Such negotiations tend, therefore, to be based on bargaining opposing demands rather than on meeting different needs and interests. The challenge is to help parties perceive the big picture. Often they each see it from their perspective only. Management views the situation from their budget, from a profits perspective. Unions, on the other hand, perceive that there is a never-ending pit of money, that the company makes sufficient money and is simply withholding it when refusing to compensate workers adequately.
Workers also argue from a rights perspective.
You've mentioned that you used caucusing quite effectively in this intervention. A mediator calls for a caucus when he wants to speak to parties separately. Caucusing is used when parties are not able to move beyond a particular point in the discussion for instance, if they are focussing only on their own perspective, are too emotional, aren't listening, or are worried about making too many concessions and 'losing face'. By speaking to the parties separately, in caucus, the mediator has the chance to really understand the issues at stake, the parties' respective concerns and any proposals that might be formulating but are inhibited at that point by the negotiating table. Also, caucusing can help parties deal with dissension within their own ranks.