Originally from ADR and the Law - 22nd Edition

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Understanding interest-based negotiation in the labor relations context is important because, over the past century, traditional collective bargaining has led to adversarial relationships  and an inflexible unionized workforce that trades inflexibilities  for concessions from management.  With international competition driving the demand for improved products and services, organizations need flexibility in order to compete.  They can achieve flexibility in two different ways: either by marginalizing unions or making them a business partner using interest-based negotiation.  This is a cooperative technique that, when combined with other employee-participation strategies, can help to build trust and foster the kind of mutually productive relationship that is needed to be successful in today’s competitive environment.