District Opening Statement

This is the first time in the history of collective bargaining at PCC that we have an entirely new CTA bargaining team that is bringing a new approach to the collective bargaining process. We have reas your literature and pledge to your constituents ti implement a process that is open and communicative. We respect your approach and hope that we can work together to achieve a contract that is acceptable to your constituents and to the District. As your know, our team represents the Board of Trustees in this process and, just as you receive direction from your advisory board, we receive direction from the President and the Board of Trustees.

Collective Bargaining is always difficult in the public sector because, at times, it can create a very uncomfortable and unnatural environment for us. Ninety-nine percent of the year we all work closely together in a collegial manner on a variety of college issues and, for the most part, are on the same side of the table. When we enter the collective bargaining process we are on opposite sides of the table, but hopefully, not always on opposite sides of the issues. There will be times when we will not agree on issues and may have very different perspectives about situations, but through hard work we can work out alternatives that we can all live with.

In thinking about the process, I would like to propose we consider some basic ground rules:

• Always show respect
• Listen, don't interrupt
• Try to understand and appreciate other's point of view
• Respect the right to disagree
• Separate people from the problem
• Focus on interest or principles
• Share information that is helpful in the decision making process
• Work cooperatively to solve problems
• Set agenda and move through topics as expeditiously as possible
• Stay on topic and be as flexible as possible