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Based on a body of research on commitment and cooperation at work, as well as an experience of a former union official and negotiator, the present contribution takes a new look at the place of conflict in negotiation where, through compromise, the very nature of the players involved is transformed. This involves both rehabilitating a structural vision of the conflict as a socialization factor (Simmel, 1992) and casting the negotiation as a construction of complex actors. This emphasizes a particular form of compromise—exchange of promise in the etymological sense—engaging a co-responsibility on future developments rather than simply sharing or balancing of interests.