- Consider this statement:
“There are a number of articles or provisions in the Ontario Labour Relations Act that have the effect of encouraging union democracy and the consideration by unions of the interests and views of their bargaining unit members.”
Explain one of these provisions in detail. Then provide your opinion, backed up with clear reasoning based on material we have discussed in this course, as to whether or not your chosen provision actually does provide a sufficiently compelling incentive for a union to consider the interests of its members. (10 marks) - Read this article about a recent labour dispute in Newfoundland: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/unifor-dominion-strike-over-1.5802421
Assume that two different professors of Canadian labour relations are advising the government of Newfoundland about possible changes to labour and employment policy and legislation in that province. One professor’s fundamental theoretical belief is closely associated with what John Godard calls the “liberal reformist” theoretical perspective. The other professor is closely aligned with what John Godard calls the “orthodox pluralist” theoretical perspective (sometimes called the “institutionalist” perspective).
These professors will have differing policy prescriptions (or recommendations) that they would suggest in response to the issues raised by this labour dispute in Newfoundland. These policy prescriptions (or recommendations) would flow from their two different paradigms.
Express what each professor would likely recommend as to how labour and employment policy and legislation should be changed in order to deal better with the issues flowing from this labour dispute. Take care to contrast these likely recommendations and explore the differences between them. (10 marks) - Ali is an employee at a unionized call centre in Sarnia, Ontario. His pay rate is $14.85 per hour. Ali has worked there for 5 years, which places him in the middle of the seniority list. He has a perfect work record, including a recent company award for achieving the highest annual customer satisfaction rating of any employee in the centre. He is well regarded by management and by his fellow union members. Ali
requests a two (2) month leave of absence to visit his family in Egypt. His request is granted by management. He travels to Egypt. During the last week of his leave, his sister in Egypt experiences major damage to her home and Ali decides to stay for an extra week in order to help her. Ali immediately informs his supervisor by email that he will not be able to return to his job on time. The supervisor is away from work on the day that Ali’s email arrives, but Ali receives an ‘out of office’ response which indicates that the email has been forwarded to the top call centre manager, which means that there is no question that Ali’s email has been received and read by senior management at the company. He returns to work six days after the date on which his two (2) month leave of absence was to have ended. He carries out his job as he would any other day. At the end of that day, his supervisor asks to meet with him. The supervisor tells Ali that as of the next day the company will assign him to a different job that pays 75 cents per hour less than his current position. The supervisor says that the decision is not disciplinary in nature, that it is due to operational needs and that it is final.
The only provisions in the collective agreement that are relevant to this situation are the management rights provision (which states: “The Union acknowledges that the Employer has and shall maintain the exclusive right to manage its business and direct its operation and workforce in all matters which are not specifically restricted by the terms of this agreement. The Union further acknowledges that it is the exclusive function of the Employer to hire, promote, demote, transfer and determine the required workforce and further to discipline, suspend or discharge any employee for just cause, subject to the employee's right to lodge a grievance in the manner herein provided.”) and the leave of absence provision (which states: “Employees who are granted a leave of absence but who fail to return to work at the end of the granted leave period may be temporarily or permanently placed by management in any job in the bargaining unit”).
Ali files a grievance asserting that he has been unjustly demoted. His union takes the grievance through the grievance procedure, but no resolution is reached. The union files for arbitration of the grievance and is now preparing for the arbitration hearing.
Assuming there are no other relevant facts, does Ali likely have a valid grievance (i.e. a grievance that would likely be successful at arbitration)? Explain your reasoning. (10 marks).
Part B: Long-answer, essay style questions. Answer only 1 of the 2 questions (30 marks each). Your answer should be 750-1000 words in length
Part B Question # 1: Consider the following statement:
“The demands of today’s global and highly competitive economy are such that the organizing and collective bargaining rights of employees and unions in Ontario should be enhanced. There should be an increase in the rights of employees to form unions and in the rights of unions to more successfully engage in collective bargaining because doing so will counter some of the labour trends of the past few decades such as increasing income inequality, the growth in ‘precarious’ work and declining union density. This is now even more important given the challenging economic circumstances that have resulted from the COVID-19 crisis.”
Develop and express an argument to either support or oppose this statement. Your argument must draw on how the rights and interests of employees, employers and unions are affected by various currently existing characteristics of our industrial relations system that we covered in the course (such as examples of Ontario’s current labour relations rules, laws, practices, procedures, etc).
Sample Solution