Labour Relations - Content Flashcards
John Dunlops industrials relations systems approach consists of what key elements?
1) The environment
2) Actors & parties
3) Processes & activities
4) Outputs & results
Feedback comes through the feedback loops.
Feedback loops: O&R to all. P&A to A/P.
What is the political economy approach to labour relations?
It emphasizes that labour relations is affected by broader issues in society and the economy, in particular, the distribution of power.
Employers have the upper hand when dealing with employees, and the establishment of small fragmented single-employer bargaining units means that employees do not have sufficient power to deal with employers.
How did labour organizations begin in Canada?
in the early 1800s, independent local unions made up of skilled craft workers.
They were concerned with protecting their craft status from unskilled workers and providing assistance to their fellow tradesmen who were sick or unemployed
What are the economic trends affecting Labour Relations?
1) Labour marketing changes
2) Globalization
3) Trade liberalization
4) Deregulation
5) Non-standard work (P-T/Temp)
6) Mergers
7) Downsizing
What environmental factors affect Labour Relations?
1) Economic
2) Social
3) Political
4) Legal
5) Technology
What factors affect an employer’s labour relations strategy?
1) Employer’s competitive strategy
2) Union/Non-union status of competitors
3) Experience with unionization
4) Management values/ideology
5) Union philosophy/policy (of employer)
6) Union power and ability to oppress the employer
7) Types of employees
8) Legal environment
How can an employer behave when faced with a union
1) Union opposition
2) Union avoidance/substitution
3) Union acceptance
4) Union resistance
5) Union removal
What are best practices for an employee communications program
1) Conduct a communications audit
2) Create outlets for employee suggestions
3) Have leaders interact with employees at all levels
What are forms of employee involvement?
1) Quality circles (employees investigate problems)
2) Problem-solving groups
3) Employee-management committees
4) Self-directed teams
5) Co-determination (of decisions)
What are the two types of unions?
Craft: members of a trade/occupation
Industrial: workers from different positions in a company/firm
What are key union objectives
1) Improving terms and conditions of work
2) Protecting employees against arbitrary management action
3) Providing a process for conflict resolution and employee input
4) Pursuing economic and social change
What are the key functions of a Local?
- Administration of the collective agreement
- Collecting union dues
- Grievance/arbitration representation
- Collective bargaining on local issues
- Training/educating members
- Political action
- Organizing workers
What are the functions of the Canadian Labour Congress?
- Lobbying the federal government
- Pursuing economic and social policy favourable to workers at the federal level
- Managing jurisdictional disputes between unions
- Enforcing the CLC code of ethics
- Education
- Research and analysis
- Maintaining links with labour movements in other countries
What is the government’s involvement in labour relations?
- Regulation of labour relations processes
- Regulation of labour relations outcomes
- Protecting public interest
- Providing assistance to the industry
- Regulating market practices/results
What are reasons employees unionize?
- Poor supervisors/managers
- Compensation
- Fairness/equity
- Job security
- Working conditions
- Workload
- Influence in policy making
- Complaint mechanism
What are reasons employees do not unionize?
- Union Dues
- The political/social activities of unions
- Strikes
- Loyalty to the employer
- Conflict (caused by the a unionized workplace)
- The non-union merit system
- Union member perceptions
- Employer retaliation
- Job loss
How does a union gain bargaining rights?
1) Being voluntarily recognized by the employer
2) Applying to the Labour Relations Board
When a union applies for certification to the LRB, it must establish
1) It is a trade union as defined by legislation
2) The application is timely
3) The group of employees is an appropriate bargaining unit
4) The union has adequate support from employees
What workers are ineligible for unionization?
- Dependent contractors
- Managers/supervisors
- Employees involved with confidential labour relations material
- Some specified occupations
What are the 2 ways to certify employee support for a union?
1) Representation vote
2) Membership cards
What are 2 ways an employer can use unfair labour practices against an employer?
1) Threats, intimidation and coercion
2) Interference or influence by the employer
What behaviour is allowed by employers during a union organizing campaign
- Prohibiting non-employees into the workspace
- Prohibiting employees from the workplace during their off hours (if this is the standard policy)
- Implementing rules that prevent socialization about unionization during working hours
- In appropriately talking with employees about unions/unionizing practices
- Changing work conditions before AND during the statutory freeze (as long as it is not an attempt to influence employees)
- Responding to union claims
What unfair labour practices must unions avoid at certification?
- Intimidation, threats or coercion to compel a person to become or cease to be a member of a trade union
- Solicitation of union support during working hours
What happens when their is an allegation of unfair labour practices?
- A complaint is filed with the Labour Relations Board in the jurisdiction.
- The burden of proof is is placed on the employer
What are some remedies for unfair labour practices?
- Cease and desist order
- Reinstatement of discharged employees
- Compensation for financial losses (Making Whole)
- Interest on monies awarded
- Posting or mailing of a notice to employees
- Access order (access to company property)
- Freeze on working conditions
- New representation vote
- Certification without a vote or remedial certification (not available in all jurisdictions)
- Prosecution
What is the employee decertification process?
- Employees in the bargaining unit sign a statement confirming that they do not want the union to represent them, and this evidence is filed with the Board,
- An application form to decertify the union is also attached
When can an application for decertification be made by the employees?
- If there is no collective agreement, not until a certification by a second union is allowed.
- If a collective agreement is negotiated, then it is during an open period
When can applications for decertification not be made by employees?
- If there is no collective agreement, they must wait 10 months to 1 year after certification
- If there is a certification, they must wait for the open period prior to the 3rd year of an agreement
What are some grounds for decertification
- Failure to give notice to bargain, or to bargain
- Fraud
- Failure to reach a collective agreement
What is the first task of a newly certified union bargaining unit?
To negotiate a collective agreement with the employer
What are the Mandatory Terms of a Collective Agreement?
- Union recognition
- Grievance and Arbitration process
- Time limits
- Arbitration
- Strikes and lockouts
- Duration/Term of the collective agreement
- Voluntary Terms
- Management Rights
- Bargaining unit of work
- Union Security
- Seniority
- Discipline and Discharge
- Hours of work and scheduling
- Overtime
- Public holidays
- Vacation
- Leave of absences
- Wages
- Benefits
- Health and safety
- Union Business
What is another name for the required article in a collective agreement stating that the employer recognizes the union as the sole bargaining agent for a specified group of employees?
Scope clause
What are the different types of grievances?
- Individual grievances
- Group grievance
- Policy grievance
What are the 2 time limits in a grievance process?
- Mandatory time limit
- Directory time limit
What are the different forms of arbitration?
- Single/sole arbitrator (listed in collective agreement or appointed)
- Arbitrator board
What are the main criticisms with the arbitration process?
- Cost
- Slow speed of the process
What is the minimum collective agreement length?
1-year
What are the 2 forms of Management Rights
- Short form: preferred by unions
- Long form: preferred by employers
What are the key issues related to union security?
- Check-off/union dues
- If employees are required to join the union
- Can employee be union representatives
- Access to the facility by external union officials
What are the different types of union mebership?
- Closed shop
- Union shop
- Modified union shop
- Maintenance or membership
- Open shop
What are the two primary ways that skill and ability can be combined with seniority to determine eligibility for a job?
- Sufficient ability clause
- Relative ability clause
What are the types of Union-Management relationships?
- Conflict
- Containment-Aggression
- Accommodation
- Cooperative
- Collusion
What is are the steps in the collective bargaining process?
1) a notice to bargain is given
2) Bargaining teams are established
3) Preparations for Negotiations
4) Meetings of the bargaining teams
What are the 3 Stages of collective agreement negotiations?
1) Establishing a negotiating range
2) Search phase
3) Crisis phase
What are the actions that are deemed to indicate bad faith negotiating and/or a breach of duty?
- Refusal to meet
- Refusal to recognize the union
- Not giving the negotiating team power to bargain
- Surface bargaining
- Deception
- Concealing important information
- Deliberate provocation during bargaining
- Refusal to justify a bargaining position
- Refusing to make every reasonable effort to enter into a collective agreement
What are each side’s three key reference “points” in mind for each issue as it enters negotiations?
1) Resistance point
2) Target point
3) Initial position
What are some hardball tactics?
- A “good cop/bad cop” routine
- The “highball or lowball” approach
- Nibble approach
- Playing chicken
What factors affect the employer’s bargaining power?
- Inventory levels
- Interdependence of bargaining levels
- Competitive position
- Timing of negotiations
- Ability to continue operations
- Bargaining structure
- Public opinion
What factors affect the Union’s bargaining power?
- Support of bargaining unit members
- Size of strike fund
- Timing of a strike
- Effectiveness of a strike/picketing
- Labour cost/total cost
- Elasticity of demand for product or service provided by employer
- Public opinion
What are the requirements for a strike or lockout?
- No collective agreement currently in force
- Parties have bargained in good faith (and have had a cooling off period)
- Conciliation or mediation process completed
- Strike vote
- Notice of strike or lockout
- Essential services agreement in place
What are the types of Third-Party assistance in contract dispute resolution?
- Conciliation (one-stage & two-stage)
- Mediation
- Fact-Finding
- Arbitration
- Mediation-Arbitration
What are the 2 conciliation processes?
- One-stage conciliation: involving either a conciliation officer or a conciliation board
- Two-stage: Involving a conciliation officer and then a conciliation board if no settlement is reached with the conciliation officer
What does a conciliation board consist of?
- Union nominee
- Employer nominee
- A neutral chairperson selected by the parties’ nominees
What are the 2 advantages and disadvantages of the conciliation process?
Adv: New perspective to negotiations
Adv: Cooling-off period
Dis-Adv: Only delay a strike/lockout
Dis-Adv: Process favour employer as it gives them more time to prepare for a stirke
How do mediators help?
- Help each side understand the other’s position
- Help work through a hostile negotiation
- Develop new proposals/repackage existing proposals
- Help negotiators save face by developing new proposals
- Provide comprised terms
What are the 2 forms of final offer selection?
- Total-package
- Item-by-item
What limits management rights in collective agreements?
- Provisions of the collective agreement
- Compliance with the law
- Estoppel
- Rules from KVP Co. Ltd. (when rules are introduced, but not agreed to by union)
What are the steps in the grievance process?
1) A grievance is presented to the supervisor or employer representative
2) The grievance is presented to a higher-level employer representative
3) Again, the grievance is presented to a higher-level employer representative
4) The grievance is referred to arbitration
What is the function/purpose of grievances and arbitration?
- Dispute settlement
- Enforcement of the collective agreement
- Additional bargaining during the term of the agreement
What are reasons that a dispute is inarbitrable?
- The dispute must relate to a matter covered by the collective agreement
- The arbitrator may not have jurisdiction if the procedural requirements of the grievance process have not been followed
What are some remedies arbitrators can issue?
- Order the reduction of discipline imposed upon employees,
- Ordering reinstatement
- Make a declaration that a party has violated the agreement and direct compliance;
- Order the payment of damages for financial loss
Where are the three main areas of potential dispute at a rights arbitration hearing?
- The procedural requirements of the agreement
- Factual matters
- The appropriateness of the penalty imposed by the employer
Why are Last Change Agreements (LCA’s) advantageous?
- The employee avoids immediate dismissal
- The union avoids an arbitration hearing
- The employer retains an employee
What was a distinctive aspect of the federal government’s Public Service Staff Relations Act (now the Public Service Labour Relations Act)?
A provision for a choice of contract dispute resolution mechanisms.
What are the 4 primary methods of contract dispute resolution in the private sector?
- Unrestricted strike model
- No-strike model- interest arbitration (Replication principle)
- Designated/Controlled Strike model
- Back to work legislation
