Practical Tips and Tricks for Managing a Unionized Workforce
While strikes involving high-profile unions like the recently resolved Federal Worker strike are often hot topics in the news, we rarely hear much about the day-to-day relationships between the employer and the union or how those relationships are effectively managed. In this blog, we take a step back from the high-intensity environment of a strike and provide some practical tips and tricks on effectively managing the unionized workforce and the ongoing relationship with a union.
Unionized Workplaces
The number one question I get asked by family, friends and even complete strangers when I tell them I practice labour and employment law is: “What is the difference between labour and employment law?”. Given the passion with which this question is often delivered, this seems to be a burning question on most people’s minds. Ultimately, while labour and employment lawyers all focus on workplace issues and disputes, labour lawyers handle conflicts that arise in workplaces which have a union or unions representing their workers that are bound by the terms of a collective agreement.
Labour law is often focused on helping the parties manage their relationship and find practical solutions to what are often complex problems.
As a fully virtual firm since 2017, we are big remote working fans. We recognize that, as a result of the pandemic, most work environments have come to accept and adopt remote working With the recent public sector strike, remote work is once again a hot topic. This time however, the conversation has taken a new and interesting direction as the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) seeks to enshrine the right to remote work in new collective agreements for the hundreds of thousands of workers it represents. 
