COMM 4BC3 Bargaining Processes & Structures - PDF

SESSION 4 Course: COMM 4BC3 Professor: Sean O’Brady Source: iheartradio https://www.iheartradio.ca/newstalk-1010/news/what-you-need-to-know- about-the-...

SESSION 4 Course: COMM 4BC3 Professor: Sean O’Brady Source: iheartradio https://www.iheartradio.ca/newstalk-1010/news/what-you-need-to-know- about-the-ontario-high-school-strike-on-wednesday-1.10334226 nstructive material from Emond Montgomery Publications was incorporated into this deck Is the Wagner Model of Collective Bargaining Good for Canadian Workers? In teams, you will draw on Chapter 19 and prepare:  Three arguments defending your position  At least three counter-arguments anticipating those made against your position Topics to be addressed in this session 1. The process of negotiating a collective agreement 2. Bargaining structures 3 The process of negotiating a collective agreement 4 Initiating collective bargaining  After the written notice to bargain is provided by one party to the other, the negotiation process is initiated  Generally 2-4 months prior to expiration  Both sides select a chief negotiator  Union side: professional negotiator (business or staff representative), sometimes the local union president  Employer: manager (e.g. of labour relations) or lawyer  The parties agree to a bargaining protocol  Non-monetary issues usually addressed before monetary  Negotiating clauses one-by-one or collectively  Protocols for approval  By workers or senior executives/board of directors  Ontario law requires majority support from workers to ratify 5 Collective bargaining basics 6 Three stages of negotiation 1. Pre-negotiation  Preparation  Begins as early as possible  Book example = at least 1.5 years ahead  Compilation of proposals  Commences with the submission of laundry list (by union, but not always)  Union integrates various constituents into process  Employer prepares and submits counter-proposals 7 Three stages of negotiation 2. Negotiation 3. Settlement  Serious consideration of proposals  Bottom-lines are revealed  Involves many meanings and  Agreement (or industrial action) is exchanges near  Parties search for “zone of agreement” 8 Legal basis of negotiations: Key points Statutory freeze provisions  Certification freeze  Collective bargaining freeze The Procedural Duty to bargain in “good faith”  Stipulations on how to bargain  Meet and be prepared to negotiate  Provide information  Honesty about firm plans  Stipulations on what can be bargained Photo: Walmart at Jonquiere  Illegal terms  Terms that cannot be “bargained to impasse”  Surface vs. hard bargaining 9 Bargaining Structures 10 Bargaining Structures Defined Formal bargaining structure  The bargaining unit  Workers and employers bound to a collective agreement Informal bargaining structure  Those affected by agreements negotiated in a bargaining unit  Due to pattern bargaining or some other non-binding process Multi-level bargaining  Bargaining can take place at multiple levels  Example: Setting broader standards at across sectors, leaving room for negotiations within sectors and establishment-(Quebec’s public sector) 11 What is sectoral bargaining? 12 “Why pattern bargaining works” 13 Centralization of Bargaining Structures  Centralized structures (multi-employer)  Regional (e.g. QC daycares), industry or sectoral (e.g. ON construction)  De-centralized structures (single employer or establishment)  Most decentralized = single-employer-single plant (e.g. security at McMaster)  Still decentralized, but less so = single-employer multi-plant (Loblaws)  De-centralization occurs when:  The proportion of the overall workforce in a region, industry, or sector covered by the master agreement* diminishes  When the scope of issues addressed in the master agreement diminishes  When bargaining coverage declines *Master agreement = An agreement covering multiple employers at the sectoral, regional, or company levels. It imposes common standards for all workers covered under the agreement. 14 Employer perceptions of centralized bargaining  Sometimes employers prefer centralized models  Unionized employers fear low-cost competition  High-skilled workers have less power to pit employers against each other  More efficient to negotiate a single agreement  But Canadian employers are generally opposed  Big businesses are conglomerates (at least partially non-union)  Fear of empowering the labour movement  Addicted to low-cost HR strategies  Small businesses perceive it as unfair (economies of scale issue) 15 Union perceptions of centralized bargaining  Many in the labour movement would like a shift towards centralized bargaining  Perceive decentralized structures as a barrier to improving working conditions for many  A path to a more solidaristic labour movement (reduces union competition)  Distances bargaining from local management  More efficient to negotiate a single agreement  But remains controversial in the labour movement  Effects on current membership levels  Who will be responsible for negotiation?  Effects on shop-floor democracy  Contradicts other initiatives (e.g. Fight for $15) Canadian and US labour experts discuss this using the term broader-based bargaining 16 Bargaining centralization around the world  ICTWSS data demonstrates the diversity of union density rates, erga omnes effects, and extensions across countries  Bargaining coverage in Canada is on the lower end Erga omnes = ununionized workers covered by collective agreements, excluding those covered by extensions Source: Hayter, S., & Visser, J. (2021). Making collective bargaining more inclusive: The role of 17 extension. International Labour Review, 160(2), 169-195 Bargaining centralization and low-wage work  OECD data shows the connection between bargaining coverage and low-wage work  Canadian industrial relations is among the most decentralized in the OECD  With a high rate of low- wage work 18 Pattern Bargaining  Pattern bargaining  When terms applied to one bargaining unit are used to gain the same in another  Key example of an informal bargaining structure  North America - refers to patterns negotiated across companies or establishments  Example: The big three automobile manufacturers (General Motors, Ford, and Fiat Chrysler) in Ontario and the U.S.  Aims to achieve goals similar to centralization, but through coordination 19 Sample exam question In Sara Slinn’s article, which of the following jurisdictions was not among those identified as seriously consider legislation to encourage broader-based-bargaining? o Saskatchewan o British Columbia o The Federal Government o Ontario 20 Thank you for your participation! 21