Deadlocking negotiations

"The negotiations during the legislative session were especially bad. There was enough blame to pass out on all sides."

Today is the last day of the current strike the Allina nurses are conducting. Why are they on strike? Because the negotiation talks deadlocked. On another note, the editorial board in the paper cannot understand why our state government cannot get back together and finish the unfinished business from this years session. And why was it unfinished? Because the negotiations became deadlocked. 

When I first entered the land of contact administration and negotiation in the late 1970's, it was up to my first boss to mold this young bean counter into a negotiator. I will never forget his first sage words of wisdom - "We are being paid to craft deals. Anyone can go into a negotiation and deadlock. Professionals go into a tough situation, and walk out with a deal everyone can live with." In my entire career, I never forgot that.

The negotiations during the legislative session were especially bad. There was enough blame to pass out on all sides. But I will say this - the Governor gets the lion's share of it. To throw a "deal breaker" like SWLRT on the table at the last minute was two degrees past stupid. Why? The constituents who sent many of the non-metro representatives to St. Paul were very clear with them - NO MORE LIGHT RAIL! So the Speaker was correct when he said he did not have the votes to pass LRT.

However I will say this - there are times when getting together to negotiate something is futile if a deal is not possible. Back to the nurses for a minute. They don't want to pay high health care costs like the rest of us do. Well guess what? Join the club nurses! This is the future. The "less for more" ObamaCare is going to hit every sector of the country. I feel for you, just like I feel for the rest of us. Sorry to say it, but your strike was for naught. In other words, get back to work and suck it up. Next time, don't vote for the Pied Piper and his empty promises.

As far as our state government is concerned, so long as we have Progressives residing in the Governor's mansion, negotiations might not be in our best interest. Prior to the next session, have some cornerstone issues agreed to in advance. If there is no hope for resolution on these key issues, it makes no sense to meet. In other words, it is a waste of everyone's time and money.

One final thought about the next session. My cornerstone issue is the Social Security fix. If the Governor has no interest in taking this big screw out of the each and every senior who lives in this state, then why meet? If he insists we cannot afford it, then I would suggest he retire the Northstar choo-choo immediately since it cost us $44 in subsidy for each and every round trip ride. End of story.

My first boss was right. Pros craft deals, armatures deadlock deals. But pros also understand one more thing. A no deal is better than a bad deal. Sometimes it is better just not to negotiate the un-negotiable. Instead of walking away from the table, don't sit down in the first place.