 | | Lisa Hughes
Senior Research Associate
Leadership and Human Resources Research |
There was, by many accounts, a sense of centering and spirit of cooperation during Obama’s second State of the Union address Tuesday night. Democrats and Republicans sat intermingled among one another rather than on opposite sides of the room, which had a quieting effect on the dissent that’s typically apparent between the parties. Obama spoke eloquently about moving forward together as a competitive, innovative, and singular nation, lending pause for reflection, perhaps, as to the future prospects for America.
It was in much the same manner that the Conference Board’s annual Industrial Relations Roundtable assembled together this past fall. Every year, the Board invites a diverse group of management and union representatives to come to our offices to discuss the employment relations issues that they’re currently dealing with, and their expectations for bargaining in the year ahead.
This year, the Conference Board brought together management representatives from Rio Tinto, Alberta Health Services (AHS), and the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). On the labour side we heard from the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), and the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada (UFCW).
Was it a raucous affair? Not at all.
Much like Obama’s cabinet, participants sat intermingled together in a U-shaped formation to facilitate information sharing, and presentations alternated between union and management representatives. What came out of this dialogue was a collective sense of value in cooperation, and an active choice to cooperate on both the part of management and labour. Maybe not to cooperate all the time – but to choose to cooperate in some instances and with respect to some issues.
For instance, Rio Tinto and the UFCW are both focused on valuing people and working together to achieve better outcomes for their workers. The newly amalgamated health authority in Alberta – in the face of significant organizational change – is similarly working to build trust in their relationships with their unions by ensuring dialogue is open and ongoing. And the TTC acknowledges that upfront consultation has been key in the development of more cooperative union-management relations on their shop floor.
CUPW, too, despite their current stance in what can only be described as challenging bargaining conditions right now, were poised this past fall to work together with Canada Post to achieve both higher levels of efficiency and growth. PSAC was also advocating for more cooperative workplace initiatives going forward, and started pre-emptive, exploratory talks with the federal government late last year that resulted in an early agreement negotiated without a strike or lockout. Management and labour also found common ground on other issues. Productivity and workload, labour shortages, and diversity all emerged at the Roundtable as areas of mutual interest for the parties.
There are, of course, always areas of dissent in labour relations, and this year’s Roundtable uncovered several such rocky shores. Management expressed concerns over employee well-being and safety, including, on-the-job fatigue and substance abuse. Management also wants the flexibility to contract out work to save costs, improve efficiencies, and enhance service delivery. Labour, for their part, continues to vehemently oppose privatization and contracting out on both ideological grounds, and on the practical reality of protecting unionized jobs. Labour also remains very focused on preserving pension plan funding and existing benefits for employees, which management may be tempted to cut in an effort to improve their finances.
Much in the same way pundits are scratching their heads and asking whether change will truly follow Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, the 2011 Industrial Relations Outlook: From Conflict to Cooperation? questions the way in which labour and management approach their relationship, both at present and looking beyond. Only time will tell.