ARCHIVE: HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
Cooler Heads Still Prevail in Industrial Relations
Lisa Hughes, Senior Research Associate, Compensation and Industrial Relations Research
February 22, 2011
While the temperature of industrial relations has slowly started heating up in the early months of 2011, it is still likely to be a relatively quiet year in collective bargaining. Two recent settlements demonstrate that cooler heads are prevailing, at least for the time being. The Canadian National Railway Company (CN) negotiated a settlement with the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) without resorting to strike activity. And following a protracted 18-month standoff at the Voisey’s Bay operations in Newfoundland and Labrador, Vale and the United Steelworkers reached a tentative agreement. At the same time, temperatures are rising in Steeltown, where thousands of workers took to the streets in late January to protest a 12-week worker lockout at U.S. Steel Hamilton (formerly Stelco). Negotiations are also expected to be tense in industries particularly affected by the recent economic downturn, such as manufacturing. Industrial Relations Roundtable These early outcomes are consistent with the discussions held at The Conference Board of Canada’s Industrial Relations Roundtable last fall. The Conference Board brings together management and union representatives annually to discuss the employment relations issues that will dominate the bargaining table. Each party speaks to his or her organization’s current and future bargaining focus, lending context to the economic, compensation, and industrial relations research used to inform the Industrial Relations Outlook 2011. Two recent settlements demonstrate that cooler heads are prevailing, at least for the time being. Management participants at this past fall’s Industrial Relations Roundtable included Rio Tinto, Alberta Health Services (AHS), and the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). Union participants included the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), and United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW Canada). Cooperative Relations Management and union representatives alike described an emerging collective sense of value in cooperation and an active choice to cooperate on a wide range of issues. Rio Tinto and UFCW Canada are both focusing on achieving better outcomes by emphasizing “people issues,” including solving problems jointly, valuing people, and working together. For instance, Rio Tinto has invested considerable time and effort in creating a partnership with its unions and employees. This partnership incorporates interest-based bargaining approaches1 and shares what was previously deemed confidential information. Facing significant organizational change, the newly amalgamated AHS is working to build trust with unions through ongoing dialogue. One recent initiative was to host a workforce planning summit that included unions as key stakeholders. Summit participants shared workforce models and data, and discussed future challenges and possible solutions. Early signs point to CUPW working with Canada Post to meet growth targets and successfully adopt new marketplace technology. Employee safety and fitness for duty, including fatigue and substance abuse on the job, is re-emerging as a key issue for management. At the TTC, “upfront consultation” has been key to the development of more cooperative union-management relations. For example, union and management agreed in the wake of the 2008 strike that the TTC’s Wheel-Trans services for persons with disabilities would not be disrupted during any future labour disputes. PSAC’s pre-emptive, exploratory talks with the federal government resulted in an early agreement in late 2010, without a strike or lockout. PSAC indicated it will advocate for more cooperative workplace initiatives going forward. Common Ground Management and unions also found common ground on productivity- and workload-related matters, labour shortages, and diversity: - At AHS, management and labour are working together to identify casual or overtime hours that can be converted into regular positions to reduce workload concerns.
- At Rio Tinto, providing on-site child care at mines in remote locations has aided efforts to recruit and retain women.
- At PSAC, members include First Nations, Inuit, Métis, and visible minority people; more than half of PSAC’s members are women.
Divergent Interests Some issues, however, have led to rising temperatures at the Roundtable. Employee safety and fitness for duty, including fatigue and substance abuse on the job, is re-emerging as a key issue for management. Management is also focused on contracting-out activities to save money and to improve efficiency. Union representatives express opposition to privatization and contracting out on both ideological and practical grounds (fewer public sector and union jobs, work intensification, and wage competition). Labour is also focused on protecting pension plan funding for current and future retirees, as well as benefits for existing employees. And labour leaders emphasize their insistence that governments and corporations live up to their social responsibilities to Canadian society at large. The industrial relations landscape for the year ahead, on the whole, may be best described as heating up. But, given the economic climate, it is likely that cooler heads will continue to prevail in the year ahead.
Related Publications
Compensation Planning Outlook 2011: Playing It Safe in the Face of an Unsteady Economic Recovery
Canadian Outlook Executive Summary: Winter 2011
Benefits Benchmarking 2009: Balancing Competitiveness and Cost Related Networks
Council of Industrial Relations Executives
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