MethodK/portfolio/mediation-vauban
CASE STUDY · PEOPLE & ORG

Médiation Vauban, defusing a collective dispute at a 4,200-person industrial group.

Collective dispute at a metallurgy industrial: strike notice filed, 100 delegates mobilised across 7 sites, lockup in annual bargaining. Mediation led by MethodK with Self Explore as facilitation support. Dispute exit in 5 months, agreement signed without court recourse.

We were 48 hours from four sites grinding to a halt. MethodK proposed a listening framework nobody had dared to set up. The federations agreed to return to the table.

Social relations direction · industrial group
Brief

Exit a deadlocked annual bargaining with filed strike notice.

Four union federations (CFDT, CFE-CGC, CGT, CFTC) had filed a strike notice after six fruitless bargaining rounds. The climate was degraded across 7 sites, with real risk of production stoppage. Direction wanted to avoid the strike and judicialisation, without giving up bargaining margins.

Constraints

Multilateral · 100 delegates · 7 sites · tight timeline.

100 elected delegates to hear individually and collectively, across 7 geographically distant sites. Absolute individual confidentiality. Dispute exit required in less than 6 months (otherwise probable judicialisation). MethodK had to remain perceived as a trusted third party by all sides.

Approach

Self Explore diagnostic · bilateral then multilateral mediation · framework agreement.

Phase 1: individual Self Explore diagnostic of 100 delegates (postures, perceived tensions, red lines). Phase 2: bilateral mediation with each federation separately. Phase 3: multilateral mediation around a framework agreement. Phase 4: signature and 18-month follow-up plan. Direction and works councils kept MethodK as third-party implementation monitor.

Outcomes

What shipped, and what compounded.

4 / 4
federations signed (CFDT, CFE-CGC, CGT, CFTC)
0
strike day triggered
18 months
implementation without dispute
MK