Dan McCray is the Director of Labor Relations Programs for the Cornell ILR School’s Scheinman Institute, where he teaches management and union teams in collective bargaining and contract administration. Before joining Cornell in 2011, Mr. McCray was the director of labor relations and chief negotiator for several large municipalities, where he led negotiations with municipal unions, including law enforcement.
Preparing for Labor NegotiationsCornell Course
Course Overview
This course will help build your skills in the “nuts and bolts” of effective labor negotiations. You will start by identifying the organizational goals central to your bargaining strategy, then see how to move from these business goals to negotiation goals. You'll take a look at the impact of external factors and share your analysis of these factors in a discussion with your peers. Your deep understanding of the collective bargaining agreement, the unit, and the employer will lay the groundwork for success. This course provides a combination of theory and practical applications, down to expert advice on how to manage the administrative aspects of negotiations. Finally, you will choose an appropriate collective bargaining strategy for your organization. Will you take a fostering approach or a forcing approach? And how do you determine which is best? How do you mix the two approaches effectively, and what are the pitfalls you need to avoid? And lastly, you'll evaluate behaviors and styles that make negotiating so challenging. This course includes a negotiation simulation with peers.
You are required to have completed the following course or have equivalent experience before taking this course:
- Collective Bargaining
Key Course Takeaways
- Identify the organizational goals central to your bargaining strategy
- Prioritize the bargaining objectives you will focus on during labor negotiations
- Choose the appropriate collective bargaining strategy for your organization or situation
Download a Brochure
Not ready to enroll but want to learn more? Download the course brochure to review program details.How It Works
Course Authors
Harry C. Katz is the Jack Sheinkman Professor of Collective Bargaining at Cornell University’s ILR School and the director of ILR’s Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution. He received his doctorate in economics from the University of California at Berkeley. After teaching at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Professor Katz came to ILR in 1985. His areas of expertise include labor-management cooperation, labor relations, and contract negotiations.
Who Should Enroll
- Union leaders and staff
- Managers and supervisors in unionized environments
- HR managers
- Attorneys and general counsel for unions or companies involved in contract interpretation/enforcement
- International professionals working with US-based organizations
- Senior executives
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