Question

Online Exploration Exercise

Using the search term “bargaining update,” find sites, videos, and other social media tools being used by unions to keep their members informed about negotiations (such as www.geworkersunited.org). What types of issues are emphasized on these sites? What issues seem common across different unions? What issues are specific to certain occupations? Do the sites suggest more adversarial or cooperative bargaining relationship? Why is it hard to find similar sites on the management side?

Answer 1

1. Find sites, videos, social media tools being used

1. Jurisdiction based websites - open.alberta.ca (all Alberta related), canada.ca (public service employees of Treasury board - air traffic control, border services etc.) offers monthly summary (up to Feb 2020) of key labour settlements and disputes, and trends/factors/events in Alberta and other jurisdictions. Individual firms usually have a prominent page dedicated to providing written updates (Unifor594) and links to other social media.

2. Social Media - A lot of firms use Youtube as a place to upload short sound bites that they then publish on Youtube (Chicago teachers union, TRUFA) or embed into their websites on relevant pages that their employees can view to get updates (Dryden).

Facebook is also used as a space to share updates (RAFFWU Woolworths, Chicago teachers union). Video updates of the bargaining meetings and press conferences seem to be the most popular way of informing employees of the process and progress being made.

Twitter, Instagram are other media used by some (TALB) to provide latest updates to their employees.

2. Types of issues emphasised

Education/teaching unions - increase in staff to reduce extremely high number of students per teacher, required roles of counsellors and librarians to be filled and not forced on existing teachers,

Factory workers unions - increase in wages, health care, adjustments for cost of living, improvements in health care contributions, increases in Pension and retirement plans.

Air traffic control, Police services, Health Care - Retroactive payment increases, additional allowances

3. Common issues across different unions

- Increase in wages and compensation (future or retroactive), allowances and adjustments

- Improvements in Health care contributions, pensions, retirement plans

- Increase in staff/employee count to cut down overload of work

- Required roles to be filled by qualified people instead of existing employees being asked to multi-task (low quality of work and burn-outs resulting)

4. Issues specific to certain occupations

- Retail service staff - adequate severance packages for employees (UFCW21 union for Macy's staff)

- Factory workers - Strike assistance for employees not recalled to work following a strike, terminated staff less than a year to retirement and probationary workers with probationary period still pending to be re-instated

- Teaching occupations - Transfers to other zones is not regularised leading to only a few benefiting, process to be revised to include all

5. Adversarial or cooperative relationship?

Union always advise a cooperative relationship to ensure both parties are in the best possible mood for a negotiation. This is most prominent in white collar bargaining, teachers, health care etc.

Blue collar occupations such as factory workers usually start out cooperative however end up going for the more adversarial note with delays on the part of the employer to review the list of demands.Especially when the employer starts to bring in reserve workers or shuts down the plants indefinitely or even brings in machinery to replace human workers.

6. Why is it hard to find similar management sites?

Management usually tends to be a smaller group of people (most not likely to even be in 100s), more closely connected and so able to discuss details in person or on calls. The employee unions usually comprise 1000s of people who might not be so networked as to get their updates from relevant sources when needed, this creates a need for precise channels of communication to ensure that the many can hear the same content and proceed accordingly.