CDA assists or leads the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements for its clients. To facilitate the evolution and implementation of a custom negotiation strategy, CDA works with a client’s executive leadership team in developing bargaining philosophy and related goals, well before the bargaining process begins. CDA begins by working with clients to determine a negotiation strategy including discussions of goals of that contract, overall client goals, identification of internal equity issues, any existing or potential compression issues, and other issues of importance to CDA clients.

Chief Negotiator

CDA serves as chief negotiator for clients negotiating collective bargaining agreements. CDA has been considered the go-to management negotiators for employers who seek an alternative to being represented by labor and employment lawyers at the bargaining table. CDA assists clients with every aspect of collective bargaining agreement negotiation. We help clients with ground rules, negotiation of all articles of the contract, research regarding comparables, compensation work, drafting contract language, and finalizing contract. We also assist our clients with the mediation and/or arbitration process as needed.

CDA is also available to support clients at or away from the bargaining table in a negotiation support capacity. CDA provides flexibility to support our clients at the level most beneficial to them.

Contract Language Writing

The development of contract language is a natural result of working in the labor contract profession for a number of years. As much as possible, language must be clear and understandable to the parties with the avoidance of excessively legalized phrasing. However, this must be balanced with insight and knowledge regarding the meaning that certain phrasing has been given by hearing boards and arbitrators. Collaborative drafting of contract clear and concise language at the bargaining table helps to produce results that are meaningful for the parties, easy to administer and likely to prevent problems of interpretation for the future.

Collaborative & Interest Based Bargaining

Our experience has shown that identifying issues and concerns of both the employees and management, analyzing those issues, and then working to find solutions has proven to be the most successful approach to gaining agreement. While CDA sometimes does not use “interest-based bargaining” in the pure definition of the term, the style most commonly employed is centered on trying to identify key issues and interests of the parties. This includes forcing oneself to step back from situations, focus on objective criteria for settlement and look at issues from the other side’s point-of-view. Although the collective bargaining process can be adversarial, the preservation of positive long-term relationships is a high priority. A collaborative approach in the long run helps to preserve that relationship.