History and Development of Unions in Canada/General
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History and Development of Unions in Canada - General
General Information
What influenced the development of trade unions in Canada?
Developments in Great Britain and the United States greatly influenced Canadian trade unions. Immigrant workers from Great Britain were instrumental in establishing early unions in Canada and much of the early legal history and legislation was taken from Great Britain. Later, unions from the United States spread into Canada and the framework for much of the current labour legislation in Canada derives from post-World War II United States legislation.
What distinguishes Canadian labour laws from those of Great Britain and the United States?
Distinguishing features of Canadian labour laws compared to those of Great Britain and the United States include
- the unique feature of the delay of the work stoppage, and
- the decentralized control of labour relations.
The provinces govern labour and most employment matters. On a smaller scale, most collective agreements are concluded between one union and one employer, rather than across an industry.
What world historical developments led to the formation of trade unions?
The major impetus for trade unions in the western world was the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s, which created the working class. Society changed from being mainly rural to industrial with many people living in towns and cities. More people lived and worked in poor conditions, fuelling the development of trade unions.
Some unions had formed in Canada prior to the time of the Industrial Revolution, most notably in industries requiring a skilled craft, for example, shoemaking or printing. They had also formed in industries where there were large groups of workers, for example, the shipping industry. Generally, these early unions provided assistance in times of unemployment, illness, or death.
When more workers began to work in factories and larger centres, however, unions began to become active for the purpose of representing workers' rights across a much wider spectrum.
Why is industrial action (for example, striking, picketing, working to rule) so important to union activity?
Unions evolved as a way for workers to join together to face the power that an employer has as the owner or operator of a business. The inequality of bargaining power between a worker and employer can be evened up in this way. As long as an employer is dealing with one employee, the balance of power is with the employer. When the employer is dealing with an organization that represents all employees, there is less power imbalance.
One of the few threats available to a worker in a disagreement with an employer is the withdrawal of labour or a strike. Obviously the threat or reality of a withdrawal of labour is greater if the whole workforce is involved rather than one person.
The timing of strike action is just as crucial as the fact of a strike itself. A union could plan to take strike action at a point when it would be crucial for an employer to have the business running. Strike action is arguably most effective if it happens when an employer has no contingency plans in place. If a requirement of delaying strike action is introduced, a union might be seen to have lost a valuable advantage.
Definitions
What is a “collective agreement”?
A collective agreement is an agreement between a union and an employer that deals with terms and conditions of employment of all workers covered by the collective agreement. In Alberta, a collective agreement must be in writing and it is legally binding upon the employer, the union, and the employee that the agreement covers. This means that legal action can be taken against anyone who breaks a term of the collective agreement.
What is “collective bargaining”?
Collective bargaining is the process of negotiating terms and conditions of work between an employer and a union. A union negotiates on behalf of the union members. The agreement reached between an employer and a union is called a collective agreement.
Historically, there is a distinction between voluntary collective bargaining and collective bargaining imposed by law. England had a well-developed system of voluntary collective bargaining in the early to mid-twentieth century. This meant that employers generally negotiated with unions on a voluntary basis, without any framework for bargaining being imposed by law. By contrast, in Canada, the law has largely imposed collective bargaining. Not until the law imposed a duty upon employers to recognize a union representing a majority of its employees, and imposed a duty to bargain with the union in good faith, did collective bargaining become entrenched in industrial relations in Canada.
What is a “combination of people”?
A combination of people is a term that was used in the nineteenth century in England to describe a group of people that joined together for a common purpose. A trade union was a combination of people that joined together for the common purpose of lowering hours and/or raising wages.
What does the “delay of the work stoppage” mean?
Delay of the work stoppage is a key feature of Canadian labour law. It means that before a strike or lockout can occur certain procedural steps have to be taken, for example, a strike vote amongst employees and notice of the strike given to the employer.
What is "industrial action"?
Industrial action is an umbrella term including
- striking,
- picketing and secondary picketing,
- working to rule, and
- a lockout.
Any strike or lockout taking place before the required steps are taken is unlawful. The intention is to give both sides a cooling off period and to try to avoid the industrial action.
What is an “injunction”?
An injunction is a court order for someone to stop doing something pending the outcome of a legal case. If an employer began a civil action against a union for inducing breach of contract, he or she could immediately ask the court to make an injunctive order that the union stop the industrial action until the case was decided.
Historically, an injunction was a legal tool to preserve a situation until a case was finally decided, but in the case of industrial action it totally destroyed the reason for the case. Even today, once a union cannot take immediate industrial action, the impetus for the dispute is lost, the dispute is often lost, and there is no reason to go to court. Union leaders face an impossible decision: whether to disregard the injunction and face personal and union liability for contempt of court, or to abide by the order and potentially give ground in the dispute.
What is a “lockout”?
Most commonly, a lockout is defined as an industrial action when an employer locks workers out of their workplace and will not let them in. The definition can also include the suspension of work by an employer or the suspension of employees in order to make them accept certain terms and conditions of work. In Alberta, a lockout can only take place in accordance with certain rules and cannot occur while a collective agreement is in force.
What does the term “picketing” cover?
Picketing in the field of labour relations refers to the action of persuading others not to do any business with a particular employer. Most commonly, pickets are seen outside a business where the workers are on strike. The pickets try to persuade others not to cross the picket line to do business with the employer or work for the employer.
Secondary picketing occurs where people picket at a location away from the business place of the employer involved in the dispute. For example, pickets might go to the business place of a supplier of the employer to persuade the supplier not to make deliveries to the employer.
What does the term "strike" mean?
Strike refers to the action of withdrawal of labour by workers. Employees stay away from work during a strike. In Alberta today, the law distinguishes between a legal and an illegal strike. To be legal a strike must take place in accordance with certain rules with regard to a vote of the union membership, and a strike cannot occur during the life of a collective agreement.
What is “work to rule”?
Work to rule happens when employees work according to a strict interpretation of the workplace rules. Usually this means that work slows to a deliberate pace with no extra items, such as overtime, being performed.
Types of Unions
What is a “craft union”?
A craft union was the term traditionally given to unions that represented members who specialized in a particular craft. Crafts included printing, shoemaking, carpenters, painters, bakers, bookbinders, upholsterers, bricklayers, and stonecutters. In many respects, unions representing such craft industries were similar to the craft guilds that existed in medieval Europe.
What is an “international union”?
An international union is one that crosses national borders in the same way that an international company might. Due to proximity to the United States, Canada plays host to various international unions.
What is an “international union”?
An international union is one that crosses national borders in the same way that an international company might. Due to proximity to the United States, Canada plays host to various international unions.
Who were the Knights of Labour?
One of the first international unions to operate in Canada was the Knights of Labour. The union organized members in Canada in the 1880s. The Knights organized unskilled labour as well as those belonging to particular trades and crafts. The union was also successful at organizing on a plant basis.
The Knights ultimately failed in the United States because of divisions between the craft unions and their central organization, the American Federation of Labour, and because the leadership of the Knights did not always support their members, particularly when it came to industrial action.
In Canada, the Knights had given some workers their first opportunity to belong to a union. The Knights were very popular in Quebec and eventually combined with craft unions to establish the Trades and Labour Congress.
Were there any issues associated with the operation of international unions in Canada?
Historically, yes, but a more recent solution has been to break from international unions to form national ones.
The major issue with the operation of international unions in Canada was that the union was usually controlled in the United States. All major decisions were taken at the headquarters, which removed power from the union members in Canada.
In more recent years, some unions have broken away from the international union to form a Canadian union. For example, the Canadian Auto Workers left the United Auto Workers in 1985, after 50 years of affiliation, because of disagreement over Canadian control of wage bargaining, strike authorization, and staff appointments.
What is an “industrial union”?
The term "industrial union" characterizes a type of union that crosses craft and occupational boundaries within an industry. For example, instead of workers in a factory belonging to different unions based on their skill, craft, or occupation, everyone in the factory belongs to the same union. This kind of organization gives the members the power of unity rather than being fragmented into different groups. Mining and the textile industry were particularly open to organization by industrial unions.
Examples of early industrial unions were the Western Federation of Miners, which led workers in a serious strike in Rossland, British Columbia, in 1901, and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), which was an American-based international union in the resource industry.
More Information
This page was last updated in June, 2005.
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