Accounting 1000 - Business in the 21 Century

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Chapter Resources

- Chapter 2 PowerPoint slides. NOTE: The slides incorrectly indicate this is Chapter 4 but it is Chapter 2.

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- Chapter 2 – Labour History Comments and Activities

A. Preunionization

The preunion model should be reviewed as it helps explain the rise of the labour movement and because it is the foundation of nonunion employment relationships (e.g., common law).

Review Power of Employer

- Master-servant relationship

- Illegal to quit

- Conspiracy to bargaining collectively or join a union

PPT Slide 4-3: Describe employment relationships and the power of the employer relative to the employee based on classic literature stories.

B. Early Years: Pre-1900

Reflect on learnings from the chapter/lecture on law. Note all the workplace rights/employment (labour) standards that they currently have (both in unionized and nonunionized workplaces).

YouTube links: What has UNISON ever done for us? (Note: language may be offensive to some); Winnipeg General Strike

- Nine-hour labour movement

- Trade Union Act of 1872

- Formation of American Federation of Labor (AFL) and Trades & Labour Congress of Canada (TLC) based on three core values

- Exclusive jurisdiction

- Business unionism

- Political nonpartisanship

- Knights of Labour

- Single union for skilled and unskilled workers

- Opposed to strikes

- Sought to establish co-op business

Refer to IR Today 4.1 (The Nine-Hour Movement) and PPT Slides 4-4, 4-5, 4-6, and 4-7.

Highlight how the Knights of Labor did not follow the founding principles of AFL.

C. 1900-1920s

- Berlin Convention, 1902

- Industrial Disputes Investigation Act (IDIA), 1907

- Winnipeg General Strike, 1919

- One Big Union and other socialist movements

PPT Slides 4-8 and 4-9: What would World War I and the war effort have meant in terms of workplace relationships?

D. 1930-1940s

Great Depression

How did the stock market crash of 1929 impact employment relationships? Note that this period also contained WWII.

- Wagner Act

- Independent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to certify unions

- Employer must bargain in good faith

- Unfair labour practices with associated remedies

- Adhered to exclusivity

- Encouraged collective bargaining

- Committee of Industrial Organization (CIO), 1935

- Unskilled workers

- Canadian Events

- P.C. 1003 (Wartime Labour Relations Regulation), 1944 – largely mirrored the U.S. NLRA

- TLC expels unskilled workers, who form CCL

- Rand Formula, 1945

PPT Slides 4-10 and 4-11: Note (1) Wagner Act given that it grounds North American labour laws (e.g., the cut-and-paste nature of Canadian labour relative to the U.S. at this time); (2) tensions related to skilled/trade (AFL) versus unskilled/industrial (CIO) unions; (3) the importance of a law that enshrined collective bargaining, required an employer to bargain with certified unions, and provided penalties for unfair labour practices.

E. 1950-1960s

- AFL-CIO Merger, 1955

- Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) formed, 1956

- Unlike the U.S., there are elements of social and business union (political party formation was part of the founding plans)

- Like the U.S., skilled and unskilled workers are included in one federation

- PSSRA, 1967

- Rapid increase in unionization

- Unlike the U.S., where civil servants were largely not given the right to unionize

Describe the large labour unions in Canada today.

PPT Slide 4-12: Note how Canadian labour starts to become more independent from the U.S. and the political party element of the CLC versus the AFL-CIO, as well as the unionization of the public sector in Canada.

F. 1970-1980s

- Wage and price controls – oil driven

- AIB

- “6 and 5” program

- Current examples given high oil prices

- Free trade agreements

- Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) union formed

PPT Slide 4-13: Note how the formation of CAW shows a departure from American labour.

G. 1990s and beyond

- Recession, Unemployment in union strongholds, Government restructuring

- Legislation replacing bargaining, PPT Slide 4-14: Reflect on current IR issues in the media, particularly issues related to the public sector being legislated back to work, job security, public sector restructuring, increasing tension in public sector IR, the focus on competitiveness in the global economy, etc.

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