Negotiation is taught in business schools and law schools the world over, but collective bargaining is a unique species of negotiation that requires specialized knowledge and experience. The Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto is one of the few academic institutions to incorporate specialized education in collective bargaining into a professional degree program. Now, in partnership with Lancaster House, the CIRHR is extending the opportunity to benefit from this training to all labour relations professionals, lawyers, bargaining committee members, and union executives and staff.

Through interactive skill-building exercises, participants will learn to:

• Participate effectively as a member of a union or management bargaining committee
•  Use interest-based bargaining techniques to create win-win outcomes
• Meet the legal obligation to bargain in good faith
• Learn techniques to draw out the interests underlying the other side’s bargaining position
• Handle conflict in negotiations with professionalism
• Make the best use of a mediator

Who will benefit most from this program?

• Professionals working in unionized workplaces familiar with collective bargaining (e.g., from previous training or observation) but who have not taken a leading role in negotiating collective agreements.
• Examples include: Bargaining committee members who are relatively new to their role; Junior labour lawyers; Graduates of the Lancaster House–Toronto Metropolitan University Labour Relations Certificate Program