Nitrus Wakeboards - Collective Bargaining Agreement
Background Information
Nitrus Wakeboards was founded in June of 1995 by Mike and Dan Goodman two Canadian entrepreneurs from Collingwood,
Ontario. During their first year of operations the partnership made respectable profits by selling their wakeboards at local
ski and snowboard shops, and by holding promotions at the many local “cottage country” and “beach” towns. Some more
serious boarders from the area used the Nitrus boards in professional competitions. The company began to get a very good
reputation for the quality and craftsmanship of their product.
The following winter demand was so great that ten new employees were hired to handle delivery, accounting, sales,
marketing and production. Mike and Dan always had good relations with their employees and never had complaints about
wages or working conditions. By 2000 Nitrus was selling their product internationally and was one of the most respected
manufacturers in the industry.
During the summer of 2006, Nitrus Wakeboards was sold to Rip Curl, an Australian surfboard manufacturer with thirty
years of experience marketing surfboards to extreme athletes. Rip Curl has a reputation as being the world leader in
surfboard manufacturing technology. Rip Curl has six factories in three countries, all of which manufacture surfboards and
surfing accessories. All Rip Curl employees belong to a labor union, with three different unions representing Rip Curl
employees (one in each country).
Workers at the Collingwood-Nitrus factory are considering joining a new union that has recently been formed to represent
workers in the extreme sport industry in Canada.
Despite the change in ownership Nitrus will still be managed by Mike and Dan. However, a new collective agreement for the
other employees will be negotiated with Rip Curl. The Canadian Extreme Workers (C.E.W.) union is lobbying Nitrus employees
to join them and allow the union to negotiate the new agreement. The union believes they can negotiate better wages, job
security, benefits, notification of job openings within Rip Curl, protection from unsafe or illegal working conditions, and
professional representation in labor or management disputes. There are few short-term drawbacks of unionization from a
worker's standpoint. Dues, which amount to anywhere from $150 to $400 a year, are the only real negatives. Some tension
could be created between employees and management at Nitrus who have always had a good working relationship.
The C.E.W. will be holding a vote to determine whether or not Nitrus employees will be represented by the union. Each
employee must make the difficult decision and vote accordingly.
You will represent either the Rip Curl management team or the C.E.W. in this negotiation. Your job is to negotiate a new
Collective Bargaining Agreement between the two parties, and once the agreement is struck. You must type your new,
detailed agreement that outlines your negotiations in the following areas: 1) Cost of Living, 2) Benefits, 3) Job Security, 4)
Working Conditions, 5) Wages. An evaluation rubric is attached.
Nitrus Wakeboards - Evaluation Rubric
Level:
1
2
3
4
Mark:
/100
Name(s):
Criteria
Knowledge/Understanding
Understanding of concepts,
principles and theories
related to collective
bargaining
Key concepts/ principles/
theories related to the
expectation
Expectation:
Thinking/Inquiry
Inquiry skills
Expectation:
Application
Application of concepts,
skills, and procedures in
familiar (to new) contexts
Expectation:
Communication
Use of language
conventions - spelling,
grammar, punctuation,
sentence structure and/or
paragraph structure
Expectation:
Note:
Level 1
(50-59%)
Level 2
(60-69%)
Level 3
(70-79%)
Level 4
(80-100%)
- demonstrates limited
understanding of the key
concepts, principles and
theories related to
collective bargaining.
- demonstrates some
understanding of the key
concepts, principles and
theories related to
collective bargaining.
- demonstrates
considerable
understanding of the key
concepts, principles and
theories related to
collective bargaining.
- demonstrates a
thorough and insightful
understanding of the key
concepts, principles and
theories related to
collective bargaining.
- demonstrates limited
ability to use specific
strategies to gather
information and generate
ideas for the negotiated
collective agreement.
- demonstrates some
ability to use specific
strategies to gather
information and generate
ideas for the negotiated
collective agreement.
- demonstrates
considerable ability to
use specific strategies to
gather information and
generate ideas for the
negotiated collective
agreement.
- demonstrates a high
degree of ability to use
specific strategies to
gather information and
generate ideas for the
negotiated collective
agreement.
- demonstrates limited
ability to use an
organizational pattern to
structure ideas in a
written report
- demonstrates some
ability to use an
organizational pattern to
structure ideas in a
written report
- demonstrates
considerable ability to
use an organizational
pattern to structure
ideas in a written report
- demonstrates a high
degree of ability to use
an organizational pattern
to structure ideas in a
written report
- uses language
conventions with limited
accuracy
- uses language
conventions with some
accuracy
- uses language
conventions with
considerable accuracy
- uses language
conventions with a high
degree of accuracy
A student whose achievement is below Level 1 (50%) has not met the expectations for this project.