"a transparent process based on real budget limitations"

"It really is the way of the future," Franklin Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski said of interest-based, or collaborative, bargaining. "It really is the way to negotiate for the 21st century, especially in times of minimal resources." 

Interest-based bargaining requires training, and forces both teacher unions and a town's school officials to decide which issues to address during negotiations together, rather than coming to a negotiating table with set lists of demands. 

The result, said Boston-based negotiations trainer Mary Ellen Shea, is better relationships between towns and unions, and significant and even money-saving changes to contracts.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/education/x1560337199/Towns-teachers-learn-to-negotiate-better#ixzz1fZEUdiUk


In October, the Boston Foundation released a report on interest-based bargaining:

The report, Toward a New Grand Bargain: Collaborative Approaches to Labor-Management Reform in Massachusetts, presents a new, collaborative approach to the bargaining process in place of the current, adversarial tone of contract negotiations. This latest report in the Understanding Boston series was released at an Understanding Boston Forum at the Boston Foundation on Oct. 19, and featured a panel discussion by  labor union, school and Patrick Administration leaders.

Click through to this page to download the report and view a video panel discussion of the report findings.