Partner | Averting an industrial dispute

Client

Managers and unions in a national transport company

Focus of the work

Five years previously the company had worked extensively on partnership working between managers and unions. A number of senior managers had changed in the period and there was increasing conflict around two issues – the use of agency workers rather than overtime to cover gaps in work rotas and the talk of contracting out of catering services. An industrial dispute was threatened. We were asked to facilitate discussions on the recommendation of the unions.

Formulation

A number of 1:1 meetings were held with key figures from management and unions. Whilst the two issues were at the core of the conflict, there were other factors preventing resolution:

• Attendance at the joint management/union forum by the new managers was patchy and had led to an impression that they did not care about the relationship
• An earlier practice of the forum being used to plan how changes were rolled out in the business had fallen away
• The new managers admitted feeling threatened by the power of the forum to push through change
• Union representatives who were previously supportive of partnership now felt disenfranchised and had become more militant

Intervention

The process took 1 ½ days and involved two facilitators. Each facilitator worked with one of groups in adjacent rooms for the first day then with the groups together on the second morning. The elements of the intervention with the separate groups were:

• An analysis and evaluation exercise to establish all the facts and rumours circulating
• Exploration and challenge of the behaviours driving the relationship conflict
• Refreshing and reinforcing the skills of working in partnership
• Preparation of how each group would put its views and ideas across in the joint session.

The facilitators managed the joint session to build common understanding of the issues facing the company and the unions. The two groups also spent time agreeing options for dealing with the two contentious issues. The fundamentals of working together were also revisited and revised.

Outcomes

One of the facilitators kept in touch with the MD and union convenor over the next six months. They reported good progress and acknowledged whilst they had some way to go the mechanisms of partnership were solid. They cited evidence of this:

• Joint forums were now well attended
• Recent discussions over some health and safety issues had gone smoothly with clear actions agreed
• They had taken time to work out how they would both approach the next round of pay negotiations
• In two disciplinary cases unions noted how open minded and fair the managers had been

They had planned a review day in three months time to keep the relationship on track