Deck 1: An Introduction to Industrial Relations in Canada

Question 1

The term commonly used to describe the relationship between a union and the employer:

A) Industrial relations
B) Industrial disputes
C) Industrial development
D) All of the above

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following disciplines could address industrial relations issues?

A) Medicine and psychology
B) Law and medicine
C) Economics and Sociology
D) Political science and psychiatry

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Another workplace management term is sometimes incorrectly interchanged with "industrial relations"?

A) Labour relations
B) Human Relations
C) Human Resource Management
D) Personnel Management

Answer 3

C

Question 4

What is the minimum term of a collective agreement in most Canadian jurisdictions?

A) 1 year
B) 2 years
C) 3 years
D) 6 months

Question 5

Up until the mid-1920s, which level of government in Canada had responsibility for industrial relations?

A) Municipal
B) Provincial
C) Federal
D) All of the above

Question 6

Which of the following must form part of a collective agreement?

A) Technological change clauses
B) Benefits clauses
C) Grievance resolution procedures
D) All of the above

Question 7

In what percentage of Canadian jurisdictions is unionization an option for workers who are dissatisfied with their treatment?

A) 20 percent
B) 40 percent
C) 50 percent
D) None of the above

Question 8

What is the name given to the sector which includes employees working for organizations that are funded by the government but who are not directly employed by the government?

A) The private sector
B) The public sector
C) Crown corporations
D) The para-public sector

Question 9

What type of discrimination can occur despite any deliberate action or inaction by the organization?

A) Blatant discrimination
B) Intentional discrimination
C) Systemic discrimination
D) Common discrimination

Question 10

When did the Royal Commission to Enquire into Industrial Relations in Canada issue its report?

A) 1900
B) 1909
C) 1919
D) 1929

Question 11

Approximately what percentage of the Canadian workforce is unionized?

A) 40 percent
B) 30 percent
C) 20 percent
D) 10 percent

Question 12

Which of the following is a right guaranteed by Canadian labour legislation?

A) The right to resist joining a union
B) The right to join a union
C) The right of managers to join unions
D) The right of employers to block unionization

Question 13

What is the type of legislation that forbids discrimination against individuals on the basis of personal attributes such as gender, ethnic origin, or sexual orientation?

A) Industrial relations legislation
B) Individual rights legislation
C) Human rights legislation
D) All of the above

Question 14

Which right contained in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has been the subject of major cases dealing with industrial relations?

A) Freedom of association
B) Freedom of the press
C) 1Freedom of conscience
D) Right to vote

Question 15

What gives unions the formal power to negotiate mutually acceptable workplace rules and working conditions with the employer?

A) Union members
B) Provincial and Federal Laws
C) Employer
D)Employment Standards Act

Question 16

Which case led to a determination that jurisdiction over industrial relations in Canada was mostly a provincial responsibility?

A) Smyth v. the Power Commission
B) Snider v. the Toronto Electrical Commission
C) Snider v. the Ottawa Electrical Commission
D) Smyth v. the Toronto Electrical Commission

Question 17

What is meant by the term "jurisdiction"?

A) The geographic coverage of a piece of legislation
B) The history of the legislation in a given area
C) The question of which arbitrator will adjudicate a dispute
D) Legal responsibility for an issue

Question 18

Under what circumstance is the union-employer relationship federally regulated?

A) When the business has an interprovincial component
B) When the business is a Crown corporation
C) When the business is in the public sector
D) When the business has an international component

Question 19

Which of the following describes a good reason why someone who is opposed to unions might wish to acquire some knowledge of unions?

A) They can avoid the need to hire expensive legal counsel.
B) They can discover how to sidestep the issue of union security.
C) They will know what an employer or employee can and cannot legally do to counteract unionization.
D) They can sue the union.

Question 20

Who is covered by the terms and conditions of employment standards legislation?

A) Private sector employees
B) All Workplaces
C) Non-unionized workplaces
D) Unionized Workplaces

Question 21

Proportionally union representation is higher among women than men and higher among younger workers than older workers.

Question 22

NB and NS are the only provinces wherein the provincial labour legislation does not contain the word "labour".

Question 23

Employees who believe that their union has treated them unfairly may

A) file a complaint with the labour relations board for discrimination
B) file an action with the human rights commission
C) file a complaint with the labour board alleging a breach of the duty of fair representation
D) file a complaint with the human rights commission alleging discrimination

Question 24

Public sector labour legislation does all of the following except

A) stipulate conditions under which people may strike
B) force people back to work without due process
C) recognize that there are certain services that are needed for communities to function
D) implement dispute resolution procedures to minimize disruptions

Question 25

In 2007, BC Healthcare unions won what victory at the Supreme Court of Canada?

A) Freedom of organization
B) Preventing contracting out
C) Forcing the employer to keep all union jobs
D) Charter guarantee to collectively bargain

Question 26

The Dunmore case was a pyrrhic victory for agricultural workers in what way?

A) The Supreme Court of Canada said that workers could bargain
B) The Supreme Court of Canada said that whole classes of workers could not be precluded from protection of labour legislation
C) The Supreme Court of Canada told Ontario to change its laws
D) The Supreme Court of Canada decision resulted in unionization but no collective bargaining

Question 27

Unions emerged in response to working conditions that are almost unknown today, at least in most industrialized countries.

Question 28

What other term is used interchangeably with industrial relations?

A) Human Relations
B) Labour Relations
C) Human Resources
D) Employer/employee relations

Question 29

In 1995 the government of Ontario excluded farm workers from the jurisdiction of labour law claiming they would cause excessive labour costs.

Question 30

A labour relations board has broader guidelines for the submission of evidence than either the civil or criminal courts.

Question 31

Which of the following is not covered by federal law?

A) Nova Scotia civil service
B) Bell Canada
C) CTV
D) Canada Post

Question 32

Collective Bargaining introduces elements of ________ into the workplace?

A) Reasonableness
B) Rationality
C) Balance
D) Democracy

Question 33

Like any organization, a union is the product of the individuals who belong to it, and individuals in unions, as in any organization, can make poor decisions or act unfairly.

Question 34

Most Canadian unionization is spread throughout a multitude of sectors in the labour market

Question 35

Industrial relations is a broad, interdisciplinary field of study and practice that encompasses some aspects of the employment relationship.

Question 36

There is one unifying theory underlying the field of industrial relations.

Question 37

In 2014 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of the workers employed by Wal-Mart in Jonquierre, Quebec stating what reason?

A) Wal-Mart was required to negotiate with the union
B) Wal-Mart failed to prove that the store was unprofitable
C) Wal-Mart had contravened the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
D) Wal-Mart had acted in bad faith by not concluding a collective agreement

Question 38

Human resource management is applicable to both unionized and non-unionized workplaces.

Question 39

Unionization had a ripple effect for every Canadian except in the following area:

A) Guaranteed minimum wages
B) Guaranteed Defined Pension Plans
C) Occupational health and safety regulations
D) Statutory holiday designations

Question 40

The 1982 Dolphin Delivery case dealt with

A) an employer injunction to request picketing
B) an employer injunction to prevent picketing
C) a union injunction to request picketing
D) a union injunction to prevent picketing

Question 41

What is the simplest way to explain the difference between the terms "human resource management" and "industrial relations"?

Question 42

Why is a working knowledge of industrial relations of benefit to anyone considering a career in human resource management?

Question 43

What is meant by the term 'systemic discrimination'?

Question 44

How are unions able to carry out their primary role?

Question 45

Industrial relations topics are addressed in many other academic fields. Discuss some examples of how researchers in other academic areas could address industrial relations issues.

Question 46

What is the union's primary role in the workplace?

Question 47

Describe some reasons why there is separate labour legislation for public sector workers.

Question 48

List some issues that are typically covered by employment standards legislation.

Question 49

List two early Charter of Rights and Freedoms cases that have been important for industrial relations issues.

Question 50

Among the common pieces of labour relations laws in Canada is the establishment of a labour relations board. Describe some of the characteristics of how this board functions.

Question 51

How do we know whether a union-employer relationship is regulated by federal or provincial law?

Question 52

In the context of human rights legislation, what is discrimination?

Question 53

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees certain basic rights and freedoms to all Canadians and is considered to take precedence over all other laws except for two specific kinds of laws. What are these two exceptions?

Question 54

Discuss why there is no single unifying theory underlying industrial relations.

Question 55

List some of the major characteristics found in all primary pieces of industrial relations legislation.