Union Strategies to Re-Regulate Working Time

Authors

  • Mark Thomas

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25071/1705-1436.99

Abstract

The organization of working time is a central concern in today's labour market, as it is connected to experiences of work-life conflict, employment insecurity, and broader patterns of gender inequality. This article examines union responses to working time changes using a case study of four large unions, as well as a larger survey of working time provisions in major collective agreements. The article contends that working time re-regulation strategies include not only efforts to reduce hours of work, but also a range of strategies to promote 'employee-oriented time flexibility.' These working time strategies provide some means to address growing forms of work-life conflict and working time inequalities; however, these strategies are constrained by a number of factors, including employer resistance and the need for broader-based representational and collective bargaining structures.

References

Armstrong, P. and H. Armstrong. 1994. The Double Ghetto: Canadian Women and their Segregated Work, 3rd Edition. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.

Battye, J. 1979. “The Nine Hour Pioneers: The Genesis of the Canadian Labour Movement”. Labour/Le Travail. No. 4, pp. 25-56.

Beck, U. 2000. The Brave New World of Work. Translated by P. Camiller. Cambridge: Polity.

Bowlby, G. 2003. “2002 – A Good Year in the Labour Market”. Perspectives on Labour and Income. Vol. 4, No. 1, pp 5-10.

Broad, D. 2000. Hollow Work, Hollow Society? Globalization and the Casual Labour Problem in Canada. Halifax: Fernwood.

Canadian Auto Workers (CAW). 2002. 2002 CAW Convention: Bargaining Program. Toronto: CAW.

Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). 1999. Policy Statement – Workers Demand Social and Economic Justice, 22nd Constitutional Convention, May 3rd to May 7th. Ottawa: CLC.

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 1995

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) 1999. Overloaded & Underfire: Report of Ontario Social Services Work Environment Survey. Ottawa: CUPE.

Clement, W. 2001. “Who Works: Comparing Labour Market Practices”. In J. Baxter and M. Western (eds.) Reconfigurations of Class and Gender. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, pp. 55-80.

De Wolff, A. 2000. Breaking the Myth of Flexible Work: Contingent Work in Toronto. Toronto: Contingent Workers Project.

DuRivage, V.L., F.J. Carré, and C. Tilly. 1998. “Making Labor Law Work for Part-time and Contingent Workers”. In K. Barker and K. Christensen (eds.) Contingent Work: American Employment Relations in Transition. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, pp. 263-80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501720864-013

Duxbury, L., C. Higgins, and D. Coghill. 2003. Voices of Canadians: Seeking Work-Life Balance. Ottawa: Human Resources Development Canada.

Golden L. and D. Figart (eds.). 2000. Working Time: International Trends, Theory and Policy Perspectives. London and New York: Routledge.

Hall, K. 1999. “Hours Polarization at the End of the 1990s”. Perspectives on Labour and Income. Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 28-37.

Hayden, A. 1999. Sharing the Work, Sparing the Planet: Work Time, Consumption, and Ecology. Toronto: Between the Lines.

Heisz, A., and S. LaRochelle-Cote. 2003. Working Hours in Canada and the United States. Ottawa: Statistics Canada.

Heron, C. 1996. The Canadian Labour Movement: A Short History. Toronto: Lorimer.

Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC). 2000. Work and Family Provisions in Canadian Collective Agreements. Charles Philippe Rochon (ed.). Ottawa: HRDC.

Jackson, A. 1998. Creating More and Better Jobs Through Reduction and Redistribution of Working Time. Ottawa: Canadian Labour Congress.

Kealey, G. 1980. Toronto Workers Respond to Industrial Capitalism, 1867-1892. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Lehndorff, S. 2000. “Working Time Reduction in the European Union: A Diversity of Trends and Approaches”. In L. Golden and D. Figart (eds.) Working Time: International Trends, Theory and Policy Perspectives. London and New York: Routledge, pp. 38-56. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203183441-3

Panitch, L. and D. Swartz. 2003. From Consent to Coercion: The Assault on Trade Union Freedoms. Toronto: Garamond.

Schor, J.B. 1991. The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure. NewYork: BasicBooks.

Shields, M. 2000. “Long Working Hours and Health”. Perspectives on Labour and Income. Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 49-56.

Spinks, N., and C. Moore. 2002. “Bringing Work-Life Balance to the Table”. Canadian HR Reporter. Vol. 15, No. 8, pp. 14-15.

Statistics Canada. 1999. “Key Labour and Income Facts”. Perspectives on Labour and Income. Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 49-57.

Statistics Canada 2003a. “Key Labour and Income Facts”. Perspectives on Labour and Income. Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 78-96.

Statistics Canada 2003b. Labour Force Information. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. United Steelworkers of America (USWA). 1995. Challenge and Change: Hours of Work. Toronto: USWA.

White, J. 2002. “A New Look at Shorter Hours of Work in the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union”. Just Labour: A Canadian Journal of Work and Society, Vol. 1, pp. 41-49.

Zeytinoglu, I.U. (ed.). 1999. Changing Work Relationships in Industrialized Economies. Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/aios.1

Downloads

Published

— Updated on 2006-10-01

Versions

  • 2006-10-01 (2)
  • (1)

How to Cite

Thomas, M. (2006). Union Strategies to Re-Regulate Working Time. Just Labour, 9. https://doi.org/10.25071/1705-1436.99

Issue

Section

Contents