I found that the most frustrating things about the process of making a new contract with a labor union was that there were numerous communication problems. The mediators could not get the story straight on what the groups wanted. For instance, the management mediator told the labor mediator something, and the labor mediator messed it up. We saw this throughout the entire production.
There was fighting between the management members. Some members wanted to give up one thing while the others wanted to take a different approach. This was hard because we couldn't always agree on issues. It was hard to make a decision when people are disagreeing all the time.
To management it seemed that the labor union didn't want to change at all. It was "My way, or the highway." I found this very difficult. They wouldn't compromise on anything at first, and we knew they just wanted to strike and didn't care about our limitations.
I liked this simulation because it made me feel like I was actually making the decisions for a group. I felt like I was actually a member of the group and had to use problem solving to find a way to make a deal. This inspired me and made me happy. I like the feeling of trying to work something out to improve both Labor and Managements conditions.
I liked it because it was businesslike. It seemed most people took it seriously in the management area. I liked that. It made me feel like we were a team trying to make a difference in our lives and others. It made me feel powerful yet equal to the labor union.
I believe our group achieved a fair settlement because we didn't go over our limits and we also got what we wanted. In the end we saved money and made the labor union happy overall. Management got to keep our employees, and we got to save money.
I am glad we saved money because now we have our workers and we have a little more to gain from our business. Hopefully it will also raise our ranking with the competition and also raise our intake.