Profile
This course is best suited for working professionals who sit across the table from unions or who advise management on labour relations—HR business partners, industrial relations officers, in-house counsel, and operations managers who must negotiate terms without provoking a breakdown. It is not a theoretical survey of labour law; it is a practical grounding in how collective bargaining actually unfolds, from initial positioning to final agreement. The 12-hour eCornell module, conducted in English on a part-time basis, fits around a working schedule rather than demanding a block of leave.
The substance covers the full negotiation arc. You begin with the legal and strategic context that shapes bargaining in unionised workplaces, then move into the mechanics of preparing a bargaining position: costing proposals, identifying trade-offs, and sequencing concessions. Later sections address the dynamics at the table itself—managing caucuses, reading the other side's signals, and handling impasse with something other than frustration. Underpinning it all is the reality that collective bargaining is less about winning a single argument and more about sustaining a relationship you will likely need again next cycle.
What distinguishes this programme is its insistence on preparation as the foundation of leverage. Many negotiators go in confident and discover mid-session that they lack the data or the mandate to respond. Here, the practical exercises push you to map out your interests, your alternatives, and your walk-away point before the first meeting. That discipline transfers directly to any high-stakes negotiation, even outside a union context, which makes the content useful for procurement leads and partnership managers too.
The course is listed under Business & Management and is structured as a self-paced, part-time commitment, so you progress through the videos, readings, and case-based activities on your own schedule. At the fee of $700 after subsidies (full course fee is also $700), it falls comfortably in the accessible range for self-funded learners, and the course reference number TGS-2023038479 is registered with SkillsFuture Singapore.
For Singapore employers, this is a practical way to build internal capability in labour relations without sending staff for a lengthy external programme. While the listing carries no rating or job-impact score yet, the content is stable and the provider is established. If your role has ever required you to negotiate conditions of work—hours, pay, benefits, or grievance processes—this module gives you a structured method to do it more deliberately.