those skills. The partnership program is not a provision of the collecve bargaining agreement and will not be enforced through grievance, regulatory or judicial complaint. Rather, it is a voluntary program which depends for success upon mutual commitment and ongoing renewal. Specific partnership acvities may be reflected or referenced in the collecve bargaining agreement or enforceable side agreements, but, in general, partnership projects will be voluntary in nature. _________________________________________ ______________________________________ (Name/Title of Management Representave) (Name/Title of Union Representave) _________________________________________ ______________________________________ (Signature/Date of Management Representave) (Signature/Date of Union Representave)