Readers' Corner - Unions and Collective Bargaining in Canada

Julia McIntosh
HRSDC / Service Canada Library
Source: Workplace Bulletin, June30, 2009

Unions and Collective Bargaining in Canada

Black, Errol, and Jim Silver
Building a Better World: An Introduction to Trade Unionism in Canada
Black Point, N.S.: Fernwood Publishing, 2008
HD 6524 B53 2008

The authors discuss how unions are structured, their politics, how they work, what they have achieved, their roots and how they have developed. Also examined are factors such as rapid economic and technological change, which have emerged in Canada, changing the momentum of unions and weakening them within our economy and society. The authors look at the effects of globalization, education, mobilization and democratization, as well as the challenges of building inclusive and representative unions. In the decades to come, there will be many challenges to be faced, not the least of which will be stepping beyond the notion of unions being "relics of an earlier age."

Canadian Master Labour Guide: A Guide to Canadian Labour Law
Don Mills: CCH Canadian Limited, 2009
HD 7837 C3504 2009

An extremely useful guide to Canadian labour law, this reference tool is updated annually. It is divided into the following six sections:

• Labour Jurisdictions – legislative powers
• Labour Standards – material such as hours of work, minimum wages, and termination
• Fair Employment Practices – human rights, equal pay, employment equity
• Organized Labour – legal issues affecting the status and operations of trade unions, such as governance and security
• Collective Bargaining – federal and provincial labour codes and acts
• Special Issues – employment insurance and occupational health and safety

There is also a table of cases and a comprehensive index.

Gunderson, Morley, and Daphne G. Taras
Canadian Labour and Employment Relations
Toronto: Pearson Addison Wesley, 2009
HD 8106.5 A54 2009

This is a new edition of Union-Management Relations in Canada. It covers political, social, and economic influences on labour and employment in Canada, as well as global pressures—competition, free trade issues, deregulation, privatization, labour market adjustment, and industrial restructuring. In addition, effects of environmental, monetary, and resource issues are discussed, as they affect long-term labour planning. Changes in the legal environment are also examined. An example is the Supreme Court decision that collective bargaining is a fundamental right, protected by freedom of association guarantees in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Public-sector collective bargaining is discussed in Chapter 15.

Morton, Desmond
Working People: An Illustrated History of the Canadian Labour Movement
Montréal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2007
HD 8106 M88 2007

The trade union movement in Canada has a long and interesting history. In this book, Morton chronicles the development of the labour movement in Canada, from as far back as 1812 on the docks of Halifax and Saint John, to the Winnipeg General Strike in 1919, and more recently, to the attempts to unionize Walmart in Gatineau, Quebec, in 2008. Throughout, the author shows the struggles of many men and women to achieve security, dignity, and influence in our society. The illustrations bring the conditions of the time to life and put faces to the names of the major players through the years.