Negotiation Role Play & Reflection

This article discusses the role of a union representative in a negotiation role play scenario and reflects on the strategies used. It highlights the importance of negotiation techniques, standing by union members, and being a good representative. The article also mentions the lessons learned and self-assessment of strengths and weaknesses. References are provided for further reading.

MGT5ERN: ASSIGNMENT 3
NEGOTIATION ROLE PLAY & REFLECTION
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Reflection of Member 4: Role- Union Representative
As a part of the simulation exercise, a dispute resolution and negotiation role play scenario
was conducted for which I was assigned the role of Union Representative, Lee Levine.
According to the role play simulation, Lee Levine is the union representative of unionised
labour who supplies bus drivers and employees for a failing bus company named Bundoora
Bus Company. I was well aware that the company has been incurring a severe loss due to
industry deregulation and rising costs and would likely go bankrupt in a few weeks if they are
not able to replace the unionised labours with cheaper non-union labours. In the past, I have
provided the company with several unionised labours and has given me a strong power base
in the company, which I would be utilised if necessary. It is me who has forced the company
to use unionised labour and also negotiate the EBA policies with me directly. In the latest
provision of EBA, the company has added a random drug test to ensure the safety of the
public (Murray et al., 2013). As none of my employees had any problem with it, I agreed to
it, and the first positive drug test case has arisen since the provision.
Casey Connor, one of my most trusted union members, has been tested positive, and I was
called to negotiate the consequences with the HR manager of Bundoora Bus Company, Sam
Smiley. In the role play, I was provided with the background information of Casey Connor
who had a past history of alcohol and recreational drug abuse but has been sober for the last
few years since his marriage. Before arriving at the office where Casey has been detained, I
planned out how to handle the situation and counter the accusations of Sam. Although I agree
that Sam is a good HR manager, I doubt the intentions of the company who is willing to get
rid of my unionised labours and hire cheaper non-union labours. I knew that I had to directly
talk with Casey and find out the details about the situation. Moreover, with knowledge gained
from a drug education seminar, I can challenge the legitimacy of the test process. Checking
the laboratory and testing process is the key to challenge the legitimacy of the test. Although
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Emit Screen Test Kits have an excellent reputation, they can often be unreliable. If the
company has used this process, it will provide me with with a clear ground to challenge the
accuracy of the test. Moreover, the sample urine must have a continuous chain of custody,
and if left unattended, it can further help to challenge the test results. Also, test results only
confirm the presence of certain chemicals in the bloodstream and is different from
impairment from drug abuse. All these combined strategies would enough to hammer the
company hard on the point that the drug test is for passenger safety issues and not detect drug
users.
This is when I walked into the company office with all the countermeasures to challenge the
company management in mind. This counter challenge or accusation technique of negotiation
is beneficial to handle dispute resolution and negotiation situations as they raise a question on
the implementation of policies by the company and they are forced to act defensively (Hao &
Leung, 2014). However, such type of counter challenge technique can only be used if the
challenging body has a power base over the company. As the union representative, I knew
about my power and influence over the company and rightly thought of using the technique
to find an alternative dispute resolution where Casey will not be terminated but provided with
residential treatment and rehabilitation for which the company will be paying an additional
$10,000. I knew about the financial condition of Casey and how he has been a hardworking,
honest and loyal employee for the company over the last few years. Despite having a
chequered past, Casey is now focused on the well being of his family and has recently paid a
considerable amount of mortgage for purchasing a house. This is why, termination from the
job is not an option for Casey and being a good employee; he deserves a second chance. This
is why I used these negotiation techniques to help him out irrespective of the fact whether he
has used drugs or not. However, it is also my duty to find out if he indeed has been using
drugs again and must talk him out of it.
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The negotiation practice and dispute resolution simulation exercise have taught me three
significant things. The first one is the choice of negotiation technique based on the situation
to bring out the best possible outcome for all (Menkel-Meadow et al., 2018). Secondly, I
learned the fact to stand beside your union member irrespective of what the situation is. This
has greatly helped me to be a good team member and build strong relationships with my
fellow teammates and also in my personal life. Finally, this has also helped me how to be
great representative, and this can be helpful in my future professional life where a good
representation of a company is required from me. My negotiation skills and ability to resolve
conflict situations has also increased along with a better understanding of how to negotiate
properly.
This simulation exercise has also helped me with self-assessment and identify my own
strengths and weaknesses. My greatest strength is my ability to come up with counter plans
for negotiation purposes as I was able to quickly determine how to challenge Sam to offer
Casey a second chance in the job. However, my weakness was that I was unable to determine
why the company added the drug test provision in the EBA and should be more analytical to
determine what the outcome and intention of organization might be regarding any change in
their policies. My teammates who played the HR Manager, the employee and me all
performed according to our assigned roles, but the most surprising actor was my teammate
who played the role of EAP consultant and provided the best negotiation techniques and the
extraordinary presence of mind to handle the situation and support Casey.
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Reference List
Hao, J., & Leung, H. F., (2014). Cuhkagent: An adaptive negotiation strategy for bilateral
negotiations over multiple items. Novel Insights in Agent-based Complex Automated
Negotiation (pp. 171-179). Springer, Tokyo.
Menkel-Meadow, C. J., Porter-Love, L., Kupfer-Schneider, A., & Moffitt, M. (2018). Dispute
resolution: beyond the adversarial model. Aspen Publishers.
Murray, G., Lévesque, C., Dufour, C., & Hege, A. (2013). Workplace representatives:
strategic actors of union renewal?. Industrial Relations Journal, 44(4), 340-354.
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