Real recognition of need to tackle precarious, uncertain work: Unifor
While the Canadian economy rebounded in 2017, an uncertain global climate coupled with legislative changes across Canada could make for a challenging bargaining environment in 2018, according to a report from the Conference Board of Canada.
“2017 was a surprisingly good year... so we had a fairly quickly moving economy and a lot of job growth. The challenge there is that some of those drivers of GDP are not necessarily in heavily sustainable areas, so our economists do expect that’ll slow down a little bit in 2018,” said Monica Haberl, research associate and executive network manager, total rewards and labour relations research, at the Conference Board of Canada in Ottawa.
“There are also a few global factors, an uncertain global climate, challenges with trade… that create some uncertainty, so we expect employers, despite that good year in 2017, to be proceeding with caution in the coming year.”
Despite underlying, positive factors, there is an awful lot of uncertainty in key sectors of the economy — such as automotive and pulp and paper — particularly around trade, said Bill Murnighan, director of the research department at Unifor in Toronto.
“These are some big industries that are already in the crosshairs of trade disputes with the United States, and these don’t have overnight impacts, but unless we find some settlement in our overall relations with the Americans, that can have some pretty dire consequences… there’s this looming question.”
For unionized employees, the average projected negotiated wage increase for 2018 is 1.4 per cent, down from the 1.7 per cent increase for contracts negotiated in 2017, said the Conference Board.
In the private sector, people typically bargain ever three or four years, “so people who are into negotiations in 2018 will find themselves, in most sectors, in a much improved scenario compared to where they were the last time they went to the negotiating table,” said Murnighan.
“For people who’ve gone through a decade or more of relatively modest wage increases…. they’re looking to see some return to decent wage increases.”
Upcoming legislation changes in several jurisdictions such as Ontario and Alberta will make for a challenging bargaining environment, said the Industrial Relations Outlook 2018 report, based on Conference Board research, along with a survey of 324 organizations and a roundtable focus group, both conducted in the summer of 2017.
The minimum wage changes will, of course, have a ripple effect in some sectors where union members aren’t earning much more than minimum wage, such a hospitality and retail, said Murnighan.
“Employers will often see it as ‘There’s only one pie, and… if I just gave away half the pie because of the minimum wage increase, there’s not much left for anyone else,’ and that becomes a challenge to address. But I do think most of our members so far in those scenarios recognize that bringing up the bottom end is good for everyone in the long term — but it does take some thinking.”
Some of the other implications, such as scheduling rights, and equal pay for contract, part-time and temporary work, will also have implications for unionized workplaces that have temporary and contract workforces, “and those things will need to be adjusted,” he said.
There’s a real recognition of the need to tackle precarious and uncertain work, said Murnighan, “and that plays into a lot of the bargaining context as well, where people are looking to right the ship in many sectors, and in many negotiations, on turning back the clock, to some extent, on growing precarious and contract work in their workplaces.”
Mental health, technology
There’s also a growing focus on health and safety, especially with mental health becoming a more significant workplace issue, said the report.
“Unions are intending to bring specific language into collective agreements that relates to mental health, so accommodations, job-protected leaves,” said Haberl, who is also author of the report.
The issue of domestic violence is one Unifor has taken a leading role on for several decades, said Murnighan.
“Employers can put their best foot forward and provide some space and some support in those circumstances, and it’s certainly not the end of the world — it makes you a better employer.”
Technology is also a concern for both sides, as automation creeps into more and more job sectors, said Haberl.
“With technology, with disruption, it can be very, very challenging to see where the workforce is going and how soon it’s going to get there,” she said. “Employers are really trying to take stock in terms of where they can get some gains in terms of productivity when it comes to this technological change, but also there’s the potential for improvement in areas such as health and safety.”
The newer technology is an investment in the future, said Murnighan, “and so we cannot position ourselves to be holding off on the advent of technology. But, in the meantime, we have to make sure people who might be negatively impacted are looked after, and that’s part of the bargain.”
“Collectively, we need to make sure the innovation isn’t just about getting around standards or lowering wages or making people precarious, but innovation is actually about a better service or more productivity.”
