© 2002 mcgraw-hill ryerson ltd.1 chapter 16 the union management framework

© 2002 McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd. 1

Chapter 16The Union Management Framework


Union

A union is an organization with the legal authority to represent workers, negotiate the terms and conditions of employment with the employer, and administer the collective agreement.


Collective Agreement

A contract negotiated between union and employer, outlining terms and conditions of employment.


Workers’ Major Reasons for Joining or Not Joining Unions

Reasons for JoiningLearn a tradeFind employment through unionReceive union benefitsAcquire collective powerSeek change in management practicesDislike supervision/supervisory practicesReceive peer pressureRequired by union shopWant benefits promised during organizing driveSeek professional contactResolve professional issuesWant better paySocial reasonsSocio-political reasonsJob security and protection

Major Reasons for Not JoiningDislike unionsPossess steady employmentReceive fair treatmentWant a management positionAfraid of strikesDislike duesReject as unprofessionalUnions not needed for self-employed Management deterrent (legal and illegal)


Business Unionism

The practice of unions seeking to improve the wages, hours, and working conditions in a business-like manner.


Social Unionism

A characteristic of unions seeking to further members’ interests by influencing the social, economic, and legal policies of governments.


Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)

A central labour congress formed in 1956 by the merger of the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada and the Canadian Congress of Labour.


Local Union

The basic unit of union organization, formed in a particular plant or locality.


Craft Union

A labour organization that limit membership to workers having a particular craft or skill or working in a closely related trade.


Industrial Union

A union representing primarily production, maintenance, and related workers, both skilled and unskilled, in an industry.


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Structure of a Typical Union

BusinessAgent

Secretary-Treasurer

GrievanceCommittee

BargainingCommittee

Union Members

Steward

Union Members

Steward

Union Members

Steward

Union Members

Steward

President


Impact of Union Representation

• Strikes

• Wages and benefits

• Unions and productivity


The Common Core of Canadian Labour Legislation

• Right to join a union – employees have the right to join a trade union of their choice and participate in the union’s activities

• Good faith bargaining – in attempting to negotiate a collective agreement, both labour and management have a duty to “bargain in good faith.”

• No strikes or lockouts during the life of the collective agreement – it is illegal for a union to strike or an employer to lockout employees during the life of the contract.


The Common Core of Canadian Labour Legislation

• Prohibition on unfair labour practices – all jurisdictions have legislation prohibiting unfair labour practices by employers and unions.

• Conciliation – the right of a union to strike or an employer to lockout employees is (in most provinces) delayed until the conciliation process has been exhausted.


Labour Relations Boards (LRB)

Boards set up in the federal and all provincial jurisdictions to administer labour relations legislation.


LRB Procedures for Redressing Unfair Labour Practices

• The aggrieved individual or organization contacts the appropriate LRB office (federal or provincial) and explains the alleged violation.

• If the case appears to have merit, the LRB informs the other party of the complaint and asks for a response.



• The LRB gives the parties involved the opportunity to present evidence and to make representations. If the complaint cannot be solved informally, the LRB conducts an official hearing with the interested parties present and usually represented by legal counsel.



• On the basis of the evidence, the board will either dismiss the case, or if one party is found guilty of a violation, issue a cease-and-desist order. In the event of noncompliance, this order is enforceable in a court of law.

• It is up to the board to decide whether a verdict can be appealed or not. In any case, an appeal can be made in matters of jurisdiction, failure to pursue legitimate complaints, and procedural irregularities.


Environmental Factors that May Lead to Unionization

External Factors

• Have there been recent changes in the labour laws that affect your industry that might cause interest in your firm by union organizers?

• Has there been a sudden increase in unionization activity in your community or industry?

• Is your company planning a major increase in its work force that might stimulate union interest in organizing the firm before it becomes larger and more expensive to organize?


Environmental Factors that May Lead to Unionization

Internal Factors• Has your organization failed to resolve systematically the union

complaints made during previous, unsuccessful organizing attempts?

• Are employee turnover and absenteeism rates higher than the norms for your industry or community?

• Has the company failed to conduct job satisfaction surveys? Or, if they have been conducted, do they reveal a trend toward dissatisfaction?

• Are pay and benefits below average for the industry, community, or unionized firms?

• Is the company’s procedure for resolving employee complaints largely not used by workers?


Unfair Labour Practices by Management

• Interfering in the formation of a union or contributing to it financially (although there have been allowances for the providing of an office for the union to conduct business and for paid leave for union officials conducting union business).

• Discriminating against an employee because the individual is or is not a member of a trade union.

• Discriminating against an employee because that individual chooses to exercise rights granted by labour relations statutes.

• Intimidating or coercing an employee to become or not become a member of a union.


Unfair Labour Practices by Unions

• Seeking to compel an employer to bargain collectively with the union if the union is not the certified bargaining agent.

• Attempting, at the workplace and during working hours, to persuade an employee to become or not become a union member.

• Intimidating, coercing, or penalizing an individual because he or she has filed a complaint or testified in any proceedings pursuant to the relevant labour statute.

• Engaging in, encouraging, or threatening illegal strikes.

• Failing to represent employees fairly.


Obtaining Bargaining Rights

• Voluntary recognition

• Regular certification

• Pre-hearing votes


Management Rights

As used in union-management relationships, those rights reserved for management that are within the collective agreement.


Conciliation

A government appointed third party attempts to bring together the parties to reconcile their differences.


Mediation

Process whereby disputing parties choose voluntarily to reconcile their differences through a third party.


Grievance Procedure

A formal procedure outlined in the collective agreement to resolve grievances.


Typical Steps in a Union-Management Grievance Procedure

• Preliminary discussion. The aggrieved employee discusses the complaint with the immediate supervisor with or without a union representative. At this sage, or at any other step in the process, management may resolve the grievance to the satisfaction of the union or the union may decide to drop the grievance. Otherwise, the grievance proceeds to the next step in the process.

• Step 1: The complaint is put in writing and formally presented by the shop steward to the first-level supervisor. Normally, the supervisor must respond in writing within a contractually specified time period, usually two to five days.

• Step 2: The chief steward takes the complaint to the department superintendent. A written response is required, usually within a week.


Typical Steps in a Union-Management Grievance Procedure

• Step 3: The complaint is submitted to the plant manager/chief administrative officer by the union plant or grievance committee. Again, a written response is typically required.

• Step 4: If Step 3 does not solve the dispute, arrangements are made for an arbitrator or an arbitration board to settle the matter.


Arbitration

The resolution of a dispute relating to the interpretation of a clause in the collective agreement.


Union Shop

A union security provision in which employers may hire anyone they want, but all workers must join the union within a specified period.


Strategic Implications for Human Resource Management

• Design jobs that are personally satisfying to workers.

• Develop plans that maximize individual opportunities while minimizing the possibility of layoffs.

• Select workers who are qualified.

• Establish fair, meaningful, and objective standards of individual performance.


Strategic Implications for Human Resource Management

• Train workers and managers to enable them to achieve expected levels of performance.

• Evaluate and reward behaviour on the basis of actual performance.

• Provide employees with a “voice” in the workplace.

• Implement a compensation plan in which wages/salary and benefits parallel those available in the union sector.


Methods of Building Labour-Management Cooperation

• Prior consultation with union leaders to defuse problems before they become formal grievances.

• Sincere concern for employee problems and welfare even when management is not obligated to do so by the collective agreement.

• Training programs that objectively communicate the intent of union and management bargainers and reduce biases and misunderstandings.


Methods of Building Labour-Management Cooperation

• Joint study committee that allow management and union officials to find solutions to common problems.

• Third parties who can provide guidance and programs that bring union leaders and managers closer together to pursue common objectives.

© 2002 mcgraw-hill ryerson ltd.1 chapter 16 the union management framework

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