Chapter 7: Conclusions

There are some obvious conclusions which can be taken from this study. First, the federal private sector under Part I of the Canada Labour Code does, in relative terms, contribute in a significant manner to the person days not worked in Canada due to work stoppages. A closer analysis of the data pertaining to the federal private sector reveals that a sizeable amount of the person days lost to work stoppages has occurred in the telecommunications sector, where deregulation and competitive forces have resulted in substantial restructuring through mergers and acquisitions. In turn, this reorganization within the industry has given rise to protracted and difficult labour negotiations dealing with critical issues such as job security and seniority.

Second, the optimal policy initiative that can be undertaken at this time to reduce the risk, frequency and duration of work stoppages is investment in measures that will provide wholesale improvement in the labour-management relationships across the federal private sector. Improving relationships will ameliorate the nature of the interactions between the stakeholders. This will result in more collaborative workplace relations and collective bargaining leading to the conviction that work stoppages are not inevitable and the commitment to find solutions to conflicts.

Two consensus options to improve relationships have been identified by the stakeholders. The first, at the level of providing leadership to the sector, is to establish a Council consisting of the stakeholders and the FMCS, along with support from other Labour Program areas, such as analytical and data support from the Research and Data Development Division of Strategic Policy, Analysis and Workplace Information Directorate. The second option is to greatly expand the Preventive Mediation Program of the FMCS - to make more available and widely used across the sector its workshops on grievance mediations joint work councils, managing organizational change, running common interest forums and other joint services that have demonstrated success in improving relationships and developing collaborative workplaces.

Much work needs to be done to provide form and substance to the consensus options described in Chapter 6 with respect to the creation of a Federal Labour-Management Relations Council and the expansion of the FMCS preventive mediation services. This study has attempted to provide some guidance as to the potential of these options to achieve results if strongly backed by all parties and implemented with enthusiasm and commitment. If the stakeholders are supported in these initiatives, there is every reason to be confident that they will be able to carry out a wholesale improvement of relationships in the sector. These should reduce work stoppages and provide other outcomes to enhance the ability of management and labour to adjust and thrive in an increasingly global workplace.

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Date Modified:
2012-01-19