George Gates
is president of Core-R.O.I. Inc., based in Greenville, North Carolina.

Gonna lay down my sword and shield

The title above is a line from an old spiritual that came to mind after recent visits to a couple of paper mills. In both cases, I'd been invited to help labor and management explore the possibilities for improving their working relationship. I've learned, in situations like that, to start by asking people a few simple questions: "What would make things better around here?" usually gets things rolling. Mostly, I listen.

A LACK OF TRUST? What I heard in these two mills from employees, managers, and union officials alike, was eerily similar to what I heard twenty years ago in similar places:

• "This used to be a good place to work, until they started making all these changes."

• "If they would just understand we have to change to survive, they'd quit dragging their feet."

• "They're just out to get what they can take."

• "They don't give a hoot about us-they just want what's best for them."

In short: nobody trusts anybody. And nobody's gonna lay down a sword or a shield until the other guy does-because you sure can't trust them. It would be easy to conclude that nothing's changed and nothing ever will in the way that labor and management approach one another, but a wider view tells a more hopeful story.

In the last thirty years, companies and unions throughout the U.S. have made deliberate strategy and policy choices to support cooperative efforts for their mutual benefit. Some call it "enlightened self interest." To others, it's plain common sense. Management is responsible for innovation to increase productivity and profitability; unions and their members can deliver these outcomes. Unions, on the other hand, are responsible for ensuring the fair and equitable treatment, employment stability, and the economic well-being of their members; management has the power to deliver those outcomes. Neither can fulfill its re-sponsibilities without the other. Cooperation makes sense.

A JOINT EFFORT. Nearly two-thirds of unionized companies in the U.S. paper industry have tried some form of labor management cooperative effort, with more than half reporting tangible benefits for both union and company (see "Dancing with the Bear," Pulp & Paper, October 2000). So what's the hold-up? Why do we still hear the same wary words of mistrust?

My two recent visits struck me: nobody seemed to know how to begin anything different. They were stuck in old and comfortable roles, slinging complaints and insults. As with any change, the hard part is getting started-learning how to begin setting aside the sword and shield.

Cooperation can be supported by "Partnership Agreements" and contractual language, but that won't make it happen. Any joint labor-management effort must be just that: joint. It can't be mandated by one party or demanded by the other. It must begin with the willingness of leaders to proceed cautiously together-if only temporarily-in the absence of trust. (At this point the shield's still in place, and the sword's within easy reach!) There is no program or cookbook. It requires an honest dialogue about what really matters to both parties, addressing a handful of basic questions:

1. What has to happen for us to survive (or continue prospering) here?

2. What's in it for both of us if we can make this happen?

3. What would be going on/not going on around here if it happened?

4. What are your concerns and hopes about trying to make this happen together?

5. What do you want us to do to make this happen?

6. What do you think we want you to do?

7. What can we agree to work on?

8. What's the appropriate governance body to deal with this?

9. How will we "walk the talk?" How will we behave, and hold each other accountable for behaving, in order to move forward?

10. Where do we go next?

This is not an easy exploration or a quick discussion. It requires letting go of past baggage and focusing on the future.Generalizations, happy-talk, and accusations about "attitude" won't help. Both parties must look each other in the eye and agree to change behaviors they may have practiced to perfection for years. Only from this direct and honest dialogue can labor and management find the common ground to support a long-term change in the way they work together. Along the way, they can agree to disagree and still develop mutual regard for each other and their respective institutions. That's when they lay down their swords and shields to reach, instead, for common interests and mutual gain.