Situation overview:

A major Port Authority and its unionized employees were unable to reach a contract agreement after two years of collective bargaining negotiations. The Port Authority made the difficult decision to declare a “lockout,” which had the potential to create negative public opinion, thereby reducing the internationally favorable position of the Port and forcing government intervention.

PROI member Role:

A PROI Worldwide Americas Crisis Group partner was responsible for all external communications relating to the lockout including:

• Developing and delivering a proactive communications strategy focusing primarily on media relations to quickly establish communications parameters. Since the primary issue at the bargaining table was related to the amount of paid time off for employees, the underlying message developed for all communications was: "In this day and age, we can no longer pay people for inactive time.”
• Supporting the employer, designing their messages at the bargaining table and acting as spokesperson for the effort.

Results:

Putting the Union on the defensive early on with proactive communications enabled the employer to gain public support and prevent government intervention. A tentative agreement was signed after only five days of business interruption, and the collective agreement was ratified a few weeks later.