Drawing on interviews with key players in coalition-building in Canada, the author looks at current trends, difficulties and the advantages for unions and their members, and the probable direction of future coalition-building efforts.
The union response to difficult conditions, as documented by this survey of innovations and change in Canadian labour organizations, has focused on protecting current levels of wages and benefits, as well as fostering social unionism.
This paper discusses transnational labour solidarity, and how North American unions in the auto, steel, trucking, clothing and telecomm industries are increasingly embracing this vision for global labour.
Do unionized organizations in British Columbia face a greater challenge attracting and retaining new post-secondary graduates? Does the often adversarial nature of the union-management relationship translate into a culture that is perceived as negative and inconsistent with Gen X-Y workplace values? To what extent does a perceived negative workplace culture affect their decision to join or stay? What can employers and unions do to reshape any negative perception that may exist? These are questions that Ken Kaiser, faculty member in the School of Business at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, has posed in human resource management and labour relations classes for several years. His answer: workplaces with a perceived adversarial culture are at a serious disadvantage in competing for young, trained professionals.
This discussion paper reports on research that looked at whether the relationship between employee intention to quit and human resource management (HRM) changed based on union membership. The investigation first considered whether HRM reduced or increased an employee's intention to quit. Next, the moderating effect of union membership on the relationship between HRM and quit intent was considered. Did an employee's union member/non-member status in any way change the effects of HRM on employee quit intent, and if so, how?
This paper provides analysis into the workings of the collective agreement that governed the relationship between the National Hockey League and its Players' Association. By examining the elements and processes of the collective agreement, the nature of negotiation, and the roles of agents, owners, general managers, and arbitrators, it shows how significant increases in player compensation that occurred over a ten-year period set the stage for the 2004-05 negotiations and season-long lockout.
George C.B. Smith, Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Organization at CBC/Radio-Canada, shares lessons from his 33-year career as a management negotiator. He underlines three essentials for success: organizational alignment; managing the interpersonal aspects; and managing the complexities of the process.
In this Q & A, CAW President Buzz Hargrove has a spirited talk with IRC Director Carol Beatty about auto plant closures, the effects of globalization, the role of unions, and whether the Ontario auto industry is doomed.
Unions usually dislike the idea of employee ownership. So why did several unionized companies in crisis overcome their aversion and embrace it as a strategy for saving jobs? IRC Director Carol Beatty explains.
Dr. Pradeep Kumar of Queen's University School of Policy Studies is an expert in unionism, collective bargaining, and workplace change in North America. In this Q & A, Dr. Kumar, who is Director of the Masters of Industrial Relations program, speaks about union-management relations, and what is likely to develop in 2005 and beyond.
