Open access research
publication repository
publication repository
Legault, Marie-Josée (2009). Too bad, you were too late in coming in!. In Foley, Janice, & Baker, Patricia (Ed.), Unions, equity and the path to renewal (p. 39-57). Vancouver : UBC Press.
File(s) available for this item:| PDF - OrphanClauses-R-libre.pdf |
|
| Item Type: | Book Sections |
|---|---|
| Refereed: | Yes |
| Status: | Published |
| Abstract: | The conflict raised by employees paid under two-tiered wage systems, known as “orphan” clauses in Quebec, shows how recently hired workers’ demands and interests are sometimes so distinct from those of the majority of the local union, that the situation affects solidarity and leads to conflicts. These conflicts raise very profound questions and, moreover, do so before the courts. In fact, in a unionized setting, these demands bring to the fore a deep tension between two dimensions of the formal equality of all union members: - on the one hand, formal equality entails that decisions are based on the primacy of a majority vote taken in a general meeting; in these voting processes, all workers have the same weight in collective decision making; as a result, a minority group may see its claims systematically dismissed; - on the other hand, it also entails that unions support the general principle of a corollary duty of treating workers all the same, or, if differentiating, applying the same rules to everyone in doing so, including while bargaining the next collective agreement. The new demands coming from “minority groups” call into question the practice of union democracy while bringing in the issue of equity vs. the prevailing formal equality notion traditionally rooted in unions. |
| Depositor: | Legault, Marie-Josée |
| Owner / Manager: | Marie-Josée Legault |
| Deposited: | 14 Sep 2014 21:27 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Jul 2015 00:47 |
|
RÉVISER |
