Title: Online Course Assignments: Module 4 Discussion and Assignment Workbook

Contents

Module 4 Discussion 

Topic 1: Pre-Bargaining

Activity 1: Union and Management Bargaining Goals and Bargaining Power

Read pages 267–276 in the text Gunderson, Ponak, & Taras (2008). Before you read, think of a recent collective bargaining story that you read about in the news or experienced first-hand. Examples are bargaining agreements for nurses, teachers, or university employees. As you read, consider the parameters that were most likely in the minds of the union and management representatives as they prepared for bargaining. Given the factors in the textbook, which side has more power?

Number of words: 1,035

Activity 2: Bargaining Proposals

Assume that a union has just been certified in a workplace. The parties are about to sit down to negotiate their first collective agreement. Pages 267–269 of the text list some common bargaining goals/topics. Choose three of these areas on which to concentrate on.

In your reflective journal, write down the bargaining goals of both the union and management. You might desire to establish the actual target and resistance points. Draft the actual bargaining proposals/clauses for every topic for both the union and management.

Number of words: 1,050

Topic 2: Negotiating the Collective Agreement

Activity 3: Duty to Bargain in Good Faith

Read the following case studies:

(i) Case Study 2: Associated Building Credits

(ii) Case Study 3: BC Rail

(iii) Case Study 4: BC Rail (2)

(iv) Case Study 5: Catholic Independent School

(v) Case Study 6: Gibsons Motor Inn

(vi) Case Study 7: Modern Auto Plating

(vii) Case Study 8: P.T. Savage

As you read, consider if you agree with the decisions made. What kind of behavior do you feel would comprise a breach of the duty to bargain in good faith? Can you think of an example of a situation that you were negotiating with a person (not necessarily in a collective bargaining situation) where you felt the other person was not “bargaining in good faith”?

Number of words: 1,425

 Activity 4: Canada Labour Code Comparison

Read the “Guide to the Labour Relations Code” about the collective bargaining process at http://www.lrb.bc.ca/codeguide/chapter5.htm

Assess Division IV of the Canada Labour Code at http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/page-10.html#h-19

 In your reflective journal, comment on if you think the bargaining provisions in the Canada Labour Code are equal to or more union or employer friendly than those in the British Columbia Labour Relations Code.

Number of words: 1,256

Topic 3: Negotiation Strategies

Activity 6: Comparison between Adversarial and Mutual Gains Bargaining

Watch Final Offer, a National Film Board of Canada documentary that covers actual negotiations between the Canadian Auto Workers Union and General Motors using a traditional adversarial approach.

Caution

Final Offer contains a significant amount of offensive language.

Watch For the People for the Business, a movie portraying the efforts of Saskatoon Chemicals and the Communications, Energy, and Paper Workers Union in their move toward a more mutual approach to giving solutions differences and operating the plant.

(i) How did the internal political pressures of the union impact its dealings with General Motors Canada?

(ii) What is the mood at the bargaining table in each of the two films?

(iii) Bob White is evidently the star of Final Offer. Is there a star in For the People for the Business? What does this say about the difference in the two approaches?

(iv) Do you think the mutual gains approach would have been successful in Final Offer? Why or why not?

Number of words: 1,675

Total Number of Words for the Module I Discussion/activities: 6, 441 (21.4 pages)

Module 4 Assignment

Part A: Bargaining Power

Case Study: Bob's Fishing

Discuss how the employer's and the union's bargaining power will be determined in the following fact pattern. Listen to the case study.

The case study start from here: Bob's Fishing provides guide services to tourists. At this point in time, Bob's is the only company operating at this location; it is quite difficult for new tour companies to start business because of the licensing requirements in the area.

The collective agreement for Bob's employees expires on April 30, and summer season is the high season for tours. There are three managers in the company: the president, the accountant, and the secretary. None of them know how to lead the fishing tours. The local union has a significant amount of money in its strike fund, and the national union is exerting pressure on the local to “set an example” in this industry.

Who holds the power?

Number of words: 330

Part B: Federal and Provincial Bargaining Provisions

Re-read the bargaining provisions in the Canada Labour Code at http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/L-2/page-10.html#h-19 In 250 words, compare and contrast the bargaining provisions in the Canada Labour Code with those in the BC Labour Relations Code.

Number of words: 410

Part C: Mutual Gains Approach

Search the Internet for a Canadian case study of a company using the mutual gains approach to bargaining. Write a 250-word description of the case study, comparing it with the Saturn Partnership and BC Ministry of Social Services and Housing.

Number of words: 381

Part D: Major Module Assignment

In the “Bargaining Proposals” activity in Topic 1, you drafted a bargaining proposal assuming that the union had just been certified and there was no collective agreement in place.

Case Study: Infinitech

Consider the following scenario. Listen to the case study.

The union and management at Infinitech Inc. previously negotiated a collective agreement, the term of which is now expired. The parties are about to sit down to negotiate a revised collective agreement.

You are one of the union negotiators assigned to do the bargaining for the company's call centre. The company is a computer manufacturer, and 200 of its employees work at a call centre answering computer technical questions. As part of your bargaining preparation, your full-time members have told you that their key concern is stability in their hours. Full-timers, by virtue of their position, work forty-hour weeks. However, their hours may vary from day to day or week to week in terms of when they work.

Your part-time members have advised that their main concern is with accessing hours. Traditionally, in order to be successful in a posting for a new full-time position, an employee needed to accumulate a significant number of total hours worked. Therefore, while protecting the rights of the full-timers is critical to the union, protecting access to hours for part-timers is also important.

Keeping in mind the interests of your members outlined above, draft the union's bargaining proposal in regard to scheduling hours of work. Ensure that it is clear how you want clauses amended, deleted, or added to.

The expired collective agreement contained the following clauses in regard to the company's call centre.

Article 14: Scheduling Hours of Work—Call Centre Employees

Part-Time Employees

1. Extra shifts must be offered to the most senior available part-time employee as soon as the company is aware of the need for additional hours. The offer must be made either in person or by telephone. If by telephone, the phone must be allowed to ring at least three times. If there is no answering machine, the company may proceed to the next senior part-time employee. If someone answers or there is an answering machine, the company must leave a message with the available shift information. If the shift is within the next twenty-four hours, the part-time employee has six hours to return the call; otherwise, management can move on to the next employee. If the shift is within twenty-four and seventy-two hours, the employee must call within fifteen hours; if it is between seventy-two hours and one week in advance, the employee must return the call within forty-eight hours.
2. Part-time shifts must be cancelled three days in advance, or the part-time employee shall be paid two hours at the applicable overtime rate (1.5x).

 Full-Time Employees

1. Full-time employees shall be scheduled for at least four-hour blocks.
2. Full-time employees shall have two full days of rest per week.
3. Overtime is payable at 1.5x after forty hours per week.
4. If cancellation of shifts is required, the shift shall be cancelled one week in advance, or the employee shall be paid two hours at the overtime rate (1.5x).
5. First priority for additional hours is given to full-time employees who had cancelled shifts in the week.

 

Keeping in mind the interests of your members outlined above, draft the union's bargaining proposal in regard to scheduling hours of work. Ensure that it is clear how you want clauses amended, deleted, or added to.

Please note: when you work on language, start with the original, strikeout what you are deleting, bold what you are adding. This enables both sides to clearly see the changes to the original language. Please use this convention in your answer.

Number of words: 250

Total Number of Words for Module 4 Assignment: 1,371 (4.57 pages)

Total Number of Words for Module 4 Discussion and Assignment: 7, 812 (26 pages)