The purpose of this forum is for you to have the opportunity to role-play an actual negotiation session with the goal of developing a collective bargaining agreement. The specific topic to be negotiated is related to employee safety.

In this forum, the instructor will divide the class into two teams. One team will represent management and the other will represent labor.

Note: The groups will be switched in Module Five for a similar activity to give students a chance to represent each side.

First, watch the accompanying video to get each side’s perspective on the issue. Your instructor has provided a rough framework of a collective bargaining agreement in the resources section for this module that provides some detail on the issue and how the agreement is currently worded. This will serve as the starting point for your negotiations. After watching the video, each team should immediately research the topic and use the discussion board to collaboratively craft the language in the agreement to favor their position. This initial language must be posted by Thursday of this week at the latest. Then, teams should begin using the discussion board forum as a negotiating platform and role-play a dialogue with the opposing side in order to come to an agreement on the specific language required in the agreement. The object is to rewrite the agreement with wording that addresses the issue in a way that each side is satisfied with the gains and concessions. The collective agreement is a legal contract and should be written with language that reflects that style document. If both sides cannot come to agreement by the end of this module, the instructor will act in the role of mediator/arbitrator and will decide on the final language, which all parties are required to accept. In this event, the instructor will post the final agreement/document in the forum by