Looking at labour from the past, to the present, in terms of wages, organized labour, and independent labour, we can predict to a certainty where we were and where are heading. As wage controls were relaxed in the late 1970s, more daunting problems appeared on the horizon. A shift toward more conservative economic attitudes begun around the time of the implementation of wage controls was now in full swing. Conservative commentators attacked the size of government and expenditures. Every aspect of government regulation and spending came under attack. This included such diverse targets as the size of the state workforce and funding for education, medical, and social assistance programs. In other words, demands were being made to dismantle programs labour considered fundamental to a just society.
This critique was quickly extended to the labour movement. Public sector unions became the focus of much of this criticism. Governments painted them as obstructionist, slow to change, and insisted that their demands for job protection and reliable incomes provided evidence of selfishness in a time of economic crisis. The federal and provincial governments launched strenuous campaigns against their employees' unions. Legislation reversed union's collective bargaining rights and, in some instances, completely suspended them. Public sector workers experienced extensive government imposed controls on their incomes and benefits. Many jobs were cut and others contracted out to non-union employers who paid lower wages and provided minimum benefits.
Private-sector employers pressed for many of these changes in negotiations with their own employees. They demanded from unions concessions on wages, benefits, and work rules. A "flexible" workforce became a key issue when management and workers sat across the bargaining table from one another. Company officials demanded the right to ignore job classifications and seniority clauses in contracts in order to reduce labour costs and increase productivity. Threats of layoffs and "downsizing," another catch phrase of the 1980s, made worried workers concede to such demands. The practice of downsizing (laying off workers and reorganizing work, often with the aid of technology, to increase productivity) meant the permanent loss of thousands of quality manufacturing jobs. The unemployment situation worsened further when downsizing combined with a general economic recession in the early 1980s or with the much more serious depression of the 1990s.
The relentless pressure on unions from governments, the mass media, and corporations left the labour movement reeling. Downsizing and other layoffs brought a significant decline in union membership in the traditionally well-organized mass-production and resource industries. Canada's major railroads alone cut thousands of positions. In the United States, a similar pattern of events reduced union membership as low as 11 per cent of all wage earners. Declines in Canada proved not to be as precipitous, primarily because of a more effectively organized public-service sector. However, the declines were sharp enough for media "experts" to predict the total collapse of the labour movement.
Labour put new energy into electoral politics and was rewarded with success in provincial politics. New Democratic Party (NDP) governments held power for varying amounts of time in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario. In Quebec, the Parti Québécois government's social policies paralleled those of the NDP elsewhere. On the whole, these governments proved sympathetic to labour. Improvements in health and safety legislation offered workers more on the job protection and other measures strengthened labour bargaining position in first contract negotiations. However, intense differences sometimes arose between labour and NDP governments over deficit-reduction programs, especially those effecting health and
Human Resource Management: Employee Benefits Wednesday April 24th 2013 Human resource management has numerous areas that they cover when managing. These include Equal Employment Opportunity, Recruiting and Selecting, Training and Development and Organizational Rewards just to name a few. However, this research is about employee benefits and roles and responsibilities of Human Resources Management in administering effective Employee Benefit Programs…
Running head: hr management HR Management Michael Pappalardo Cardinal Stritch University Professor Bell MGT 445 August 19, 2013 The Human Resource role is a very critical function in any business to ensure success and prosperity. Some of the responsibilities of a human resource manager would be employee relations, recruitment, training and development, retention, and compensation and benefits. Even though there…
OLEORESINS & SPICE OIL 1.0 INTRODUCTION Oleoresins are the flavour extracts obtained by the solvent extraction of the ground spices. They have aroma of spice and possess the attributes which contribute to the taste such as pungency. All the spices contain essential oils in varying proportions which can be extracted by steam distillation. India is one of the leading producers of spices and instead of exporting raw spices, it is advisable to export value-added products. 2.0 PRODUCT 2.1 Applications…
Human Resource Management Roles Georgina Kuforiji HCS/341 05/20/2013 Instructor: Alex Kadrie What is human resource? Human Resource Management (HRM) is a department in an organization that handles very sensitive related issues in an organization. HR is also involved in the hiring process as well as the termination process in an organization. It give every employee the sense of responsibility to the growth and success of an organization. The…
Human Resource Management Roles The definition of “human resources” is all people within an organization who perform all of its activities. Human resource management is an organizational function, which helps an entire organization work together to accomplish their goals. Human resource management or HRM is in charge of personnel policies and managerial practices and performance systems that influence the workforce (Bernadin, 2007). This organizational function deals with issues…
Company Work Street Work City, Work State Work ZIP Topic 1 Strategic Perspectives Exercise 2 , Page 18 In terms of the pay system which was introduced at the Screaming Tale Restaurant, I reckon that they didn’t fulfill the criteria for effectiveness which was described in Compensation Notebook 1.1, especially the following goals of the reward and compensation system should accomplish: • Promote achievement of the organization’s goals. • Attract and retain qualified individuals. At the most…
HRM - Designing management systems to ensure that human talent is used effectively and efficiently to accomplish organizational goals. Core competence - A unique capability that creates high value and differentiates an organization from its competition. HRM functions: Strategic HRM – effectiveness, metrics, technology, planning, retention Equal employment opportunity – compliance, diversity, affirmative action Staffing – job analysis, recruiting, selection Talent management – orientation, training…
Employee recruitment: Current knowledge and important areas for future research Tran Thanh Tung_S2771500 The overall approach of this annotated bibliography is to provide descriptions and evaluations of the research mentioned in the Breaugh, J. A. (2008) article, ‘Employee recruitment: Current knowledge and important areas for future research’; and how important the recruitment process influence to employers and employee. Given the context (external recruitment), I will…
Human Resources Management Roles Kenneth Winn HCS/341 October 22 2013 Linda Armstrong Human Resources Management Roles The role of a Human resource department in a healthcare setting is becoming more and more challenging as they compete against each other for a shrinking pool of the best qualified candidates. Healthcare workers are highly trained and educated, they are not like non-skilled workers, who can work their way into a good paying job. Healthcare workers must be qualified or they…