The agreement is the result of a process when takes place but the disagreement is also a result of the same process. If the initial positions are the same and completely convergent, the agreement is the result of the identity of interests. When, something which is common, the initial positions show differing points, the content of the agreement will depend on how the game among the differences in the negotiation process were articulated. A negotiation process starts because one of the sides at least perceives undesirable effects in a situation referred to the context we are dealing with, labour relations. An undesirable effect can be the absence of negotiation in a certain field, or the dissatisfaction with the previous agreement reached in a previous negotiation process.
For making an undesirable effect disappear or at least change its content to more interesting shapes, we mustn’t attack the effect but its causes. We must make a map of the effect and its causes to carry out modifications, additions or subtractions which finally offer an effect with a different content. When different undesirable effects exist in a process and they are related one another, we must make a map of each and a global map which shows the relation among them. If an undesirable effect is the cause of another at the same time, its modification can have influence on another effect in the map. In the same way, an undesirable effect can be the cause of a desirable one, that’s why the modification of the second and in some cases could change the second one from desirable into undesirable.
The systematic of work at this point consists of:
For the making of maps and the verification of their accuracy there are specifically designed tools to be used. They are easy tools which permit to unify the language and to share information among the participants, at the same time they collaborate on the development of the process. So, at this point, before starting to generate the maps of social talks in the sector of casinos, we will explain in an easy way something about “the topography of the processes” defined by Lisa J. Scheinkopf in her book titled “Thinking for a change”.
The author mentioned above says that we are using this way of thinking when we assume that a thing is the inevitable result of the simple existence of another. The active use of this reasoning means to make speculations about the relations between effects and their causes and vice versa.
The most practical thing to document these speculations ant their final results is the use of diagrams showing the sufficient cause. These diagrams are made form some elements we’ll described immediately and which will be used later to make maps showing the current and future situations and also those showing the transition (the author calls these maps “trees”).
| Entity | |
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An entity is an individual element of the system. It will be expressed as a complete state. An entity can be cause and/or an effect. |
| Arrow | |
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An arrow is an indicator or relation between two entities. The entity on the base of the arrow is the cause. The entity at the end of the arrow is the effect. In the arrow is where we make the assumptions. |
| Cause | |
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An entity or group of entities linked by an “and- connector” that, because of its existence, will cause the existence of another entity. |
| And-Connector | |
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It is an ellipse that it is used to represented the “logical and”. Each entity on the base of the arrow that is captured by the and-connector, must exist in the system in order to make the entities at the end of the arrows exist as effects. |
| Effect | |
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An effect is an entity which exists as an inevitable result of a cause. It is also usual to refer to them as consequences |
| Assumption | |
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An assumption is the reason of the existence of the relation cause- effect. The assumptions underlie the arrows and they are valid or invalid. It can be said that the arrow represents the space that assumption hides. |
| Entry Point | |
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An entry point is an entity that does not have any arrowhead pointing at it. The entry points which appear in squares with rounded corners or which do not present any square (if they are hand- made) are real states. The entry points of squared corners are entities that do not exist yet, these are called injections. |
According to the risk associated to each part of the diagram and to the level of existing agreement between the affected by it, can be good to revise its validity as a whole or the validity of part of it. For that, a series of revision questions are established. The author mentioned before calls them real reservations, there are 6 types:
1. The existence of the entity: it questions the real existence of the entity
2. The existence of the causality: it questions the real existence of the relation cause- effect
3. Clarity: it tries to look for the agreement about if what we are saying reflects what we are trying to communicate to people, including ourselves
4. Additional cause: it suggest the existence of an additional cause, independent the same or greater cause for the effect.
5. Insufficient cause: it suggests the need of a combination of dependent causes for the appearance of the effect
6. Predicted effect: it proves the existence of a cause and/or the existence of an effect by means of a prediction of an additional effect that can be also the result of the cause.
For the construction of the actual reality tree of social talks in casinos, we will try to put in a map the nine questions hypothetically outstanding that have been contrasted with the union side, the management side and the other partners of the project. In the case that in the analysis of two questions a high relation is detected, a joint treatment is made, putting in a diagram the entities and relations in a joint way. The future reality tree is built by means of the addition of “injections” to the actual reality tree, so we think that the relations cause-effect to achieve the final result are guaranteed.
Question 1: So what the negotiation process of general field can be viable, it is necessary that the sides integrate within their own cultures the negotiation as a value and an active within their negotiation processes
What is necessary for the side to consider something as an active? That it deserves the investment, in economic terms or the cost of opportunity, that supposes to acquire it. Using other words, it must have a return, it must produce more than it costs. In our case, it is a case of cost of opportunity, in the sense that the collective negotiation is already made in management field.
So the question to solve will be what is the additional return that the negotiation of sectorial field will produce for the sides?
The answer to this question is in the analysis of the other 8 questions and the ability to find new elements of real value for the parts (specially management side) to put on the table associated to the negotiation of that field. The ability to increase the value of questions associated to the collective negotiation of general field, will depend on the creativity and generosity of the sides, but also it will play an important part the normative framework that regulates the reform on labour matters.
As we have seen before, after the reform it has been disnormalized and dislegalized a series of matters in favour of the collective negotiation, but in our view, it has been done specially in favour of the collective negotiation of management field, with little references to the supra- management and sectorial negotiation, which is the case we are dealing with.
Being this so and using the terminology we introduced in the last section, it can be necessary a Injection in the actual reality that makes the collective negotiation of sectorial field appear as more valuable. A decisive legislative support in favour of this field could trigger the necessary changes in the perception of value on the management part which would break the deadlock in the situation.
Making something of “fiction legislation”, and without trying to explain it as a meditated alternative (as pros and cons have not been evaluated), the possibility of, for instance, creating and developing different formats of temporary sectorial contracts associated to each one, could make up something valuable. The definition of formats really useful for the sector and the association of their control and development to the paritarial commissions could be sounded out easily between the management side evaluating the probable associated benefit..
Questions 2 and 7. Thanks to the negotiation of sectorial agreements we can obtain advantages with relation to workers training in the company. Thanks to the negotiation of sectorial agreements criteria of training could be unified.
Here, we are not talking about future, but actual questions, we will have to value and to validate if this can be a cause that, appropriately communicated, moves the management side to open this field of sectorial negotiation.
Before evaluating the value that a lower training cost can contribute, it exists a previous step, a previous question what is the value associated to the personnel training in the companies of the sector?. From the investigation study developed, we can deduce very different levels of importance to training, not only in a European field from the interviewed partner, but also inside our country. We have to emphasize answers as the one given by the Portuguese partner where in its view, management or companies not only see an additional value in training staffs, but also, they find a non- value as thanks to the fact that workers are not qualified, they pay a lower salary. This position, obviously, is not in line with the quality of the negotiation and with the subsequent guarantee of quality in the service that any modern company must offer. The other extreme is companies that look for workers integral training including in their training programmes questions as abilities of working in groups, the time negotiation, etc. In the middle of the road, we find the majority, that offer specific training for the development of the post (games, etc.). before so much diversity, as the interviewed of the management side of our country said, it can result difficult to unify criteria of planning. On the other hand, the little geographical mobility, inter or extra company, of workers of this sector can make seem not necessary an homogeneous training with the result of a standard competencies base for each post.
As the need of workers’ training increases, above all temporary workers who will present a higher rotation, this argument can increase its weight in favour of a rapprochement to the need of negotiating in sectorial field. At present companies solve their needs with schools and own programmes developed in their own premises.
The quality of the service depends on several aspects: hardware, personnel in contact and participation of clients. In the sector we are dealing with, the interaction in the development of games is very high (except for the games with machines), so the perception of quality is going to depend on the training and the performance carried out by the personnel in contact. In this service, the “servucción” (the way in which a service is given, or the way in which hardwares, personnel in contact with the client and the participation of the own client are related), is not highly planing but is submitted to the own rules of each game.
So the only elements which can present high difference in experience of game will be the hardwares (items, premises, environment, accessibility, etc), and the personnel in contact. This would be the cause to create great worry for training as a competitive tool for the companies of the sector, but that perception would have to come associated necessarily to a situation of high competence among casinos or among experiences of game. This situation of competence, does not exist at present although in some areas new openings of casinos are being negotiated and this fact can change this situation
Question 3. The field of sectorial negotiation would permit to normalise professional qualifications.
This question is very related to the previous one. The Normalization of professional qualifications can have a double value approach for the company:
a) The Normalization and later certification of workers will work in the same way that quality certifications type ISO works at a management level, guaranteeing a level of provision of services to the client.
b) The Normalization and certification of workers could work as a guarantee when incorporating workers to the company from other companies.
From the point of view of the unions, it would mean to achieve that workers could back up a qualification that at present they can prove by the experience which the company can, better or worse, certificate personally.
In general, for both sides, the question will have more importance in a situation of major competence among companies which can cause major employment offers and consequently major mobility of workers.
Question 4. The creation of a sectorial voice before the Administration and the social environment.
We have to distinguish two questions because of their different field of action. On one hand the sectorial voice before the Administration, which in a lot of cases has an autonomous field, although in other cases becomes an European question ( the case of the management against the money laundering ), with the differences in treatment of game that we have seen in the study. On the other hand, it is the creation of an appropriate public image to the sector of game before the public opinion, which can have a more regulated treatment at a state level.
From the Administration’s point of view, the defense of sectorial interests needs to be defined, we are not talking about the interests of companies of the sector or about workers of the sector. So, the interests of the sector will have two sources as a base: The first will establish the reaction of the Administration, the second is the pro-action of the sector, that is to say, the sectorial proposals that look for changes in the actual framework, or the development of parts of that framework that at present do not exist. In this last sense it can be necessary , apart from defining the representation , the creation of committees of matter which propose changes or improvements that could be adopted as part of the sectorial interests by the representation of the sector.
In order to achieve a more favourable public opinion for the sector, we must define what are the parameters of public image to which the sector aspires ( it won’t be possible to go from a perception of places of pseudo-vice to a perception of GNO ).This line will be based basically on two types of programmes, negativity control and promotion of positivity. The first type will tend to minimize the negative image attached to the sector ( as for example all control programmes about the access of game addicted people or the collaboration with programmes of prevention and treatment of this illness ), the definition of the programmes will be a technical matter, but previously it is necessary that the sectorial representation defines which negative factors must be controlled. The programmes of the second type will also need the definition work for the positive factors on the part of sector representatives, after this, the programmes will be defined.
These programmes will be of two types, one of communication ( information, open doors, etc. ) and another of information for the sector society ( valuation of the offer, possibility of adjusting the offer, definition of new formats of offer, etc...).
Question 5. The possibility of adapting the contracting model to the needs of the sector.
As in other questions this development will need two lines of action, on one hand the definition of sectorial needs in matters of “modelling” (temporality level, training, practices, etc) and “formatting” (certain designs within the framework of the model) of contracting. On the other hand, the Administration must make possible that possibility linked to the sectorial negotiation.
In the first of the lines, we have to difference technical work from political one. The first will require the constitution of committees of matters that analyse the actual situation of the sector and the future situation (made up by the foreseeable natural evolution and by the interests of forced evolution of the sector). The level of political work will require that the representation of the sector establishes committees of matters and which are the strategic questions for the sector that can need of these developments.
Question 6 and 8. Going into matters of prevention and work health. Situation of hostages by the competence of experienced workers of casinos.
The importance of this question will depend on several entries. Two of them are complementary although we can also say alternative. It is about the need of taking measures in matter of prevention and work health. This perception of need can come from the right evaluation of the impact on the benefits a medium or long-term of these incidences, or from a culture of modern company which takes care of its resources and its collaborators, or the performance of a legal obligation of regulation and making of studies on these matters. It does not matter its origin, once the need is created, it must exist funds related to the carrying out of necessary activities, and those funds must be available for companies which focus these questions within a sectorial viewpoint.
The high incidence of problems of this type in the sector, will come together with four entries basically. The carrying out of a high concentration work. The carrying out of the same work during all the work life as they are hyper-specialist workers (where their high professional competence makes them hostages of their posts), another question is that the worker only receives training for carrying out the work.
The third of the entries which establishes the high incidence of these problems is the characteristic of night time work (above all workers of the game area), that at the same time it comes imposed by these services’ timetable of offer.
The fourth and last of the entries would be the carrying out of the same work during all working day, a week after another. On the base of this entry there would be the little functional mobility of the worker inside the company that at the same time would require a higher multi- functionality of other workers in other posts.
Question 9. Increase of identification and integration between professional categories of game an not game within the casino.
It is one of the most difficult questions to link to the sectorial negotiation. it is included for the special interest that presents for the management side. A company is a system, is a whole where the parts must have more value jointly than analysed separately. The deep dichotomy that exists among the different areas in the company is not new, or exclusive of the sector of casinos.
Production, Commercial, Administration, Computers and Systems are all the areas with their own problems, with their own internal plan, with their own way of contributing to the global benefit of the company. It is very difficult to synchronise all the parts from an operative point of view but even is more difficult to synchronise them from the point of view of teams’ integration. It is possible to have a cohesioned area and with a good atmosphere, it is much more difficult to have a real cohesion and not only formal among different functional areas.
The other handicap of the question comes linked to what is what the sectorial field can provide to these series of problems. The integration of areas is basically a problem at the company level. Perhaps the only possibility of intervention of the supra-management field was reduced to the investigation of new models of organization adapted to the sector, reproduced and adjusted at management level. The widespread extension of the problem to all the casinos can make viable the fact that a joint project in this sense can throw much more interesting results than little local projects, apart from the fact that the available means will be more.
Defining the graph for the question would be part of the own project, so trying to do it here and now would be probably a waste of time.