ror.org/01y3xgc52
Abstracts
Summary
Governments in Canada are increasingly using multiple tools to advance their political agenda at the expense of free collective bargaining in the public sector. Legislative intervention has long been a strategy to curtail bargaining rights (Evans et al., 2023). Recently, governments have turned to non-legislative means to influence bargaining outcomes. This article is about the use of a coordination office, a decidedly non-legislative tactic, and how, over two rounds of negotiations, it transformed public-sector bargaining in Alberta. Bargaining has been further transformed by enactment of a legal requirement to keep the government’s mandates secret, the outcome being increased frustration among union representatives and potential damage to long-term relationships. Together, these measures have provided the government with a powerful means of influence, which, if successful, could spread to other jurisdictions.
Keywords:
- public-sector collective bargaining,
- government intervention,
- permanent exceptionalism
Résumé
Au Canada, les gouvernements ont de plus en plus recours à de multiples outils pour faire avancer leur agenda politique au détriment de la libre négociation collective dans le secteur public. L'intervention législative est depuis longtemps une stratégie visant à restreindre les droits de négociation (Evans et al., 2023). Récemment, les gouvernements se sont tournés vers des moyens non législatifs pour influencer les résultats des négociations. Cet article traite de l'utilisation d'un bureau de coordination, une tactique résolument non législative, et de la manière dont, au cours de deux rondes de négociations, le bureau a transformé les rapports collectifs dans le secteur public en Alberta. La négociation a également été influencée par l'adoption d'une obligation légale de garder secrets les mandats gouvernementaux, ce qui a eu pour effet d'accroître la frustration des représentants syndicaux et de nuire aux relations à long terme. Ensemble, ces mesures ont fourni au gouvernement un puissant moyen d'influence qui, en cas de réussite, pourrait s'étendre à d'autres juridictions.
Appendices
Appendices
References
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