Canadian HR Strategy

9 a good business. Take care of the people that take care of your customer that en- ables you to be successful and stay in busi- ness rather than go bankrupt." Is bigger better? e union merger in itself has been the source of most, if not all, private sector membership growth in the past two de- cades. Because of dwindling membership numbers across the private sector, unions have no choice but to acquire smaller unions or merge and join forces to com- bine resources and manpower to stay afl oat, said Mortimer. But bigger isn't always better. Of par- ticular concern is the voices of individual workers might get lost. Unifor should fi rst focus on the members who actually pay their dues, he said. "While unions have gotten larger, the overall membership numbers have con- tinued to decline. I think it provides them with economies of scale on the union side — so that their purchasing power for the members is enhanced — but I don't be- lieve it has made their product more at- tractive," said Mortimer. "I think there has been a shi for the union that is directly connected to em- ployees, where individual employees, or at least smaller groups of employees thought they had a voice. As they get larger, the actual ability for individual employees to be heard is clearly diminished. Certainly most employers are smaller than the union, so an employer is more likely to hear what employees want." ose concerns are defi nitely on Uni- for's radar. e fi rst item on the new me- ga-union's agenda is to organize forces in their own backyard to ease the transition, said Dias. "Small unions today, they just don't have the infrastructure, they really don't have the money or the clout to really play a role in the broader trade union move- ment," he said. " ey do a good job in their work- places, they do a good job representing their members at the bargaining table. But the trade union movement is much more than the individual bargaining, day-to- day taking care of members' problems — it's about a movement, about being pro- gressive. It's about having an impact on politics that negatively impact workers." As such, the union merger will become increasingly more common, said Dias. For instance, at the end of September, the USW and Telecommunications Workers Union reached a tentative merger agree- ment. Should the two unite, it would be- come the country's second largest merger this year. Fuelled by the impending labour movement transformation already under- way, private sector employers should be aware of Unifor's plan of attack that seeks to mobilize non-union workers, said Dias. "We want to engage them. Once we've got our backyard in order — which, bot- tom line, we're going to spend a lot of time on our people — then we're going to reach out, start to organize new members," he said. "We will recruit young people; peo- ple who have been at the workplace for 20 to 25 years and shouldn't be without a workplace democracy." Sabrina Nanji is a news editor with Ca- nadian Labour Reporter, a weekly publica- tion that focuses on labour relations and collective agreements. For more informa- tion, visit www.labour-reporter.com. Aligning strategy, people and performance THE FINANCIAL TIMES OPEN ENROLMENT EXECUTIVE EDUCATION RANKING 2013 416.978.8815 | learning.advisor@rotman.utoronto.ca | www.rotmanexecutive.com/hrstrategy Drive performance by aligning human resource practices through an examination of the critical intersections between strategy and human capital. Interaction with Rotman faculty, thought leaders and practitioners allows for the exploration of latest research, best practices and thinking in areas such as business and human resource strategy, leadership development, talent management and succession planning. ROTMAN'S STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO APPLY: TORONTO, ONTARIO JANUARY 13 –17, 2014 Ranked #1 globally by the FINANCIAL TIMES for faculty and new skills & learning. Untitled-3 1 13-10-09 9:56 AM

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