Neil Getnick Discusses Business Integrity and Hotel Union Negotiation in Corporate Crime Reporter Interview
On July 15, the Corporate Crime Reporter published an interview with Getnick Law’s managing partner, Neil Getnick, regarding his views on business integrity and his work to achieve an historic collective bargaining agreement for the Chateau Marmont Hotel.
In the interview, Neil discussed Getnick Law’s dedication to the concept that “good conduct is good business” and how that principle guided his approach to the negotiations. Neil commented that at the outset of the negotiations, he and hotel management made clear “who we were and where we were coming from and the sincerity of our efforts.” Establishing common ground amongst those involved in the negotiations resulted to a speedy resolution: the bargaining unit was agreed upon only two months after his first meeting with union leadership, and a collective bargaining agreement was signed only four months after that. As a result, the Chateau was able to demonstrate a concrete commitment to its workers and quickly return to business.
In addressing how the Chateau Marmont negotiations can be used as a model to resolve corporate disputes, Neil remarked as follows:
This comes down to a distinction between law driven compliance and business driven integrity. Companies typically rely on law driven compliance rather than business driven integrity. Law driven programs seek to avoid punishment by meeting the letter of the law, often without developing a deeply rooted culture of integrity. And in many cases, law driven programs are only grudgingly tolerated by executives and employees and they often fail as a result.
By contrast, a business driven integrity program is much more likely to prove effective because business people from the top down, not just those in the compliance or legal departments, embrace and promote it as essential to the long term success of the company. A business driven integrity program is seen throughout the company as a profit center and as a competitive advantage and not as a cost center or an obstacle. Let’s use that as the starting point.
Read the entire interview here.