One of the most important parts of negotiations is making certain both sides understand the potential cost of a new labor agreement. Here are some tips to follow when working with a union counterpart on costing.
- Determine what data is necessary to share so the union can build its own financial model.
- After providing the information, meet with your union financial counterpart so they understand the specific data you provided and what assumptions were used to develop the data.
- Once your union counterpart has built their model, offer to meet with them to share the results of the costing, focusing on reconciling any differences in the numbers.
- Be certain that baseline assumptions don’t change over time, but if negotiations are protracted and assumptions change, update your union counterpart as often as necessary.
- Remember that the role of the financial analysts is to provide factual information to its constituents and not advocate for certain proposals, however, the financial analysts can be helpful in developing alternative proposals that can meet each sides financial goals.