Use this checklist to make sure your organization is fully prepared before collective bargaining begins. Organizations that prepare thoroughly reach better agreements, faster.
Team and Roles
Determine whether your chief negotiator will be internal or an outside labor consultant, and confirm availability for the full bargaining cycle.
Include representatives from human resources, finance, and operations to ensure all perspectives inform your proposals.
Assign spokesperson, note-taker, cost analyst, and subject-matter advisor roles before sessions begin.
Determine whether you need labor counsel for legal review, unfair labor practice risks, or arbitration preparation.
Present bargaining goals, economic parameters, and key issues to the governing body before negotiations begin.
Contract Review
Read the entire collective bargaining agreement, noting every article and its operational implications.
Flag contract articles that are costly, ambiguous, or have generated operational issues or grievances.
Analyze all grievances filed during the current period to identify recurring issues and ambiguous language.
Create a prioritized list of articles to change, with draft language and rationale.
Evaluate whether your management rights clause adequately protects operational flexibility.
Market Data and Comparables
Identify peer agencies based on population, budget, services, geography, and labor market overlap.
Gather current salary schedules (all steps, ranges, longevity) from each comparable for all classifications.
Collect health insurance premiums, employer contributions, retirement details, and leave policies.
Review comparable contracts for overtime rules, shift differentials, and other key non-economic provisions.
Calculate where each classification falls relative to comparables (percentile, percent above/below median).
Cost Modeling
Calculate the fully loaded cost including salary, retirement, health insurance, payroll taxes, and overtime.
Model the financial impact of every proposal you plan to make, including multi-year projections.
Pre-model likely union proposals based on past demands and comparable patterns.
Project total labor costs for the full proposed term, accounting for steps, COLA, and benefit trends.
Calculate the per-employee cost impact of proposals to communicate clearly with leadership.
Strategy and Logistics
Document your philosophy, economic targets, must-haves, and fallback positions.
Categorize every issue as essential, important, or tradeable to guide session-by-session strategy.
Define the point at which impasse is preferable to agreement.
Review your state's impasse procedures and prepare for mediation or interest arbitration if needed.
Prepare proposed ground rules covering scheduling, media, sidebars, and tentative agreement protocols.
Draft a proposed session schedule that accounts for preparation time between sessions.
Pro Tips
Start preparation at least 6 months before your contract expires
Rushing leads to incomplete data, weak proposals, and poor outcomes. Early preparation gives time to collect comparables and build cost models.
Never put a proposal on the table without knowing its full cost
The most expensive mistakes come from agreeing to proposals with unknown financial impacts — always model total cost first.
Build your comparable agency list collaboratively when possible
Agreeing on comparables before bargaining eliminates one of the most common sources of dispute at the table and in arbitration.
Document everything — even informal conversations
Thorough documentation protects you in grievance arbitration, ULP proceedings, and interest arbitration. If it is not documented, it did not happen.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ideally, begin 6-9 months before your current contract expires. This allows time for data collection, cost modeling, and strategy development.