Canadian HR Strategy

4 Executive Series Digest hrreporter.com ADVERTISING INDEX Brock University www.brocku.ca/education/ futurestudents/adulted ............. 18 Canadian Payroll Association www.payroll.ca ........................... 29 Directors College www.thedirectorscollege.com .....5 DLGL Ltd www.dlgl.com ........................... 32 Industrial Relations Centre-Queen's University irc.queensu.ca ...............................2 Joseph L. Rotman School of Management www.rotmanexecutive.com/ hrstrategy ......................................9 O C Tanner www.octanner.ca ....................... 11 Osgoode Professional Development www.osgoodepd.ca ................... 19 Strategic Capability Network www.scnetwork.ca .................... 30 EDITORS NOTES TODD HUMBER UNIFOR TRIES TO TURN TIDE ON UNIONIZATION T here's been a sea-change in the labour relations world that means you just might fi nd a union knocking on the workplace door. e marriage between the Cana- dian Auto Workers (CAW) and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers (CEP) unions is on the cover because it will be one of the biggest work- place stories in the coming months and years. e unionization rate has been slowly eroding for the last three decades, settling in at 29.6 per cent in 2010. But that number stopped sliding in 2011, according to Statistics Canada, actually ticking up slightly to 29.7 per cent. Unions are beginning to respond to the decades- long decline like a CFO responds to red ink — they're taking decisive action and have discov- ered the benefi ts of mergers and acquisitions. So the bleeding has stopped and Unifor — a behemoth with 300,000 members — is saying all the right things to cauterize the wound. For years, unions have been on the losing side of a PR war. Non-unionized workers, buf- feted by the winds of a brutal economy, eyed them jealously. Right-wing governments and leaders have risen in recent years, o en on promises to gut public sector unions. e stereotype perpetuated: Union work- ers are lazy and overpaid with lavish ben- efi ts and gold-plated pensions. And since so many union workers are in the public sec- tor, there was animosity to spare, with plenty of griping from non-unioized workers who were struggling to make ends meet — and having to foot the bill for workers retiring before age 60 with full pensions. But the rhetoric coming from Unifor has changed and the language it's using can win the public relations war — and don't underesti- mate the importance of that battle. Unifor isn't talking about protecting un- skilled workers in manufacturing jobs earning $35 per hour. ey'll still aggressively do that, of course, but they've put the spotlight on sym- pathetic workers: Low-wage earners in precarious positions. Earlier this year, in the Unit- ed States, a movement spread among fast-food workers who wanted to see their wages rise to $15 per hour (all fi gures US), up from the current minimum wage of $7.25. A worker put- ting in a 40-hour workweek would see annual compensa- tion jump from $15,000 per year to $31,200. Workers in about 60 cities went on a one- day strike to demand a "living wage." It's not hard to imagine that movement spreading north. e unemployment rate among youth remains stubbornly high and many graduates have been forced to take jobs in the service sector. "McJobs" once helped teenagers save for college and university, but now many people in these roles are mak- ing careers of them while trying to support families. With limited options for youth and un- skilled workers, it's not hard to imagine Uni- for enjoying success in organizing vulnerable workers. And the bigger the group gets, the more likely it is to knock on your door. We called the story "Union's last stand" (see page 6). at may be overstating the situation a bit but it's a big off ensive from a movement that, a er three decades of taking punch a er punch, has reset and is ready to come out fi ghting. UNIONS ARE BEGINNING TO RESPOND TO THE DECADES-LONG DECLINE LIKE A CFO RESPONDS TO RED INK – THEY'RE TAKING DECISIVE ACTION.

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