Recognized as an Effective School-to-Work Practice, June, 2000

Helping College Students from Diverse Background Put a Human Face on Business

Teamsters Local Union 688
St. Louis, Missouri

Overview of the Project

For the past sixteen years, business representatives of Teamsters Local 688 in St. Louis, Missouri and staff of Saint Louis University’s School of Business and Administration have collaborated on Helping College Students from Diverse Background Put a Human Face on Business, a project that provides students with an opportunity to actively engage in a simulated labor negotiation activity. Recognizing that many students enrolled in postsecondary undergraduate and graduate management training programs often leave school with little knowledge of the negotiation process or the labor perspective, members of Local 688 and university staff have joined together to lead students through a simulation activity where students assume a management role in negotiating a contract that contains provisions related to safety and health, seniority, holidays and union security. The simulations are highly realistic, using an actual contract negotiated by Local 688 in the past.

At least once a semester, Local 688 business representatives Rich Diffley and Steve Norris are invited into the classroom of Dr. Michael C. Shaner, Associate Professor of Management, to conduct the simulation activity. Students are provided information about the negotiation process, along with a labor perspective of the collective bargaining process. Over the course of several sessions, students engage in face-to-face meetings with Local 688 business representatives in which they are required to apply management skills learned through their training to negotiate a contract that meets company objectives, yet addresses the needs of labor union and the workers they represent. The purpose of this activity is to present graduate students with "real-world" examples that will broaden their perspective by putting a "human-face" on the issues that impact the quality of lives of people working for the companies they will one day lead. This activity has also been particularly useful to students from other cultures where labor movements are just beginning to emerge.

Local 688 serves approximately 10,000 Teamsters throughout the St. Louis area, representing members employed in such areas as route delivery, snack and bakery drivers, warehousing and distribution, manufacturing, and vending. Approximately one-third of Local 688’s membership are employed by United Parcel Service (UPS). According to Clint Zweifel, Research and Education Director for Local 688, job growth for drivers of all types and warehouse workers has been particularly good, while members involved in the food processing industry have experienced below average growth and job losses in some areas.

The Need

All too often, the level of instruction that students in business training programs receive about the collective bargaining process is through human resource textbooks that only provide a management perspective. As a result, most students fail to gain an understanding of the labor perspective, leaving many with the impression that unions represent a "barrier" that stands in the way of profitability. Seeing a need to inform future managers about the collective bargaining process, members of Teamsters Local 688 conduct realistic negotiation activities that gives students a firsthand look at the American labor movement in "action" and is accomplished in a way that ensures that their first experience in working with a union had been a positive one.

The need to present a labor perspective to college students in management training grows in importance when considering the impact of future global economies. At Saint Louis University, for example, students representing all parts of the world are taking classes, some whose countries are still in the beginning stages with regard to economic development and growth of a labor movement. Local 688 believes there is a need for these students to better understand the dynamic relationship between profits, productivity, and worker’s rights, helping them to understand the importance of fostering collaborative, instead of adversarial, relationships with labor. Also, for students from developing countries who will one day be doing business in the U.S., it is equally important that they too gain a better understanding of the American labor movement and how it can impact business relations. Currently, nearly half of the hundreds of students who have participated in project activities in the past sixteen years have represented various cultural and linguistically diverse populations, both domestic and foreign.

Meeting the Need

To address the needs of future managers, Dr. Michael Shaner of Saint Louis University engages students in an activity over the course of a semester in which the class is required to create a simulated company. Students are responsible for defining product development, organizational structure, operations, start-up costs, and profit generation strategies. As part of their assignment, students must also negotiate a binding labor contract that contains language about seniority, health and safety, representation, and a host of other issues related to labor relations. To accomplish this aspect of their project, students are required to undergo simulated negotiations with business representatives from Teamsters Local 688. Prior to the negotiation session, business representatives Rich Diffley and Steve Norris provide students with an overview of the collective bargaining process, discussing key elements of contracts and strategies for developing a contract that serves the dual purpose of addressing labor interests and meeting management objectives. Depending on the size of the class, labor negotiations are held at the university or at the offices of Local 688 to further increase the realism of the activity.

To facilitate this activity, students are provided with a simple labor contract from the archives of actual contracts negotiated by Local 688 in the past. Similar to the "real thing," negotiation sessions with stu-dents are intensive, often lasting late into the evening with students and negotiators debating terminology and language that will be included in the final contract agreement. Students experience the stresses of the collective bargaining process, faced with challenges of having to "regroup" to assess their position, develop and negotiate counter-offers and find creative ways to achieve a consensus that results in an equitable solution for both labor and their company. Like any other labor negotiation activity, students face the risk of a "strike," thus forced to utilize all of their creative energies and management skills they have learned through their training to achieve a binding contract that will advance the goals set for their company. The development of a contract as a result of this negotiation process also represents an important part of their grade for this course.

The Results

According to Dr. Michael Shaner, the simulated negotiation activity has yielded a number of benefits to students and has often been the "highlight" of the course. Along with the opportunity to apply skills they have learned throughout their business training, they also are given the opportunity to learn about issues that impact labor and the critical role that labor relations will ultimately have in their company’s ability to be successful. As a result of this learning experience, Dr. Shaner indicates that in many cases, "students are forced to face up to the fact that they have, in the name of competition and bottom line results, neglected to adequately take care of their human assets." In doing so, the simulated negotiations provide students with a "human face" to labor, where students often learn that even the "best laid plans" will give way to the realization that profits and performance are only manifestations of the value placed on those human assets. Dr. Shaner has characterized the impact of Teamsters Local Union 688 on students as "remarkable," and indicates that the local has brought in "real-world experiences and examples to graduate business students from not only the St. Louis graduate are but from around the world."

In addition to the benefits that accrue to the students, both Saint Louis University and Local 688 have also benefited by this project. With regard to the university, the simulated negotiation activities have added value to a course in which a primary instructional goal is to provide students with a realistic experience in designing and establishing a company. It is anticipated that students will look back to this experience as one that has helped them to become a more effective manager as a result of developing an increased awareness and sensitivity of labor issues. For the members of Local 688, the project has provided them with an effective way of reaching out and educating those who need to gain a better understanding of labor issues and the collective bargaining process. As a model of collaboration between a university and a labor union, this project represents one strategy that other locals can employ to create a positive impression on future leaders, not just those in the U.S., but representing other countries as well. As stated by Local 688’s Research and Education Director, "We also have a chance to make an impact on labor relations in other countries who we will be doing business with. It’s just one way we can get people to understand what unionism is all about. When they are sitting across the table from us they are going to have a better understanding of what our goals are—they’re not going to be on our side, but they’ll understand us."

Reflections

According to Clint Zweifel, replicating the simulated negotiations activity is an effort that involves three essential components:

1. A connection with a business or management instructor,
2. A sample contract, and
3. A union member who has skills to coordinate learning activities for students.

Mr. Zweifel encourages other locals who wish to replicate this program to "go into it with an open mind." For members of some local unions, conducting School to Work outreach activities in the academic setting at the postsecondary level might not be seen as a high priority, preferring instead to concentrate their efforts elsewhere. However, Mr. Zweifel argues that union involvement at the postsecondary level is particularly critical because many of the students attending these institutions will be the future managers who will be responsible for providing leadership in negotiating and preparing contracts that fully acknowledge the needs and interests of labor. Also, activities of this nature are particularly important for students who will be returning to developing countries where, in many cases, labor movements are just beginning to emerge. Although the long-term impacts of learning experiences are difficult to measure, it is hoped that students’ increased awareness of how the collective bargaining process can work will help them to avoid some of the strife witnessed during the American labor movement of the 1930’s and 1940’s.

Even though some think that college and graduate level business and management students may not have an interest in learning about issues that impact labor and the negotiation process, Local 688 business representatives Rich Diffley and Steve Norris have found otherwise. As a rule, students are keenly interested in these issues and have always welcomed their involvement in the classroom. Dr. Shaner has also observed a high level of student interest, attributing much of it to Local 688’s business representatives who "like symphony conductors, lead students and teach at the same time."

In a discussion of the three essential components needed to replicate Helping College Students from Diverse Backgrounds Put a Human Face on Business, Mr. Zweifel recommends that interested union members simply pick up the phone and call a business educator who teaches in a postsecondary setting (e.g., community college, technical college, university) and propose a simulated negotiation activity. Most will find that postsecondary instructors welcome this as an opportunity to infuse a greater level of realism in the learning experiences of their students. Once an agreement has been secured, local members then need to meet with the instructor to review a sample contract that can be used for the learning activity. One or two class sessions are typically needed to provide students with an overview of labor issues and to conduct the simulated negotiation activity. Mr. Zweifel recommends that one designated person in the local should assume responsibility for coordinating the program to ensure that:

1. Contacts are made with postsecondary instructors,
2. Sample contracts are developed, and
3. Local members who indicate an interest in conducting simulations have the necessary qualifications to result in a successful learning experience for students.

More Information

For additional information about Helping College Students from Diverse Backgrounds Put a Human Face on Business, contact:

Clint Zweifel, Research and Education Director
Teamsters Local Union 688
300 South Grand Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63103
Phone: 314-658-5731
E-mail: team688@stlnet.com

Related Web Links

Saint Louis University: School of Business and Administration

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