| Year Funded: 2010 | Budget: $100,000.00 | Funding Agency: Workplace Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario |
|---|---|---|
| Title: | Understanding the impact of the decline in unionisation and in union bargaining power on workplace health | |
| Category: | Intervention Research | |
| Subcategory: | Intervention Research | |
| Keywords: | Occupational health and safety, Workplace organization, Unions, Labour relations, Prevention | |
| Link to research website: | www.iwh.on.ca | |
Issue:
Unions have played a significant role in the improvement of occupational health and safety at work by raising occupational health and safety concerns, effecting improvements in arrangements for the management of occupational health and safety, improving practical implementation of occupational health and safety arrangements, improving regulation and legislation, and contributing to the overall occupational health and safety performance of workplaces. Of late, however, there has been an uneven but noticeable downward trend in union density, which has gone hand-in-hand with a shift to more contingent forms of work, the mobility of capital, expansion of the service sector, high unemployment, and a weakened economy. Unions now face aggressive ‘concession bargaining’, state intervention in the bargaining process, changes to the work process, and a ‘hands-off’ approach to OHS by governments. These factors have weakened union bargaining influence and correspondingly their ability to effectively fulfil their role in the management of workplace safety. Although much has been written about union renewal, little is known or understood about how these conditions play out every day on the shop floor; i.e., how OHS practices are being reshaped in the context of the decline in union influence. This study aims to shed light on this through a case study of unions.
Objectives:
The objectives of this study are:
1. To describe, compare, and contrast the experiences of all workplace parties: workers, worker/OHS representatives, employers, union officials, and bargaining representatives;
2. To identify what kinds of health and safety problems and practices currently exists and explore how they emerged;
3. To identify aspects of these experiences and problems that might have implications for workplace health, workers’ compensation, and union and employer policies and practices.
Anticipated Results:
The findings will provide evidence of the everyday kinds of problems that unions face in their efforts to play an effective role in workplace safety. As such, it will address WSIB priority areas such as best practices around prevention, it will identify some of the factors underlying the trends in workplace injuries, and some of the effects of workplace behaviour. The study will be useful to employers and unions, health and safety associations, and those involved in influencing and developing workplace-related policies.
Investigators:
Marcia Facey (University of Toronto), Ellen MacEachen (Institute for Work and Health), Anil Verma (Rotman School of Management)
