In few other areas is public discourse so emotionally charged. Utilizing a variety of writers, the book explores topics like the role of strikes, win-win bargaining, building trust in the workplace, and new priorities for unions. While some aspects of collective activity are critiqued, this is not union-bashing book. Ray Pennings, a staff member of the Christian Labour Association of Canada, a union that seeks to operate by biblical standards, contends that collective bargaining works better than we think it does. The fact that 97 per cent of collective agreements are voluntarily settled shows that the system works, although media attention on work stoppages skews public perception.
Several writers call for new patterns of engagement.
This is not easy to achieve, for as Graham Tucker points out, labor law tends to be based on an adversarial premise. But efforts need to be made for the good of all the stakeholders in the marketplace. The very essence of productivity is cooperative community and the creativity of teamwork. As the various writers show convincingly, labor-management relations are another area crying for the saline solution of Christian presence. With clarity, charity and penetrating insight she shows how the love of God can transform life in the office, board room or factory floor.