Deck 8: Labour Relations and Collective Bargaining in the Public Sector

Question 1

During the 1980s,the attack on public sector unions went farthest in which of the following provinces?

A)Quebec
B)Alberta
C)Saskatchewan
D)B)C.
E)Ontario

Answer 1

D

Question 2

All but which one of the following constitutes a significant difference between public and private sector unionists?

A)the latter are generally more poorly educated
B)many more of the latter are male
C)many more of the former are professionals
D)the former have higher expectations of the bargaining process
E)the former are less interested in pay and benefits

Answer 2

E

Question 3

Which region was hardest hit by the cut in federal transfer payments?

A)North
B)Atlantic
C)The Prairies
D)West Coast
E)Central Ontario

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Which of the following provinces saw a genuine public sector social contract arrived at through collective bargaining?

A)B)C.
B)Manitoba
C)Quebec
D)Alberta
E)Ontario

Question 5

A particularly serious problem with conventional interest arbitration,used regularly,is that

A)the union can lose its ability to maintain an effective picket line.
B)awards can be difficult to administer.
C)the parties can lose their ability to negotiate their own agreements.
D)it's hard to find a good arbitrator.
E)it costs too much.

Question 6

All but which one of the following issues is not considered bargainable under the PSSRA?

A)pensions
B)technological change
C)criteria for promotions
D)criteria for appointments
E)salaries

Question 7

The new union members who signed up as a result of the PSSRA and other public sector legislation differed from their private sector counterparts in all but which one of the following ways?

A)they were more apt to go on strike
B)many more were women
C)they were more concerned with intrinsic issues of job satisfaction
D)many more were white- collar or professional
E)they were less apt to file grievances

Question 8

All but which one of the following factors caused federal government employees to question the value of association- consultation and to try to join conventional unions?

A)a general climate of questioning of authority and social change
B)the NJC's lack of any real power
C)an unsympathetic Liberal government under Lester Pearson
D)the lack of wage increases
E)the growth of government departments into large,impersonal bureaucracies

Question 9

The most serious problem facing labour relations in the public sector in the 21st Century is

A)underfunding and downloading of community services.
B)increasing designation of public sector workers as essential.
C)there are no serious problems anymore.
D)restriction of non- strike protest methods such as work- to- rule campaigns.
E)increasing use of Back- to- Work legislation.

Question 10

The action that most directly precipitated the federal public service strike of 1991 was

A)Brian Mulroney's announcement that he would seek a third term.
B)a PSSRB finding that the government had bargained in bad faith.
C)the launch of "PS 2000."
D)a February,1991 pay freeze.
E)a conciliation board's recommendation of a 6% salary increase for PSAC's administrative group.

Question 11

The most long- term effect of Bob Rae's social contract was which of the following?

A)three- year wage freeze
B)weakening of the relationship between labour and the NDP in Ontario
C)imposition of unpaid leave days
D)bitter division between NDP members of government
E)destruction of the relationship between labour and the NDP in Ontario

Question 12

Across Canada,governments have confronted public sector workers with all but which of the following over the past few years?

A)wage rollbacks
B)decertification of public sector unions
C)hospital and school closures
D)suspension of collective bargaining
E)downsizing

Question 13

Canadian jurisdictions' public sector legislation differs significantly,from jurisdiction to jurisdiction,with respect to all but which one of the following?

A)municipal workers' strike rights
B)how bargaining units are determined
C)which group is covered by which act
D)dispute resolution methods
E)scope of bargainable issues

Question 14

The most important concern aggravating the situation of public sector bargaining is which one of the following?

A)the government has banned all public service strikes
B)the continuation of cutbacks and bargaining restructuring within the public sector
C)the aging of the workforce
D)the change from government deficit to surpluses
E)heavier workloads being assumed by workers as governments fail to replace downsized workers

Question 15

The major reason why private sector workers normally receive collective bargaining rights sooner than public sector workers is that

A)it is difficult and costly for unions to organize public sector workers.
B)public sector workers are less militant.
C)public sector workers are so well- paid that they have no desire to join unions.
D)there is opposition from private sector unions.
E)public sector bargaining raises more complex issues which most countries don't want to tackle until they have some experience with private sector bargaining.

Question 16

Wherein lies the irony of Jean Lesage's pronouncement,"The Queen does not negotiate with her subjects"?

A)Within a year after making the statement,he was doing just that-well in advance of most other provincial premiers.
B)The statement originally appeared in Alice in Wonderland,a book he confessed to never having read.
C)Many of his Quebec constituents would have been surprised to hear themselves referred to as the Queen's subjects.
D)Most queens negotiate with their subjects quite regularly as a matter of course.
E)Lesage was neither female nor Queen.

Question 17

All but which one of the following are mentioned in the book as sources of frustration for public sector managers?

A)unreasonable union demands
B)elected officials' lack of IR and administrative experience
C)complex intraorganizational bargaining before serious bargaining with the union can even begin
D)the fact that they may be forced to administer a government- imposed solution which they had no hand in shaping
E)elected officials' interference in the bargaining process

Question 18

The most serious impediment to the use of Choice of Procedures is

A)Public Service Alliance forbidding local bargaining units from choosing COP.
B)public sector unions preference for strikes.
C)growing union militancy.
D)federal government suspension of COP as an option.
E)arbitrators increasingly exceeding their jurisdiction.

Question 19

Since 1991,the number of Canadian workers employed in public administration has

A)increased by about 25%.
B)decreased by about 10%.
C)decreased by about 25%.
D)stayed just about the same.
E)increased by about 10%.

Question 20

For which of the following groups is there the strongest policy rationale for eliminating the right to strike?

A)municipal government employees
B)health care workers
C)firefighters
D)provincial government employees
E)teachers

Question 21

Although final offer arbitration FOA)offers a way around several of the difficulties of conventional interest arbitration,a serious difficulty with this approach is that

A)it can only be done on a "package" basis.
B)arbitrators dislike it,because it's quicker and their fees are lower.
C)the rate of negotiated settlements is low.
D)it can foster a damaging "win- lose" mentality.
E)it is often used in the U.S.

Question 22

Compare the costs of disagreements in the public sector with the cost of disagreements in the private sector.

Question 23

How did the early public sector employee associations differ from conventional trade unions?

Question 24

What's the single most important employer difference between public and private sector bargaining?

Question 25

Why is the aging of the public sector workforce an aggravating factor in continuing Labour- Management friction?

Question 26

Which of the following was not a contributing factor to the rapid growth of public service unions under the PSSRA?

A)provincial governments proceeding with their own similar legislation
B)rapid certification due to employer acceptance of unionization
C)joining of members en masse
D)employee acceptance of unionization,eliminating the need for extensive membership drives
E)designation of many services as non- essential

Question 27

What are the major justifications for different generally more restrictive)dispute resolution methods in the public sector?

Question 28

In what ways did public sector unions express their growing dissatisfaction with government policies after 1975?

Question 29

Why might some people say that federal public service unions actually "won" their 1991 strike against the government,even though the government legislated them back to work with a pay freeze?

Question 30

The public sector foremost importance to IR is which of the following reasons?

A)the difficulty of finding a substitute for many of the services it performs
B)the large share of the country's work force it employs
C)the inordinately high salaries most public sector workers receive
D)the essential nature of many of the services it performs
E)the large share of the country's union members who work in this sector

Question 31

Was the 23- year lag between the granting of public and private sector bargaining rights in Canada abnormal,from an international perspective?

Question 32

The most serious problem with administering controlled strikes is

A)arranging for an arbitrator to make last- minute decisions.
B)knowing how many employees to designate as essential.
C)keeping the facility open when people are picketing outside.
D)keeping the dispute from getting out of control.
E)keeping the public informed as to what's going on.

Question 33

How has B.C.attempted to get around the problem of "phantom bargaining" in its public sector?

Question 34

Why are public sector unions such an important part of the Canadian labour movement?

Question 35

How do restrictions on the scope of public sector bargaining hinder the bargaining process?

Question 36

What's the most serious problem governments face in administering controlled public sector strikes?

Question 37

How did the PSSRA set in motion a broader wave of public sector unionization?

Question 38

The federal government's response to a second wave of inflation in 1982 did not include which of the following?

A)unilateral extension of public service contracts
B)elimination of interest arbitration in public sector disputes
C)elimination of public sector non- monetary negotiations
D)elimination of the right to strike for public sector workers
E)unilateral extension of private sector contracts.contracts

Question 39

What is the most serious problem facing public sector labour relations today? Why?

Question 40

What's probably the major reason for the recent increase in public sector unions' publicity campaigns?

A)increases in unions' budgets
B)decline in the level of their political involvement
C)lower rates for billboards due to the economic slowdown
D)increased public sector strike levels
E)decline in their ability to achieve change through collective bargaining

Question 41

Governments and public sector managers did not pose the only barriers to public sector unionization.

Question 42

The lack of an economic "bottom line" generally makes for less constructive collective bargaining and fewer integrative "win- win" solutions to problems in the public sector.

Question 43

Why do Canadian governments and policy- makers appear to prefer conventional interest arbitration over final offer arbitration FOA),even though the latter has been shown to result in higher rates of freely negotiated settlements?

Question 44

How has the most recent wave of public sector restrictions differed from previous ones?

Question 45

What is the rationale for Canada's highly inconsistent system of public sector bargaining?

Question 46

Public sector crises have been a worldwide phenomenon.

Question 47

No provincial government thus far appears to have come close to finding a solution to the difficulties posed by multilateral bargaining or "phantom bargaining."

Question 48

Narrowing the scope of bargainable issues generally speeds up the process of public sector collective bargaining.

Question 49

Most Canadians were unsympathetic to the illegal 1965 postal strike.

Question 50

The rapid evolution of public sector bargaining in Canada came about more or less painlessly.

Question 51

Public sector expenditure reductions have generally been achieved without significant cuts to the level of public services provided.

Question 52

Unions like CUPE,PSAC and PIPSC are sitting idly by and letting provincial and federal governments impose their agendas without significant protest.

Question 53

Unilateral action by provincial governments in the 1990s were a main source of pubilc service workers' discontent.

Question 54

Since the resumption of "normal" collective bargaining in the late 1990s,public employers have agreed with unions on the need to make up for losses received in the earlier part of the decade.

Question 55

The Ontario government has,since 1995,allowed the interest arbitration process to operate freely

Question 56

Is the "public sector crisis" unique to Canada?

Question 57

The rationales for the various provinces' public sector dispute resolution methods are almost always consistent and clearly related to the essentiality of the work performed by different groups of workers.

Question 58

Under the PSSRA,the government is allowed to lock its employees out.

Question 59

During the 1990s,free public sector bargaining was the norm.

Question 60

The collaborative model of public sector labour relations proposed by the Fryer Committee is likely to be fully adopted by the federal government.

Question 61

Discuss the three major waves of restrictions which have affected public sector workers' bargaining rights.

Question 62

Why is the study of the public sector important for IR students?

Question 63

Compare the four dispute resolution procedures available to the public service.

Question 64

Discuss the term "rightless recovery".

Question 65

What are some of the major employee differences between the public and private sectors,and how have they affected public sector bargaining,both historically and currently?

Question 66

There appears to be little difference between public and private sector managers with respect to their degree of job satisfaction.

Question 67

How might the lack of an economic "bottom line" prevent creative public sector bargaining approaches from emerging?

Question 68

Discuss the impact and importance of the PSSRA.

Question 69

BC has taken the least severe measures reducing its civil service to finance tax cuts.

Question 70

What are the reasons for employer fragmentation in public sector bargaining?

Question 71

Since the mid- 1980s,the public sector has been growing at a uniform rate across different sub- sectors

Question 72

What are some of the major union differences between public and private sector unions?