Unit 2 Discussion with students
respond to two of your peers with meaningful responses.
student 1 discussion
Parties that have unequal bargaining powers can negotiate meaningfully without one party taking advantage of the other by participating in alternative dispute resolution. Continuing on with the litigation process in court can be very lengthy and expensive. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is a way for the parties to come together to negotiate and work things out in a way that both parties will be acceptable to.
ADR can be a voluntary method by the parties, or the court can order that the parties participate in ADR before continuing on with the case in court. Different methods of ADR include negotiation, facilitation and mediation. Participating in ADR can be much quicker and less expensive than going through the full litigation process in court. This process can also be more private with final outcomes being sealed from public knowledge.
The one time I had negotiated with someone who thought they had more bargaining power over me was when I moved out of a rental home. The landlords decided to keep my entire deposit. I reached out to them to find out when I would be receiving my deposit back and was informed that I did not leave a forwarding address. They also stated that they had a more expensive vacuum cleaner than I did and they had to vacuum the carpets an additional time after I moved out. Arguing would get nowhere with them, so I refused to go down that path. I simply printed out the landlord/tenant law for my state and highlighted the applicable information - if no forwarding address is left, they must use the most recent known address (the home that I moved out of); a detailed list of what items need to be cleaned/fixed/etc. must be provided to the renter within so many days of moving out so the renter could have the opportunity to rectify it; deposit must be returned within so many days to the most recent known address; etc. If this procedure is not followed, the tenant can file a claim against the landlord and could receive treble damages. Once I provided that information to the landlords, they were most gracious to return my deposit so they would not have to go to court and pay three times as much.
I think it is always important to note that politeness and professionalism can go a long way. If a person comes in with an attitude or obnoxious behavior, it will more than likely not go their way.
2nd students discussion
How can parties with unequal bargaining power negotiate meaningfully, without one party taking advantage of the other?
Parties can be fair and not think about themselves when it comes to negotiating; a way to keep the negotiation meaningful without one party taking advantage of the other is to always deal in good faith. What it means to have good faith is, to be honest.
Have you ever negotiated with someone who had more bargaining power than you? What were your strategies during the negotiation? Did you obtain your goal by the conclusion of the negotiation?
I’ve been in a situation where I had to represent another associate who was pretty much on the chopping block for company violation. Here I am a union Stewart fighting with store management and risk protection management to help this person keep their job; administration was going in with a three-day suspension or termination depending on what the associate would say, I was able to negotiate with them a write up with no suspension or a three-day suspension to throw out that termination, once my offer was accepted I knew the game would change. I am up against influential people who can do whatever they want with the associate and ignore me, but they didn’t. We were able to talk about it instead of sending it up the chain. I achieved my goal by keeping the associate employed with just a writeup and no suspension.