Zhejiang trade union collective bargaining competition showcases the wisdom of labor-management communication

On September 24, Taizhou, Zhejiang — The final of Zhejiang Province’s collective bargaining competition for trade unions was recently held in Taizhou. The competition adopted a scenariobased simulation and roleplaying format, in which participants played the roles of the enterprise side and the workers’ side, engaging in negotiations on practical issues such as pay and benefits, welfare protections, and other related topics. A total of 55 contestants from 11 cities across Zhejiang took part in the final. Some of them were themselves corporate managers; after “switching identities,” they stood on the side of worker representatives and reconsidered the balance between workers’ demands and business operations. The competition cases were drawn from real labormanagement incidents, and contestants cited relevant laws and regulations during negotiations in an effort to find solutions acceptable to both sides. Many participants said that competitions of this kind help improve negotiation skills and also allow the methods learned on the competition stage to be brought back to grassroots work. A relevant official from the Rights and Interests Protection Department of the AllChina Federation of Trade Unions said that collective bargaining concerns not only the protection of workers’ rights and interests, but also the stable development of enterprises. Talent cultivation for negotiation should be strengthened through competitions and other means to promote the implementation of the system.