POWER ELEMENTS
1. Authority . Weber talked of legitimate authority. The legal endorsement of
management rights and ownership rights in modern workplaces is a
significant source of powers for management and investors. The National
Labor Relations Act (NLRA) helped establish the legitimacy of unions but it
did not provide unions or workers with authority. Although the NLRA
purported to establish “partnership” between unions (workers) and
management (investors), it did not establish shared authority (see Brian
Langille). Canada’s post WWII system was modeled on the NLRA and also
failed to establish shared authority. Unions did obtain some legitimacy when
the post-WWII law recognized their legitimacy. Employers are now required
to recognize duly constituted unions as legitimate. Gone are the days of their
being illegal in restraint of trade.
However, modern law itself places constraints on workers’ power. For
example, wildcat strikes are illegal and many public sector workers have no
right to strike at all. Some workers, such as agricultural workers in Alberta
have no right to form unions. When workers do strike lawfully, employers in
most Canadian jurisdictions have the right to use replacement workers
(scabs). Further, while the law requires the parties to bargain in good faith,
employers typically do not bargain away management (ownership) rights.
That is the right to determine workplace rules and standards, and when, how
and where work is done, and by whom.
The formation of a union remains difficult at times. Under the Alberta
Labour Relations Code (the Code) union organizers are not permitted to sign
up members at their place of work. To obtain certification, for a bargaining
unit, a union must present the Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB) with
evidence that at least 40% the proposed bargaining unit are members of the
union. If the union meets and other requirements of the Code, the ALRB will
hold a vote open to all members of the bargaining unit. A majority vote
determines the outcome of the certification application. While the Code
prohibits employer involvement in the application for certification, it is not
uncommon, particularly with US corporations such as Walmart and Tyson
Foods (Lakeside Feeders) that management influence employees’ voting.
Threats of moving production elsewhere, lay-offs etc., while illegal, are
difficult to stop. Typically the ALRB simply issues an order to the employer to
cease and desist.
1
2. Economic power. Economic power can be enhanced by the ownership and
possession of property such as land, capital, and labour (yes slavery is
officially illegal in Canada but not in some other parts of the world) and of
skills, knowledge, and the capacity to work. The possession of such things does
not guarantee substantial economic power. Much depends on the supply of
and the demand for them. A highly talented musician may have low economic
power if there is low demand for her skills.
If there is high demand for certain skills, employees who have them have an
economic advantage. As the industrial revolution demonstrated, employers
with the authority and power to determine how work is done can reduce the
economic power of workers by creating systems that reduce complex work
and skills to a multiplicity of simple tasks that require little individual skill
from employees. The economic power of workers in crafts was great and was
resisted by craft unions. The knowledge of craft workers remained but
demand for it fell and eventually disappeared. At best, craft unions were
sometimes able to persuade employers to allow craft workers to undertake the
deskilled work. What most craft workers could not do was reap the preindustrial-revolution benefits that accrued to them by virtue of their secret
knowledge.
While unskilled and semi-skilled work can be well-paid in times of high
demand for such labour, there is a great risk of redundancy and low economic
power when the demand for such labour is low. That is, job security and
economic security of workers is reduced by their lack of authority in
workplaces. If workers had greater authority in determining systems of work,
economic power of workers would increase, and remuneration, job security,
and enjoyment and intensity of work would be more favourable.
Economic security of workers can also be reduced if employers can increase
the supply of labour. The deskilling of work itself tends to increase the supply
of labour as it allows the immigration of low-skilled, foreign workers and the
outsourcing of such work to countries where wages and employment
standards are lower than those in Canada.
Employers cannot access such labour supplies unaided. They require laws and
policies that permit the easy movement of capital and labour across national
borders. To their credit, large corporations have successfully convinced most,
but not all, governments that the easier transnational movement of labour and
2
capital is of benefit to everyone. This touches on the power of alliances, which
are considered below.
3. Knowledge High levels and quality of education are frequently cited as
crucial to cohesive, democratic and economically advanced societies. As noted
above, knowledge and education can enhance economic power. Knowledge
can also enhance one’s ability to influence the beliefs and actions of others.
Those with knowledge of marketing can use it to promote sales of products to
consumers. Knowledge of marketing can be social marketing, that is, the
persuasion of others to adopt certain lifestyles. Such marketing can be to
promote healthier lifestyles, reduce unhealthy addictive behaviour, and
encourage young people to join the military and so on.
Successful marketing requires knowledge of people’s needs or perceived needs
and knowledge of how best to communicate with such persons. Such
knowledge can be used in different ways. It can be used to control, exploit,
liberate, assist or understand others. The value of knowledge in Canada is
affirmed by patent and copyright laws that protect the creators of ideas from
theft of their knowledge or its fruits.
While knowledge is frequently viewed as a commodity, and only attainable
through formal systems of schools, colleges, and universities, we must
recognize the value of the knowledge passed on orally and through action by
elders and parents in many cultures, particularly traditional cultures
regarding healthy living
4. Alliances. Strength in numbers, diversity of ideas. Mutual support. Sharing
risk. This can involve conceding some personal objectives to support the
whole. See federations Iroquois, USA, Canada, European Community, treaties
including trade treaties, corporations, investors groups, insurance companies,
unions, federations of unions, political parties, clubs, associations and
countries.
5. Force. Law endorses force to some extent but only if authority. Force can
be legitimate or illegitimate. If not legitimate, there is likely to be resistance.
Force was frequently used in early days of I.R. There were beatings of
workers by employers’ bosses or security personnel. Strikes and lockouts
created picket line violence, often involving the police, who tended to favour
employers. Intimidation was used by employers to discourage unionization
while union leaders also engaged in intimidation of employers and workers
3
reluctant to join the union. Men, women and children were used for slavery
and serfdom. Children were frequently brought into factories and mines to
assist their parents to accomplish the workload.
6. Ideas Persuasion of others. See divine right of kings, democracy. Better life
through materialism? Spirituality. Brotherhood and sisterhood. Dignity in
work. Development or portrayal of the employer as a family. Marketing and
the art of persuasion. Managerialism emerged to win the loyalty of workers
over unions. The IBM songbook.
Power itself is viewed differently. There is a difference between having
“power over” others and having “power to” do things. Such power can be
used to facilitate the action of others or to coerce such action. The weakness of
coercion is that it frequently incites resistance. Hence much of the conflict in
the world.
4