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USEFUL MANAGEMENT INFORMATION FOR UNION NEGOTIATORS

Getting the basic financial detail from company Annual Reports is useful but it is not enough for workplace negotiations. Trade union negotiators also need:

• Latest Audited Financial Accounts
• Monthly Management Accounts: Managers usually keep monthly accounts which they use to run the company. These are very detailed and show just how a company is doing.
• Financial Projections: These are calculations which the company makes to predict how it will do in the future.

  Management accounts and financial projections are never published. So unions must argue for them in negotiations or in a court of law.

• Trends Over Several Years: It is necessary to look at the audited accounts for several years to understand the trends in a company's performance.
• Sector Analysis: To understand a company, it is often wise to look at the general trends in the sector in which it is operating. How are its competitors doing? How are they restructuring? Is it doing better or worse than them? As well as trade union research departments, academics in economics or business studies departments may be undertaking sector analysis.

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