"Anyone with a million dollars can turn around and build a pulp mill, but
to make it work, you need good people," says Marvin Waters, a labor relations
negotiator for a large manufacturing company in Birmingham, Alabama.
Waters has learned a thing or two about the value of workers to an industry.
This gives him a unique perspective as he argues for management concerns.
"People are important and the union negotiators know I recognize this,"
says Waters.
Waters is quick to mention he doesn't have all the answers to the
problems he runs into in labor negotiation, but he adds that he'll listen
to what people have to say.
"I never say no on the first time through an agenda," he says. "I listen
and then I'll go through everything step by step and give the person
reasons why we can or can't do something."
Waters feels his calm approach is what has helped him to be successful
in an industry where the stakes are high and tempers can flare.
"The louder they talk, the softer I talk," he says. "You've got to
listen real close, because I might just agree with something you're saying."
Nothing gets accomplished if people get riled up, he adds.
Waters feels it's important to be on good terms with union representatives,
and he works hard to build trust and good rapport with these people.
"As a negotiator, all you have is credibility. You don't have a product.
You get a reputation as a negotiator because you return time and time again
to the bargaining table and see the same people."
"You need to be a people person and you have to be able to counsel and
advise people about the contract, policies and procedures," says Sandi Jackson.
She is a labor relations negotiator for a teachers' union.
"It takes a lot of patience. You have to get along with all types of people."
Jackson says she talks to over 30 people in an average day.
Building a good relationship with union representatives has really paid
off for Waters, who's had a big hand in improving relations with the
union.
"One of the unions I bargain with has 35 representatives and when I started
in the 1970s, the relationship was terrible. Since then, we've gone 11
years without going to the bargaining table and all the issues have been resolved
quite easily, usually in less than two days," he says.
"We've built a relationship, and you can do that any place if you
have the time and the patience."
This improved relationship between management and the unions has been no
accident. It's taken work and a commitment to honesty on Waters'
part.
"Some people think there are degrees of honesty, but I don't. You
need honesty to build trust and rapport with people."
This honest approach has caused Waters to catch some flak at times, and
it's definitely caught people off guard.
"I was sitting at the table one time and the union rep said to me, 'All
you want to do is make money.' And I said, 'Of course we do, that's
why we're in business.' The middle manager almost had a heart attack."
Waters was taken outside and told he wasn't supposed to talk about
profit with the union reps. "I just told him, 'Well, we're going
to now.'"
Waters works for the management side in negotiations, so you can't
say he's impartial, but he says he always tries to be fair. "A good labor
relations negotiator has to have good intentions and a good heart," he says.
"You can't teach people that."
Part of Waters' commitment to good negotiating comes from the fact
that his background is in human resources, so he knows the value of keeping
good people in any company. This proved to be important early in Waters'
career as a negotiator.
"We had a nine-month strike in the late 1970s and I never lost confidence
in the people," he says. "At times I felt like I was standing between the
workers and the people in the corporation, who said we needed to replace the
whole workforce."
With a cool head, Waters hung in there and the strike finally ended. Even
though Waters was working for management, he felt it was the best decision
to back the employees in this case.
"I needed to stand behind them because I'd had the responsibility
for hiring them," he points out.
Waters says the most important part of his job is the prevention of labor
disputes. He does this through education and communication.
"My single most important responsibility is to accurately convey what the
corporation expects from the people and then turn around and communicate to
the corporation what the employees expect -- like a conduit [a channel through
which something is conveyed]," he says.
When it comes to working with so many different people and making sure
everyone has the right information, sharp communication skills are key. "Communication
skills are so important," says Waters. "You can't overdo it."
For Waters, satisfaction in his job doesn't come from winning arguments
at the bargaining table. In fact, he's most happy when he can avoid the
bargaining table altogether.
However, if things do have to go to the bargaining table, Waters sees it
as a challenge and an opportunity to make things better for everyone involved.
"One of the most fascinating things in the world is to take a difficult
bargaining session and turn it into a success," he says.