9.5 Organizing Unions and Collective Bargaining
When employees of an organization receive their accreditation from the Labour Relations Board and are officially recognized as a union, the process for collective bargaining begins. Collective bargaining is the process of negotiations between the company and representatives of the union. The objective of this process is for management and the union to reach a contract agreement (also known as a ‘collective agreement’), which is put into place for a specified period of time. Once this time is up, a new contract is negotiated. In this section, we will discuss the components of the collective bargaining agreement. However, prior to collective bargaining, the employees need to organize a union drive to create interest in forming a union.
Organizing the Union
Unions are created only when employees want to create them. An organizing drive is set up by employees interested in forming a union. For those interested, they must influence other employees of the benefits of unionizing. Employees are not allowed to discuss union activity during working hours. Often, employees will ask employees to sign an authorization card which is authorizing the union to certify the group of employees as a union. Employees may also have meetings (after work hours), hand out union materials, have one-to-conversations, and meet with employees in their homes. Many unions today use social media to attract members. The idea is to educate the employees how the union will improve the working conditions. A group of employees form the leadership of the union activities, and they make application to the Labour Relations Board, once a majority of signatures have been completed. The Labour Board certifies the signatures as a legal entity, and the new union is a position to start contract negotiations.
| Union and employees make contact | As a result of employee dissatisfaction, union and employees make contact and discuss the possibility of joining forces. |
|---|---|
| Initial Organization Meeting | An initial meeting with the union is scheduled to gather employee support. |
| Formation of organizing committee | Local union leadership is identified. Its objectives are to organize a campaign to obtain the signature of a majority of workers willing to join the union. |
| Application to Labour Relations Board | Once a majority of these signatures are gathered, the workers can apply for official recognition to the Labour Relations Board. |
| Certificate is issued by the Board | After checking the process and the signatures, the Board certifies the union. |
| Election of the bargaining committee and contract negotiation | After having been certified, the first step for the newly formed union is to elect a bargaining team that will be tasked with negotiating a contract with the employer. |
Once an organizing drive has begun, management’s responses are limited. It is illegal to interfere with organizing a union. However, the employer may resist the union efforts as it may increase their costs. The only options for employers might be, through HR, provide incentives for higher wages and benefits, design more fair and equitable policies, be transparent with communication, and set up a way for employees to make suggestions and complaints. However, after the Labour Relations Board certifies the union, the employer has only one choice–to negotiate a contract agreement.
Employees have legal protection to organize. The employer, through Human Resources, ought to be educated in the legalities of union organizing. This way the employer is aware of what they legally can do through the organizing campaign. They cannot threaten employees or their jobs and benefits; threaten to shut down the business; prevent the employees from campaigning outside of work hours; or speak to the employees about their voting position. The figure below summarizes what should not be said to employees if they are considering unionization.
Once the employees have voted whether or not to be certified as a union, only then, can the collective bargaining begin. To have the rights to bargain, there are three ways to be recognized as a union:
- Voluntary recognition: the majority of the employees and employer are satisfied the union did no apply pressure to organize. The employer accepts the union as the legal bargaining agent.
- Regular certification: a substantial number of employees (as determined by the provincial legislation) sign union cards to certify as a union, or employees have an election with a majority of ballots cast in favour of the union.
- Prehearing votes: where an employer has been accused of unfair labour practices to prevent the employees from unionizing. At this point, the Labour Relations Board would conduct a pre-hearing vote.
The Process of Collective Bargaining
Negotiations start when each side states its position and presents its demands. As in most negotiations, these opening demands simply stake out starting positions. Both parties usually expect some give-and-take and realize that the final agreement will fall somewhere between the two positions. If everything goes smoothly, a tentative agreement can be reached and then voted on by union members. If they accept the agreement, the process is complete and a contract is put into place to govern labour-management relations for a stated period. If workers reject the agreement, negotiators from both sides must go back to the bargaining table.
In a collective bargaining process, both parties are legally bound to bargain in good faith. This means they have a mutual obligation to participate actively in the deliberations and indicate a desire to find a basis for agreement. A wide variety of elements can be included as bargaining material. Here are some examples of these elements:
Examples of Bargaining Topics
- Pay rate and structure
- Health benefits
- Incentive programs
- Job classification
- Performance assessment procedure
- Vacation time and sick leave
- Health plans
- Layoff procedures
- Weight of seniority in personnel decisions
- Training process
- Severance pay
- Tools provided to employees
The collective bargaining process has five main steps as seen in the figure below.
Step 1:
Preparation of both parties. The negotiation team should consist of individuals with knowledge of the organization and the skills to be an effective negotiator. An understanding of the working conditions and dissatisfaction with working conditions is an important part of this preparation step. Establishing objectives for the negotiation and reviewing the old contract (if there is one) are key components to this step. The management team should also prepare and anticipate union demands, to better prepare for compromises.
One issue is management rights which allows the company to operate with complete freedom such as reassigning employees to different jobs, make independent hiring decisions, and any other matters that pertain to management.
Step 2:
Parties agree on the timelines and ground rules for the negotiations such as the frequency of meetings and the order with which elements will be discussed. For example, both parties may decide that the compensation issues, often the most contentious, will be dealt with last or first.
Step 3:
Each party presents initial proposals face-to-face. These meetings may start 60 to 90 days ahead of existing contract termination dates. It will likely involve initial opening statements and options to resolve any situations that exist. The key to a successful proposal is to come to the table with a “let’s make this work” attitude. An initial discussion is had, and then each party generally goes back to determine which requests it can honour and which it can not.
At this point, another meeting is generally set up to continue the discussion. A number of issues related to terms and conditions are discussed including wages, working conditions, hours of work, vacations, sick time, pension plans, benefits and other services. Easy issues are generally discussed first as they are easier to give-and-take. The negotiations are always private.
Step 4:
A series of meetings are always necessary for both parties to agree on a collective agreement. This can be a very lengthy process, and it often takes hundreds of meetings to come to an agreement. Compromises are offered and counterproposals are presented on both sides until an agreement is reached. Experienced negotiators know they must “give” or compromise on some issues. If there is any reason to believe there is unfair practices, not bargaining in good faith, the union can file an unfair charge against the employer.
Some employers are moving away from adversarial practices in negotiating and using mutual gains bargaining. This model is not about “us and them” or ‘win and lose” approach, rather a win-win approach. The employer and the union work together to solve problems and issues. This does not mean either party takes a lesser assertive approach, rather they sit at the table as equals to discuss problem-solving together. Some unions and employers are skeptics of this approach. It requires both sides to be training in conflict resolution, to change their mind set about each other, and the relationship between the employer and employees has to be well established.
Step 5:
Once the two negotiating teams agree on a collective agreement, it needs to be ratified and voted on by the union membership. If the membership does not agree, then the process continues. Often the agreement must be reviewed by top management and the employees as a whole need to vote to ratify the agreement. If top management approves the agreement, and the employees, as a majority, vote in favour of the agreement, it replaces the old agreement (or in the case of a new union, their first agreement begins).
If either side rejects the agreement, management and union bargaining agents return to bargaining. Administration begins when both parties have signed the agreement.
Think!
If you were preparing to negotiate a contract with a union, what information would you gather before attending the meeting?
Bargaining Impasse and Pressure Tactics
When the two parties are unable to reach consensus on the collective bargaining agreement, this is called a bargaining impasse. This situation is quite common as the interests and objectives of labour and management are often very different. Take the case of the Federal prison chaplains who were negotiating their first collective agreement to secure better wages and working conditions. The 180 chaplains, from a variety of faiths and spiritual practices, were represented by the United Steelworkers union, and negotiations between both parties had stalled. Each party had access to tactics that could force the hand of the other side (The Canadian Press, 2020).
These ‘pressure tactics’, as they are often referred to, are allowed by the law but they must respect certain parameters. They also need to be used judiciously because they can backfire. Labour negotiations are like a chess match, and the repercussion of every move has to be considered. In this section, we describe the various tactical moves available to labour and management.
Union Tactics
Unions have several options at their disposal to pressure company management into accepting the terms and conditions union members are demanding. The tactics available to the union include striking, picketing, and boycotting. During a strike, workers walk away from their jobs and refuse to return until the issue at hand has been resolved. Note that due to the impact of a strike, an employer may wish to hire replacement workers and continue partial business operations. However, some jurisdictions (British Columbia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland) preclude the use of temporary workers. Though a strike sends a strong message to management, it also has consequences for workers who do not get paid when they are on strike. Unions often ease the financial pressure on strikers by providing cash payments, which are funded from the dues members pay to the unions.
When you see workers parading with signs outside a factory or an office building (or even a school), they are probably using the tactic known as picketing. The purpose of picketing is informative—to tell people that a workforce is on strike or to publicize some management practice that is unacceptable to the union. There is a fair amount of solidarity across workers from different unions, and, by principle, many workers, regardless of their affiliation, will typically not cross picket lines.
In 2009, approximately 24,000 City of Toronto Municipal Workers, unhappy about wages and loss of the right to bank and cash out unused sick leave, went on a five-week strike. At first, many citizens supported this right, but some of the most noticeable effects of the strike, including the halting of waste collection and the cancellation of summer recreation programming, created widespread concern and negative reactions from the Toronto population (Lex & Pingue, 2009).
The final tactic available to unions is boycotting, in which union workers refuse to buy a company’s products and try to get other people to follow suit. The tactic is often used by the Canadian Labour Congress, who often endorses national boycotts.
Management Tactics
During difficult labour negotiations, management does not typically sit by passively, especially if the company has a position to defend or a message to get out. One tactic available to management is the lockout which essentially means closing the workplace to workers.
If you are a fan of professional basketball, you may remember the NBA lockout in 2011, which took place because of a dispute regarding the division of revenues and the structure of the salary cap. Lockout tactics were also used in the 2011 labour dispute between the National Football League (NFL) and the National Football League Players Association when club owners and players failed to reach an agreement on a new contract. Prior to the 2011 season, the owners imposed a lockout, which prevented the players from practicing in team training facilities. Both sides had their demands: the players wanted a greater percentage of the revenues, which the owners were against. The owners wanted the players to play two additional regular season games, which the players were against. With the season drawing closer, an agreement was finally reached in July 2011, bringing the 130-day lockout to an end and ensuring that the 2011 football season would begin on time (Fox Sports, 2011).
Another management tactic is replacing striking workers with replacement workers — non-union workers who are willing to cross picket lines to replace strikers. As is the case for a strike, replacement workers are allowed in some jurisdictions but not in others.
Working with Labour Unions
First and foremost, when working with labour unions, a clear understanding of the contract is imperative for all HR professionals and managers. The collective agreement is the guiding document for all decisions relating to employees. All HR professionals and managers should have intimate knowledge of the document and be aware of the components of the contract that can affect dealings with employees. The agreement outlines all requirements of managers and usually outlines how discipline, promotion, and transfers will work.
As managers and HR professionals will be working with members of the union on a daily basis, a positive relationship can assist the day-to-day operations and create an easier bargaining process. Solicitation of input from the union before decisions are made can be one step to creating this positive relationship. Transparent communication is another way to achieve this goal.
“10.5 Organizing Unions and Collective Bargaining” from Human Resources Management – 3rd Edition by Debra Patterson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
