Collective Bargaining Relationship in a Canadian Organization

Task Instructions

In this assignment, you will research a collective bargaining relationship and analyse how this relationship is expressed in the terms of the collective agreement, issues, grievance/ arbitrations, and strikes/outs.

Obtain the instructor’s approval of the organization you would like to research before starting work.

Working in your established teams, select a Canadian organization with an ongoing collective bargaining relationship. The organization can be either public sector or private sector. 

Writing your report:

Your report should follow the following structure and include: 

a. A cover page – indicating the report title with appropriate course, professor, and author identifiers 

b. A table of contents

c. An introduction that clearly states the purpose of your report, what will be presented and why it is important

d. The body of your report in which you address research questions 1 to 7 inclusive (below) in sequential order.   

e. A conclusion that summarizes in detail what you found, your assessment of it and why it matters

1. Provide a description of each of the employers in terms of:

a. A brief history/ background of the company/ organizationThe industry or industrial sector in which the employer is located

b. The organizations/institutions size

c. The range of products/services provided or produced

d. The competitive business environment (this is very important)

e. Their record of performance/ success (this is very important)

f. The organizational culture

g. The management style

h. The organizational structure (obtain or construct an organizational chart)

i. Anything else you believe to be relevant

2. Provide a description of the specific employer facility that is a party to the collective agreement in terms of: 

a. The specific physical location/ address of the employer’s place of business

b. The range of products/services provided or produced by the employer at this location

3. Provide a description of the specific union local that is that is a party to the collective agreement you are studying

4. Describe the legal framework for collective bargaining 

5. Describe the bargaining structure

6. If possible, interview representatives of management and union officials to determine the state of labour relations within the organization. The following key questions should be regarded as a minimum requirement. 

a) What are the key issues?

b) Why are they important?

c) Have there been labour conflicts/strikes (major/ minor) within the last ten years?

d) If these workers are not allowed to strike, how are interest disputes resolved? 

e) If there have been labour/ conflicts/strikes (major/ minor) within the last ten years, what were the major issues in these conflicts?

f)  How common are grievances?

g) What types of grievances are the most common?