Chapter 1 Flashcards
Strike
an action by workers that leads to cease to perform work duties and do not report to work
Precarious Employment
Employment with minimal security, lower wages and less protection
Human Resources Management
The study of the employment relationship between employers and individual employees
Employee Relations
the study of employment relationships between employers and individual employees usually in a non-union setting
Industrial Relations
the study of employment-related issues and relationships often in a unionized situation
Labour Relations
Union management relations, the study of employment relationships and issues between groups of employees (union) and management
Union
A group of workers recognized by law who collectively bargain terms and conditions of employment with their employees
Collective Bargaining
the process by which management and labour relations negotiate the terms and conditions of employment in a unionized workplace
Collective Agreement
a written document outlining the terms and conditions of employment in a unionized workplace
The rise of precarious employment
- started during the recession of the 90s, low demand for labour and high unemployment
- initially concentrated in less skilled workplace
-20% of Canadians are precariously employed, about 60% of that are women - plan to increase
Four elements of the systems model. Dunlop’s Relations Systems Model
- actor
- shared ideology
- contexts
4 web of rules
Actors
specialized governments
hierarchy of management
hierarchy of workers
Shared Ideology
set of ideas and beliefs held by the actors
- helps in binding and integrating the system
Contexts
environmental factors such as market, workplace and work community constrains, distribution of power in the larger society
Web of rules
rights and responsibilities of the actors
- procedural
-substantive
-distributive
Criticism of the Dunlop Model
- it is descriptive but static
- it lacks the ability to predict the outcome
- underestimation of power conflict
- can not explain the rapid decrease of unionization
Craig’s Industrial Relations Model
Outline to explain the Canadian context of industrial relations
Systems model
a) inputs (external vs internal)
b) processes
c) outputs
What comprises the external inputs ?
legal subsystem, economic subsystem
ecological subsystem, political subsystem, sociocultural subsystem
Who are the actors in this case?
Labour
employers
goverment
end user
Internal inputs
values (standards), goals(sought out by actors), strategies (process developed to achieve goals), power(ability to make another actor agree to you)
Conversion mechanism
processes actors use to convert internal and external inputs into outputs
Examples of conversion mechanism
collective bargaining, grievance, day to day relation communication, conflict resolution, third party intervention (arbitration), join committees, strike
outputs example
employee outcomes: rights and responsibilities of Management in the employment relationship
- productivity, profitability
Labour outcomes: ways to achieve fairness
Workperception: work climate, employee morale, union satisfaction, and organization commitment
Conflict resolution: strikes and lockout (both an outcome and conversion mechanism)
Industrial relations
an interdisciplinary field: law, history, sociology and psychology, political science
Neo-classical view
economic view that sees unions as a barrier to the free market
Pluralist and Institutional view
- stresses the importance of multiple actors including labour in employment relationships
- sees labour unions as a countervailing force that attempts to balance the interests of employers and employees
- predominant viewing of Canada
- most closely related to IR
Human Resources and Strategic Choice View
- push not non-unionization
-Links HR practices to the firm’s overall strategy and foster cooperation between employees and employers, thus minimal need for union
Political economy
- based in the fields of sociology and political science
- stresses inherent conflict between labour and management
two key areas of Dunlop Model
- product and labour
