As we continue through the process of negotiating the Para Contract and prepare to start negotiating the Teachers' and Food Service contracts, I thought I would share the process again. We all know it starts with negotiations, but after that, it gets fuzzy. Here is a breakdown of how we handle negotiations in Nashua. 

Pre-Negotiations: We start with internal discussions with the negotiating team. We then work on a survey to get feedback from the membership, followed by a membership meeting to discuss the results and get an idea of what the membership is looking for in a new contract. Once that's done, we develop proposals to present at negotiations. 

Negotiations: The next step is negotiations. A lot of time is spent with the other negotiating team with a legal obligation to negotiate in good faith in an attempt to reach an agreement. Each side presents proposals of things it would like to add, delete, or change in the contract. Then the back-and-forth happens. Impasse: If the two sides can't reach an agreement, either side can declare impasse which leads to mediation. 

Mediation: A mediator that both sides agree to is hired to try and get the two sides to reconcile their differences. This typically is done in an all-day session with both sides in different rooms, and the mediator going back and forth, trying to get a deal done. If the mediator can't get the two sides to an agreement, the sides go to Fact-Finding. 

Fact-Finding: Each side presents its last proposal to the fact-finder. The fact-finder then has 30 days to come to its findings, which are released to both sides. However, a fact-finder’s report is non-binding, which means if one side rejects the report, there is no settlement. 

Restart Negotiations: In the rare event that fact-finding is unsuccessful, negotiations are started over from scratch. Any tentative agreements are wiped out and everything is back on the table. 

While this is how negotiating typically works, it doesn't necessarily have to follow this structure. When we negotiated the last teachers' contract, we had two days of mediation, but were unable to finish because mediator became ill. Because we were very close to a deal, both sides agreed to return to negotiations to finalize the deal. Obviously the goal is to reach an agreement in negotiations, but that isn't always possible.