Chapter 5

Question 1

Factors Affecting Employees Support for a union

Answer 1

1. Personal Factors
2. Work Place Factors
3. Societal Factors

Question 2

Steps to Organizing Campaign

Answer 2

1. Obtain and order certifying the union as an exclusive bargaining agent for the employees
2. Initiate the secret Organizing Campaign
3. Information Meeting
4. Formation of Organizing Committee
5. Signing up Memebers
6. Filing application for certification

Question 3

The Application for Certification Indicates

Answer 3

1. Sufficient Support (e.g. cards, payment of dues)
2. Description of the desired bargaining unit
3. Identification of the affected employer and union

Question 4

In BC what is required for support of the certification process

Answer 4

• need 45% of employees in proposed unit to apply

- followed by a mandatory vote, need 50% of support amoung voters

Question 5

Membership Proof in BC

Answer 5

• signing a card or paying dues in 90 days

- withdrawal application if insufficient support

Question 6

Appropriate Bargaining Unit Factors

Answer 6

1. Community of Interest
2. Size and location(s) of proposed unit
3. Managerial v. Non-managerial employees
4. Who, exactualy are the employees
5. Who, exactly is the employeers
6. Is the applicaiton a bona fide trade union

Question 7

Factors Effecting Support of a Union

Personal Factors

Answer 7

• Parental attitudes or a union activity
• socioeconomic status
• instrumentality
• perception in the identity

Question 8

Factors Effecting Support of a Union

Workplace Factors

Answer 8

o problems with administration in general
o inadequate benefits lack of
o opportunity for promotion
o perceived unfairness overwork policies or procedures and
o job security concerns

Question 9

Factors Effecting Support of a Union

Economic Factors

Answer 9

• unemployment rate
• inflation
• Union wage premiums

Question 10

Factors Effecting Support of a Union

Societal Factors

Answer 10

• general attitudes towards unions

* Labor legislation

Question 11

Steps In Organizing Campaign

Step 1 - Decide

Answer 11

• bargaining agent means that the union is legally recognized as the sole representative of the employees that in that particular workplace
• organizing campaigns can be initiated by either union or by employees

Question 12

Steps In Organizing Campaign

Step 2

Answer 12

• The first formal step in the organizing campaign is to plan and hold an information meeting that takes place after working hours and off company property
attempt to determine whether there are enough Co workers interested in unionization to justify holding an information meeting

• at the information meeting interested employees discussed the issues that are generating interest in unionization with the union representative and together they assessed the likelihood of the organizing campaign would result in a majority vote of support for the union the information meeting is kept secret from the employer and also from employees who are perceived to be not being sympathetic to the idea of a union

Question 13

Steps In Organizing Campaign

Step 3

Answer 13

• the organization committee consists of several employees in the workplace ever helps inexperienced organizer from the union who could provide insistence
• the members of the organizing committee will contact other employees before or after work on breaks or at their homes to sound out to their union sympathy
• when the organizing committee members contact other employees their goals to attain a formal indication of their support for the union this is accomplished by having employees signed a membership card or a petition indicating their intent to join the union

Question 14

Steps In Organizing Campaign

Step 4

Answer 14

• When the organizing committee believes that it has sufficient members support as defined in its jurisdiction about Labour legislation the union will file an application for certification form which with the appropriate Labour relations board the application indicates that a group of employees wish to be represented by particular union and its dealings with the employer

Question 15

What is included in an application to form a union

Answer 15

o an indication of sufficient membership support for the application
o or description of the desired bargaining unit
o an indication of the employer and the trade union covered by the application

Question 16

Appropriateness of Bargaining Unit - Size and location

Answer 16

• the union would like to represent as many workers as possible
• to achieve in establishing appropriate bargaining unit is relative balance of bargaining power between the employer and the union or bargaining union so large that it gives the union far more bargaining power than employer might be as inappropriate as a bargaining unit so small that the union would have very little bargaining power against its employees

Question 17

Appropriateness of Bargaining Unit - Managerial and Non - Managerial Employees

Answer 17

o Bargaining units should not include both manager and on manager employees this palsy exists for several reasons first managers are the workplace representatives of the owners of the company and employer is entailed to rely on the loyalty of its representatives a conflict of interest might exist if a manager with the power to discipline another employee was in the same bargaining unit as the employee
o a trade union by definition is legally entitled to be established and administered without the employee interference placing managers in the same bargaining unit as non managers would violate this principle

Question 18

Appropriateness of Bargaining Unit - Defining Employee

Answer 18

o definition of employee is included in each jurisdiction’s Labour code as well as relevant act governing employment standards but generally these definitions recognized employee as someone who works on a regular basis for an employer dependent relationship
the Labour relations board has generally been that if a worker has been an ongoing dependent relationship with the organization the worker should be considered an employee and included in the bargaining union regardless of their job title or their contractual relationship with the organization

Question 19

Appropriateness of Bargaining Unit - Defining Employer

Answer 19

o generally the state of an employer is someone who employs at least one employee and or uses the services of at least one dependent contractor this lack of precision in definition has led to some particular difficulties in applying these definitions because of the many different forms of ownership that exist

Question 20

Appropriateness of Bargaining Unit - Defining Trade union

Answer 20

o mostly records state that the bona fide trade union is a union that is established free from employer interference and is run on Democratic principles

Question 21

Voluntary Recognition

Answer 21

• in such situations and union may be able to satisfy an employer that has organized employees into union appropriate for collective bargaining without going through the formality of making an application for certification to a Labour relations board
• most Canadian Labour laws permit the employer to recognize union right to act as this collusive bargain agent for those employees without official recognition from a Labour board’s relation
• if voluntary recognition occurs the appropriate provisions of the relevant Labour legislation will govern the employees collective bargaining relationship