Bargaining Structures

Prospects for Reform of Industrial Relations in the Ontario Broader Public Sector

Objectives

• Centralization and coordination• Brief overview of current bargaining structures

in BPS by sector– Community & social services– Education– Energy– Health– Municipalities

Single Establishment Multi Establishment

Single Employer Single Employer Multi Employer

Single Union

Most prevalentLocalized negotiations at single workplace.

WidespreadNegotiation of a common collective agreement across several worksites of the same employer.

Less frequentCoalition of employers bargaining as a group with a dominant industrial or occupational union. Currently practiced in the acute care hospital sector.

Multi Union

RareNegotiating partnership between two or more unions within the same establishment. (Joint Council of Newspaper unions for example.)

Rareexcept for railways Most likely in industries characterized by a few very large employers and a number of small craft unions.

RareMost centralized form of bargaining, involves coalitions of unions and employers at a single negotiating table. Mostly restricted to construction.

Bargaining coordination & power

Union coordination(Low ↔ High)

Potential for union whipsawing

Potential for centralized bargaining practices

Decentralized bargaining practices

Potential of employer whipsawing

Employer coordination (Low ↔ High)

Community & Social ServicesChildren and Youth Services Collective bargaining in this sector tends to be decentralized; i.e., taking place on a workplace-by-workplace basis. In 2011, the child welfare (Children’s Aid Societies) sub-sector undertook a Provincial Discussion Table (PDT) process in collaboration involving OPSEU, CUPE, and the employers with MCYS in attendance and MOL facilitating. A tentative agreement was reached in August 2011 between the unions and employers, and not the government. The unions elected to use the agreement as a framework for local bargaining.

Adult Developmental Services Bargaining takes place on a workplace by workplace basis. In late 2010 and 2011, the development services sector undertook a Provincial Discussion Table (PDT) bargaining process in collaboration with CUPE, OPSEU and MOL and MCSS. The talks ended in September 2011, and employers and unions resumed local bargaining.

EducationSchool Boards241 teacher collective agreements (covering ~180,000) and 226 school support agreements (covering ~75,000). 2008 bargaining round included centralized bargaining through a “Provincial Discussion Table (PDT)” used to negotiate collective agreements with teachers and support staff, yielding “framework agreements” that created templates for school boards and bargaining agents in bargaining individual agreements. Current (2012) round….

CollegesCCBA 2008 establishes four province-wide bargaining units. All of Ontario’s 24 community colleges bargain together centrally, with OPSEU through the College Employer Council, as the statutorily established bargaining agent for the colleges. The government is not a party in collective bargaining

UniversitiesDecentralized bargaining is conducted in the 150 collective agreements covering approximately 63,000 employees. There is evidence of coordination, such as CUPE’s efforts to negotiate common expiry dates for teaching assistants, as well as information sharing.

EnergySector comprised of 5 agencies:

Hydro One

Ontario Power Generation (OPG)

Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO)

Ontario Energy Board (OEB)

Ontario Power Authority (OPA)

Decentralized bargaining with strong patterning practices.

Acute careAcute care hospitals generally have three basic bargaining units: 1) Service, 2) Nursing, and 3) Technical & professional Approximately 140 hospitals in Ontario participate in voluntary centralized bargaining with ONA, that is led by the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA).

Smaller central agreements exist between the OHA on behalf of the participating hospitals and CUPE (approximately 54 hospitals), SEIU (approximately 37 hospitals), OPSEU (approximately 44 hospitals), CAW (approximately 8 hospitals) and PAIRO (approximately 20 hospitals). The number of hospitals participating in central bargaining can vary from bargaining round to bargaining round given the voluntary nature of the central bargaining process in the sector.

Long term care

Centralized bargaining. In some segments of the nursing home sector, voluntary multi-employer coordinated bargaining exists with general patterning among non-participants.

Home and community care

Collective bargaining in this sector is decentralized; i.e., taking place on a workplace-by-workplace basis.

However, the CCACs themselves have moved to voluntary centralized bargaining with a table for each union (ONA, CUPE, and OPSEU).

Public health

Collective bargaining in this sector is decentralized; i.e., taking place on a workplace-by-workplace basis;

66 bargaining units in the 36 health units.

Municipalities

Emergency services Decentralized bargaining (strong coordination and patterning) with:over 130 municipal police collective agreements (~25,000 employees);over 75 firefighter collective agreements (~10,000 employees);over 50 ambulance bargaining units (~5,000 employees).

General Decentralized bargaining. 340 municipal bargaining units in Ontario covering approx. 70,000 employees.

Conclusions

• Coordination just as important as structure

• Bargaining power implications

• Current spectrum of bargaining structures

– Statutory centralization no guarantee of effective labour relations

• Long term development at risk to short-term leverage tactics