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Lesson Plan One: Collective Bargaining
11th & 12th Grade
2 class periods and 1 homework assignment
Standards Compliance
Introduction.
CA Standard: Listening
& Speaking 1.6 - Use
logical, ethical, and
emotional appeals that
enhance a specific tone
and purpose.
Collective bargaining is one of the pillars of the many laws
passed in America beginning in the 1930’s to give workers more
rights on the job and to establish clear understandings between
workers and management as to the day-to-day running of the
workplace. The skills required include how to negotiate and
make a deal, understanding when to stand firm and when to
compromise, and are valuable skills in all aspects of our lives.
CA Standard: Listening
& Speaking 1.4 - Use
rhetorical questions,
parallel structure,
concrete images,
figurative language,
characterization, irony,
and dialogue to achieve
clarity, force, and
aesthetic effect.
CA Standard: Speaking
Applications 2.1Deliver reflective
presentations.
CA Standard: Reading
2.3 - Verify and clarify
facts presented in other
types of expository texts
by using a variety of
consumer, workplace,
and public documents.
Objective.
Students will learn some basic principles of collective
bargaining by taking part in a simulated negotiation. As union
and management representatives of a hospital, they will
prepare their positions and then meet face to face with the
“other side.” They will then consider the importance of these
kinds of skills in their daily lives.
Tools Required: Computer, Internet access, printer.
Vocabulary.
Collective Bargaining is the process of negotiations between
employers, supervisors, and representatives of workers, like a
union. Negotiations usually cover issues including wages, working
hours, working conditions, safety, and benefits (such as health
care, overtime, paid holidays, sick leave and maternity leave).
A Union is an organization of workers, with elected officials, that
represents them at their place of work.
A Negotiator is someone who tries to reach an agreement with
those representing a different point of view, usually on behalf of
other people.
A Strike is when employees shut down a place of work by walking
out. It is considered by many to be the workers’ ultimate threat.
A Lock Out is when management closes down the place of work.
This can be considered the bosses’ ultimate threat, especially
when there are “scabs,” workers willing to replace strikers.
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Collective Bargaining: Day One.
Introductory Activity
5-10 minutes
Pose the following questions to your students: “What are some situations in your lives
when you have to work out a deal with your family or friends: who picks the TV
program, what kind of pizza to order, or what movie to go to? Who gets their way, and
how do they get it? Do they use threats, promises, or taking turns?” Record their
responses on a blackboard or large piece of chart paper and keep this list for later.
Mini Lesson
10 minutes
Pose the question: How do employers and workers agree on the things that go into
work contracts? What are the issues that you think each side, employers and
workers, are most concerned about?
As the students are brainstorming answers, record their responses on a blackboard
or large piece of chart paper in two columns – The Employer and The Worker (what
each wants). Keep these lists for reference for later. Explain to the students that over
the next two days, they are going to role-play both sides trying to agree on a new
contract for hospital workers, and that this process is called collective bargaining (you
might want to point out that teachers’ unions use collective bargaining with school
districts to establish your working conditions).
Explain that they are about to listen to and watch an MP4 file about a recent
controversial state law passed in Wisconsin and a short clip of students bargaining.
Individual Research
30 minutes
Now have the students download the MP4 file at …………………………….
Have them watch the footage and/or listen to the voices.
Print and hand out Student Worksheet: Collective Bargaining (page 3) for students
to use in their Individual Research, instructing them to consider the questions using
the indicated web sites and to make notes that they will use in their homework
assignment.
Conclusion
5 minutes
Have the students come back together as a group. Ask them what they learned about
the things that can make a collective bargaining successful. Explain that tomorrow
they will role play a collective bargaining situation. Split students in half—one side
will be the union representing employees, and the other side will be management.
Hand out the appropriate sheet (union or management) to each side and instruct
them to read The Collective Bargaining Fact Sheet for their side (page 4 or 5) for
homework. Instruct them NOT to read the other team’s fact sheet since in real life
negotiations, one side will not be able to predict what the other side is planning.
Name________________________________
Date__________________________________
Student Worksheet:
Collective Bargaining
For each question, find an answer by visiting the recommended websites or better yet find
your own websites and share them. Write 3-4 sentences answering each question based off
what you read on those sites.
 What are some of the basic rules and aims of collective bargaining?
Collective Bargaining Tips
Collective Bargaining FAQ
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
 Do you think that the situation in this article was a win/win situation?
Collective Bargaining Can be Win-Win
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
 What is your opinion about the events in Wisconsin?
Collective Bargaining Rights
_______________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
If you have time, check out other pages on these sites or find your own sites as well.
If you discover websites that helped in your research, send them to us at
ianruskin@theharrybridgesproject.org and say “Lesson Plan Sites” in the subject line.
Also let us know if any of the sites that we have supplied have shut down. Include your
name and your school’s name and we will add your information to the Education Project!
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UNION Collective Bargaining Fact Sheet (for Union Students only)
A collective bargaining session is about to begin. You have been elected by
your coworkers to represent the Hospital Employees Union, which includes
625 employees at Getwell Hospital. Your union members are certified
nursing assistants (“C.N.A.”s), laboratory technicians (“lab techs”), radiology
technicians (“radiology techs”), pharmacy technicians (“pharmacy techs”), food service, and
housekeeping workers. Your issues are: l) Wages; 2) Medical Benefits; 3) Health and Safety; 4)
Child Care. Your goal is to negotiate the best wage and benefit package you can for a one-year
contract with the Getwell Hospital for your coworkers.
WHO YOU ARE
This is an extremely important bargaining issue to your union membership.
The average wage of your members is $20.00/hour, and many employees
Issue 1: WAGES
are having a hard time paying all their family bills every month. Getwell
Hospital’s past contracts with your union have not kept up with inflation in
consumer
prices or with other hospitals in your region. You want the new union contract
to make up for this. You have read the NMC’s Annual Financial Report (they own your hospital),
which says that the stockholders received higher dividends on their shares last year. You feel that
the company should be sharing its profits with the workers whose labor creates the profits! While
your goal (confidentially) is to get at least a 5% increase in wages from management, your first
demand is a 10 percent wage increase, or $2.00/hour for every worker.
Getwell Hospital has provided health care services at no charge for all
employees and their dependents on-site at the Hospital, or any of NMC’s
Issue 2: BENEFITS
hospitals around the nation. However, Getwell management recently
informed the union that the cost of providing these health care services is
expected to increase 12-13% next year, or almost $500,000. (.125 x
$533/month = $66 each month, and multiplied by 625 employees x 12 months/year = $495,000).
Rumors have been circulating that NMC/Getwell wants to make the employees pay for this
(alleged) increasing insurance cost by deducting this $66 each month from your paychecks. Your
union members want to maintain their current 100% company-paid family medical insurance at
the hospital.
Accidental “sharps” injuries from syringes (needles), scalpels, test tubes,
and blood-drawing devices are a serious hazard for all healthcare
workers, from janitors (housekeeping) to direct caregivers, both during
and after use. There are more than 25 blood-borne diseases that workers
can contract from exposure to sharp objects that contain body fluids or blood, including HIV.
Recently, a housekeeper was struck while closing the lid of a sharps disposal container that was
full, and last year a nurse contracted HIV from a used needle that did not retract properly. To
comply with Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) rules on exposure to blood-borne
biohazards, the union wants management to set up a labor-management Sharps Safety Training
Program to establish both accident prevention and product selection programs. The cost of
employees planning and attending this training on a continual basis will be $10,000 a year.
Issue 3: SAFETY
Many of your union members have young children and feel strongly
that the hospital should provide an on-site, not-for-profit child care
Issue 4: CHILD CARE
center. The high cost and lack of available high-quality childcare make
life extremely difficult. You estimate that the cost of an on-site facility to
be
less than $100,000 if the hospital renovates existing vacant space, and if
the employees who enroll their children pay a fee to cover the teachers’ salaries and supplies.
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MANAGEMENT Collective Bargaining Fact Sheet
(for Management Students only)
A collective bargaining session is about to begin. You will be negotiating with
the Hospital Employees Union, which includes 625 employees at Getwell
Hospital. The union members are certified nursing assistants (“C.N.A.”s),
laboratory technicians (“lab techs”), radiology technicians (“radiology techs”),
pharmacy technicians (“pharmacy techs”), food service, and housekeeping workers. Your issues
are: l) Wages; 2) Medical Benefits; 3) Health and Safety; 4) Child Care. While you want to attract
and retain the best employees, you need to stay within Getwell Hospital's budget. The Board of
Directors of the National Medical Corporation has instructed you to avoid spending over $2
million of new money on improvements in wages and benefits.
WHO YOU ARE
Wages will be the most important and expensive issue you negotiate. The
average wage for an employee in the bargaining unit is $20.00/hr. Each
employee works 40 hours x 50 weeks = 2,000 hours per year; $20 x
2,000 hours = $40,000 average worker’s wages per year. Therefore, each 1%
wage increase for each worker = $400 per year (or $8/week x 50 weeks), and multiplied by 625
workers = $250,000 total cost to the Hospital. For the first round of the negotiations, your
management team will offer a 2% “cost-of-living” wage increase to all the workers in the Hospital
Employees Union bargaining unit ($0.40/hour raise). This will cost the hospital a half million
dollars. Considering these uncertain economic times, you think this is reasonable.
Issue 1: WAGES
Getwell Hospital has provided health care services at no charge for all
employees and their dependents on-site at the Hospital or at any of NMC’s
Issue 2: BENEFITS
hospitals around the nation. This currently costs the Hospital an
average of $533/month for each employee in the bargaining unit.
However, you have been advised by NMC headquarters that inflation will
increase the cost of providing these benefits, and you think it is reasonable for the employees to
share this cost burden. Therefore, you want the employees to start contributing $66/month to
the Getwell Hospital Employees Family Health Care.
Accidental “sharps” injuries from syringes (needles), scalpels, test
tubes, and blood-drawing devices are a serious hazard for all
healthcare workers, from janitors (housekeeping) to direct caregivers,
both during and after use. There are more than 25 blood-borne
diseases that workers can contract from exposure to sharp objects that contain body fluids or
blood, including HIV. To comply with Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) rules on these
hazards, management will not provide training to all, but will select the most qualified workers
and managers to form the “Sharps” Safety Labor-Management Committee required by OSHA, to
review accident prevention and product selection.
Issue 3: SAFETY
The union is requesting a childcare center at the hospital.
Management believes that childcare is the personal responsibility of
the family, not the employers. Furthermore, you estimate that the
cost to build, staff, and equip a childcare center will range between
$250,000 - $500,000. Plus, wouldn’t having the children so close to the workplace become a
distraction? You are also concerned that employees who don’t have young children might be
upset that they would not receive a comparable benefit.
Issue 4: CHILD CARE
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Collective Bargaining: Day Two.
Introductory Activity
5 minutes
Lead a short discussion about their preparation last night. Do they think that they have a
good understanding of the issues and good arguments to support their position? Explain
that the students are first going to meet with the rest of their team to plan their overall
approach to today’s beginning round of collective bargaining, and then negotiate with the
other team.
Split the Class in Half
10 minutes
Have each side discuss with their fellow negotiators (Union or Management):
 The plan that the team has for negotiating
 How the four issues relate to each other
 How much compromise or confrontation to present in this first round
Have each team elect one person to present each issue. For instance, the union will have
four presenters, and then the management will have four presenters.
Collective Bargaining: Round 1 15 minutes
Meet face to face with your labor or management counterparts and present your proposals.
Give clear reasons for your point of view while also listening to theirs. Try to establish
common ground and take some agreement from this first negotiation, even if it is only in
small details. Make sure both sides have a chance to present a proposal for each issue.
Have all students take notes on the Negotiations Worksheet (page 7).
Break into Groups and Discuss
5 minutes
Report your progress and compare yours with that of the other team. Where are your
strengths and weaknesses as a group? How much common ground did you all find? Discuss
what you will propose in the second round of negotiations on all four issues. Choose new
people to present on each issue.
Collective Bargaining: Round 1
15 minutes
Meet face to face with your labor or management counterparts again and present your
second round of proposals. Give clear reasons for your point of view while also listening to
theirs. Encourage students to find some kind of compromise. Tell them that if they can’t,
the union will have to strike (and lose their wages) and the company will have to shut down
(and lose money). Have students take notes on the Negotiations Worksheet (page 7).
Conclusion
5 minutes
Discuss with the students what they have learned about collective bargaining. Is it easier or harder
than they expected? Have they discovered any new skills that are helping them? Discuss why
agreement was or wasn’t reached. How much did they get of what they wanted? Referring to
the lists from day one, did they discover any unexpected priorities for either the workers or
management, and have they found any new ways to negotiate in their own lives?
TEACHER’S RUBIC: PRESENTATIONS DURING BARGAINING
Encourage them to consider the negotiating skills they’ve practiced the next time they have
a disagreement, and to remember these concepts when bargaining in a future job!
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NEGOTIATIONS CHART – for everyone
Issues
Union
Proposal
#1
Management
Proposal #1
Union
Proposal
#2
Management
Proposal #2
Tentative
Agreement
1.Wages
Average=$20/hr
.(Cost formula:
1% increase x
625 workers =
$250,000)
Cost:
Cost:
Cost
Cost:
Cost:
Cost:
Cost:
Cost:
Cost:
Cost:
Cost:
Cost:
Cost
Cost:
2. Medical
Benefits
3. Health and
Safety
Cost:
4. Childcare
Center
Cost:
Cost:
Cost
Cost:
Cost:
Total Cost:
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TEACHER’S RUBRIC: PRESENTATIONS DURING BARGAINING
Adapted from http://dlc.k12.ar.us/Wendy.Bryant/Oral%20CommPDF/
Monologue%20Rubric.pdf
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This Lesson Plan was developed by Ian Ruskin, Director, The Harry Bridges
Project, and Education Consultants Kara Hunter and Karen Mowrer.
Special thanks to Linda Tubach and the
UTLA Collective Bargaining Education Project, 2010.
Made possible with the generous support of
and many other organizations and individuals.
Thank You!