Collective bargaining in Canada: A new approach

4. It is true, of course, that in slavery the slave enslaves the master, the servant the housewife. So the machine does man. But the "enslavement" is really the result of the limitation of the slave, or the machine. The master remains master and can always free himself by doing things himself, or perhaps by imposing a more modest role on technology and science. See Paul Goodman, "Rescuing Technology," New York Review, Nov. 20, 1969. 5. It is because the "Left" has created the nightmare of statism that it is to-day baffled and bewildered; see William Pfaff, "The Decline of Liberal Politics,'' Commentary, October, 1969. 6. The writer is, of course, attempting to find a natural basis of conservatism in the tradition of Filmer, a secular basis, but one couched in the language of Collective bargaining in Canada: a new approach i. F. R. ANTON There is no lack of support for the view that an improvement in Canadian procedures for settling industrial disputes is urgently needed. In justification of this view, reference is usually made to the familiar defects of the long delays imposed by compulsory conciliation procedures, the relatively excessive number of man-days lr ~t through work-stoppages and the frequency with which inflationary wage settlements are made. Not generally recognized is the emergence of evidence suggesting that an additional problem concerning the relationship between unions, management and workers is coming into being, which should be taken into consideration whenever changes in the collective bargaining system are proposed.2 This is due essentially to the persistent tendency of union leaders to assume that workers are influenced almost exclusively by economic factors such as amount of pay, or the threat of dismissal and to see management's relations with employees as authoritarian. Management , Ori the other hand, contends that the union view is outmoded: it sees democratic relations with employees as a desirable objective and believes that workers are motivated not only by economic but also by non-economic factors 14 secularism rather than in that of the patriarchs. 7. The conservative attitude to the mechanical-rational is pretty much that of Hume when he said that reason should be the slave of the passions. The modern world has subtly distorted this to make man the slave of the rationalized technology that feeds his appetites - indeed creates them - in a consumer's world. It leaves, however, his "passions", his emotions and sentiments, wholly starved. It is for the conservative to restore men, not by super-Ludditism - but by ensuring that modern technology indeed frees men to be men and does not reduce them to the level of mere consumers of what technology produces and advertising conditions them to like. Comes the technological revolution, men will eat plastic strawberries and synthetic cream, and like it. such as job satisfaction and the nature of the working environment. From this growing divergence of outlook between trade unions and management , observers conclude that collective bargaining will become more protracted, and industrial conflict more prevalent in the future, unless a satisfactory solution to this problem is found. There is little doubt that in the field of industrial relations management is adopting a more progressive and democratic approach in its dealings with employees. The reason for this change may be that younger men are assuming more managerial positions and bringing to this task the knowledge of new developments in technological and social research which they acquired durinr ,their training at university.3 Particularly relevant is the modern view that exposure to sensitivity training will lead to a more employee-centred environment, in which workers see themselves as co-participants in the enterprise, sharing with management the rewards for improved efficiency and productivity. On the other hand, managers are naturally ambitious to make a success of the business they are entrusted with managing; in some instances they hold generous stock options in the company . Unwilling to accept the restrictive labour practices of unions, or to negotiate with union leaders on the old conventional basis, they are showing a growing tendency to bypass the union and, where possible, deal directly with their Revue d'etudes canadiennes employees. As corporate executives in an increasingly "monitored" economic...