HN2100
Collective Agreement
Administration
With
Paul Tilley
Unit 5
Public Sector
Collective Bargaining
The Public Sector Collective
Bargaining
• After completing this unit, learners should be able to:
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Define the Public Sector
Outline the history of Public Sector’s path to unionism
Discuss the various statutes governing public sector collective bargaining.
Explain designated/essential employees.
Discuss unique features of public sector collective bargaining relative to
private sector collective bargaining.
The Public Sector
• The public sector includes federal and provincial civil services,
municipalities, health care, education, and government-owned
enterprises (ie Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).
• Today, most public sector employees are covered by collective
agreements and, in fact, Canada's two largest unions - Canadian
Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the National Union of
Provincial and General Workers (NUPGE) operate almost exclusively in
the public sector.
The Development of Canadian
Labour Unions
• The Canadian labour movement really has made a lot of gains towards improving the cause of workers in the last century and a
half. Minimum wages, overtime pay, workplace safety standards, maternity and parental leave, vacation pay, and protection from
discrimination and harassment all largely resulted from initiatives brought about through the union movement.
• 1873: national labour organization formed - “Canadian Labour Union”
• 1886: Canadian Trades and Labour Congress (TLC)
• 1908: Canadian Federation of Labour (CFL)
• 1940: Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL)
• 1944 Privy Council Order PC 1003:
• established a process to allow workers to certify a union,
• once a union was certified the employer was obligated to recognize the union,
• it also established grievance-arbitration procedures which involves a mechanism for the resolution of grievances without resort to
strike action;
• banned strikes during the life of a collective agreement, banning sympathy or solidarity strikes
• 1956: Canadian Labour Congress (CLC)
• 1967: Public Sector Staff Relations Act
• 1982: Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• 1985: United Auto Workers of Canada (UAWC)
History of Public Service
Collective Bargaining
• In the 1940’s government employees, working through employee
associations, had sought to persuade the employer to improve their
conditions of employment through consultation.
• Saskatchewan, which in 1944 granted the same collective bargaining
rights to its own employees that it gave to private sector employees.
• Governments across Canada used the sovereignty doctrine and the
fear of crippling strikes in essential services to justify their opposition
to public sector unionization, however in 1944, it created the National
Joint Council (NJC) to address the concerns of federal public servants.
Rise of Institutionalized
Collective Bargaining in the Private Sector
1944 Privy Council Order PC 1003:
• established a process to allow workers to certify a union,
• once a union was certified the employer was obligated to recognize
the union,
• it also established grievance-arbitration procedures which involves a
mechanism for the resolution of grievances without resort to strike
action;
• banned strikes during the life of a collective agreement, banning
sympathy or solidarity strikes
Rise of Institutionalized
Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector
• The late 60’s also saw the beginning of the unionization of the public sector.
• Provincial: Quebec grants collective bargaining rights to public sector
workers, 1965. Remaining provinces do likewise from 1968-1978.
• Federal: Public Service Staff Relations Act, 1967
• Restrictions on issues that can be negotiated - “Excluded are all matters
respecting the organization of the public service, the assignment of duties,
the classification of positions, and job evaluation” (Johnson, 2011: 369).
• “estimated that public sector union membership increased from
approximately 183,000 members in 1961 to 1.5 million members in 1981”
(Rose, 2007: 185).
Labour-Management relations in the
Federal public service
• The framework for labour-management relations in the federal public
service is established in five main Acts of Parliament.
• The Public Service Employment Act (PSEA) gives the Public Service Commission (PSC)
authority over staffing matters such as hiring, promotions and lay-offs, and the
protection of the merit system. The
• Financial Administration Act (FAA) gives the Treasury Board responsibility for
determining most other terms and conditions of employment.
• The Public Service Staff Relations Act (PSSRA) grants the right to collective bargaining.
It gives the Public Service Staff Relations Board the authority to oversee the
collective bargaining system and to adjudicate certain grievances.
• The Public Service Superannuation Act (PSSA) governs all aspects of pensions.
• The Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) applies to relations between the federal
government and its workers, whether unionized or not.
Differences in the Public Sector &
Private Sector
• Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector does not work quite the
same way as collective bargaining in the private sector because of
some marked differences between public- and private
sector employers, employees/unions, and legislation.
Differences in the Public Sector
& Private Sector
• Most public sector employers are not driven by the need for profit –
rather they focus on providing services to the public.
Differences in the Public Sector &
Private Sector
• In the private sector, a strike imposes financial hardship on the
employer; whereas in the public sector, the government "saves"
money when employees go on strike.
• In the event of a strike in the public sector, employees rarely
contemplate the employer shutting down permanently, as many
private sector employees fear.
• Since a large number of people are affected by strikes in the public
sector, bargaining takes place at the bargaining table and in the
media.
• In the public sector, then, political considerations dictate
Management's view of strikes.
Differences in the Public Sector &
Private Sector
• Private sector labour relations are governed by the Labour Relations
Act in Newfoundland (and similar legislation in other provinces) if
they fall under provincial jurisdiction or the Canada Labour Code, if
they fall under federal jurisdiction.
• In the public sector there are many statutes regarding labour relations
including legislation such as the Public Service Collective Bargaining
Act.
Differences in the Public Sector &
Private Sector
• In the private sector, employees are free to bargain over whatever
they want - almost everything is negotiable.
• In the public sector, however, there are a variety of restrictions on
what can be bargained. Some public-sector statutes, for example, do
not permit bargaining over technological change, pension plans and
criteria for promotions, transfers and layoffs.
• As well, governments have "legislated" wage freezes, temporarily
making wages a non-negotiable issue for unions.
Differences in the Public Sector &
Private Sector
• Employees in the private sector who wish to be represented by a
union, can choose to be represented by practically any union they
wish.
• The Labour Relations Board then determines the appropriate
bargaining unit in the private sector.
• In the public sector, the labour organization representing the
employees may be specified in legislation.
• Sometimes public sector bargaining units are established in the
legislation.
Differences in the Public Sector &
Private Sector
• The single most important employer difference between public and
private sector bargaining is the dual role government plays, as
employer of public sector workers and as legislator.
• The government as legislator can achieve objectives which it hasn't
been able to achieve at the bargaining table.
Differences in the Public Sector &
Private Sector
• Another key employer difference is the far greater diffusion of
management authority in the public sector.
• There, in contrast to the single line of authority characteristic of the
private sector, one often finds a "bewildering fragmentation of
authority among numerous management officials."
Differences in the Public Sector &
Private Sector
• Public sector union members are far more likely than their private
sector counterparts to be female, professional, and white-collar. This
means that issues such as pay and employment equity are of
particular importance to public sector workers.
• It also means that these workers remain concerned with issues of
intrinsic job satisfaction and with the quality of service they are able
to provide to the public.
Differences in the Public Sector &
Private Sector
• In the private sector, this determination is normally made by labour
relations boards—often with considerable input from the parties
involved.
• In the public sector, bargaining units are more often determined
legislatively.
• Unlike labour board officials, members of Parliament or legislative
assemblies need not possess any labour relations experience; thus it
should not be surprising that the determination of bargaining units by
legislators often does not make for the most harmonious labour–
management relations.
Differences in the Public Sector &
Private Sector
• An even more important difference between public and private sector
bargaining lies in the scope of issues which can be brought to the
table. In the private sector, the parties are free to bargain over any
provision that isn't illegal.
• But in most public sector acts, the scope of bargainable issues is
severely limited, though there is a fair amount of variation among
different acts
Differences in the Public Sector &
Private Sector
• Probably the single most important difference between the public and
private sectors lies in the different procedures for resolving disputes in the
two sectors. Special dispute settlement procedures have been devised for
the public sector because of the essential (or allegedly essential) nature of
much work in that sector.
• Conventional interest arbitration – The arbitrator fashions the contract, within
certain broad limits
• Final-offer arbitration – The arbitrator chooses either the union's position or the
management position as the new contract.
• Choice of procedures -- Union is given the right to choose between binding
arbitration and the traditional conciliation-strike
• Controlled strike -- A strike, but with designated employees performing essential
duties