Collective Bargaining for Trade Union Representatives Training Course

Course overview

Collective bargaining representatives are expected to turn member priorities into defensible proposals, negotiate with employers who may hold stronger financial or operational data, and recommend settlements that members will accept. The work becomes difficult when pay claims, grading disputes, working-time changes, job security, restructuring and non-pay conditions are negotiated simultaneously. Poor preparation can weaken a mandate, create inconsistent messages at the bargaining table, or leave representatives unable to explain why a proposed agreement is fair, enforceable and worth supporting.

This five-day course develops the practical bargaining discipline required to represent a union effectively in formal negotiations. Participants learn to analyse recognition agreements and bargaining arrangements; gather and prioritise member demands; build evidence-based claims; calculate pay, overtime and allowance scenarios; set mandates, bargaining ranges and walk-away positions; and use interest-based, distributive and problem-solving negotiation methods. The programme also addresses employer information requests, caucus management, proposal drafting, impasse handling, dispute escalation and communication with members before and after settlement.

Participants work through a realistic multi-issue bargaining case involving pay, workforce change and working conditions. They prepare a bargaining brief, cost proposals in Microsoft Excel, negotiate through structured role-play rounds, record agreed wording, and plan a member consultation process. Each participant leaves with a completed Collective Bargaining Action Pack containing a stakeholder map, evidence checklist, claim template, mandate framework, concession plan, draft agreement clauses and a 90-day bargaining preparation plan. The course is suited to experienced workplace representatives and union officers who need stronger technical preparation and table skills before leading or supporting negotiations.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Analyse recognition agreements, bargaining units and procedural rules to define the scope of negotiations
• Construct an evidence-based bargaining claim using member data, employer information and comparator evidence
• Calculate pay, allowance, overtime and grading scenarios in a bargaining cost model
• Set a member mandate, bargaining range, reservation position and concession sequence
• Apply distributive and interest-based bargaining methods to multi-issue negotiations
• Draft clear collective agreement clauses, side letters and settlement records
• Manage caucuses, employer information requests and member communications during live negotiations
• Produce a Collective Bargaining Action Pack for an upcoming workplace negotiation

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Trade Union Representatives — who prepare and present member claims in workplace negotiations
• Senior Shop Stewards — who lead bargaining teams and recommend settlements to members
• Union Branch Officers — who coordinate workplace bargaining priorities across employers or sites
• Full-Time Union Officers — who advise representatives on complex pay, restructuring and recognition negotiations
• Employee Representatives — who participate in recognised consultation and bargaining arrangements
• Joint Consultative Committee Members — who need to distinguish consultation issues from matters requiring negotiation

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have experience representing employees, supporting a union branch, attending consultative meetings, or preparing workplace issues for management discussion. They should understand basic employment relations concepts such as recognition, collective agreements, grievances, consultation and member representation. Familiarity with their own union rulebook, recognition agreement or local bargaining procedure is useful; participants should bring these documents where permitted. Basic confidence reading spreadsheets and performing percentage calculations is assumed because pay scenarios are costed in Microsoft Excel. No legal qualification, prior formal negotiation training, advanced financial modelling or specialist HR software experience is required.

Training methodology

The course combines instructor-led bargaining frameworks with repeated application to a single workplace case. Participants examine recognition and procedural documents, use claim and costing templates, and test bargaining positions in small-team preparation workshops. Facilitated role-plays place teams in union and employer roles, with timed caucuses, information requests, counteroffers and settlement drafting. The instructor provides targeted feedback on mandate discipline, language, evidence and negotiation conduct. On day five, participants convert the case learning into an application plan and complete their own Collective Bargaining Action Pack.

Course outline

Day 1: Bargaining foundations, authority and preparation

• Collective bargaining structures, recognition agreements and bargaining-unit boundaries
• Negotiation, consultation, information-sharing and grievance-handling distinctions
• Union representative authority, member mandates and accountability arrangements
• Reading procedural agreements for timelines, escalation routes and status-quo provisions
• Stakeholder mapping across members, union officers, managers and external parties
• Issue diagnosis using interests, positions, risks and underlying workplace data
• Bargaining preparation checklist and evidence-gathering plan

Workshop: Participants review a recognition agreement and produce a bargaining-scope map, stakeholder map and evidence request list for the case organisation.

Day 2: Building claims and costing proposals

• Translating member concerns into negotiable claims and measurable outcomes
• Member survey design, workplace issue logs and claim-prioritisation matrices
• Employer information requests and data-validation questions
• External comparators for pay, benefits, hours and working conditions
• Pay-claim costing using percentage increases, consolidated amounts and compounding
• Overtime, shift premium, allowance and headcount cost calculations
• Claim papers, briefing notes and evidence packs for bargaining teams

Workshop: Participants build a costed pay and conditions claim in Microsoft Excel and prepare a two-page evidence-based bargaining brief.

Day 3: Strategy, mandates and negotiation tactics

• Distributive bargaining, integrative bargaining and problem-solving approaches
• Best alternative, reservation position and target-setting methods
• Multi-issue bargaining matrices and package construction
• Concession planning, conditional offers and reciprocal trade-offs
• Opening statements, agenda control and proposal presentation
• Questioning, listening and testing employer assumptions
• Caucus discipline, team roles and real-time decision protocols

Workshop: Teams create a bargaining strategy board with targets, reservation positions, package options, concessions and named caucus decision rights.

Day 4: Managing live negotiations and agreement drafting

• Managing employer resistance, delays and incomplete information
• Responding to restructuring, productivity and affordability arguments
• De-escalation language and relationship-preserving challenge
• Deadlock diagnosis, adjournment decisions and escalation pathways
• Recording proposals, counteroffers and provisional agreements
• Drafting collective agreement clauses with definitions and implementation dates
• Side letters, minutes of agreement and dispute-resolution wording

Workshop: Participants conduct a multi-round bargaining simulation, use caucuses to revise their package, and draft a provisional settlement record.

Day 5: Settlement, member engagement and workplace application

• Evaluating tentative settlements against mandates and member priorities
• Settlement recommendation papers and member-facing plain-language summaries
• Member consultation, balloting and ratification communication plans
• Handling rejection, re-opening negotiations and revised mandates
• Implementing agreements through payroll, rostering and line-manager briefings
• Monitoring compliance, interpreting clauses and logging implementation disputes
• Ninety-day bargaining preparation and capability development planning

Workshop: Participants complete and present a Collective Bargaining Action Pack for a live or anticipated workplace issue, receiving peer and instructor feedback.

Tools & standards covered

Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, ILO Convention No. 154 on Collective Bargaining, ACAS Code of Practice on Disclosure of Information to Trade Unions for Collective Bargaining Purposes

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions