MGT3390 Canadian Trade Unions
Putting Theory into Practice
1. A new theory/story
A key element of power is “ideas”. Frequently, ideas are couched in
metaphors. Ideas can influence people’s perceptions of themselves, the
society they live in, the world and the universe. Ideological conflict can lead
to war and strife but can also lead to evolution of ideas. Illustrations of the
power of ideas abound throughout history. The teachings of Jesus Christ and
the disciples brought forth a new idea of God, quite different from that of the
Jewish God of the Old Testament of the Bible.
Medieval society in Europe was built on the idea of a hierarchy created by
God. An individual’s place in society whether high or low was determined
by God and not subject to change by mere individuals. The Divine Right of
Kings was replaced by new ideas such as Rousseau’s “Man is born free and
is everywhere in chains”. This triggered the Enlightenment and the rise of
democratic ideas.
David Korten argues in “The Post-Corporate World” that a new theory or
story of life must be identified and used in our human institutions as a basis
for action. The suggested theory/story rejects the mechanical, “deaduniverse” approach ushered in by the classical economic approach of the
Enlightenment. While Korten notes the positive impact of the
Enlightenment, he rejects what he refers to as “the deadly tale inspired by
the precepts of Newtonian physics”. Korten sees the need for an ideological
paradigm shift.
That tale (theory) sees the universe including human life as a giant clockwork set in motion by a creator left to run down over time. Matter is the only
reality with the whole being no more or less than the sum of its parts.
Through science, human beings seek to better understand the parts and,
thereby gain dominion over the whole by bending nature to human ends.
Consciousness is seen as an illusion, and life the chance outcome of material
complexity. Life has no purpose or meaning beyond the survival of the
fittest. This generates competition among species and within humanity
for territory and survival.
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In this story, humanity is driven by the basic instincts of survival,
reproduction, and distraction from existential loneliness through the pursuit
of material gratification. The institutions of society created by humans are
control structures of hierarchy and markets designed to promote the material
wealth of those at the apex of the structures.
While Korten recognizes the reality of the foregoing theory/story, he denies
both its inevitability and its wisdom. Instead, he presents a theory of life and
human purpose as part of the creative process of the developing universe.
For Korten both living cells and inert matter have a form of self-knowledge
that allow them to maintain their integrity even amidst apparent chaos or
disorder.
Korten suggests that human beings have barely begun to imagine, much less
experience, our capacity for intelligent, self-aware living. The author notes
that we have scarcely tested our potential for self-directed cooperation as a
foundation for modern social organization. While noting that evolution
involves competition, violence, and death, he observes that it also
involves love, nurturing, rebirth, and regeneration, and is a
fundamentally cooperative and intelligent exercise.
For Korten, the nurturing of the creative development of human capacities
should be the primary function of human beings, operating co-operatively
through our social institutions and society. The author urges us to reshape
our social institutions to this end. There is ample evidence of the human
capacity for cooperation. At the global level countless individuals and
organizations, including trade unions, cooperated to save lives and rebuild
the communities of the victims of the tsunamis in South Asia. Closer to
home, the members of Faculty of Management collaborated last year to
assist the recovery of a colleague and his family from an unexpected illness.
Such cooperation not only brings benefits to the participants but may avoid
the mistakes that have led to the collapse of countless societies and
civilizations throughout history. See for example Collapse: How Societies
Choose to Fail or Succeed (Viking Adult, 2004) by Jared Diamond,
where the author discusses both mistakes made by society leading to their
collapse and positive action that allowed them to flourish.
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Canadian author Ronald Wright, presenter of the Massey Lecture “A Short
History of Progress”, notes that a common factor in the collapse of many
past societies, such as the Mayan, Sumerian, and Roman Empire was the
eventual concentration of power and wealth in the hands of a few. This
usually included the privatization of land and the creation of a “warrior
class” (armies, police etc.) to protect the wealth and power of the elite. The
result has been excessive pressure on the eco-system beyond sustainable life
and the collapse of the societies and empires.
Our capitalist system, while theoretically capable of equitable distribution of
income and power, has not done so. The average CEO annual income in
USA was $1.306 million in 1980 while the average income for a nonsupervisory production worker was $28,950. In 2000, the CEO income was
$13.1 million and the workers’ $28,579 (in 2000 dollars). The ratio of
CEO/worker income rose from 45:1 to 458:1.
Such writers suggest the need for a paradigm shift from the fixed
hierarchical universe to an evolutionary theory based on cooperation and
leadership from below rather than from above. See the concept of
“emergence theory”.
2. The contribution of unions to cooperation in Canadian workplace
and society.
(a) Emergence of unions
During the coercive drive and the development of Scientific Management of
the Industrial Revolutions in Canada, the power of most Canadian workers
diminished. Individual workers lacked the power to effectively oppose
employers when market conditions or technological change caused
employers to reduce wages, lay-off workers, intensify the pace of
production, increase the length of the work week, pay little heed to worker
safety, and de-skill the work.
The first Industrial Revolution in Canada began soon after 1850. In reaction
to harsher workplace conditions, employers’ attempts to deskill jobs and cut
wages, workers in Canada began frequently to form craft unions, often
affiliated with “international unions” based in the USA. The latter were
concerned that lower wages, deskilled crafts and harsher working conditions
in Canada would exert downward pressure on wages for US craft workers,
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and expedite the harsher work conditions and deskilled work in the US.
Cigar makers, coopers, molders, machinists, iron-puddlers and locomotive
engineers were among workers who began to form craft unions after 1850.
By 1870, coal miners in Canada were beginning to organize (see the story of
the United Mineworkers of America in “The Noble Cause”, Bruce Ramsay
1990, District 18, UMWA).
Inspired by Britain’s “New Model” unionism, the new Canadian craft unions
sought to formalize relations with their employers. To put themselves on a
secure footing, they charged high dues, and had a strong central leadership
capable of assisting workers in disputes with employers across Canada.
“Bargaining” usually took the form of the union posting their wage and
other demands on factory or shop doors. If there was a labour shortage
employers might agree with the demands. Typically throughout the 19 th
Century workers could succeed in having their demands met only if there
were prolonged labour shortages. This was rare yet strikes increased as
industrialization progressed. Workers risked firing, beatings, criminal
conspiracy charges, black listing and so on for merely joining a union.
Events in 19th Century Canada may seem familiar to those who attended the
talk by Derek Baxter of the International Labour Rights Fund (ILRF)
regarding reprisals against workers seeking to unionize in Colombia.
The dignity of labour became a common cause of many unions and workers
in the first industrial revolution in Canada. Shorter working hours and
healthier safer workplaces became a common cause and Nine-hour Leagues
sprang up in Hamilton and Montreal. Politicians began to take notice and
peaceful picketing was removed from the law of criminal conspiracy.
Employers could still take civil action against unions but unions began to
gain some measure of political legitimacy. The Knights of Labor emerged
for a brief spell as effective proponents of the dignity of labour. Yet the
downturn in the Canadian economy in the late 1880s had the inevitable
dampening effect on the power of labour.
(b) The second Industrial Revolution
After 1890 the second Industrial Revolution occurred in Canada with larger
factories and workplaces and intensification of work to attract and reward
investment. The American Federation of Labor established scores of local
unions in Canada. These were inspired by Samuel Gompers of the AFL and
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were in large measure to protect US craft workers against cheap labour in
Canada. At the Berlin Convention, the Trades and Labour Council
established the policy that no national union would be recognized if an
international union already existed.
However, radical national unions still emerged in Canada in the second
Industrial Revolution. Workers in mines, logging camps and railway gangs
were usually immigrants and gravitated to radical unions that had little faith
in collective bargaining or political lobbying. The Industrial Workers of the
World (IWW) or the Wobblies believed in the direct action of strikes, and
the general strike as a method for ending capitalism. Their union halls served
as mail drops, dormitories, hiring halls, hospitals, classrooms. (see Ross
McCormack “The Industrial Workers of the World in Western Canada
1905-1914”). The Winnipeg General Strike 1919 and others across Canada
did not create the syndicalist worker control of the means of production but
galvanized resistance by all levels of government and the large employers.
Union organization was difficult in the inter-war years especially in the
1930s depression when one in four Canadian workers was unemployed.
However the Communist Workers’ Unity League (WUL) grew in Western
Canada and Ontario. See the on to Ottawa trek stopped in Regina when
confronted by the RCMP. Workers in Relief Camps were badly treated with
no rights protecting their working conditions. There was also significant
repression against “communists and social democrats”. A key demand of
workers was that employers recognize the legitimacy of their union and
negotiate terms and conditions of employment.
The move toward such recognition was instigated by the National Labor
Relations Act (Wagner Act) in 1935. This allowed US private sector
workers to organize and strike without employer intimidation, harassment,
or reprisal. This led to rapid organization of workers in the US in the years
following the legislation. By 1950 the Federal jurisdiction in Canada and
each province had labour legislation modeled on the Wagner Act. Unions
were recognized if a majority of workers in a bargaining unit supported
certification. Strikes and lockouts were permitted if negotiation of a contract
and conciliation failed. Workers and unions could bring grievances to
binding arbitration if employers broke collective agreements. The price paid
for this is that workers had no lawful right to strike through the duration of
the collective agreement.
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This is the case for private sector workers. Public Sector workers did not
obtain the right to unionize until the 1960s in Ontario, Quebec and the
Federal jurisdiction, and as late as 1977 in Alberta. These workers (except in
Saskatchewan) have either no right to strike or an abbreviated right and
compulsory arbitration to resolve disputes. There are also limits on what
matters can be negotiated or arbitrated.
(c) Impact of unions on management of organizations
Collective agreements in Canada and the USA tend to be much more
detailed than in Europe and therefore have more impact on the day-to-day
management of organizations. This may explain in part the generally greater
opposition to unions by managers in North America.
Collective agreements in all Canadian jurisdictions contain specific
workplace rules agreed to by the union and management. See the CUPE
Local 997 and Trillium School District collective agreement on part-time
and temporary/casual employees. Without a collective agreement provision,
employers would have the right and the discretion to make and apply the
rules for the hiring of such employees. However, in the CUPE/Trillium
collective agreement the employer is constrained by the rules agreed. If a
dispute arises over the interpretation or application of rules laid down in the
collective agreement, it must be resolved by the grievance procedure laid
down in the collective agreement. See Article 9 of the CUPE/Trillium
collective agreement.
Most collective agreements have a clause that permits the employer’s
dismissal of an employee only for just cause. Employers must prove just
cause and undertake the dismissal in a procedurally fair manner. If the
dismissal is substantively or procedurally unfair, the decision to dismiss may
be overturned by an arbitrator or arbitration board. Non-unionized
employees will not normally have the right to reinstatement to their jobs
even if they are wrongfully dismissed (some jurisdictions have legislation
protecting non-union employees against unfair dismissal).
This is likely to deter managers from arbitrary dismissals but it may also
discourage timid managers from dismissing those who may deserve that fate.
Arguably, arbitrary dismissal is more harmful to intelligent cooperation in
the workplace than timid management unwilling to exercise their inherent
power to discipline or dismiss for just cause. Indeed, collective agreement
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progressive discipline rules and procedures have significant impact in nonunion settings as an exemplar of fair and intelligent discipline and dismissal
of employees.
Accordingly, the fair rules and procedures preventing arbitrary
dismissal of employees can be viewed as an important contribution of
unions to the mitigation of destructive conflict in workplaces.
The collective agreement (CA) operates alongside company rules and
policies and tends to formalize the relationship. While the collective
agreement may limit arbitrary unequal employer action it may also stifle
creativity if the parties are unduly legalistic. A CA is not a panacea and
works only if there is good faith and cooperation.
Work rules contained in a CA are varied. Seniority can be a factor limiting
who will be laid off or promoted (it is unusual that seniority is the only
factor determining promotion). Sometimes collective agreements specify the
number of people required to work, for example, number of police officers
or firefighters on duty, number of longshoremen in a gang, number of nurses
on duty. Such matters affect not only workload but the health and safety of
workers.
More recently, school teachers’ collective agreements specify maximum
class size, university professors have provisions limiting the number of
classes taught by a professor. Professional standards are typically relevant to
professional unions. Academic freedom is a key issue in universities – see
for example the Dr. Nancy Olivieri and the David Healy cases. See later.
Unions also have a role in joint management of health and safety standards
in the workplace whether through the collective agreements or participation
in joint employer-union committees. This is also true of pay equity in some
jurisdictions where unions participate with management in the development
of policies, rules and standards that comply with the law.
Collective agreements embody not only the explicit rules and standards
agreed by the parties but the implied rules and standards. Provincial and
Federal human rights legislation impose legal duties on employers (and
unions) not to discriminate against employees (or applicants for jobs) on
grounds that include race, colour, ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, age,
marital status, religion, and physical or mental disability. While breach of a
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human rights statute can be remedied through a complaint to the relevant
human rights commission, an individual or group may find it more
convenient to seek a remedy through a grievance for breach of the collective
agreement. It is established that human rights legislation is “read into”
collective agreements, even where there is no specific reference in the
agreement to the discrimination or human rights legislation.
If a collective agreement is inconsistent with human rights legislation, the
latter prevails. Accordingly, if a negotiated pension plan or insurance
coverage in a collective agreement provides rights or benefits for a spouse,
but not a same-sex spouse, the employee affected or the union could bring a
grievance against the employer. In the absence of a negotiated settlement
consistent with human rights legislation, an arbitrator would provide a
remedy for the grievor or union. If the union was complicit with the
employer in the discrimination, the employee could bring a human rights
action against the union.
Grievances can also be brought for breach of other employment legislation
such as occupational health and safety.
(d) Unions and social legislation
Mainly through its federations and national unions, labour has lobbied for
changes in employment and social laws and policies to increase the power of
workers and their share of the wealth they create. At present, the Canadian
Labour Congress is participating in a federal initiative to review and
improve workplace employment standards (chaired by Harry Arthurs, exPresident of York University and renowned labour lawyer, academic, and
arbitrator (see http://www.fls-ntf.gc.ca/en/consrpt-doccons.asp).
Historically unions have played a significant role in the creation of such
legislation as workers compensation, occupational health and safety, labour
relations, employment standards, human rights, Canada Pensions,
unemployment insurance. Unions have also championed the public
healthcare system in Canada. Unions have also resisted trade treaties that
threaten to undermine domestic wages and encourage sweatshops abroad.
These initiatives can be viewed in alternative ways. The evidence of a
widening of the gap between rich and poor in Canada (see above) may
suggest that unions have failed in their objective of more equitable
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distribution of social wealth and power. On the other hand, the absence of
serious social unrest in Canada may be interpreted as evidence that the social
policies advocated and in part administered by unions are working to the
extent that things are not as bad in Canada as they are in many parts of the
world.
3. A contemporary issue addressed by unions: the role of universities
There are signs of growing commercialization of universities and colleges
across North America. This is a threat to the role of universities in
democratic society. The university’s mission is the unqualified pursuit and
public dissemination of knowledge and truth. The university serves the
broad public interest by valuing informed analysis and uncompromising
standards of intellectual integrity. Faculty and students seek to go beyond
the conventional wisdom of “what everybody knows” (See James L. Turk,
Introduction – What Commercialization Means for Education in “The
Corporate Campus, 2000, Lorimer, CAUT).
Throughout history, the Church, the State and the Corporate Sector have
sought to harness universities to their wagon so that the university serves
and enhances the power of the status quo, rather than challenge and threaten
it. Politicians, government bureaucrats and politicians want universities to
provide the knowledge to allow Canada to “win in a world economy”. In
short, universities are seen as essential for the pursuit of corporate goals of
growth, profit and beating the competition.
The “commercialization” of universities takes various forms.
(i)
Marketing sites.
Corporate logos and banners abound as the shortage of public
money encourages universities to . Classrooms are named after
corporate sponsors and exclusive marketing deals abound. Most
universities have secret deals with Coke (but see the rejection of
such a deal by McGill University in the late 1990s).
(ii)
Selling to universities.
Much of the non-academic activity of universities has been
privatized (contracted out), such as food services and, cleaning and
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maintenance, always with loss of income by workers. Perhaps the
biggest incursion by the private sector is that of computer
technology and selling the idea that technologically mediated
instruction, on line learning and virtual education have a vital place
in the university. Vast sums are spent on such technology, with
little evidence of its value to the university’s traditional mission.
(iii)
Becoming private in practice
Corporate language is used. Students are customers or clients.
Faculty are service providers. Evaluation becomes “quality control.
The process becomes “production”.
Yet, the purpose of university of education is not customer
satisfaction but intellectual growth (of students and faculty).
Students should be challenged to be uneasy about their traditional
ideas. The faculty/student relationship should be one of partnership
not of service provider and client.
Move to user pay. The students are seen as private beneficiaries.
The idea of education as a public good dwindles.
Control of the labour process. Attempts have been made to apply
to universities the theories of the fathers of managerialism –
Charles Babbage and Frederick Taylor. This involves subdividing
the job. To some extent this has been done by the separation of
teaching and research, the creation of lesson plans for adoption by
faculty and so on. So far such encroachment on the profession of
faculty has been relatively small but tightening budgets virtually
guarantee further encroachment.
Use of private labour. Low paid contract teachers are replacing
permanent full-time faculty to reduce the salary bill.
(iv)
Serving private interests
As public money becomes more scarce for universities, the need
for private funding increases. See the University of Toronto’s
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secret deals with various corporations to fund programs.
There is evidence of corporate influence in steering the direction of
academic research. Government funding depends greatly on
matching corporate funding. Nobel Laureate John Polanyi says of
the Canadian Government’s “commercialization” of science,
saying that it is ruining Canada’s universities and driving the best
young scientists out of the countries. Polanyi says “At a certain
point….we don’t have universities any more, but outlying branches
of industry. Then all the things industry turns to universities for –
breadth of knowledge, far time horizons, and independent voice –
are lost” (see Kathryn May, “Misguided Policies Driving out
Scientists,” The Ottawa Citizen, 21 November 1999, A1).
A problem is illustrated by Henry Thomas Stelfox and colleagues
who reviewed research on the safety of calcium-channel
antagonists as a treatment for cardio-vascular disorders. Of those
that found the medication safe, 96% had financial relationships
with manufacturers of the products. Of those who found the results
neutral on safety, only 60% had financial relations with
manufacturers. Of those critical of the safety of the medication,
37% had relations with manufacturers.
A huge challenge for academic unions and their federations is how to
defend universities as public institutions, as free as possible from
control of private interests. An article in the Globe & Mail (Saturday
April 9, 2005) highlighted the current alleged attack on “science” by US
Federal funders of research. Such projects as investigating links
between truck drivers and the spread of HIV/AIDS has been threatened
by political intervention, influenced by religious lobbyists who view such
science as unnecessary and even harmful. To the extent that universities
promote research according to rigorous scientific standards, the
American Association of University Professors views political lobbying
on behalf of faculty researchers and society at large as an essential part
of its mandate.
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