Dealing honestly with the different perspectives labor and management bring to the bargaining table encourages understanding and compromise. The high stakes in correctional operations, exacerbated by rising inmate populations and tight financial restraints, demands good relations between labor and management. Good lines of communication, based on the policy of team meetings, help the Illinois DOC maintain those good relations. Some of the issues and programs engendered through cooperative efforts relate to transfer policy, suspension policy, agency-wide policies on attendance and sick leave, and a volunteer overtime program.