Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 5, 1987, Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg free july issues by Paul moist special to the free press the Canadian Union of Public employees has voiced opposition to final offer Selec Tion Fos As a Dis put Resolution cupe has spoken out on behalf of Morea than members located in every province and territory of the while the government has argued that Fos will further improve the provinces fairly Good labor relations cupe submits that Bill 61 poses risks to the free collective bargaining process that far outweigh any potential improve Fos is a form of binding arbitral this May seem like a simple Point but much of the recent Public commentary has failed to state quite Fos is nothing More than a form of binding Arbi it is a form of third party intervention in the negotiating process which had its origins As a replace ment for conventional binding in Terest Bill 61 proposes the total package Type of Fos in which the arbitrator must select either the entire Union proposal or the entire management according to labor relations the High degree of uncertainty introduced by such form of arbitration serves to induce the two parties to conclude a negotiated in the most attractive feature of this form of Fos is that it is such a bad form of arbitration that the parties will strive to avoid final offer selection does not exist in a legislative form like that proposed in Bill 61 anywhere in North certain groups have entered into Fos arrange ments it exists in legis lation applicable to sector bargaining largely in certain states where the right to strike has been re moved from Public its use in Canada has not been wide Bill 61 proposes the total package Type of Fos in which the must select either the entire Union proposal or the entire management according to labor relations the High degree of uncertainty introduced by such form of arbitration serves to induce the two parties to conclude a negotiated set in the most attractive feature of this form of Fos is that it is such a bad form of arbitration that the parties will strive to avoid upset the equation implicit in the traditional strike lockout equation is the right of either party to take Industrial action either by a Union striking or by management Locking Bill 61 upsets this equation in con is no different than Probus Ness legislation in other jurisdictions that have removed the right to cupe believes that the strike lockout equation ought not to be tampered with in an attempt at redistributing Power in the Labo manage ment other legislative forms exist to accomplish real Power there is and far More in the labor Community for such the proposed Fos Model contained in Bill 61 affords manage ment two opportunities to request a membership this is an entirely new under our current any such request would constitute interference in the affairs of the bargaining unit and would be an unfair labor the proponents of Fos argue that if the membership does not support Fos or Are suspicious of they can vote Down a management such Art argument might Well be True but it ignores the fact that Bill 61 provides management with Legal right to poll the member under the current management cannot order that a vote be cupe is strongly opposed to any deviation from this one of the most disturbing suggestions contained within Bill 61 is the notion that there exist three parties in a collective bargaining relationship the Union and the not separate until the present the Mani Toba labor relations act has not treated employees and unions As almost the act Speaks of employees and the Union As the same Bill 61 clearly enunciates a new perspex that coupled with the View of certain Fos advocates that Bill 61 will allow and not Union to decide bar gaining issues and re Veals an attitude that we hoped had Long ago cupe has Long heard such arguments from employers and from certain political we reject categorically any inference that Fos and membership votes will return the decision making process to the in our All such processes Are permanently housed within the general Fos arbitration awards result in a Clear Winner and a Clear such a system does not lend itself to harmonious labor relations be tween As Fos awards will see third party selectors attaching value to certain no monetary mat which they May not be familiar and which they certainly share no ownership sophisticated might Well offer final packages with monetary and Benefit proposals greater than those proposed by the Cou pled with certain contract language concessions in delicate areas such As promotion or Layoff management in fact Purchase clauses that employees fought Long and hard to cupe views any legislation which proposes to alter the collective bargaining process from the perspective of the legislation pos sible Ripple effect throughout the we Are extremely concerned that other provincial governments May Point to Manitoba and its Fos Model and adopt their own ver cupe does not have the luxury of viewing Bill 61 from a strictly Manitoba even if we our conclusions would not for our main concerns Are with Fos in concept and in that we View it As a poor method for dispute Bill and certain of its adv suggest that Fos will prompt the parties involved in collective bargaining to be More reasonable in their proposals and the unstated premise behind such commentary is that unionized workers have previously been unreasonable in cupe rejects such a notion it is our opinion that the majority of work stoppages in Canada in the 1980s have been defensive in a unions have been battling to hold onto previously negotiated for the most part strikes have occurred in reply to concessionary and As such have been caused by employ not Many of these strikes have been Long and and they reflect a fundamental Labo management management currently enjoys a situation whereby they May behave demand significant concessions and provoke they can also continue to thereby avoiding the economic in jury they Are so callously inflicting on their time and time again employers seek court injunctions to limit or even abolish employers Are Quick to Call upon government to Supply police assistance to escort replacement such activities Are Legal in most areas of Canada and they Are a prescription for violence and the relationship Between labor and management not Only lacks it also in its a weakness in our so Cletys unwillingness to attach value to workers human invest ment in their the imbalance and unfairness should be corrected without adjust ment to the Stike lockout anti Scab which pre vents the use of replacement work ers during a Legal evens up the Labo management Power it corrects the imbalance without either the unions or managements right to declare a strike or a the Case for anti Scab legislation has been documented Many times for successive nip there exists unanimous consensus in both the labor movement and the new democratic party for such in any legislative Endeavor government must consider the effects and concerns the participants to be directly affected by its As government must also consider the View and perspective of the general no dissatisfaction we submit that the application of such a test to Bill 61 reveals a Public which has not expressed Dis satisfaction with the current state of labor relations in the the labor movement has no consensus on within the manage ment ranks there is general Digap for the reasons cupe respectfully suggests that the government reconsider Bill 61 and that it be Paul moist is n cupe represent he recently resigned on Mil treasurer Over the Fos final offer selection would help to prevent strikes by Wilf Hudson special to the free press support for final offer selection by the Manitoba federation of labor the 1985 Mil after vigorous 600 delegates voted by a two Toone margin to endorse the concept and to Call for the primary reason Why the Mil supports final offer selection is because it provides another option for negotiators to Settle a Dis Pute without being forced to Call an unproductive Good Faith collective bargaining works As a Means of resolving Labo manage ment disputes Only when both Par ties negotiate in Good in some it takes the threat of a strike to Force the employer to bargain seriously in the vast majority of the parties eventually get Down to goo Faith bar gaining and a settlement is there Are All too Many of employers who Are determined from the outset to hold the line at All turn Back the or even break the there is no shortage of strikes that have been local unions that have been destroyed and work ing people who have lost their jobs because the employer attempted to drive the Union out of the present labor allows them to do it is not unknown for employers to take advantage of the situation and return collective bargaining to the Law of the final offer selection is an alternative which May be used by either of the negotiating there Are Many individual work ers who could Benefit from the Protection of Union representation but who Are afraid of the Prospect of their Union being forced out on they would Welcome the news in the final a strike is not the Only option and that there Are methods of settling Dis Putes without resort to extreme in this Bill 61 is also consistent with the present labor relations which encourages collective bargaining and the unionization of employees As a Basic human too collective bargaining energies Are wasted in fighting be tween the Union and the employer rather than seeking the common ground on which the parties will eventually sometimes it is necessary to and we strongly support the right to but sometimes a strike or lockout is wasteful and we be Lieve that final offer selection improves the Prospect for productive negotiations for both parties at the negotiating we must Point out that final offer while valuable in its own is by no Means a solution present inequities of the collective bargaining the tremendous Powers and Legal rights of management must be counterbalanced by an equivalent strength on the part of the Union if meaningful negotiations Are Ever to take balance lost in the final the ultimate source of bargaining Power Avail Able to the Union is the ability to withdraw labor and bring the operation to a if management enjoys the right to give away the jobs of workers to that balance of bargaining Power is in As the current postal dispute when working people witness the theft of their jobs by they Are inclined to protect those jobs i violence can often re hence we continue to take the position that anti Scab legislation is absolutely final offer selection is but a valuable alternative and a useful option in the collective bargaining the reason we support final offer selection Over conventional arbitration is precisely because it creates pressures on both parties to negotiate in Good unlike conventional arbitration which creates incentives for the parties to drive their demands farther final offer selection creates an incentive to come closer As it complements the collective bar gaining process and can contribute to productive negotiations which May make it unnecessary to invoke final offer selection in the Success of final offer selection May be measured by the infrequency of its we can support Bill 61 because it provides another option for Union and management negotiators in the collective bargaining but we must Point out that we support it Only in that it can Only be an option which cannot be forced on the members or their the final decision must rest with the they Are the ones who must live with the Conse it accords with the democratic practices of the Union move ment to submit All significant options to a vote of the there Are certain features of Bill 61 that we consider and essential for the Success of final offer first and As mentioned is the fact that the work Force Many decide not to use the provisions of Bill 61 and will never be forced to go the final offer selection it facilitates Continua Tion of negotiations and encourages the parties to reach a settlement before the selection safety provision it contains a safety pro vision whereby issues which Are Al ready settled and off the table Are not subject to the selection pro the Sunset clause option provides a Means of testing the effectiveness of the though we firmly believe the legis lation to be we Are protected by the Sunset clause from the Long term effects of any unforeseen we Trust that these items will remain in the we Are not afraid of final offer As experienced Union be we Trust that our Mem Bers will make a Wise and informed decision when the Issue of final offer selection Wilf Hudson is president of the Manitoba federation of thoughtless people add to pain of lifes annoying Vicissitudes by Jim Carr special to the free press last december we woke up just after Midnight to the sound of Rush ing water flowing Down the overflowing onto the by the time the City Crew had found the our front Yard was a skaters Winter turned to Spring As the ice gave Way to a Peculiar Brand of Manitoba muck and our House was a disaster area from March to any visitor bold enough to make their Way through the obstacle course which littered our landscape needed a Shower before it was after things dried up a we were left with a moonscape in front of the the Boulevard was a bumpy mess of crab and More weeds a horticulturalists Bonanza a Selec Tion of colourful growth not seen in Winnipeg since before the Prairie was trying to Cut it was reminiscent of rebuilding Dresden after the i was very there were Only two things to be done hire a student to Cut the and scream at the City we did now it is the weather the Mosquito the air Sweet with fragrance of my Boule Vard still resembling the set for a science fiction my neigh Bors have been but who knows what they say out of it is a Good thing there were no for Sale signs poking through their finely manicured ignoring the embarrassing we embarked on a Home renovation project in the Back an impressive deck was de serving comfortable we shopped carefully and decided to play it Safe by patronizing a leading department store after from them service after getting the wrong we Are still four weeks for the right i am taking the bus to work the other i innocently asked the bus Driver How Long he intended to wait at the clock Stop before his answer was Swift As Long As i feel like he spat the answer out with so much venom in his voice that 1 Felt the blood beginning to Rush to my a few Days while walking Down Portage i noticed a delivery truck parked smack in the Middle of an if the Driver had parked four feet in either no pedestrian would have been As it Long lines of people zigzagged across a Busy Street with puzzled looks and angry i didst dare ask him Why he had to Park in that precise have you Ever found yourself at the Back of a Long line waiting for service All of a the Telephone rings and the sales clerk snaps to attention leaving the breathing shoppers to Cool their heels you have battled the mine Field of Winnipeg construction zone to make a Purchase in person while someone pushing buttons from a living room cuts into the a int it have you visited a Public Wash room lately out of paper tissue strewn about the room and no soap in the its a Good thing they dont demand a Quarter to gain Entrance to the the list of examples goes on fore this is not a nostalgic longing for bygone Days when everyone smiled and when customer satisfaction was the sole preoccupation of service it probably want any better 50 years ago and it wont Likely it is tempting to argue that other countries do a bet Ter and there seems to be some evidence suggesting that Ameri More aware of lurking compe do a better Job than Canad but travellers abroad report the same frustrations As those we experience at maybe our expectations Are too maybe there Are Good reasons for the City of Winnipeg to take six months to clean up the mess they maybe the Salesman at the downtown department store got the wrong information from the manufacturer in maybe the bus Driver slept poorly that night be cause his baby had an ear it could be that the delivery truck Driver had no option but to Park in front of passing maybe the washroom attendant was sick that Day and no suitable replace ment could be it should also be said that for every Snarky or incompetent there Are two or three capable most people realize that life is hard enough without rudeness and Slothful at for those who cant manage pleasantness in their relations with the or who cant deliver on a Promise of we would All be better off if they followed a career in research or packaging plastics in a they Are Haz ardous to the health of the rest of i feel better i ;