INDR Final Exam PDF

C hap te r # 7: C olle ctiv e B arg ain in g Collective Bargaining ❖ Collective Bargaining: A complex multilateral decision-making process involving management and labour teams who determine the terms and conditions of employment ➢ Always an assumption of conflict of...

C hap te r # 7: C olle ctiv e B arg ain in g Collective Bargaining ❖ Collective Bargaining: A complex multilateral decision-making process involving management and labour teams who determine the terms and conditions of employment ➢ Always an assumption of conflict of interest ❖ Conflict of Interest Assumption : An assumption in the employment relationship that there is a conflict of interest that exists between managers and those they manage Why is collective bargaining complex? ❖ Multiple parties involved ➢ Dif ferent interests and pressures ❖ Not all issues are the same ➢ Some issues may be a win-win, and others may be adversarial ❖ Collective bargaining involves a continuing relationship between the parties involved Dif ferences between Individual and Collective Negotiations ❖ Individual: ➢ Are bilateral ■ Only two parties involved in the outcome ➢ Issues are adversarial ➢ One-of f ➢ Issues are usually negotiated one at a time ❖ Collective: ➢ Are Multilateral ■ Many parties are involved, such as employees, unions, supervisors, and managers at many levels. ➢ Distinct interests and pressures ➢ On-going relationship ➢ All issues are negotiated at once Bargaining Structure 1) Single employer - single establishment - single union (Hotels) 2) Single employer - single establishment - multi-union (Hospitals) 3) Single employer - multi establishment - multi-union (Airlines) 4) Multi-employer - multi establishment - multi-union (Construction) Subprocesses of Collective Bargaining ❖ Four subprocesses 1) Distributive bargaining 2) Integrative bargaining 3) Intra-team or intra-organizational bargaining 4) Building trust or attitudinal structuring (1) Distributive Bargaining ❖ Distributive Bargaining : A form of negotiation in which two parties compete over the distribution of some fixed resource ➢ Competitive style ❖ Assumes a degree of conflict between the management and labour parties ❖ Conflict over some fixed economic reward for work performed ❖ Distributive issues: ➢ W ages ➢ Benefits ➢ Overtime ➢ V acations ➢ Holidays ❖ This process defines Collective Bargaining issues Distributive Bargaining T actics ❖ Major inflation of issues ➢ Ask for more than your bottom line ❖ Rule to distributive bargaining: ➢ The parties each have one spokesperson, which helps them avoid revealing unnecessary or even damaging information ❖ This method can sometimes focus on raising expectations too high ➢ Strikes have occurred because union executives or bargaining teams have raised expectations about goals that are not possible to achieve ■ Can be avoided through third-party intervention (2) Integrative Bargaining ❖ Integrative Bargaining: A form of bargaining in which there is potential for a solution that produces a mutual gain ➢ Also called “win-win” bargaining, principled negotiations, and interest-based bargaining. ❖ Founded on the assumption that bargaining outcomes can expand solutions so that both sides can “win.” ❖ Parties involved have shared interests ❖ Integrative issues: ➢ Health and Safety ➢ Rest Breaks Integrative Bargaining T actics ❖ Parties are less likely to inflate the issues ❖ Information sharing often tests commitment to a joint problem-solving approach to conflict resolution. ❖ In this, union and management set up joint committees on such matters as health and safety , pensions, and plant closures (3) Intra-T eam Bargaining ❖ Intra-T eam Bargaining : Bargaining within union and management teams during a collective bargaining process ➢ Individual union team members may represent a group with particular interests, such as shift work. ❖ The bargaining that takes place inside each party during the bargaining process ➢ Each team member will have their own agenda, which may compete with the priorities. Intra-T eam Bargaining T actics ❖ Union and management bargaining teams often represent diverse interests. ➢ T eams within the union or management may use a team caucus to resolve dif ferences over which issues to drop of f the table and which to keep ❖ Special interests that lack strong constituent support will probably not make it into the final settlement package (4) Attitudinal Structuring (T rust Bargaining) ❖ Attitudinal Stuctruing: The dif ficult process of building the mutual respect and trust necessary for an enduring and positive collective bargaining relationship ➢ T ypically a long-term process where trust is built between parties ■ Not directly associated with collective bargaining ❖ Hybrid Issues: ➢ Pensions ➢ Plant Closures/Severance ➢ T echnological changes ■ These issues are a combination of distributive and integrative. T riangle of Pressures - The Firm ❖ The pressure of a strike is strong on the firm because of the potential loss of sales revenue, profits, market share, and stock prices. ❖ Firms may relieve some of this pressure by stockpiling inventory ➢ It will also plan to shift production to alternative sites ❖ All is dependent on the level of competition in the market for the firm’ s goods or services ❖ A firm's ability to stand strike may also depend on its debt load ❖ Also based on: ➢ Customers ➢ T echnology of production ➢ Interest from various locals and corporate managers ➢ Legislation ➢ Shareholders ➢ The type of product produced T riangle of Pressure - The Union ❖ A long strike with little gains may have a serious impact on the strike fund, future organizations, and even the existence of the union ❖ When there are changes in economic conditions, unions must deal with members changing expectations in bargaining ➢ If a strike is to be avoided, the contract must be ratified by these same members. ❖ Nearly all unions support a collective bargaining model based on realistic achievement at the table, not a conflict for its own sake ❖ A rejected of fer can increase the likelihood of a strike and undermine the unions' authority to negotiate a settlement at the bargaining table. ❖ Unions also face pressure from settlements achieved by rival unions. ➢ Orbits of coercive comparison is a term used to describe the relative standard by competing unions in collective bargaining ❖ Inventory buildup also puts pressure on the employees and indirectly on the union by sending a signal that the firm can sustain a long strike T riangle of Pressure - Union Members/Employees ❖ Union members know that strike pay usually comes after a waiting period of one or two weeks. ➢ Only usually only pays for subsistence items ➢ Loss of money can adversely af fect an employee's debt situation ❖ Commitment to the workplace ❖ Positive: Shows solidarity with the union Factors Af fecting Negotiation Demands ❖ Experience with collective agreements ❖ Grievances filed by the business unit ❖ Arbitration decisions ❖ Input from union members ❖ Input from international and national unions ❖ Economic forecast ❖ Other contract settlements and industry locals ❖ Experience with collective agreements ❖ Grievances and arbitration decisions ❖ Feedback from managers ❖ Strategic business plans ❖ Short and long - Economic range forecasts ❖ Contract settlements by industry , region and local of ficers Step-By-Step Bargaining 1) Management and the union prepare for bargaining ❖ Obtain a mandate from the constitutes ➢ Management: ■ Is given its mandate from the corporate or strategic level ■ Solicits input from line managers - includes grievance analysis ➢ Union: ■ The Union holds a membership meeting to establish bargaining proposals and elect a negotiating team ➢ Management & Union: ■ Examine comparators, for example, industry settlement patterns 2) The Union or Management serves notice to bargain ❖ The parties prepare their proposals to amend the current collective agreement based on constituent input and research ❖ Before the current collective agreement expires, the management or union may give written notice to start negotiations for a renewal agreement ➢ The notice period is usually required by legislation 3) The parties meet ❖ The parties agree to meet at a mutually acceptable location and time ❖ The purpose of this meeting is to establish the ground rules for bargaining, including a timetable for future meetings ➢ Introduce the teams to each other ➢ Explain the proposed changes to the agreement ➢ Provide rationale 4) Each party communicates its priorities ❖ Each side provides a written list of its priority issues together with a rationale ➢ Sometimes the priorities are indicated by order of the list ➢ Other guides to the importance attached to each issue are the amount of time spent on the rationale and the potency of the language each party uses ❖ Skilled negotiators are able to indicate priorities with a single sentence 5) Momentum binds for a settlement ❖ The parties will often combine issues into packages ➢ These are small groups of easily resolved issues that involve dropping union or management proposals for some modest gains ❖ A technique that is used at this stage and throughout negations is the caucus meeting ➢ Used by both the union and management ➢ A break from the bargaining table to assess moves and counter moves 6) The contract zone is reached ❖ For a settlement to be possible in direct talks, there must be an overlap in bottom lines ➢ Known as contract zone ❖ Each negotiator should have an idea of the other side's bottom line 7) Settlement or impasse? ❖ If there is a contract zone and the parties have good negotiating skills, a settlement is reached in direct talks ❖ If there is no contract zone or the parties lack the necessary negotiating skills, negotiations may reach an impasse ❖ If there is an impasse, the parties may seek the services of a conciliator or mediator to help them bridge the remaining gaps ➢ If conciliation or mediation fails to produce a settlement and the legislated time limit has been reached, the union may strike, or management may call a lockout 8) Ratification ❖ After a settlement is reached, it will also have to go through ratification on both sides ➢ Ratification: The process by which each party approves the settlement reached at the bargaining tables by the management and union teams ❖ The unratified agreement between the two bargaining teams is referred to as a tentative settlement because each of the parties must approve it for it to take ef fect Factors Af fecting Bargaining Power ❖ Support of bargaining unit members ❖ Public opinion ❖ Size of strike fund ❖ T iming of strike ❖ Ef fectiveness of strike ❖ Labour costs ❖ Inventory levels ❖ Interdependence of bargaining unit ❖ Competitive position ❖ T ime of negotiation Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB) ❖ Modern-day IBB is often based on four assumptions: 1) Both labour and management can win 2) Each can help each other win 3) Open discussion expands areas of mutual interests 4) Decision-making is based more on standards of evaluating options than on power ❖ Its main elements include: ➢ A focus on issues, not personalities ➢ A problem-solving approach ➢ A free exchange of information ➢ An emphasis on interests, not positions ➢ The creation of options to satisfy mutual and separate interests ➢ An evaluation of options with objective standards Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB) - Steps 1) Identify the problem ❖ Convince frequent sessions by mutual agreement ❖ Develop agenda items that have joint problem-solving potential ❖ Formulate negotiation subjects as specific problems rather than general concerns 2) Search for alternative solutions ❖ Give adequate notice of negotiation times ❖ Engage in informal exploratory discussion before making formal proposals ❖ T ackle easy-to-resolve alternatives 3) Systematically compare alternative solutions ❖ Accurately report preferences ❖ Arrange proposals to make patterns of agreement more visible ❖ Consider remedial actions that improve the relationship to be part of the general solution T wo Outcomes of Collective Bargaining 1) The contractual agreement: ❖ Contractual results of wages and benefits increase 2) Organizational outcomes: ❖ Productivity levels ❖ Management practices ❖ The tone and dynamics of negotiation have a spillover ef fect on relationships between management/workers Collective Bargaining Innovations ❖ Interest-based or mutual gain: ➢ Parties are focused on common interests and not bargaining positions ➢ Inventing options that give rise to mutual gains instead of win-lose solutions ➢ It can be used for negotiation on some issues ❖ Focus on issues, not personalities ❖ A problem-solving approach ❖ A free exchange of information ❖ An emphasis on interests, not positions ❖ The creation of options to satisfy mutual interests Important Duties ❖ Duty to bargain in good faith ❖ Duty of fair representation C hap te r # 3: E co nom ic & S ocia l E nvir o nm en ts Economic Environment: Economic & Social Environments ❖ Overall state of the economy , inflation, interest rates, unemployment, competition (globalization, demand for products, price of products, and government subsidy ➢ OHS, labour shortage, right to privacy , work-life balance Macroeconomic Policy ❖ Macroeconomic Policy : A policy that applies to economy-wide goals such as inflation, unemployment, and growth ➢ Impacts on industrial relations in Canada ■ Exs. Labour supply , competitiveness, etc Economic Context ❖ The overall state of the macro-economic context influences many aspects of the union-management relations ❖ Macro-economy ➢ Expanding, uncertainty , recession ❖ Unemployment ❖ Consists of three main areas: 1) Globalization 2) Deregulation 3) Privatization (1) Globalization ❖ The most significant change in the economic environment in the early 1990s ❖ Increases international competition from a series of trade agreements ❖ Greater mobility of capital and increase in the flow of goods and services (2) Deregulation ❖ Reduction in regulations within an industry ➢ Exs: Airline regulations and the communication industry ❖ Designed to create more competition by allowing prices to be determined by market forces ❖ Increases income inequality (3) Privatization ❖ Decrease in government influence on the product market through sales of government-owned enterprises ❖ T ransfer or contracting out of services to the private sector Non-Economic Sources of Power ❖ Public opinion ❖ Legislation ❖ Supply of labour: immigration, labour mobility , institutional barriers ❖ Monopsony : Occurs when a firm is the sole market buyer of a good, service, or labour ❖ Assist in organizing new members ❖ Strengthen positions in bargaining ❖ Support political campagins ❖ Oppose plant closures ❖ Support strikes and other industrial actions Marshall’ s Four Conditions 1) Product Market 2) Substitution Ef fect 3) Labour Intensity 4) Market for Substitution (1) Product Market ❖ The more competitive the product market, the greater the employment impact of a wage increase and the elasticity of demand for labour ➢ Known as the wage-employment tradeoff ➢ When a union increases wages, the higher costs may be reflected in reduced sales ❖ Reduced sales = Reduced labour ❖ Unions tend to have more power when there is less competition in the firm’ s product market ❖ When firms have some degree of monopsony power , they can easily absorb the wage increase without af fecting the employment levels ➢ All about the degree of competition in the market ❖ Free trade increases market competition, union power will be reduced (2) Substitution Ef fect ❖ The easier it is to substitute capital (machines, technology , etc) for labour , the less power labour will have to raise wages ➢ The degree to which you can substitute capital for labour ❖ Firms that can substitute easily the more bargaining power they will possess ❖ Certain jobs are more essential to the production process than others, and hence harder to substitute (3) Labour Intensity ❖ The degree to which labour costs account for production costs ➢ An industry is labour-intensive if labour costs are a high proportion of the total costs ❖ The smaller the proportion of total costs labour is, the lower the employment impact of a wage increase will be, thus giving labour more power (4) Market Substitution ❖ The cheaper and more available market substitutes are, the lower the bargaining power for unions Summarized Four Conditions ❖ Demand is more inelastic, and unions will have more power , when: ➢ Product markets are less competitive ➢ Labour costs are a small proportion of total costs ➢ The market for substitute labour for capital Social Environment Public Attitudes T owards Unions ❖ Union's decline is the result of: ➢ Globalization and greater pressure on firms to be competitive ➢ More individual protection under employment laws ➢ Changes in the nature of work, with employees exercising greater control over scheduling ➢ Improved human resources practices geared toward individual needs ❖ 62% of Americans approve of labour unions today ➢ The relative stability in support but the long-term decline in density ❖ Indicator: Union density Income Distribution & The Aging Population ❖ Globalization and free trade policies are the consequence of a widening income gap between the rich and poor ❖ More older generations than new generations (high number of boomers) ❖ Employer challenges to the workforce aging: ➢ Elimination of age discrimination ➢ Safer workplaces, healthier environments, holistic Impact of Compositional Changes on Unions ❖ More women ➢ Shift in the proportion of women in unions ➢ This shift reflects the significant growth of the service sector and the corresponding decline in manufacturing ❖ Occupational shift ➢ Growth of unions in youth workers, administrators, and child-care ■ A loss in manufacturing and technical health fields ❖ Contingent work ➢ Those who have traditionally worked on a temporary or casual basis ➢ Or a smaller growing group of professionals who desire the freedom and flexibility provided by contingent work ❖ Flextime ➢ Permits employees to start earlier or later as long as the required number of hours are worked per week C hap te r 8 : C olle ctiv e A gre em en t A dm in is tr a tio n Elements of a Collective Agreement ❖ Cover page ➢ Usually states the name of the union, including the local number , the employer , and the end dates of the collective agreement ❖ Contents page ➢ The contents page is usually found at the front of the agreement ■ Sometimes called the index, and enables the reader to identify where certain terms and articles of the agreement quickly can be found ❖ Articles ➢ Each article covers certain workplace issues ➢ Generally , each article is number and has a heading ❖ Sections ➢ The several sub-areas of the articles ■ Also called clauses ➢ Also numbered ❖ Appendixes/schedules ➢ These provide specific information ➢ Are located towards the end of the contract ➢ Often related to wages and benefits or items usually updated during each round of collective bargaining ❖ Letter of Understanding ➢ A letter of understanding often describes specific practices the parties have to agree to follow ➢ In some cases, these are a result of a grievance or arbitration Role of Collective Agreement ❖ Promotion of positive and good relationships between parties ❖ Establish terms and conditions of employment ❖ Historical document T ypes of Clauses/Articles ❖ The rights of parties ➢ Includes the rights of the union, employers, and employees ■ Exs: Union security clauses, restrictions on contracting out ❖ The organization of work ➢ Includes provisions concerning how work is organized and distributed ■ Exs: T echnological change, job sharing, teams, etc ❖ Labour relations process ➢ Clauses that concern the grievance procedures, arbitration, and any language about joint committees ■ Collective agreement language concerning joint committees will often examine issues related to health and safety , working conditions, contracting out, and technological change ❖ Education, training, and development ➢ Language includes issues concerning training leave, required provided training, financial assistance for training, and apprenticeship programs ❖ W orking conditions ➢ Most broad ➢ Includes issues related to hours of work/work schedules, overtime, pay , and benefits, job security , termination, corrective action/progressive discipline, and part-work No Strike/ No lockout articles ❖ Reopener clauses ➢ Permit bargaining on selected issues under specified conditions Rights of Parties Recognition of Union Security ❖ Unions often seek collective agreement language that provides some form of union security ➢ Dues check-of f, union shop, closed shop, and Rand formula ❖ Language regarding leave for union business and, as a way to ensure union member security , restrictions on management’ s ability to contract out ❖ Has two main articles: 1) Recognition ➔ The company recognizes the union as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all its employees, including the bargaining unit 2) Union Security ➔ Company shall deduct a certain percent from each union members pay cheque to the union dues Management Rights ❖ Residual Rights : A principle whereby management retains all rights it held before unionization except those changed by the agreement ➢ Not all agreements have these clauses, as some employers feel they are unnecessary ➢ Other employers will seek to negotiate such clauses inorder to emphasize their rights ❖ Language highlights that management of the peration and the workforce is the sole responsiblity of management ❖ Has two main articles: 1) Management rights: ➔ Defines management’ s prerogative to make decisions and take action to manage the organization 2) Medical, drug and alcohol testing: ➔ Medical screening for illnesses that can be contagious or harm other workers ➔ Drug testing for substances such as weed, opiates, cocaine, amphetamine ➔ Alcohol testing Employee Rights//Security ❖ Language concerning equity and anti-discrimination ❖ T wo types of equity clauses 1) Legislative reference ➔ Equity clause in collective agreements that references legislation 2) Explicit reference ➔ Equity clause in collective agreements that specifies which groups are covered ◆ States inappropriate grounds for discrimination Organization of W ork T echnological Change ❖ Many parties negotiate “tech-change” ❖ Desire such languages inorder to protect workers from the negative impacts of new technologies ➢ Includes elements of unions being notified for changes, any restrictions concerning layof fs, any employer requirements concerning employee training for new jobs and equipment ❖ Includes red-circiling : ➢ Protecting employees pay at a level higher than the normal rate of their current job ❖ Notice of change should include: ➢ The reason and nature of the technological change ➢ Date to which the change will take ef fect ➢ The approximate number and type of employees likely to be af fected by the technological change ➢ Ef fect of the change, likely to have on the terms and conditions or security of employees af fected ❖ Change should involve solutions such as: ➢ Retraining ➢ Reassignment and relocation to other available positions Distribution of work ❖ Examines issues concerning: ➢ Job rotation ➢ Job sharing ➢ T eams and group work ➢ Flexibilty in work assignments ➢ Flexible work hours Labour Relations T ypically clauses in collective agreements that address the relationship between the parties These clauses examine grievance, arbitration, participatory mechanisms, and preferred bargaining methods. Grievance and Arbitration ❖ Under common law , there is no specific right to a grievance procedure ➢ Most agreements include specific language related to grievances and arbitration Participatory Mechanisms and Bargaining Methods ❖ Includes language that enables ongoing negotiations to address specific issues so that they do not have to wait for the next round of collective bargaining ➢ Such as problem-solving committees ➢ Or other joint-committees Health and Safety Committees ❖ Joint health and safety committees are required by law ❖ Many collective agreements include language regarding the role of such committees ➢ More detailed language may outline the committee membership, roles and responsibilities, record keeping, and pay Other ❖ Unwritten rule: Obey now , grieve later ❖ Final and binding arbitration by neutral third party ❖ Non-contractual issues related to labour management relations Education, T raining, and Employment Development Repayment of Educational Expenses ❖ Collective agreements may include specific language about leaves for education, repayment of educational expenses, access to training, the employers ability to proves multi-skill training, and apprenticeship programs ❖ Educational leave: ➢ Employer should grant educational leave with pay during an employees normal scheduled hours ➢ Employer must recongnize education as a mutually beneficial asset ➢ An employee may begranted educationla leave without pay for varying periods of time up to one year Apprenticeships ❖ This language will distinguish apprentices from journeypersons ❖ Such language may cover pay rates and progression, the number of apprentices, legislative training requirements, hiring upon completion of apprenticeship, and seniority Conditions of work Conditions ❖ Focuses on improving wages, job security , and working conditions of all union members ❖ Most referenced section of a collective agreement W ages ❖ Language on how employees are paid ➢ Hourly wages, annual salaries, dif ferent job groups payments, specific dates as to when payments need to be received Hours of W ork ❖ Overview of a typical or standard workday ➢ Number of hours worked ➢ Breaks ❖ Shift work, information concerning shift schedules, shift premiums, and shift rotations may also be discussed ❖ Dif ferent negotiations for dif ferent positions: ➢ Full-time employees ➢ Part-time employees ❖ Also includes: ➢ Rest breaks ➢ Day work ➢ Afternoon shifts ➢ Night shifts Overtime ❖ Required under provincial and federal legislation ❖ Language usually includes how overtime is assigned ❖ In this section, management often seeks to minimize the compounding or pyramiding (the compounding of premiums or benefits) of payments ➢ Exs: Many agreements do not allow a person to get 1.5 times their base pay and 1.5 times their shift premiums when calculating overtime Holidays ❖ Holidays are provided in employment/labour standard legislation ❖ Union usually exceeds the minum holidays V acation leave ❖ Language concerning vacation often states how vacation is calculated, the amount of vacation time an employees receives, and when an employee is eligible for vacation ➢ May even include the order in which employees can choose vacation and how it wil be paid Other Leave ❖ Sick leave ❖ Paternal ❖ Breavement ❖ Jury duty T ermination, Layof f, and Discipline ❖ Probationary Employees ➢ Language that highlights the length of probationary period as well as the fact that the employee can be terminated during the probationary period ➢ Employers often seek longer probationary periods ➢ Unions seek shorter ones ➢ Most are usually six months ❖ Just Cause ➢ Language stating that employers cannot discipline or discharge employees without just cause ❖ Layof f ➢ Sometimes called workforce adjustment language ➢ Often discusses issues such as the process to be used for a layof f and the notice period to be provided to the employee and the union ➢ Language refers to seniority as a key factor to layof fs ■ Union trys and protects seniority rights ❖ Discipline ➢ Discipline language related to the concept of corrective action ■ Corrective action: A warning process designed to improve employee performance or behaviour ➢ These clauses can include forms of discipline, grounds for discipline, or the progression of discipline Special issues in collective agreements Bumping ❖ A process whereby senior employees pass on their layof f to more junior employees ➢ These clauses protect senior employees from being let go in downsizing ❖ Clauses can be complicated, for they define the condition under which bumping can occur ❖ The employer may seek to minimize disruption cause during a bumping process Job Rights and Seniority ❖ Seniority= Cornerstone of collective agreements ❖ Used for promotions, transfers, layof fs, choosing vacation, and shift work ❖ Dif ferent types of seniority: ➢ Classification ➢ Department, establishment ➢ Organization-wide Super Seniority ❖ Union leaders are often given special protection from layof fs ➢ Possible reasons are: ■ An unscrupulous manager might declare a layof f to get rid of challenging union reps ■ Union reps must be present to represent employees rights until the very end in the event of a massive lay of f or business closing ■ The protection encourages people to take on union leadership roles ❖ Super Seniority: The status of union representatives who, while in of fice, have the highest seniority int he bargaining unit C hap te r # 9: C onflic t R eso lu tio n - G rie van ces Definitions from the Canadian Labour Code ❖ Industrial Dispute: A disagreement arising from entering into, renewing, or revising a collective agreement ❖ Strike : A cession of work and a slow down or other concerted activity that is designed to limit or restrict the out put ❖ Lockout : The closing of a place of employment, a suspension of work by an employer done to compel their employees Strike ❖ A number of workers refuse to continue working, or they stop working ❖ Slow downs in work are also referred to as work to rule ➢ W ork to Rule: The strategy of employees who perform only to the minimum standard required ● T echnically not a strike ❖ Wildcat Strike : Employees who are not in a legal strike position walk of f the job ➢ Illegal strike during the term of the collective agreement ❖ When illgeal strikes occur during a collective agreement, employers will often go to court to seek formal injunction that requires the employees to return to work or they will be threatened with legal penalties ❖ Some strikes are restricted, meaning that only a limited number or type of employees can go on strike ➢ Such as essential service workers Lockout ❖ A work stoppage initiated by the employer Strike Steps - Legal Strike ❖ A certified union must be in place, as only legally certified unions have the right to strike in Canada ❖ The current collective agreement must be expired ➢ Strikes and lockouts are not legal if the collective agreement is still in place ❖ The parties must fail to have reached an agreement ➢ Canadian legislation requires that the parties bargain in good faith and seek to negotiate a collective agreement ❖ The union must have a strike mandate, which is gained through a positive strike vote from the membership ➢ The union will have members vote to support or not support the strike action ➢ If the majority of the membership supports the strike action, it is said that the union had a strike mandate ❖ Conciliation and other third party dispute resolution procedures must have been attempted ➢ Canadaian legislation requires conciliation prior to a strike ➢ Once a union has a strike mandate, it will still need to undergo conciliation and wait a period of time specifically by legislation ■ Usually a cooling of f period of 14 days ❖ The union then must give notice of strike ➢ Usual notice is 72 hours Legal Requirements for Strike or Lockout - Summarized 1) Any collective agreement between the union and management must be expired 2) The parties must enter into collective bargaining 3) The parties must work with a government-appointed mediator 4) A 14-day cooling of f period must elapse following mediation 5) A labour board-supervised strike vote or lockout poll must be taken and a majority of those voting must agree to the strike or lockout 6) One party must serve the other with 72 hours notice before the strike or lockout Relationship Between Strikes and Legislations ❖ Essential service requirements have no impact on the likelihood of a strike but may increase the length of strikes by as much as 60% ❖ Banning the employer ’s use of replacement workers during a strike increased strike rates by approximately 15% and increased strike duration by 60% ❖ Reinstatement rights increase strike length by 50% ❖ Over the term of a collective agreement, back-to-work legislation results in a 2.9% decrease in wages compared to settlement agreements ❖ Likelihood of back to work legislation being used to settle the next agreement is almost 3.5 times higher if back to work legislation was used to settle the present agreement ❖ A mandatory strike vote may increase the number of strikes but reduced the lenght of a strike by 28% Grievances in Unionized W orkplaces ❖ A formal grievance procedure is a requirement of the Canadian labour relations legislation ❖ Unionized workers have the right to have their complaints resolved through the grievance procedures ❖ Greivance procedures are one of the employment practices that formally dif ferentiate employment under common law from employment under collective bargaining law ➢ Only in Canada can unionized workers file grievances that management has to respond to Grievances Defined Individual Grievance ❖ Most common grievance filed ❖ Includes an individual employee who grieves ➢ Can be about overtime, denied promotion, inappropriately disciplined ❖ All of these tend to go against the process that was outlined in the collective agreement Group Grievance ❖ A group of employees grieve that the collective agreement has been violated ➢ Can include alleged agreement to vacation was not being allocated per the process outlined in the collective agreement Union or Policy Grievance ❖ The union leadership initiates the complaint ❖ The union may grieve that a new attendance policy developed my management violates the collective agreement Grievance Procedure Parties involved ❖ Three parties in the grievance process: ➢ The employee, who initiates the grievance ➢ The union, usually represented by the show steward ➢ Mangament, which at the start of the process is usually represented by the immediate supervisor The Grievance Process - Found in Most Collective Agreements 1) Informal Stage: ❖ Employee brings up a complaint to the immediate supervisor in an attempt to settle the issue ➢ If resolved, the process stops here ➢ If the complaint is not resolved, the employee can take the complaint through the formal grievance process ❖ Some practices in this stage can vary from agreement to agreement 2) Formal Step #1: ❖ Employee will usually present a written grievance to the immediate supervisor and involve the shope steward ❖ Formal grievance includes: ➢ Date ➢ Notation of the sections of the collective agreement that were allegedly violated ➢ The proposed resolution to the grievance ➢ Signature lines for the greivor and union shopt steward ❖ There will then be a time limit for which the supervisor needs to respond and investigate the situation ❖ If not resolved, it goes to step #2 3) Formal Step #2: ❖ The grievance is then reviewed by the next level of management and the next level of the union hierarchy ❖ This level of management will then have a set time period to which they need to respond to ❖ If not resolved, it goes to step #3 4) Formal Step #3: ❖ Previous step repeats expect at higher levels of management and union ❖ There tends to be several members of both management and the union present at this stage ❖ If the grievance has still not ben resolved by the end of this process, there will need to be a third party intervention Aspects to the Grievance Process ❖ Specific time frame: strictly enforced ❖ The number of steps are defined in the Collective Agreement Mitigating factors to Grieving ❖ Isolated incident ❖ Length of service ❖ W ork record ❖ Inconsistent applications of rules ❖ Premediation ❖ Remorse ❖ Economic Hardship ❖ Provocation Agrivating factors to Grieving ❖ Progressive discipline was used ❖ Consistency in the application of rules ❖ Little probability of change by grevior ❖ Past correction action steps have failed Grievance Innitiation Grievor Characteristics ❖ More likely to be educated males ❖ W omen and minorities are less likely to file grievances with white male superiors ❖ Grievors are less satisfied with their jobs and feel less commitment to their employers Management Characterisitcs - Settlement ❖ The stricter the the management pratcice, the more grievances ❖ Supervisors with good knowledge of the collective agreement, and supervisors who are considerate of employees and have friendly relations with them, experience lower grievances ❖ Management training and accountability ❖ Cooperative bargaining relationship ❖ A voiding the use of lawyers in the process ❖ First line managers need to be well experienced ❖ Advance consultation between the parties Grievance Outcomes Ef fectiveness ❖ Can be measured in speed and satisfaction ❖ Speed or length of time it takes to settle the grievance is important to all parties ➢ Justice delayed is justice denied ❖ Satisfaction is the overall perception of the process being fair ➢ Satisfaction is more important than speed Outcomes ❖ Outcomes are more likely to support the employee ❖ Exit voice theory would predict that employees improve performance and reduce turnover after the grievance settlement, this may not be the case ➢ V oluntary turnover is increased ➢ Performance ratings and promotion rates are decreased Non-Union Grievances Open-Door Policy ❖ Most common procedure ❖ A policy stating that emploees should feel comfortable enough brining areas of concern to a member of the management team ➢ These can be brought to HR, supervisors, or senior management ❖ These can consist of very informal to formal procedures ❖ Unfortuneatly , many open door policies are more of a statement and less of an actuality Formal Grievance or Appeal ❖ Non-union procedure ❖ Policy that specifies how the grievance is to be made and to whom ❖ Common approach entails a chain of commands, meaning that employees must first voice their concerns to their immediate managers ➢ They then can go to higher management if its not resolved Independant Review ❖ Less common ❖ Non-union grievance procedure that provides an independent review outside of the immediate management team ➢ Range of options is large C hap te r # 10: T hir d -p arty D is p ute R eso lu tio n Arbitration Process ❖ How do arbitrators make decisions? ➢ Precedent ➢ Questions of facts ➢ Questions of law ❖ Reduced discipline, reinstatement, and damages ❖ Witnesses are sworn in and give evidence ➢ Can be crossed examined ❖ Decisions are made on probable cause ➢ Exs: Is it most probable that the grievor did what management alleges? Key Arbitration Issues ❖ Three elements of culpable behaviour: 1) The grievor was aware of what was required of them 2) The grievor was capable of performing what was required of them 3) The grievor chose to do otherwise ❖ Three questions examined for discharge: 1) Did management have reasonable grounds to impose some form of discipline? 2) W as the level of discipline imposed reasonable given the circumstances? 3) If the level of discipline imposed was excessive, what level of discipline was appropriate? ❖ Common Mitigaiting Factors: ➢ The grievor ’s work record ➢ Inconsistent application of rules ➢ Premeditation ➢ Remorse/likelihood to repeat ➢ Provocation ➢ Isolation ➢ Grievor ’s length of service ➢ Economic hardship ➢ The seriousness of the of fence ➢ Lack of understanding G rie van ce M an ag em en t E ssen tia ls - G uest L ectu re Basic Legal Framework ❖ Collective labour agreement (Collective Bargaining Agreement) ➢ The employer can do as they please as long as it does not go against the CBA ❖ A collective agreement can not be shorter than one year under the law in Quebec ❖ Under a collective agreement, union members are not legally allowed to strike ❖ Alleged violation= Grievance ❖ Collective Labour Agreements (CBA) consist of the: ➢ Content vs Management rights ➢ Duration ➢ No strikes or lockouts are allowed under the duration ➢ Basic articles ❖ Basic articles: ➢ W ork rules ➢ Seniority ➢ Promotion/labour movement ➢ W ages ➢ Benefits ➢ Health and Safety rules ➢ Overtime rules ➢ Stat holidays ➢ V acation Grievance Procedure ❖ The procedure provided within the Quebec Labour Code (Articles 100 to 102) ➢ Filing for arbitration as per CBA ➢ Arbitrator appointing ➢ Arbitrator ’s jurisdiction ➢ Decision and implementation ➢ Review/appeal ➢ Rules of review ❖ The procedure included as per most CBAs ➢ 1st step ➢ 2nd step ➢ 3rd step ➢ Arbitrator joining appointment ■ Arbitration has to be agreed upon by both management and the union ➢ Financial responsibilities T ypes of Grievances ❖ Enforcement/Compliance: ➢ Alleged wrong application of language ■ Overtime rules ■ Promotion through job postings ■ Compensation over premiums ■ Usage of a specific employee over another one ❖ Discipline- Protection of Employees against a disciplinary assessment: ➢ Amnesty clause ➢ Duty of fair representation ➢ Protection against discipline escalation ❖ Policy grievance: Interpretation of language ➢ Example of Federal National Day for truth and reconciliation ➢ Language ambiguity ■ Being trained vs having qualifications ■ Labour standard changes and impact on CBA ● 2 days sick days paid ❖ Sometimes a grievance is good ➢ A clear award issued by a good arbitrator will bring compliance by all parties and end debates in the workplace that can be unproductive and time consuming T ools to Manage Grievances ❖ Empower first-level managers ➢ The more tools they have to settle a grievance, the better they can maintain solid relationships with their employees ❖ Only use union representatives when problems arise ❖ V alue supplemental, progressive steps in the discipline approach ❖ Involve first-level managers in joint grievance committee ❖ The more you put a grievance up the management hierarchy the more likely it will be lost, as many of them only care about the financial concerns Sound Grievance Approach ❖ Listen, discuss, and ask questions ❖ Open up to settlements ❖ Litigate only when necessary A bad settlement is better than a good judgement ❖ High costs of earnings ❖ Judegment implementation challenges ❖ Hard feelings following witness testimony ❖ Settlement prerequisite: Y ou can live with it K ey T e rm s Attitudinal Structuring (T rust): The dif ficult process of building the mutual respect and trust necessary for an enduring and positive collective bargaining relationship Article: A larger section of a collective agreement Bumping (Chain Bumping): A process whereby senior employees pass their layof f to more junior employees Bargaining Structure: Groups of employees and employers who help determine or are af fected by a collective agreement BA TNA: Best Alternative T o a Negotiated Agreement Bottom Line : The minimum position required in negotiations to avoid a strike or lockout Conventional Interest Arbitration: Interest arbitration where the arbitrator can choose among the proposals or make one of their own Culpable : At fault or guilty Clause : A specified section of an article Corrective Action : A warning process designed to improve employee performance or behaviour Contract Zone: Exists if each side’ s bottom line overlaps; to avoid a strike or lockout, management will of fer more, and the union will accept less than the point where their negotiating positions intersect Distributive Bargaining : A form of negotiation in which two parties compete over the distribution of some fixed resource Explicit Reference : Equity clause in the collective agreement that specifies which groups are covered Final-offer Arbitration : Interest arbitration in which the arbitrator must choose one of the parties’ proposals First Agreement : Arbitration that determines the first collective agreement Grievance Rate : The number of written grievances per one hundred employees in one year Grievance Mediation : A voluntary non-binding process whereby a neutral third party examines the grievance Industrial Dispute: A disagreement arising from entering into, renewing, or revisiting a collective agreement Interest Arbitration : An arbitration that determines terms and conditions of the collective agreement while it's being negotiated Integrative Bargaining : A form of bargaining in which there is potential for a solution that produces a mutual gain; also called win-win bargaining Interest-based Bargaining (IBB) : A cooperative form of bargaining in which the parties focus more on the interests of the parties and not the exaggerated positions Intra-team Bargaining : Bargaining within a union and management teams during the collective bargaining process Jurisprudence: Past decisions, usually of a legal context Lockout: A work stoppage invoked by management Legislative Reference: Equity clause in the collective agreement that referenced legislation Letter Of Understanding: A letter between the parties, usually placed at the end of an agreement and describing a specific practice they have agreed to follow Logrolling : The act of trading across issues in a negotiation Mitigation factors: Factors argued by the union for a reduction in a sanction Opening Offer: The first of fer given in the collective bargaining to the parties involved Rights (Grievance Arbitration): The final and binding process to resolve disputes about the application and administration of a collective agreement Red-circling: Protecting employees’ pay at a level higher than the normal rate of their current job Residual Rights : A principal whereby management retains all rights it held before unionization except for those changed by the agreement Strike Mandate : The majority of the union members support strike action Strike V ote: The union conducts a vote assessing members' support of strike action Same-sex Benefits: Equity benefits for all genders Super Seniority: The status of union representatives who, while in of fice, have the highest seniority in the bargaining unit Ratification: The process by which each party approves the settlement reached at the bargaining tables by the management and union teams Resistance point: Also known as walkaway , is as far as you are willing to concede to reach an agreement Settlement point: The point at which the negotiators would like to conclude, or an acceptable outcome Spillover effect: A belief that increases in union wages result in decreases in non-union wages W ildcat Strike: Ilegal strike during the term of the collective agreement W ork to Rule: The strategy of employees who perform only to the minimum required standard F in al P ra ctic e Q uestio ns Employers have recently sought to include language on which item? A. Explicit reference B. Drug/alcohol testing C. Management rights D. Residual rights What do labour relations clauses in collective agreements deal with? A. Overtime B. Grievances procedures C. Job security D. Employee rights What is the role of collective agreements? A. T o establish flexible workplaces B. T o establish consistency across all employers C. T o establish procedures for workplaces practices D. T o establish job security What is the best description of who is represented by collective agreements? A. Employer and workers in the bargaining unit B. Management, government and labour C. Employers across an industry D. Management and union members Which item is present in all collective agreement? A. Articles B. Index C. Letters of understanding D. Cover page Which of the following is a form of union security? A. Open shop B. Participatory bargaining C. Closed shop D. Residual rights Which type of grievance is discussed in the textbook? A. Group grievances B. Personality grievances C. Interest grievances D. Protocol grievances Which of the following is a process in which a third party decides the terms of a collective agreement? A. fact-finding B. conciliation C. arbitration D. mediation E. conciliation board Which of the following is correct regarding arbitration, conciliation, and mediation? A. All three produce a binding resolution of a contract dispute. B. Only conciliation produces a binding resolution of a contract dispute. C. Only mediation produces a binding resolution of a contract dispute. D. Only arbitration produces a binding resolution of a contract dispute. E. None of the three produces a binding resolution of a contract dispute. An employer has terminated an employee for alleged misconduct and the union has filed a grievance. If the grievance is not settled it will be resolved using: A. interest arbitration B. rights arbitration C. mediation D. conciliation E. final of fer selection The number of steps in the grievance process is determined by legislation A. T rue B. False An employee who has been assigned overtime in contravention of the collective agreement can refuse the work assignment. A. T rue B. False Interest-based bargaining has been widely adopted in Canada. A. T rue B. False Which factor has contributed to union decline? A. Globalization B. Standardization of work schedules C. Lack of business competitiveness D. Changes in company polies