Chapters 1-3 Flashcards
Industrial Relations
broad interdisciplinary field of study and practice that encompasses all aspect of the employment relationship.
* The study of employment relationships and issues, often in unionized workplace, similar to labour relations.
Labour Relations
All aspect of union – management relationship
Employee Relations
The study of employment relationship between employer and individual employees, usually in non-union settings
What is the employment relationship governed by in a non-unionized workplace
-employment legislation
-individual contract
-common law
What are the parameters to be dismissed without just cause for non-unionized employees
reasonable notice or pay in lieu of notice as per employment legislation and common law
what is the recourse for dismissal with or without cause in non-unionized workplaces? what is the best outcome?
court action and monetary action
What is the employment relationship governed by in a unionized workplace?
- government legislation
-collective agreement
-grievance/arbitration process
What are the parameters to be dismissed without just cause for unionized employees
Essentially in non unionized they just give notice or pay in lieu of it but in unionized you can be dismissed without cause, but the company needs to follow to steps laid out for lay off or termination that’s in the collective agreement
what is the recourse for dismissal with or without cause in unionized workplaces? what is the best outcome?
- Recourse is through the grievance/arbitration process.
Best outcome through the grievance/arbitration process: reinstatement
How did unions and labour relations develop in Canada?
early 1800s:Unions starts on the basis of skilled or craft workers, they were the only employees who could join union
Attempts made to organize workers within a firm in different occupations called industrial unions (everyone can join, skilled and non skilled)
Unionization still illegal at this point
Mid 1800s-early 1900s: American unions try to form in Canada through the American federation of labour
- Winnipeg General Strike in 1919
In 1935, U.S. passes the Wagner Act, also called the National Labor Relations Act
Giving rights to unionize to workers
Canada passes Privy Council Order 1003 (PC 1003) which provides collective bargaining rights for the private sector
Yellow dog contracts
- Means that they would put in contract that after you get hired you can’t join a union or if you were previously part of a union in a diff organization you can’t join this organization
What are the 2 different union philosophies
- Business unionism: union for the purpose of economic benefits of their members like salary, job security etc.
- Social unionism: in addition to members financial benefits they are also involved to contribute to society. Example giving scholarship to their members.
Winnipeg General Strike
One of the most important event in canada labour history
Started with a group of telephone operators who walked off their jobs in a sympathy stike for metalworkers
Within 24 hours between 20000 and 35000 mostly non union workers
What are the 4 key elements of Dunlop systems approach to labour relations?
actors or parties (union, employers, government)
processes and activities (contract negotiations)
outputs of results (collective agreement)
the environment (economy, technology, social values, political system, legal system)
What is the basis of the political economy approach to labour relations
sees conflict as inherent between employers and employees
What are the 6 environmental factors that impact labour relations
economic
technological
demographic
political
legislative
social environment
What will unions fight for when inflation is high?
unions will fight for higher wages than the inflations rate
What will happen when the economic conditions are very good
the union will try to get more money because they know the organization doesn’t want any disruptions to their production
they won’t go after places for firing employees because they know they can get another job
How will the unemployment rate affect what unions will ask for?
- If its UR is high, union will focus more on job security bc if someone loses their job it means its hard to find another job
- If UR is low, union won’t be concerned with job security, and management can’t low ball the pay as much, flexibility is less
macroeconomic environment
represents the economic big picture: the growth rate, unemployment rate, the rate of inflation
nominal wages
wages that haven’t been adjusted for inflation
real wages
wages that have been adjusted for inflation
fiscal policy
changes in government spending and taxation, when government gives money it gives people more money, which can increase inflation
monetary policy
consists of changes in interest rates to regulate employment levels and inflation.
What are the 7 key economic factors affecting labour relations
labour market changes: supply/demand, union will ask for more when job in demand
globalization: union will try to keep work in Canada instead of sourcing somewhere cheaper
trade liberalization: free trade, USMCA
deregualtion: government stops regulating an industry
non-standard work: unions push for full time employees bc part-time or contract workers hard to unionize
mergers: union will be concerned with severance pay, job security
downsizing: layoffs, termination
What is the affect of technological changes in the environment on unions
unions will fight for job security with automation and also technology will require workers to upskill and unions will fight for hire wages because of that or when jobs are downgraded and require less skills, employers will try to reduce wages
What happens is a union has more social support in their social environment?
more power and then try to exploit for their members at the cost of general public (example: higher wages means price goes up for consumers)
labour relations regulations
regulates the relationship between the union representing employees and the employer.
Factors Determining Undue Hardship
Financial cost
Size of the employer’s operations
Interchangeability of the workforce and facilities
Safety
Provisions of any collective agreement
Effect on employee morale
What are the 2 key management objectives?
productivity/efficiency and control
What is productivity made up of
ability x motivation x environment
Production design
is a process that leads to the efficient and effective generation of a product or service.
Job design
is an approach to enhance organizational efficiency and worker satisfaction through technological and human considerations.
Reengineering
is a fundamental re-thinking and redesign of business processes to achieve improvements in efficiencies, costs and quality.
production design, job design, and reengineering affect which key management objective
productivity
What are some methods management will do to maintain control
lobbying political party to make law in favour of them
lockouts
prevent unionization
public relations
work collaboratively with the union
A labour relations strategy
is…
how an employer deals with the unionization of its employees.
What are the 8 factors that affect an employers labour relations strategy?
1.competitive strategy: cost leadership or differentiation
2.union or non-union status of competitor
3. expereince with unionization: (if one location is unionized how they feel about other location becoming unionized)
4. management values or ideology: how managers own thinking is about unionization
5. union philosophy or policy
6. union power and ability to oppose employer: the larger the union is the more money they have and more they can fight
7. Types of employees: part time vs full time
8. legal environment: strength determined on how much the legislation supports unionization vs management
what are the 5 possible Labour relation strategies to achieve productivity and control?
union opposition
union avoidance
union acceptance
union resistance
union removal
union opposition
when the organization has no unionized employees and wants it stay that way and to oppose the unionization they’ll do legal and illegal things to stop it from happening
union avoidance or substitution
is a strategy aimed at preventing unionization using legal means to convince employees they do not need a union by offering what the industry standard for unionized employees in other organizations is so employees don’t need to unionize
Union Acceptance:
is a strategy in which the employer remains neutral in an organizing attempt, and if the attempt is successful tries to negotiate the best deal with the union.
union resistance
is a strategy in which the employer attempts to limit the further spread of unionization in the organization.
union removal
is a strategy in which the employer attempts to rid itself of any union
low commitment HR strategy
involves traditional production methods and a low emphasis on development of workforce skills.
linked to cost leadership strategy
high commitment HR strategy
involves the adoption of better technology and requires investment in training and development of human resources.
What is the significance of high performance work systems for labour relations
-union will resist
-will try to protect job loss form technological change
-unions will resist variable pay plans bc not everyone will get it
high performance work systems
sees HR as a firm’s competitive advantage and includes:
-job redesign
-employee involvement
-training and skill development
-compensation based on performance
forms of employee involvement
quality circles
problem solving groups
employee-management committees
self-directed teams
quality circles
are groups of employees who investigate problems relating to quality and make recommendations to management for improvements.
problem solving groups
are teams of employees that consider issues and make recommendations to management.
employee-management committees
are ongoing groups made up of management and employee representatives who advise management.
self-directed teams
are groups of employees that take on functions previously performed by management.
co-determination
is a system in which management shares decision-making authority with the union. Rare in Canada and USA
