T or F? A non-union employee might file a complaint with the appropriate labour
relations board, and the Board might order the employer to reinstate the employee. -
ANSWERSFalse: the non-union employees can sue the employer in the court of law
and the court of law in most jurisdictions does not have the power to force the employer
to give the employee the job back.
T or F? A collective agreement provides that any work done on a Sunday will be paid at
the overtime rate. A union might be required to waive this term of the agreement to
meet its obligations under human rights legislation. That is, the union might be required
to agree to an employee working on Sunday and not be paid overtime if the employee
cannot work on Saturday because of his or her religious belief. - ANSWERSTrue, due to
the duty to accommodate
T or F? Some employers attempt to avoid unionization by paying non-union employees
wages that are equivalent to the wages of unionized employees. - ANSWERSTrue: to
threaten the effect of the union
T or F? A government may pass back-to-work legislation ordering an end to a strike in
the public sector; however, strikes in the private sector cannot be ended by back-to-
work legislation. - ANSWERSFalse: the government can ask the private sector
employees to also go back to work in the name of public inconvenience.
T or F? Over the past 30 years the percentage of employees who are represented by
Unions has dramatically declined in both Canada and the US. - ANSWERSFalse: the
percentage of union members has drastically declined in the US but not that much in
Canada
T or F? When a union attempts to organize employees, there is always a vote held to
determine if the employees wish to be represented by a union. - ANSWERSFalse: it
depends on jurisdiction, for example in Alberta there is a need for representation vote.
T or F? Collective agreements can provide that employees are required to become
union members. Accordingly, an employer could be forced to terminate an employee
who refused to join the union. - ANSWERSTrue: under the concept of union shop, the
employer can hire anyone but upon joining the employee has to become a union
member or else relinquish the job. The U of M follows the union shop philosophy
(student workers and for sessional employee)
T of F? When an employee takes a complaint to his or her union— for example, the
employee alleges termination without cause— the union is required to pursue the matter
with the employer. - ANSWERSFalse: the ownership of the grievance lies with the
union, not the employee.
, T or F? In the course of negotiation of a collective agreement, the employer may be
required to reveal information to the union even though the union has not requested it. -
ANSWERSTrue: known as the duty of bargaining in good faith
T or F? When a vote is held to authorize a strike, all employees in the group that would
be on strike are entitled to vote. That is, both union members and employees who are
not union members are entitled to vote. - ANSWERSTrue: as long as the job of all
employees are being impacted they are all entitled to vote
T or F? Some public sector employees have the right to strike, provided essential
services are maintained for the public by having some employees continue to work. -
ANSWERSTrue: maximum number of union members in Canada work for the public
sector.
T or F: unions reduce profitability and productivity - ANSWERSFalse: it is known that
unionized firms are less profitable than non-unionized firms, but that does not mean the
cause of low profitability are the unions. In fact, the responsibility of making profit
belongs to management. Maybe the management is weak, that is why they are unable
to make a profit. After all, they succumbed to being unionized whereas other aggressive
managements like those of Amazon, Walmart, McDonald's never allow unions to be
formed (Apple, Facebook, Google)
Industrial relations - ANSWERSthe study of unionized and non-unionized organizations,
employee relationships
Labour relations - ANSWERSa sub part of industrial relations, deals with unions, and
management of the unionized employees
Legal basis of the relationship- No union - ANSWERSindividual contract of employment
Legal basis of the relationship- Union - ANSWERSCollective agreement
Terms of employment negotiated by- No union - ANSWERSIndividual employees
Terms of employment negotiated by- Union - ANSWERSUnion
Dismissal of employee no cause- No union - ANSWERSCan be done only a notice
period has to be followed or money equivalent to notice period needs to be paid to an
employee
Dismissal of employee no cause- Union - ANSWERSWill very highly likely turn into a
grievance which will go all the way to the arbitrator and will result in reinstatement of the
employee