L’impact des lois spéciales sur la participation à la vie syndicale locale et le climat des relations industrielles

Historically, the adoption of special laws imposing a return to work in services were only utilized when deemed essential. Governments applied these special laws as a last resort to protect the health and safety of citizens. In recent years, we have seen more frequent use of these special laws forcing people to return to work. This upturn is seen in both the private sector and occupations deemed essential to economic vitality. The adoption of these laws undermines the freedom to bargain under the clause 2d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The use of such laws bypasses current provisions governing the industrial relations system, remodoling parties’ expectations in collective bargaining. For union organizations, this trend is worrying since the negotiation process is central to their mission and of particular importance (Fontaine, 2008). It is therefore relevant to assess the impact of these laws on union organizations. Our research examines the impacts of the adoption of special laws on union participation, including, the participation of members and the participation in the administration of the union, and the industrial relations climate. The objective is also to record recent data on Quebec workers working under both provincial and federal jurisdiction. We studied five cases from various sectors: International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) Lodge 1751, working within Air Canada; Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), representing members from Canada Post; the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE), defending the interests of the teaching staff in the Quebec public sector; the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), representing members in the health sector; and the FTQ-Construction, representing construction workers. The IAMAW and CUPW are covered under federal jurisdiction, while the other three unions are of provincial jurisdiction. Two unions represent members within private companies (IAMAW and FTQ-Construction), two unions represent members within the public and parapublic sectors (FAE and FIQ) and one union represents members within a Crown Corporation (CUPW). This variety provides for a better appreciation of the influence of government ideology in the development and adoption of these special laws.vi We first conducted a literature review of the special laws and the five unions involved in the study. We then conducted 13 interviews with union advisors and elected members of these unions. The semi-structured interviews varied between 1h and 1h50 in duration. A full qualitative analysis of the results was then performed. The results showed that the adoption of special laws negatively affected members' union participation in three of the five unions. Participation in IAMAW and CUPW unions has been severely affected by special laws, while participation in the FIQ has partially decreased. This can be explained by the dissatisfaction as a result of the imposition of new working conditions, mainly wage conditions. This is consistent with the rational choice theory, where the participation of a member depends on the direct benefits the union can provide. In contrast, the participation of FAE members has not been affected by the special law and has even increased as a result. This reaction is explained by the interactionist theory, which states that the member will be involved if the values and actions of the union are consistent with the member's beliefs (Klandermans, 1986). Lastly, the participation of FTQ-Construction members has not been modified in any way as a result of the special law. In this case the special law was not perceived as a failure, but rather as a suspension of negotiations, explaining the lack of alteration in member participation. The wage increases decreed by the special law also explain these results. Participation in the administration of the union was negatively affected in only one union, the CUPW. The interview participants from CUPW identified the willingness of members to participate in the administration of the union was in decline prior to the special law.. The special law stepped up the decline. For the other unions, the special laws did not present as a negative impact to member participation in union administration. Within the IAMAW and the FIQ, external factors, excluding the special law, explain the variations in the willingness of members to become involved as a delegate or on a committee. Further, it appears that the special law had no impact on members in FTQ-Construction as it was perceived to be a suspension of negotiation. Lastly, the participants at the FAE report having witnessed increases in the willingness of members to get involved as a delegate or on a committee. They explain this increase by the enthusiasm aroused by the creation of the new federation.vii The results related to the industrial relations climate showed only one indicator has negatively affected four of the unions (IAMAW, CUPW, FAE and FIQ), namely the perception of fairness of the collective agreement and working conditions. The adoption of special laws had no impact on other indicators. Following the analysis of our results, we concluded that the adoption of special laws does not directly affect the climate of industrial relations. It is quite the opposite, an already deteriorated industrial relations climate would justify the government’s intervention by special law. The special law is therefore a consequence of a broader climate context, not a trigger. Moreover, our results show that it is the union-member relationship that would more likely be affected (IAMAW, CUPW, FAE and FIQ). The results for FTQ-Construction on this variable are different. This is due in part to members who do not view their new working conditions as unfair and are thus not blaming their union.

Keyphrases: participation syndicale locale, Québec, Canada, Special laws, Back-to-work legislation, Local union participation, Industrial relation climate