Question

LBSC, Inc., operates a milk processing plant in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Its union, the Brotherhood of Food Processing Workers (BFPW), represents all nonsupervisory production employees in the facility. The contract between LBSC and BFPW expires in six months, so LBSC must start to prepare for the negotiations. LBSC’s HR department plans to conduct a number of management meetings asking for feedback on the appropriate goals of bargaining, and to ask the finance department to estimate the acceptable cost profile for the term of the next contract. It will gather information on plant average seniority and inventory levels, and forecast customer demand. It will analyze grievances and find out what it can do about the course of other recent negotiations for the BFPW. Its finance department will estimate the costs of one additional holiday and a 401(k) plan. Finally, it will decide how much latitude it will have to make concessions and what will have to be referred to the corporate office before it can be approved. This activity is important because the outcome of contract negotiations can have a major impact on the ability of a company to meet its competitive challenges.
Match scenarios to each of the seven steps management should take in preparing to negotiate.

a. Analyze grievances
b. Gather seniority and inventory into.
c. Determine the authority of the bargaining team.
d. Conduct management meetings
e. Determine cost of a new holiday

1. Establishing Inter departmental contract objectives.
2. Preparing and analyzing data.
3. Anticipating union demands.
4. Establishing the cost of potential union demands.
5. Determining strategy and logistics.

Answer 1

Answer:

a. Analyze grievances ⇒ Anticipating union demands.

In analyzing the grievances of the workers, the company would be anticipating the demands of the unions as these will be based on the grievances of the workers.

b. Gather seniority and inventory info. ⇒ Preparing and analyzing data.

When they gather information on the seniority and inventory levels of the company, they are preparing and analyzing data to have better information on the company that will enable them plan ahead.

c. Determine the authority of the bargaining team. ⇒  Determining strategy and logistics.

Determining the authority the bargaining team has falls under determining the strategy and logistics because it is here that the company decides how they will approach the negotiations.

d. Conduct management meetings ⇒ Establishing Inter departmental contract objectives.

When they conduct management meetings across departments, this is to enable them establish objectives that will cut across departments.

e. Determine cost of a new holiday ⇒ Establishing the cost of potential union demands.

Estimating just how much the holiday will cost falls under the cost of accepting the Union demands and these need to be done to find out how much management can accept from the unions.