Deck 11: Strikes and Lockouts

Question 1

All but which one of the following general statements about strikes is true?

A)The pattern by industry,jurisdiction,and public vs.private- sector status has been changing.
B)They are the major source of lost working time in the Canadian economy.
C)They may have positive effects.
D)Their frequency tends to be greatest at high points in the business cycle.
E)Different types of strikes tend to have different causes.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The most important element in determining the legality of a strike or lockout is

A)notification of failure to reach a settlement to the Minister of Labour.
B)timeliness.
C)failure of voluntary mediation.
D)majority vote by union members.
E)failure of compulsory conciliation.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The joint- cost perspective treats strikes and lockouts as

A)an alternative to,rather than a complement of the Asymmetrical Information Model.
B)interchangeable with other dispute resolution methods.
C)two distinct methods of resolving disputes.
D)the only to resolve disputes between management and unions.
E)one way among many of resolving disputes.

Answer 3

E

Question 4

What best explains why the number of working- days lost and percentage of working- time lost due to strikes did not occur in the same year?

A)low unemployment in the earlier years
B)the fact that the work force was much larger in the later years
C)more liberal strike laws in the later years
D)unionization of the public sector
E)high inflation

Question 5

Which of the following statements about conciliation comes closest to being true?

A)it's basically like fact- finding
B)the process hasn't changed much over the years
C)it's becoming much more like mediation
D)in practice,it normally involves two stages
E)there's a strong policy rationale for it

Question 6

How does final offer arbitration FOA)offer a way around some of the difficulties of conventional arbitration?

A)It creates a very severe disincentive to unreasonable behaviour,and thus increases the likelihood of settlement.
B)It always uses a single arbitrator,whereas conventional arbitration normally uses a three- person panel.
C)It is always conducted in a warm room,and therefore the "chilling" effect cannot occur.
D)It increases the range of options available to the arbitrator.
E)It gives the parties a warm and cozy feeling that increases the likelihood of settlement.

Question 7

If most strikes are mistakes,then we can assume that

A)most constituents have unrealistic expectations of the bargaining process.
B)most negotiators are ill- equipped for the job.
C)smaller,simpler bargaining structures could eliminate most strikes.
D)dispute resolution methods such as conciliation and mediation could prevent or at least reduce the length of most strikes.
E)this is simply the human condition,and all we can do is throw up our hands in despair.

Question 8

All but which one of the following actions have been deemed strikes?

A)unions' refusal to cross picket lines
B)a union's refusal to handle work that was the subject of a legal lockout between a different employer and a sister local
C)union- imposed overtime bans
D)a postal union's threat to order its members to stop verifying postage on letters
E)transit workers' union's order to its members to wear "civilian" clothing on the job

Question 9

All but one of the following must have occurred before a legal strike or lockout can take place

A)serious bargaining
B)binding arbitration
C)conciliation
D)the expiration of a length of time following the failure of conciliation
E)an impasse after serious bargaining

Question 10

Which of the following is not a possible deleterious consequence of a labour dispute?

A)loss of customers
B)release of workers' pent- up frustration
C)loss of market share
D)bitterness within unions
E)bitterness between unions and management

Question 11

In which of the following disputes was final offer arbitration FOA)eventually used?

A)National Gallery
B)Falconbridge
C)Nova Scotia nurses' union
D)CFB Goose Bay
E)none of the above

Question 12

Grievances and publicity campaigns are often the result where

A)management and unions communicate poorly.
B)arbitration is usually in the union's favour.
C)public support is behind the union.
D)laws prohibit strikes.
E)there is a weak strike mandate from the union members.

Question 13

Which of the following best explains why provincial governments are tending to move away from arbitration except in disputes involving clearly essential workers?

A)Arbitrators' awards will be excessively costly.
B)Most provincial government officials have long believed that their employees should have the right to strike.
C)There is confusion as to the real meaning of the so- called "narcotic effect" of conventional arbitration.
D)Arbitrators take too long to resolve cases.
E)Governments believe they have little say in the arbitration process.

Question 14

Comparing strike intensity in Canada against other countries is difficult because of all but which one of the following?

A)inclusion in some countries of workers disrupted by yet not directly involved in a work stoppage
B)exclusion of work stoppages staged for political purposes by some countries
C)differences in threshold of person- days lost
D)exclusion of certain industries from statistics in some countries
E)Canada's work stoppage statistics don't include lockouts.

Question 15

Restrictions on the right to strike of public sector workers are usually justified by

A)classification of most public services as essential.
B)economic fallout in the private sector due to the suspension of public regulatory activity.
C)recognition that the government is the country's most significant employer.
D)risk of significant harm to the public.
E)political capital gained from restricting the strength of public sector unions.

Question 16

The joint- cost perspective believes strikes will be avoided where

A)the cost of resolving the dispute through a work stoppage is higher than the alternatives.
B)both sides share the cost of an arbitrator.
C)there is no difference in the costs of the dispute resolution alternatives.
D)the cost of resolving the dispute through a work stoppage is lower than the alternatives.
E)the cost to one party of resolving the dispute through a work stoppage is higher than to the other party.

Question 17

The number of working- days lost to strikes was highest in which of the following years?

A)1919
B)1946
C)1976
D)2001
E)1966

Question 18

For the purposes of this course,a lockout is

A)a joint union- management protest over government policy.
B)the temporary closing of a business by a court order.
C)what happens when employees refuse to continue working.
D)what results when management refuses to allow employees to continue working.
E)what happens when management forgets their keys.

Question 19

Asymmetry of information generally refers to

A)the irregular arrangement of papers on the bargaining table.
B)management's possession of more complete financial information than the union.
C)the lack of adequate public information about most businesses.
D)one side's superior preparation.
E)one side's possession of better eyeglasses.

Question 20

In Godard's view,all but which one of the following can help determine whether a particular situation will lead to a strike?

A)the union's strike power
B)union leaders' ability to mobilize members' discontent
C)management's willingness and ability to "buy off" discontent
D)the type of conciliation legislation in place
E)the availability of other means of expressing discontent i.e.,quitting)

Question 21

How does the Asymmetrical Information Model help explain the causes of strikes?

Question 22

The tendency of conciliation boards to interfere with the parties' intentions is known as

A)the "killing effect."
B)the "involuntariness effect."
C)the "interventionist effect."
D)the "conciliation effect."
E)the "chilling effect."

Question 23

Why is compulsory arbitration used mostly for certain groups in the public sector.

Question 24

Why are public sector strikes normally a good deal shorter,on average,than private sector ones?

Question 25

In what ways are public sector strikes more tightly restricted than strikes in the private sector?

Question 26

What's the difference between conventional interest arbitration and final offer arbitration FOA)?

Question 27

In which of the following strikes did management take a very hard line against the union?

A)CFB Goose Bay
B)Nova Scotia nurses' union
C)National Gallery
D)Falconbridge
E)all of the above

Question 28

Why did strike frequency fall off sharply in 1982?

Question 29

The percentage of working- time lost due to strikes was highest in which of the following years?

A)1943
B)1997
C)1946
D)1976
E)1975

Question 30

For the purposes of this course,a strike is

A)getting all 10 pins in bowling.
B)what results when management refuses to allow employees to continue working.
C)a successful attempt to discover gold.
D)swinging at a baseball and missing.
E)what happens when employees refuse to continue working.

Question 31

In most years,what percentage of Canadian agreements are negotiated without a work stoppage?

A)more than 90
B)around 90
C)between 80 and 90
D)between 60 and 70
E)around 50

Question 32

What were the major issues in the 2001 Nova Scotia nurses' dispute?

Question 33

What accounts for mediation's growing popularity,both within the IR system and outside of it?

Question 34

What are the two most common criticisms of conventional interest arbitration,and does FOA appear to offer a way around such criticisms?

Question 35

What are some of the positive functions that may be served by strikes?

Question 36

Why can public sector unions,denied the right to strike,still be regarded as engaging in strike activity?

Question 37

What is the determining factor in whether an employer suspending work is a lockout and why is it different than the rules determining strikes?

Question 38

What factors influence the collective discontent of workers into to expressing that discontent through strike actions?

Question 39

What are the four factors which must be taken into account before we can meaningfully compare relative strike intensity in two or more different jurisdictions or industries?

Question 40

What are some recent trends in Canadian dispute resolution methods?

Question 41

The Falconbridge strike was as much about management disrespect of union members as it was about wage issues.

Question 42

Why was the average duration of strikes in 1976 unusually low,despite the large number of person- days lost to strikes that year?

Question 43

Other things equal,the proportion of working- time lost to strikes should be significantly lower in the public than in the private sector.

Question 44

Strikes serve a cathartic function for workers.

Question 45

Canadian governments are reluctant to use legislation to order public sector workers back to work

Question 46

Conciliation boards remain an important part of most Canadian jurisdictions' dispute resolution arsenals.

Question 47

What is the rationale for the tighter restriction of public sector strikes? Is this rationale consistently applied across Canadian jurisdictions?

Question 48

Years where large numbers of person- days are lost to strikes are normally years of good economic times.

Question 49

Private sector work stoppages generally cause more public inconvenience than public sector ones.

Question 50

Strike activity has significantly increased since the mid- 1970s.

Question 51

A work stoppage by one worker can be considered a strike if all other conditions are met.

Question 52

Canadian strike restrictions are similar in the public and private sectors.

Question 53

Strike activity isn't very closely regulated in most Canadian labour acts.

Question 54

Why does an earlier prediction that the 1990s would mark the end of a 35- year wave of strike activity appear to be premature?

Question 55

Briefly list some pros and cons of compulsory conciliation.

Question 56

It is not clear that the asymmetric information perspective is of much explanatory value,given modern computer technology.

Question 57

A university faculty association's instruction to its members not to mark final exams would probably be construed as a strike.

Question 58

The media's emphasis on and coverage of strikes tend to give people a distorted impression of what IR is all about.

Question 59

John Godard believes that collective agreements help substantially alter the subordinate position of workers in the employment relationship.

Question 60

Public sector unions that are not allowed to strike may still engage in what would be considered strike actions.

Question 61

Why,despite the impressive array of innovative dispute resolution methods described in Chapter 12,does Canada's strike record continue to be relatively bad by international standards?

Question 62

How does the use of final- offer selection arbitration deal with some of the criticisms of conventional arbitration?

Question 63

Why are many strikes ostensibly over wages even though,if you asked most workers,they would say that there were many problems of greater concern to them than monetary ones?

Question 64

Why was 1946 a year of such high strike intensity?

Question 65

When is a strike not a strike?

Question 66

Discuss Goddard's distinction between mistake- based strikes and strike as as collective voice.Why is this distinction necessary and how does it fit in with the other models of strike causation?