So how to proceed? Maybe Wisconsin can learn from two recent experiences I’ve had in public sector disputes in Massachusetts. Both examples convince me that if we apply the modern approach to negotiations -- evidence-based, transparent, problem solving (we call this “interest based negotiations”) -- the challenges you face can be addressed.

The first example involved a Boston firefighters’ arbitration award that offended the public by providing a wage increase as a reward for mandatory drug and alcohol testing. The public essentially said: “Give me a break, you mean we have to pay these guys to come to work clean and sober?” The public pressure led the Boston City Council to neither accept nor reject the award but to go back and renegotiate it with the firefighters and the mayor to make it both fiscally responsible and publicly acceptable. This was a victory for all and especially for the public. The community held the parties’ feet to the fire, so to speak, until a better outcome was negotiated. The lesson here for Wisconsin is we are in a transparent, media-intensive world. Fairness and public acceptability rule the day.