Hiring a professional negotiator...

[Lucky2]

I was wondering if anyone here has hired a professional to negotiate their union contract. What their price was, their education, etc. At the moment, our union is very weak in this area. We have an executive staff made up of firefighters same as you or I, with only an A.A. level education. While they are negotiationg with an individual holding a Masters from Harvard. Needless to say, we are on the losing end....often. So, I'm working on researching the subject so we can hopefully file a motion when the time comes to negotiate again. Thanks for the help!

[barlaam1]

First thing I would do is look for a lawyer who works with Union issues and labor issues. That's about all I got. Sorry if it doesn't help much

[sfd1992]

I would explore all options through the IAFF, and your state organization first, before hiring a professional negotiator. IAFF District VPs and District Field Service Reps are good resources for this.

Your dues are paying for them, use them.

Also, send your local leadership to ALTS, and any other IAFF or state educational conferences/seminars. Lots of what you need to know is covered.

http://www.iaff.org/et/alts/alts_2011/

In my experience, very few locals hire someone to do their negotiations, that's the job of your elected leadership. With a little education in how the process works, a Firefighter with an AA can negotiate a contract, even against a Harvard Grad.

Good Luck.

[JayDudley]

Think of it this way......If you pay by the hour for this person he/she would drag the negotiations out to make money. If you do hire one use a flat fee and get plenty of references. Good Luck. Lucky2 send me a message as I've sat on both sides of the table and maybe can help if your local???

[Lucky2]

Thanks for the info guys. Jay I'll definitely keep you in mind when the time comes. We're just stuck with less than intelligent elected leadership at the moment. For instance, we counted 11 "I don't know" answers out of a possible 13 in a single meeting. Give us the strength! But our own damn fault. Thanks again.

[FIRE117]

From what I understand, some other unions bring in outside negotiators.

You may want to check with other unions, such as the Teamsters and see if they can recommend any negotiators.

At a prior place of employment, I was a member of the Machinists Union local. We had our own in-house negotiators from the local leadership.

While there are pro's and con's of bringing in outside negotiators vs. using the local leadership, outside negotiators have more experience in negotiations.