Collective Bargaining In Canada

Before the 1930s, labor unions had little to no voice in the contracts of industrialized companies. Labor Unions “are organizations of workers whose primary objectives are to improve the pecuniary and nonpecuniary conditions or employment among their members” (Ehrenberg & Smith, pg. 451). The Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC) and the United Automobiles Workers (UAW) are different unions in Canada and the Unites States. Even though they have some similarities, the two groups have many differences as well. Some similarities include how they bargain and negotiate. However, they differ in the type of union, what they stand for, how large they are, why and when they started, and what they negotiate for.

In an ironic twist of fate, the successes that unions had for workers rights, have contributed to their own demise. However, there are proponent’s who believe that unions are still needed in today. Pamela Prah quoted Robert Korstad, a history professor at Duke University who specializes in labor said, “Workers need unions today as much as they ever have, most workers want full-time jobs with health care, retirement and other benefits, but in today’s economy workers can often only find part-time work without benefits… Just for financial reasons alone, there are lots of arguments in support of unions” (713). Therefore, workers need to have a catalyst [unions] that will fight for its member’s rights.

This video covers a lot of the growth and stunt of unions throughout the 20th century. As the video states “The Canadian labour movement has been one of the enormous struggle and commitment. Throughout, government as played a prominent role in defining rights of workers and the power of employers. This is the story of the government as a friend and foe of Canadian workers” (Taylor). There were several events in recent Canadian history where the government has intervened and the workers end up in a worse position then they started with.

With over 30% of the working population of Canada being members of unions, meaning over 18 million Canadian citizens are working in unionized conditions, there’s no doubt that unions have an influence on our society and workers. But, is their role valuable? There are many aspects about union memberships that facilitates life for it’s workers. Unions are designed to create fairness and equality between all of it’s members, creating a just and healthy environment for everyone. They support and defend members who are struggling or suffer from an injury which prevents them from working. Unions also create job security to it’s members, something very valuable especially to lower-class and family providing members. Unions seem to be able to provide

As a leading union and voice of workers employed in 26 sectors of the Canadian economy, at UFCW Canada we believe that respecting each other’s cultural traditions and ethnic identities is pivotal to supporting the rights and freedoms of all workers in Canada. By taking a stand to support the human rights of all workers in the workplace, we support diversity through inclusion. By better understanding the historical injustices endured by First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples in Canada today and supporting Aboriginal issues locally, provincially and federally, we support the human rights of all Canadians.

- Focus statement: This paper will focus on the opposition between western Canadian labour unions’ resolve to play a larger role in politics and industry and employers’ objection to comply with them.

The right-to-work legislation proponents call the right to work without paying dues or joining a union a “fundamental human right”1 whilst its opponents call it a ‘Right-to-Work-for-Less,’2. The key issue creating this dichotomy is the same dichotomy of perception about unions we discussed last week. After press releases and national coverage of union leader corruption, unions no longer could be trusted. Business owners fear unions as they slow the processes of their organization and require extra steps to make decisions in their human resource departments. The cost of having a unionized workforce is high when time is considered of value. For individuals, the dues and fees associated may be vital income lost each year1. If no real value is seen from the union consistently, that dollar value seems more like a loss or an empty promise rather than a paid protection of rights. The promises of the right-to-work legislation include, “a higher employment rate, after-tax income for employees, population growth, foreign direct investment (FDI), and a lower cost of living than states that have not implemented this law,”4. These states, however, also are less densely populated, have largely agricultural or industrial economies, and are home to several blue collar workers who have been disenfranchised during the shift from a product based economy to a service based

Surprisingly, there are more women unionized today than there have been in the past. Women currently account for more than half of Canada’s unionized workforce, with the greatest amount of membership in the past three decades. (Canadian Labour Congress, 2009) Within CUPE, women account for approximately 67% of all members, making them the majority of the union participation rate (CUPE Women, n.d.). However, there are still some within the workforce that cannot or choose not to participate in the union. Despite, all attempts that CUPE has made to actively involve them, this group of non-involved workers continues to experience barriers that have led to their lack of vigorous participation.

Unionization offers employees a method for countering employers’ powers to unilaterally change employment conditions. Members elect officers and may hire agents to bargain an employment contract with the owners’ manager. Unionization introduces democracy into the employment relationship. Employees determine, first, whether a majority desires to be represented; second, whom to elect as leaders or hire as agents; third, what workplace issues are most important to them; and fourth, whether to accept a proposed contract or to collectively withhold their labor (Fossum, J, (n.d.), p. 2).

If workers persist in voting for union representation, all they have earned is the right to bargain. Firms can then stall, evade, drag out the negotiations, and make sure things go nowhere. (Sinyai, 2009). This can lead to bigger problems for the workers because the longer they are out of work the longer they go without pay. However I think that it is important to have labor unions to represent workers that have no political say in the work place, in the private as well as the public work force, workers should have the choice to be a part of a union if they choose to

This Paper is a systematic review of articles relating to labor unions and how they affect the workplace. Labor unions are becoming a part of the past workforce as we move forward into the modern workforce and the right to work laws. In general the literature pointed to many different benefits of having a unionized workforce. These benefits are on both sides of the line, employees and employers. These benefits can range from group bargaining during contracts, protective action when to come to discipline, and overall organization for employees. On the employers side the union brings organization when it comes to discipline, and gives direction when it comes to policies and procedures.

“The trade union movement represents the organized economic power of the workers... It is in reality the most potent and the most direct social insurance the workers can establish.” Samuel Gompers. A trade union is an organization of workers who have come together to achieve common goals such as protecting the integrity of its trade, improving safety standards, achieving higher pay and benefits such as health care and retirement, increasing the number of employees an employer assigns to complete the work, and better working conditions. Unions are of a great benefit for workers and communities as being in an union delivers better pay alongside benefits and a right to fair treatment becomes enforce. Displayed by the Canadian Labour Congress’s

Unions make the workplace less competitive since non-unionized companies in India, China, and Taiwan can compensate workers far less and therefore charge less per unit of production. We 're no longer in a national economy; we 're in a global economy. Products and services which could be developed in Canada are now being made at a lower cost in foreign countries for instance, China and India, which have sizeable pools of inexpensive labour. Encumbering Canadian company with an unrealistic and inflexible labour cost per hour effectively makes it impossible for companies to compete. Example, Canadian automakers now must pay two to three times that of car makers in Japan, mostly because of union-required wages and benefits. In effect, China is now predicted to pass North America in economic power within 5 to 10 years.

Collective bargaining is when employers and employees negotiate the terms of their work. Republicans in Iowa now want to get rid of this section of the Iowa Code. Many states have done away with collective bargaining for public workers. States how get rid of collective bargaining affects all public union employees, including police officers, firefighters, teachers, sanitation workers, water works staffers, snow plowers, corrections workers, transportation workers, and some public hospital employees. According to the Iowa Starting Line, “the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees or AFSCME bargains contracts every two years for around 18,000 state employees, police negotiate separate contracts with the state, the county courthouse bargains contracts with their county and teachers and school staff negotiate with their school district.” (Prynard 2017) Public workers are the ones in trouble to losing their say in their contracts, others who are employed by private companies do not need to worry about collective bargaining being changed or eliminated.

David Brody argues that the rise of contractual or collective bargaining relationships during the post WWII era formalized the relationship between employers and unions. The use of collective bargaining agreements to resolve workplace disputes weakened unions and the power of workers. Other actions, such as using collection bargaining as a form of substitution for direct action and using it instead of the strike for grievance and arbitration procedure served , also has weakened the unions and the power of workers. The rise of contractual or collective bargaining relationships changed the dynamic of the workplace, shifting the power from the union side to towards the employers. The perspective could best be argued suing Weber’s theory and