Page 32 - InterPilot 2020 Issue 1

IFALPA NEGOTIATIONS SEMINAR PAGE 34

PILOTS MAKE IT A SUCCESS
Coupled with the diversity of backgrounds and levels of experience that
the participants brought to the seminar, the high level of participation
and interaction exceeded the Instructors’ expectations and hopes.
The Instructors strongly believe that the debate fostered among the
participants undoubtably added to, if not sustained, the success of the
three days.

In terms of the seminar itself, the first two days included intensive
information covering a wide range of topics including strategic
planning, economic analysis, the negotiation process, and dimensions
of bargaining, decision making, industrial action, and communication
strategies.

The seminar concludes on day three with a five-hour real-time Simulation.
Teams of four each represent “Management” and “Pilot Reps/Unions”.
With tight time constraints, they must finalise an agreement under very
strict negotiation guidelines before industrial action is to commence,
unless an agreement is reached!

Whilst intense and often stressful, the simulation is exhilarating, and the
highlight of the three days for most participants (and certainly for the
Instructors). It does not take long for each of the participants to fall into
their respective roles, wanting to extract more concessions or holding
out to agree less, depending on their perspective as either Management
or Union/Representatives.

Each simulation group is provided with Instructor feedback. The
review covers adherence to the learning from the previous two days,
the strategies employed, what they did well and what they need to be
mindful of in the future, as well as areas needing further development.

FROM THE FLIGHT DECK TO THE BARGAINING TABLE
The seminar captures the dichotomy of roles and experiences pilots
encounter coming from the flight deck to the bargaining table. For
example, while the flight deck represents precision, certainty, and clarity;
the course reveals how laden the bargaining table is with uncertainty,
ambiguity, and shades of grey. This is quickly revealed in the Simulation
sessions.

The objectives and challenges are to bring that order from the flight
deck to the negotiation table. It is only when we near the end of the
bargaining Simulation that we get to see it all come together and, when
it does, it often does so very quickly.

Captain Brian Shury, IFALPA Vice President Professional & Government
Affairs and seminar Instructor echoes the views of the Instructors
that “what makes the seminars especially interesting is the different
jurisdictions participants come from and the various industrial laws they
operate under. No two are the same, making it important to focus on the
practical and theoretical skills of negotiation and not on the particular
legal systems.”