The Zinnia and Service Workers Local H-56

A Collective Bargaining Simulation
© John W. Budd, 2008

This is a collective bargaining simulation I created for use in labor relations courses. Student teams need to renegotiate the collective bargaining agreement (contract, for short) between The Zinnia, a 300-room hotel in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Local H-56 of the International Union of Service Workers and Allied Employees. Participants must explore the hotel and union websites in order to learn about the environment and their priorities and constraints. Bargaining can take place in person or if the instructor arranges, via e-mail, chat, or instant messaging.

There are now four versions:

  • Zinnia00: The contract expires April 30, 2000 and the economy is booming

  • Zinnia04: The contract expires April 30, 2004 and the economy is in a jobless recovery

  • Zinnia07: The contract expires April 30, 2007 and the hospitality industry is starting to recover, but benefits and energy are expensive

  • Zinnia (Generic Date): This is the default version. It uses the same contract and environment as the 2007 version, but specific dates have been replaced by generic placeholders (e.g., year one, last year)

    In the first three versions, participants should act as if they are approaching the expiration date of the contract. The bargaining environment at that time might be different from today's. Similarities and differences between these environments and their implications for the simulation and collective bargaining should be explored in the post-negotiation debriefing.

    These simulations accompany my textbook, Labor Relations: Striking a Balance (McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2/e available January 2007), but can also be used by other interested instructors.
     

    This page was last modified on December 18, 2007.

    John Budd
    Industrial Relations Center
    3-300 Carlson School of Management
    University of Minnesota
    Minneapolis, MN 55455-0438
    jbudd @ umn.edu     		The Zinnia