Forrest, Anne (1988) Labour law and union growth : the case of Ontario. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

What role the law should play in encouraging the growth of trade
unions is a matter of considerable controversy in Canada, the United
States, and the United Kingdom. Limits to growth in other sectors of the
economy coupled with heightened employer hostility to unionism have made
the extension of collective bargaining to the tertiary sector the most
pressing task for unions in the 1980s. In a limited way, the Canadian
procedure for certifying and recognizing unions is being considered as a
model for labour law reform. And there is much to recommend the Canadian
system. It is far more efficient than its American counterpart. There
are fewer delays, fewer unlawful interventions by employers, and a
substantially higher likelihood that newly organized unions will be
granted certification. Even so, unions have failed to break into the
trade, finance, and services industries that are so critical to their
future.
Taken as a whole, Canadian labour law tends to block rather than
promote the growth of unions in the unorganized sectors of the economy.
The certification procedure is only one aspect of a legal regime that has
as its primary purpose the preservation of industrial peace, not the
encouragement of union growth. By shaping bargaining structure and
regulating bargaining tactics, Canadian labour law tilts the balance of
power in favour of employers. Small, fragmented unions are frequently
pitted against large corporations and as there is nothing to stop anti-union
employers from using their overwhelming strength to frustrate the
collective bargaining process, efforts to organize the tertiary sector
have failed.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor K Law [LC] > KE Canada
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Labor unions -- Recognition -- Canada -- Ontario, Labor unions -- Law and legislation -- Canada, Collective bargaining -- Canada, Labor laws and legislation -- Canada
Official Date:	January 1988
Dates:	Date Event January 1988 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	School of Industrial and Business Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Sponsors:	Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) ; Canada. Labour Canada ; Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme (ORSAS) ; University of Windsor. Faculty of Business Administration
Extent:	viii, 348 p.
Language:	eng

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