AN EXAMINATION OF THE NEGOTIATING APPROACHES OF TEACHERS IN A CONTRACT DISPUTE IN MIDDLETOWN, NEW JERSEY: A CASE ANALYSIS
Public school teachers in Middletown, New Jersey called a strike against the Middletown Board of Education. This case analysis considers three questions related to the strike. These questions are as follows:
What negotiation style did the teachers adopt?
Why did the teachers reject offers made by the Middletown Board of Education and by the Judge overseeing the case?
What mistakes were made by the teachers in the negotiations?
The structure of the above questions indicates a bias by the case writer against the position of the teachers. Stonewalling by the Middletown Board of Education, together with the cooperation of a Judge who refused to find fault with the Middletown Board of Education allowed the law to be used as a weapon in an effort to break the teachers union. The case writer apparently approves of the behavior of the Middletown board of Education and Judge Clarkson Fisher.
Assessing the Negotiating Style of the Teachers
The negotiating style of the teachers can be defined in relation to different models. As an example, one can consider negotiating style within the context of competitive, cooperative, integrative, or composite choice strategies (Levy, 1999). Alternatively, one could place negotiation within the framework of arbitration, mediation, bargaining, or litigation (Fernberg, 1999). Yet another model includes the alternatives of negotiation or persuasion (Levy, 1999). Menkel-Meadow (1999) suggests two approaches two negotiating styles based on outcomes รน "win-win" (problem solving) or "win-lose" (confrontational).
The models discussed above, however, tend to consider negotiation as an alternative to some other form of conflict resolution, as opposed to considering negotiating styles. Jeswald W. Salacuse (1998) suggests that cultural traits define negotiating styles...