HRPD 709: Industrial Relations - Assignment 1
Introduction:
In this assignment, you will analyse collective bargaining relationships and document how these
relationships are expressed in the terms of collective agreements, grievance/ arbitrations and strikes/outs.
Obtain the instructor’s approval of the organization you would like to research before starting work.
Instructions:
Working in your established teams, select a Canadian organization where there is an ongoing collective
bargaining relationship. The organization can be either public sector or private sector. Then address the
following:
1a. Provide a description of each of the employers in terms of:
• A brief history/ background of the company/ organization
• The industry or industrial sector in which the employer is located
• The organizations/institutions size
• The range of products/services provided or produced
• The competitive business environment (this is very important)
• Their record of performance/ success (this is very important)
• The organizational culture
• The management style
• The organizational structure (obtain or construct an organizational chart)
• Anything else you believe to be relevant
1b. Provide a description of the specific employer facility that is a party to the collective
agreement in terms of:
• The specific physical location/ address of the employer’s place of business
• The range of products/services provided or produced by the employer at this location
2a. Provide a description of the parent union in terms of:
• A brief history/ background of the union
• The type of union
• The type of workers it organizes
• The union’s geographic scope of operations
• The union’s international linkages if any
• The union’s financial strength
• The union’s militancy
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HRPD 709: Industrial Relations - Assignment 1
• The type of leadership in the union
- how are leaders of the union selected?
- how does the union amend its constitution?
- how often are conventions held?
- how are decisions made between conventions?
• The union’s organizational structure (please provide an organizational chart)
• The union’s linkages with political parties or other political organizations if any
• The union’s record of success in organizing and collective bargaining
• Anything else you believe to be relevant
2b. Provide a description of the specific union local that is that is a party to the collective
agreement you are studying in terms of:
• The local number
• A brief history/ background of the local
• The composition of the bargaining unit represented in this case
• The type of leadership in the local union
- how are leaders of the local union selected?
- how does the local union amend its by-laws?
- how often are general meetings held?
- how are decisions made between general meetings?
3. Describe the legal framework for collective bargaining
• Is this employer/ industry subject to any special laws or regulations that impact their
labour relations?
• If this is the case, identify the relevant laws/ regulations.
• What is the impact of these laws/ regulations on the conduct of labour relations?
4. Describe the bargaining structure
• Is it centralized or decentralized or multi-tiered?
5. Obtain and review the current collective agreements and report your findings and
observations on the following items for each agreement:
• The duration of the agreement including the start and end dates
• The bargaining unit identified in the collective agreement
• Management rights
• Provisions on wage rates
• Provisions on seniority
• Provisions on union security (membership requirements, dues, union stewards, time for
union business, use of employer facilities etc.)
• Provisions on discipline
• Provisions on arbitration
• Provisions on downsizing/layoffs in general
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HRPD 709: Industrial Relations - Assignment 1
• Provisions on downsizing/layoffs due to technological changes
• Provisions on downsizing/layoffs due to contracting out
• Any special provisions that you find either interesting or surprising
Submit a copy the collective agreements with your assignment. This can be in pdf format or
as a website link.
Many collective agreements are available on-line. In addition, for more information, copies
of provincially regulated collective agreements are available through the Ontario Ministry of
Labour Collective Agreements e-Library Portal at:
[Link]
6. 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.
• What are the key issues?
• Why are they important?
• Have there been labour conflicts/strikes (major/ minor) within the last ten years?
• If these workers are not allowed to strike, how are interest disputes resolved?
• If there have been labour/ conflicts/strikes (major/ minor) within the last ten years, what
were the major issues in these conflicts?
• How common are grievances?
• What types of grievances are the most common?
• Why is this case?
• Anything else about the organization(s) of interest to your group?
NOTE:
If you are unable to interview both management and union representatives, you should then
complete a search of the business press for information about the company/ organization and
its labour relations. Usually companies/ organizations with significant problems have articles
written about them. You should be able to connect the issues you identify in section 5 back to
information you have reported in sections 1-3. For example, we might expect an employer
facing significant competition in their respective industry or budget pressures to attempt to
reduce their labour costs by restricting wages and/or making greater use of technology.
(This is a very important part of your report)
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HRPD 709: Industrial Relations - Assignment 1
7. Assessment: The following key questions should be addressed as a minimum requirement.
• What are the key collective bargaining issues?
• Why do these issues exist?
• Are there discrepancies between what you found/ believe and what you were told?
• What is your overall assessment of labour relations in this organization? You should
provide evidence supporting your conclusions.
(This is a very important part of your report)
8. Submit your finished report through the Assignment 1 drop box
9. Format:
The report is to be written error free in a form acceptable for business and professional
purposes. Point form not acceptable. The report should include and/or meet the following
requirements:
• A cover page – indicating report title with appropriate course and author identifiers
• A table of contents
• An introduction - An introduction that clearly states the purpose of your report, what
will be presented and why it is important
• The body of the report is organized and presented in a logical sequential order;
instructions (1 to 6 inclusive) are followed
• A conclusion – a detailed summary of what you found, your assessment of it and why it
matters
• APA citation format is properly used
• Work cited – Bibliography
• Typed – Arial 12 font
• Double-spaced
• Margins adjusted at 2.5 cm
• Minimum 15 pages
10. Due: Week 6
11. Evaluation:
• Completed on a team basis
• Team members are responsible for the integrity of the entire report, not just their part(s).
• Assignment 1 is worth 20 marks and 20% of final course mark
• Late assignments will be penalized at a rate of 2 marks /business day.
• Once this assignment is marked and returned to the class, no further late submissions
will be acceptable.
