Accreditation:
    The process used to certify an organization of employers as the bargaining agent for a unit of employers. The parallel term for employee organizations is "certification".

Adversary System:
    The industrial relations system seen as consisting of two necessarily opposing forces, labour and management This viewpoint ignores the co-operative elements of the relationship.

Affiliation:
    The establishment of an organic bond between two or more organizations. In an affiliation, the organization maintains its essential character and continues to enjoy a relative autonomy within the limits established by the purpose of the affiliation.

Affirmative Action Plan:
    A written program to actively eliminate employment standards and practices that tend to discriminate on the grounds of race, creed, sex or national origin.

Agreement:
    (See Collective Agreement)

Appeal:
    A procedure by which a party dissatisfied with a decision. award or ruling may refer the matter to a higher authority for review.

Apprentice:
    A worker who enters into agreement with an employer to learn a skilled trade through a special training period combining practical training with related off-the-job technical instruction. Apprenticeship is sometimes regulated by statute (designated trades).

Arbitration:
    The procedure by which a board or a single arbitrator, acting under the authority of both parties to a dispute, hears both sides of the controversy and issues an award, usually accompanied by a written decision, which is ordinarily binding on both parties. Arbitrators are usually appointed by the parties concerned, but under special circumstances, they ore appointed by the Minister of Labour. Compulsory arbitration is that required by law and is the usual procedure for settling contract interpretation disputes. The term voluntary arbitration indicates that the parties to a dispute agree to arbitration in the absence of statutory compulsion.

Arbitrator:
    Third party chosen to hear a case or group of cases which are submitted for arbitration.

Assembly-line Work:
    A manufacturing procedure in which many workers successively perform an operation or task while the item under production is moved along a conveyor system timed to move in accordance with the time allotted for each distinct function to be performed.

Automation:
    Automation is usually characterized by two major principles: (1) mechanization. i.e. machines are self-regulated so as to meet predetermined requirements (a simple example of self-regulation can be found in the operation of a thermostatically controlled furnace); (2) continuous process, i.e.. production facilities are linked together, thereby integrating several separate elements of productive process into a unified whole.

    There are three basic kinds of automated process: (1) assembly-line automation. characteristic of the automobile industry: (2) extensive use of computers, as found in many modern offices and businesses: (3) utilization of complex electronic equipment as controls in the manufacturing and processing of products, such as in the refining industry.

Award:
    In labour-management arbitration, the final decision of on arbitrator. binding on both parties to the dispute.

Bargaining Agent:
    The organization that is the exclusive representative of a group of workers or employers in the process of collective bargaining.

Bargaining Unit:
    A group of employees in a firm, plant, or industry that has been recognized by the employer and certified by a labour relations board as appropriate to be represented by a union for purposes of collective bargaining. In a craft union, this could be all members of a trade, such as all tool and die makers in a plant: in an industrial union, the bargaining unit may include all production workers in a plant or all plants in a company.

Base Rate:
    The lowest rate of pay, expressed in hourly terms, for the lowest paid qualified worker classification in the bargaining unit. Not to be confused with basic rate, which is the straight-time rate of pay per hour, job or unit, excluding premiums, incentive bonuses, etc.

Blue-collar workers:
    Term used to describe manual workers, i.e. production and maintenance workers. In recent years, the percentage of blue-collar workers in the labour force has declined considerably.

Boycott:
    An organized refusal on the part of employees and their union to deal with an employer, with the objective of winning concessions. Primary boycotts usually take the form of putting pressure on consumers not to buy the goods of an employer who is directly involved in a dispute. In the dress industry, for example, the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union frequently boycotts the sale of non-union made dresses. Secondary boycotts are those in which pressure is exerted on employers who are not directly involved in a dispute, e.g.. workers of Company A refuse to buy or handle goods of Company B, which is engaged in a labour dispute.

Broader-based or Centralized Bargaining:
    A type of bargaining that aims to reduce the degree of fragmentation in the collective bargaining process and the potential conflict that can result, by combining employers on the one hand and/or unions on the other to form negotiating coalitions, thereby reducing the potential for sequential work stoppages in the same industry/company as various contracts terminate.

Bumping:
    Exercise of seniority rights by workers to displace less senior union employees when business conditions require temporary layoffs or the discontinuance of departments.

Business Agent:
    A full-time union officer of a local union who handles grievances. helps enforce agreements. and performs other tasks in the day-to-day operation of a union.

Business Council on National Issues:
    A consultative body formed in 1970, consisting of the chief executive officers of 150 leading Canadian corporations, which meets with governments, labour unions and other interest groups to develop policy recommendations on economic and social issues. A major area of interest to the council is its task force on employment and labour relations.

Call-back Pay:
    Compensation, often at higher wage rates. for workers called back on the job after completing their regular shift. Contract provisions usually provide for a minimum number of hours of pay, regardless of the number of hours actually worked.

Call-in Pay:
    Guaranteed hours of pay (ranging from two to eight hours) to a worker who reports for work and finds there is insufficient work for him or her to do. Provisions for call-in pay are usually spelled out in collective agreements.

Canada Labour Code:
    Legislation applicable to employers whose operations fail within federal jurisdiction and to their employees. The Canada Labour Code consists of Part III (Labour Standards): Part IV (Safety of Employees): and Part V (Industrial Relations).

Canada Labour Relations Board:
    A board whose powers and duties under the industrial relations provisions of the Canada Labour Code include the determination of appropriate bargaining units, the certification or decertification of trade unions, decisions as to unfair labour practices or failure to bargain in good faith. etc. The board is composed of a chairman, at least one vice-chairman and not less than four nor more than eight members. (See also Labour Relations Board)

Canadian Chamber of Commerce:
    A national body representing business interests, which seeks to influence federal legislation by presentation of briefs: it disseminates commercial information and attempts to foster understanding and sympathy for the problems businessmen encounter.

Canadian Labour Congress (CLC):
    Canada's national labour body, formed in 1956 from the merger of the Trades and Labour Congress and the Canadian Congress of Labour. and representing more than half of organized labour in the country.

Canadian Manufacturers' Association:
    A large organization of manufacturers in every type of industry, founded in 1871. incorporated 1902. it serves as a spokesman for interests of the Canadian manufacturing industry.

Centrale des syndicats democratiques (CSD):
    A federation of Quebec unions founded in 1972 by unions that broke away from the Confederation des syndicats nationaux (CSN).

Certification:
    Official designation by a labour relations board or similar government agency of a union as sole and exclusive bargaining agent, following proof of majority support among employees in a bargaining unit.

Certified Union:
    A union designated by a labour relations board as the exclusive bargaining agent of a group of workers.

Checkoff:
    A clause in a collective agreement authorizing an employer to deduct union dues and, sometimes, other assessments, and transmit these funds to the union. There are four main types: the first three apply to union members only: (1) Voluntary revocable: (2) Voluntary irrevocable: (3) Compulsory: (4) Rand Formula -- dues deducted from both union and non-union employees.

Closed Shop:
    A provision in a collective agreement whereby all employees in a bargaining unit must be union members in good standing before being hired, and new employees must be hired through the union.

Code of Ethical Practices:
    A declaration of principle adopted by the Canadian Labour Congress, requiring unions to try to ensure maximum attendance at meetings and general participation by membership. Under this code, no one engaging in corrupt practices may hold office in the union or in the CLC.

Co-determination:
    A process whereby decisions are made jointly by management and workers (or their representatives). These joint decisions may be made at various levels within a company -- at the board level, for example, through the appointment of worker directors, or at shop-floor level by establishing some form of labour-management committee or even by utilizing existing collective bargaining machinery.

COLA Clause:
    Literally a "cost of living adjustment" (or allowance) clause. A clause built into a collective agreement which links wage or salary increases to changes in the cost of living during the life of the contract. Also termed an "escalator clause".

Collective Agreement:
    An agreement in writing between an employer and the union representing his/her employees which contains provisions respecting conditions of employment, rates of pay, hours of work, and the rights and obligations of the parties to the agreement. Ordinarily the agreement is for a definite period such as one, two, or three years, usually not less than twelve months. Under some conditions, amendments are made to agreements by mutual consent during the term of the agreement in order to deal with special circumstances.

Collective Bargaining:
    Method of determining wages, hours and other conditions of employment through direct negotiations between the union and employer. Normally the result of collective bargaining is a written contract that covers all employees in the bargaining unit, both union members and non-members, for a specified period of time. More recently the term has been broadened to include the day-to-day activities involved in giving effect to or carrying out the terms of a collective agreement. Bargaining in good faith refers to the requirement that the two parties meet and confer at reasonable times with minds open to persuasion with a view to reaching agreement on new contract terms. Good faith bargaining does not imply that either party is required to reach agreement on any proposal.

    The term collective bargaining is frequently prefaced with expressions such as company-wide, industry-wide or multi-employer, which serve to specify more precisely the form of bargaining. Thus company-wide collective bargaining refers to bargaining that takes place between a company with many plants and (typically) a single union representing employees of a particular craft or skill. The terms and conditions arrived at are generally uniform throughout the company. Industry-wide bargaining refers to situations in which the terms and conditions of employment agreed to by labour and management cover an entire industry. Multi-employer bargaining covers those situations in which bargaining takes place between a union and a group or association of employers (hence it is also termed "association bargaining"). Quite often, in fact, much so-called industry-wide bargaining is actually multi-employer bargaining, since there are relatively few industries in which collective bargaining is conducted in a genuinely industry-wide context.

Combines Investigation Act:
    A federal government act providing for the investigation and repression of trade combinations operating in restraint of trade and to the detriment of the public.

Company Union:
    An employee organization, usually of a single company, that is dominated or strongly influenced by management Company unions were widespread in the 1920s and early '30s. The Labour Relations Acts of the 1940s declared that such employer domination is an unfair labour practice, and company unions have since been on the decline.

Compensation:
    Recompense to employees for lost wages due to delays, injury on the job, etc. Workers' compensation is paid to workers temporarily or permanently disabled by an accident in the workplace. Total compensation may refer to all forms of payment for work done, i.e.. wages plus pensions and fringe benefits.

Conciliation and Mediation:
    A process that attempts to resolve labour disputes by compromise or voluntary agreement. By contrast with arbitration, the mediator. conciliator, or conciliation commissioner does not bring in a binding award, and the parties are free to accept or reject the recommendation. The conciliator is often a government official whose report contains recommendations and is made public. Conciliation is a prerequisite to legal strike/lockout action. The mediator is usually a private individual appointed as a last resort after conciliation has failed to prevent or put an end to a strike. Preventive mediation is intervention by a neutral third party during the closed period of a collective agreement to assist in resolving contentious problems, before they reach the bargaining table.

Confederation of Canadian Unions (CCU):
    Federation of unions dedicated to a Canadian union movement independent of the internationals. Founded in 1969 by B.C. pulp and paper and aluminum workers. it has affiliated unions in the five provinces west of Quebec.

Confederation of National Trade Unions (CNTU):
    A Quebec-based central labour body.

Consumer Price Index:
    A Statistics Canada monthly statistical indicator which follows changes in retail prices of selected consumer items in major Canadian cities. The index and its monthly fluctuations are employed in calculating COIA payments (cost of living allowance) in collective agreements.

Contract:
    A collective agreement. (See Collective Agreement.)

Contracting out:
    The use by employers of workers outside their own work force to perform tasks previously performed by the employers' own employees.

Cooling-off Period:
    A required period of delay (fixed by federal or provincial law) following legal notice of a pending labour dispute, during which there con be neither strike nor lockout. It follows upon the unsatisfactory conclusion of compulsory conciliation attempts. Wages and conditions of work ore usually frozen under conditions set by the previous contract. Every effort is mode during this time to settle the dispute.

Cost of Living:
    Relationship of the retail cost of consumer goods and services to the purchasing power of wages.

Craft:
    A manual occupation that requires extensive training and a high degree of skill, such as carpentry, plumbing, linotype operation.

Craft Union:
    A union that limits its members to a particular craft. Most craft unions today, however, have broadened their jurisdiction to include many occupations and skills not closely related to the originally designated craft.

Cyclical Unemployment:
    Unemployment caused by fluctuations in the economy, i.e.. loss of jobs due to a downward trend in the business cycle. Cyclical unemployment is of for greater magnitude than seasonal. technological or frictional unemployment.

Decertification:
    The procedure for removing a union's official recognition as exclusive bargaining representative.

Discrimination (at work):
    Unequal treatment of persons, whether through hiring or employment rules or through variation of the conditions of employment, because of sex, age, marital status, race, creed, union membership, or other activities. In many cases discrimination is an unfair labour practice under federal or provincial laws.

Dismissal Pay:
    (See Severance Pay.)

Dispute Resolution System:
    The process and procedures for applying third-party assistance to collective bargaining parties to reach an agreement on the matter(s) in dispute. The notion of dispute resolution includes both legislative and non-legislative elements. There is a range of possible stages in the dispute resolution process, and various mechanisms (both voluntary and compulsory) con be used to this end.

Earnings:
    Compensation for services rendered or time worked.

Economic Council of Canada:
    An economic research and policy advisory agency created by an Act of Parliament in 1963. Its members represented business, labour agriculture, and other interests until 1976, when labour representatives withdrew to protest the government's anti-inflation program.

Employee:
    A person working in an industry or enterprise who is entitled to wages for labour or services performed. Not included are persons employed in certain professions or who exercise managerial functions.

Employer:
    A person or firm having control over the employment of workers and the payment of their wages.

Equal Pay for Equal Work:
    The principle that wage rates should be based on the job, rather than upon the sex, race, etc., of the worker, or upon other factors not related to his/her ability to perform.

Equal Pay for Work of Equal Value:
    The principle that workers who ore performing work of equal value must receive the some pay for work in the same establishment. Equal value is determined by an analysis of the composite skill, effort, and responsibility required in the performance of such work and the conditions under which the work is performed.

Essential Industries:
    Industries which render such important and necessarily uninterrupted service to the general public as to warrant special regulation to prevent the stoppage of their operations by labour disputes.

Exclusivity:
    The right acquired by an employee organization to be the sole representative of the bargaining unit. Exclusive representation is usually provided by labour relations statutes, although some statutes governing public employee labour relations provide alternatives such as proportional representation. Proportional representation accords bargaining rights to one or more organizations in direct relation to the number of members in the bargaining unit who belong to or vote for the organization.

Expedited Arbitration:
    Used independently or in conjunction with the term "industry arbitration", it encompasses systems used in specific industries whereby a "permanent" arbitrator or panel of arbitrators is selected to hear grievances arising under one or more collective agreements over a period of time, as well as any procedures or mechanisms designed to expedite the grievance arbitration process.

Fact-finding:
    A formal/informal dispute resolution procedure for investigating and reporting on the facts of a situation, such as a work stoppage effecting the public.

Fair Employment Practices:
    The practice of employers or unions of offering workers equal employment opportunities regardless of race. national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, marital status, conviction for which a pardon has been granted, or physical handicap.

Featherbedding:
    The practice of extending work through the limitation of production, the amount of work to be performed or other make-work arrangements. Many such practices have come about as a consequence of workers being laid off through mechanization or technological change, which has led unions to seek some method of retaining workers even though there may be no work for them to perform.

Federal Jurisdiction:
    Authority of the federal government exercised over employees or employers in any enterprise of an interprovincial, national or international nature, such as air transport. broadcasting, banks. pipelines, railways. highway transport, shipping. and grain elevators. Generally speaking. all other enterprises tall within the jurisdiction of provincial or territorial governments.

Federation of Labour:
    An allied group of unions in one or several industries, covering a geographical area, such os a district, province or country. An example of a national federation is the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). National federations may join to form confederations or international federations such as the international Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU).

Final Offer Selection:
    A form of arbitration used in the United States and more recently in Canada. usually otter a predetermined period of unsuccessful negotiation. Both sides put forward final offers. one of which an arbitrator or board of arbitrators must choose.

Flexible Work-week or Flextime:
    A system which provides workers with some freedom in deciding when they start and finish work, subject to the requirement that they are present during certain "core" hours and fulfill a minimum attendance requirement each day.

Foreman:
    A supervisory employee, usually classed as a part of management. A working foreman or leadman is one who regularly performs production work or other work unrelated to supervisory duties.

Free Riders:
    Non-union employees who share in whatever benefits result from union activities without sharing union expenses, or union members who are 'delinquent' in paying their dues.

Freeze:
    Government action restricting wage, salary and price increases in order to stabilize the economy.

Frictional Unemployment:
    Unemployment due to time lost in changing jobs rather than a lack of job opportunities. Frictional unemployment would not be reduced significantly even if there were on increased demand for workers, but might be reduced by improving the information available to job seekers about vacancies.

Fringe Benefits:
    Non-wage benefits such as paid vacations, pensions, health and welfare provisions, life insurance, etc., the cost of which is borne in whole or in part by the employer. Such benefits have accounted for on increasing percentage of worker income and labour costs in recent years and have thus become an important aspect of collective bargaining.

Garnishment:
    Attachment of an employee's wages in the hands of the employer to pay a creditor.

General Strike:
    A general strike is a cessation of work by all union members in a geographical area, usually as a political protest.

Grievance:
    A statement of dissatisfaction. usually by an individual but sometimes by the union or management, concerning interpretation of a collective bargaining agreement or traditional work practices. The grievance machinery (i.e., the method of dealing with individual grievances) is nearly always spelled out in the contract. If a grievance cannot be handled at the shop level (where most of them are settled). and the grievance arises out of on interpretation of the contract, it must be resolved by arbitration.

Guaranteed Wage Plan:
    A system under which on employer (a) contributes to a fund used to pay additional wages during slack periods or (b) contractually guarantees a specified number of days of work during a specific period.

Handicapped Workers:
    Workers whose earning capacity is impaired by age, physical or mental deficiency, or injury. To encourage their employment, they are sometimes given special treatment in labour statutes, for example, by permitting employment at subminimum rates.

Harmony Pledge (Co-operation Clause):
    A clause in a union contract in which the employer and the union agree to co-operate on some specific subject.

Hazardous Occupations:
    Jobs which are classified as dangerous by provincial or federal laws, and in which employment of miners is restricted or forbidden. Federal legislation provides workers with the right to refuse work that is considered hazardous to health or safety.

Hiring Hall:
    An office, usually run by the union, or jointly by employers and union, for referring workers to jobs or for the actual hiring operation.

Holidays:
    Days established by law or custom for which workers receive pay while absent from work. Statutory holidays are established by law. When the customary day tolls on a weekend a moveable holiday may be substituted for it on another day.

Hot Cargo:
    Merchandise shipped from a struck plant or by an employer on a union boycott list.

Idle Time:
    Nonproductive time resulting from waiting for work, machinery or other breakdowns. and the like.

Illegal Strike:
    A strike called in violation of the law. Strikes are generally illegal when they occur as a result of a dispute over the interpretation of a collective agreement currently in force, when they occur before conciliation procedures have been complied with, or when certification proceedings are under way.

Independent Union:
    A labour organization which is not affiliated with and remains independent of any federation.

Individual Bargaining:
    The right of individual members of a unit for which an exclusive representative has been designated for collective bargaining purposes to present, as individuals, grievances that are not contrary to the existing union contract.

Industrial Conflict:
    A general term used to describe the broad areas of disagreement and difficulty between labour and management (though the government may also be involved). The strike is the most common and most visible manifestation of conflict. It may also take the form of peaceful bargaining and grievance handling, boycotts. political action and restriction of output, industrial sabotage, absenteeism or labour turnover. Several of these forms, such as restriction of output, absenteeism and turnover, may take place on an individual as well as on on organized basis, and as such they constitute alternatives to collective action.

Industrial Democracy:
    The involvement of workers (or their representatives) in decision making within industry. The machinery of industrial democracy may involve such devices as joint labour-management committees, works councils or worker representatives in the boardroom. The development of collective bargaining is viewed by many as providing the machinery through which industrial democracy may be developed. (See also Quality of Working Life and Worker Participation.)

Industrial Health:
    A branch of public health which concerns itself with the health and well-being of workers. A body of rules and practices has evolved, designed to eliminate hazards and industrial fatigue in the workplace.

Industrial Relations:
    A broad term that may refer to relations between unions and management, unions themselves, management and government, unions and government, or between employers and unorganized employees. Within this definition, specific attention may be directed toward industrial conflict or its regulation through the formulation of work rules or agreements.

Industrial Union:
    A union organized on the basis of product, i.e., along industrial lines: in contrast to a craft union organized along skill lines.

Industry-wide Bargaining:
    Collective bargaining that takes place on an industry-wide basis: terms and conditions of employment agreed upon cover all or a major portion of the organized employees in the industry.

Initiation Fees:
    Fees that must be paid by new members of a union or by former employees who have left the union and wish to return. Initiation fees serve several purposes: (1) a source of revenue: (2] an equity payment by new members to compensate for the efforts older members have made in building the union: (3) a device to restrict membership [if initiation fees ore very high) in those unions desiring to remain small in order to protect job opportunities.

Injunction:
    A court order restraining an employer or union from committing or engaging in certain acts. An ex parte injunction is one in which the application for an injunction is made in the absence of the party affected.

Interest Dispute:
    A dispute arising from the negotiation ct a new collective agreement or the revision of on existing agreement on expiry.

International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU):
    An international trade union body, formed in 1949, composed of a large number of national central labour bodies such as the Canadian Labour Congress. It represents 50 million members in 96 non-communist countries.

International Labour Office:
    The secretariat of the International Labour Organization, which administers and co-ordinates the activities of the ILO.

International labour Organization (IL0):
    A tripartite world body representing labour, management and government. Since 1946 one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations. It disseminates labour information to workers of all countries and sets minimum international labour standards. called "conventions," offered to member nations for ratification. Its headquarters are in Geneva. Switzerland.

International Union:
    An American union with some of its members in Canada.

Job Classification:
    A system designed to create a hierarchy of jobs based on such factors as skill, responsibility or experience, time and effort. The determination of the value of each job in relation to other jobs in the workplace, based on the material and content of the job and such factors as education, skill, experience and responsibility. Often used for the purpose of arriving at a system of wage differentials between jobs or classes of jobs.

Job Description:
    A description of the nature of a particular job, ifs relation to other jobs, the working conditions, the degree of responsibility and the of her qualifications called for.

Job Enrichment:
    The attempt to make jobs more rewarding and less monotonous for the individual worker. Procedures used may include job enlargement (including more responsibilities on the job, or job rotation (allowing the worker to move from one job to another at specific intervals). (See also Quality of Working Life.)

Job Rotation:
    Used as a means to provide variety and experience for employees while creating back-up potential for performance of individual jobs.

Job Security:
    A worker's sense of having continuity of employment resulting from the possession of special skills, seniority, or protection provided in a collective agreement against unforeseen technological change.

Job Training:
    A procedure whereby workers, while working, learn how to perform particular jobs. (See also "Apprentice.")

Joint Bargaining:
    Two or more unions joining forces to negotiate an agreement with a single employer.

Journeyman:
    A craft or skilled worker who has completed apprenticeship training and been admitted to full membership in his or her craft. Examples: journeyman plumber. journeyman carpenter.

Jurisdiction (Union):
    The area of jobs, skills. occupations and industries within which a union organizes and engages in collective bargaining. International unions often assert exclusive claim to particular areas of employment. Jurisdiction has always been a problem in organized labour, since two or more unions often claim the some jurisdiction. The CLC has attempted to cope with the problem by having affiliated unions sign no-raiding agreements, in which member unions agree not to trespass on one another's jurisdiction. These agreements, however, have not been completely observed. In the case of local unions, jurisdiction refers to a region within which the local union exercises authority.

Jurisdictional Dispute - Inter-union Dispute:
    A conflict between two or more unions over the right of their membership to perform certain types of work. If the conflict develops into a work stoppage, it is celled a jurisdictional strike.

Labour Canada:
    The federal government department responsible for disseminating information on labour-related issues and administering labour legislation within federal jurisdiction. The department's aims are to promote stable industrial relations and establish appropriate labour standards and occupational safety and health in the federal jurisdiction, to promote labour-management co-operation throughout Canada. and to co-ordinate the Canadian contribution to the improvement of labour conditions throughout the world. The government of each province has a department of labour to administer labour laws in its jurisdiction.

Labour College of Canada:
    Bilingual institution of higher education for trade union members, operated jointly by the Canadian Labour Congress. McGill University and the University de Montreal for the purpose of providing a training ground for future trade union leaders.

Labour Council:
    An organization formed by a labour federation at the city level. It is organized and functions in the same manner as a provincial federation but within a city. Finances ore often obtained through a per capita tax on affiliates.

Labour Education:
    Education by unions of union members or officials in industrial relations subjects.

Labour Federation:
    An association of unions which, while retaining their autonomy. co-operate to achieve common goals.

Labour Force:
    All persons 15 and over who are either employed, temporarily idle, or unemployed and seeking employment.

Labour Law:
    That part of the law which treats of persons in their capacity as workers or employers; the governing of labour relations, labour and employer organizations. employment practices and conditions in the workplace.

Labour-Management Committee:
    Any committee having representation from both management and labour: discussion subjects may include safety and health. productivity, quality of working life, training, etc.

Labour Relations Board:
    A board, usually provided for under the provincial labour relations acts, which is responsible for certification of trade unions, the inclusion of dispute-settling provisions in collective agreements and investigation of complaints of bad faith in collective bargaining. (See also Canada Labour Relations Board.)

Labour Turnover:
    Rate at which workers move into and out of employment, usually expressed as a percentage based on the number of employees leaving a plant or industry during a certain time over the average number of employees in the plant or industry during the same period.

Layoff:
    Temporary, prolonged, or final separation from employment as a result of a lack of work.

Leave of Absence:
    Paid or unpaid time away from work, with employer's permission, to meet family or civic responsibilities. Common forms of leave include maternity leave, bereavement or funeral leave and leave for jury duty.

Line Employee:
    An employee whose duties are directly related to the production and distribution of the company’s products or services.

Local Union:
    The unit of labour organization formed in a particular locality, through which members participate directly in the affairs of their organization, such as the election of local officers, the financial and other business matters of a local, relations with their employer(s), and the collection of members' dues.

Lockout:
    The closing of a place of employment, a suspension of work. or a refusal by an employer to continue to employ a number of his employees, undertaken with a view to compelling them to agree to conditions of employment on his terms or to refrain from exercising their existing rights and privileges.

Maintenance of Membership:
    A provision in a collective agreement stating that no worker need join the union as a condition of employment, but that all workers who voluntarily join must maintain their membership for the duration of the agreement as a condition of continued employment. (See Union Security.)

Management Rights:
    These encompass those aspects of the employer's operations that do not require discussion with or concurrence by the union, or rights reserved to management which are not subject to collective bargaining Such rights may include matters of hiring, production, manufacturing and sales. The resistance of many managers to innovations such as industrial democracy may frequently be traced to concern over the erosion of management prerogatives that such innovations sometimes entail.

Master Agreement:
    A collective bargaining agreement which serves as the pattern for major terms and conditions for an entire industry or segment thereof. Local terms may be negotiated in addition to the terms set forth in the master contract.

Mediation:
    (See Conciliation and Mediation.)

Mediation-Arbitration (Med-Arb):
    A dispute resolution procedure where the mediator is armed with the power to settle unresolved issues by binding arbitration in the event they are not settled through mediation. In such cases, the right to strike or lock out is waived by the parties.

Minimum Wage:
    The rate of pay established by statute or by minimum wage order as the lowest wage that may be paid. whether for a particular type of work, to a particular class of workers. or to any worker.

Modified Union Shop:
    A place of work in which non-union workers already employed need not join the union, but all new employees must join, and those already members must remain in the union. (See Union Security Clauses, Union Shop.)

Monopoly:
    Control of a commodity or service in a particular market which enables the one having control to raise the price substantially above that fixed by free competition.

Moonlighting:
    The holding by a single individual of more than one paid job at the same time.

Multinational Bargaining:
    Bargaining between an international union or union federation and a company whose operations are international in scope. These companies, known as multinationals, pose many unique problems for organized labour. In particular. their international status gives them scope for transferring production from one country to another on a temporary or permanent basis in order to use non-union employees or break a strike.

National Union:
    A union whose membership and locals are confined within one country.

Nepotism:
    The practice of giving promotions, basic employment, higher earnings, and other benefits to employees who are relatives of management.

Open Shop:
    A shop in which union membership is not required as a condition of securing or retaining employment.

Organized Labour:
    Consists of all unions and workers’ organizations whose principal objects are the regulation of relations between workers and employers and the protection of the interests of workers: the union movement as a whole.

Overtime:
    Hours worked in excess of the maximum regular number of hours fixed by statute, union contract, or custom. Clock overtime is a premium, paid for work during specified regular working hours, required by collective agreement.

Paid Educational Leave:
    Leave for educational purposes granted to a worker and paid for by the employer or government.

Part-time Employee:
    An employee who works fewer than the normally scheduled weekly or monthly hours of work established for persons doing similar work. There are different kinds of part-time work. For example, an employee may work regular hours that are less than full-time, or may be "on call" and work for a firm occasionally. as needed.

Pattern Bargaining:
    A procedure in collective bargaining whereby a union seeks to obtain equal or identical terms from other employers as in an agreement already obtained from an important company.

Pension Plan:
    Arrangement to provide definite sums of money for payment to employees following retirement. A final-earnings plan is a pension based upon length of service and average earnings for a stated period just before retirement. A contributory plan is financed by both the employer and the employees.

Per Capita Tax:
    Regular payments by a local to its national or international union. labour council or federation. or by a union to its central labour body. It is based on the number of members.

Picket Line:
    A group of workers [pickets] posted at plant entrances and gates, or marching near the entrances and gates, to inform employees of the existence of a labour dispute and to persuade and influence them not to enter the premises or do business with the employer.

Picketing:
    Patrolling near the employer's place of business by union members pickets -- to publicize the existence of a labour dispute, persuade workers to join a strike or join the union, discourage customers from buying or using the employer's goods or services, etc.

Piece Rate:
    A predetermined amount paid to an employee for each unit of output.

Premium Pay:
    A wage rate higher than straight time, payable for overtime work. work on holidays or scheduled days off, etc., or for work under extraordinary conditions such as dangerous, dirty or unpleasant work.

Preventive Mediation:
    [See Conciliation and Mediation.)

Probationary Period:
    The initial period of employment during which a worker is on trial and may be discharged with or without cause.

Productivity:
    Output per unit of input: a measure of efficiency.

Profit-sharing Plan:
    An arrangement under which employees receive a percentage of the employer's profits in addition to their wages. A cash payment plan is one under which the employees' share of the profits is paid immediately in cash. A deferred payment plan is one under which the employer deposits the employees' portion of the profits with a trustee to be paid to them at some time in the future, depending upon conditions specified in the trust. Under some schemes, profits are distributed in the form of shores. Also sometimes called gain sharing.

Quality Circle:
   A voluntary group of production workers in a workplace who meet often with management authorization or assistance, to attempt to resolve problems affecting quality control, production and productivity.

Quality of Working Life:
A process designed to assist employers, unions, and employees in implementing joint problem-solving approaches to improve the quality of working life within organizations in the interests of improved labour-management relations, organization effectiveness and employee work satisfaction.

Raiding:
An attempt by one union to induce members of another union to defect and join its ranks. [See Jurisdiction (Union).]

Rand Formula:
A provision of a collective agreement stating that non-union employees in the bargaining unit must pay the union a sum equal to union fees as a condition of continuing employment. Non-union workers ore not, however. required to join the union.

Rank and File:
individual union members who have no special status either as officers or shop stewards in the plant.

Ratification:
Formal approval of a newly negotiated agreement by vote of the union members affected, as well as by employers or employer associations.

Real Wages:
The actual purchasing power of wages. Often computed by dividing money wages by the cost-of-living index. Example: if money wages increase from $1.00 to $1.25 an hour, but the cost-of-living also increases by 25 per cent, real wages have remained constant. It is by looking at the changes in real wages that changes in living standards can be observed. (See also COLA Clause.)

Recognition:
Employer acceptance of a union as the exclusive bargaining representative for the employees in the bargaining unit. (See also Certification.)

Redundancy Pay:
(See Severance Pay.)

Reopener:
A provision in a collective agreement which permits either side to reopen the contract at a specified time, or under special circumstances, prior to its expiration, in order to bargain on stated subjects such as wage increases, pensions, health and welfare schemes, etc.

Representation Vote:
A vote ordered by a Labour Relations Board to determine whether employees in on appropriate bargaining unit wish to have a particular union represent them as their bargaining agent.

Residual Rights:
Those rights not spelled out in a collective agreement, generally considered to be management rights.

Rest Period:
Specified short period, sometimes required by law, during which workers are allowed to cease work, usually on company time.

Retirement:
Permanent withdrawal from the labour force. Delayed retirement is withdrawal after the normal retirement date, usually with the consent or at the request of the employer. Disability retirement is withdrawal before the normal retirement age because of physical incapacity. Early retirement is withdrawal before the normal retirement date.

Retraining:
The establishment of programs and training activities to educate employees in new skills or knowledge made necessary by changing technology, work rotation, reassignment, etc.

Rights Dispute:
A dispute arising from the interpretation or application of one or more of the provisions of an existing collective agreement.

Right-to-Work:
The right of an employee to refrain from joining a union and to keep his job without union membership or activity.

Safety and Health Committee:
 A committee composed of workers and management set up for the purpose of promoting a greater concern for improvement of safety and health in the workplace.

Scab:
(See Strikebreakers.)

Scanlon Plan:
 An incentive plan developed by Joseph Scanlon, one-time research director of the United Steelworkers and later on staff at the Massachusetts institute of Technology. The plan is designed to achieve greater production through increased efficiency with the opportunity for the accrued savings achieved to be distributed among the workers.

Seasonal Unemployment:
 Unemployment that is due to the seasonal nature of the work. Agricultural workers, lumber workers and some construction workers are unemployed for a part of each year because of weather conditions.

Semi-skilled Labour:
Workers who have acquired some proficiency at particular jobs but whose activities do not come within any of the traditional skilled crafts.

Seniority:
An employee's standing in the plant, based on length of continuous employment. Employees with the greatest seniority are usually the last to be laid off (see Layoff and Bumping) and are often given certain advantages in the matters of promotion and selection of holiday periods based on seniority.

Severance Pay, Dismissal Pay, Redundancy Pay:
 A lump-sum payment by an employer to a worker whose employment is permanently ended, usually for reasons beyond the worker's control. Such payments are in addition to any back wages due to the worker.

Shift:
The stated daily working period for a group of employees, e.g.. 8 a.m, to 4 p.m.. 4 p.m, to midnight, midnight to 8 a.m. (See Split Shift.)

Shift Differential:
Added pay for work performed at other than regular daytime hours.

Shop Committee:
A committee of employees elected by fellow workers to represent them in considering grievances and related matters.

Shop Steward:
(See Union Steward.)

Sick Leave:
Time off allowed for absence because of illness.

Slowdown:
 A deliberate lessening of work effort without an actual strike. in order to force concessions from the employer. (See also Work to Rule.)

Speed-up:
A union term describing situations in which workers are required to increase production without a compensating increase in wages. (See also Stretchout.)

Spilt Shift:
Division of an employee's daily working time into two or more working periods, to meet peak needs.

Staff:
 (1) Employees of an organization. (2) Workers with administrative duties.

Standard of Living:
 Conditions under which a person or group of persons lives at a particular time in a particular locality, considered in relation to expenses and income.

Straw-boss:
A sub-foreman.

Stretch-out:
A union term describing a situation in which workers are required to assume additional work duties, such as tending more machines, without additional compensation. (See also Speed-up.)

Strike:
A cessation of work or a refusal to work or to continue work by employees in combination or in accordance with a common understanding for the purpose of compelling an employer to agree to terms or conditions of employment. Strikes usually occur as a last resort when collective bargaining and all other means have failed to obtain the employees’ demands. Except in special cases, strikes are legal only when a collective agreement is not in force. A Rotating or Hit-and-Run Strike is a strike organized in such a way that only part of the employees stop work at any given time, each group tolling its turn. A Sympathy Strike is a strike by workers not directly involved in a labour dispute: an attempt to show labour solidarity and bring pressure on an employer in a labour dispute. A Wildcat Strike is a strike that violates the collective agreement and is not authorized by the union.

Strike Benefits:
Union payments, usually a small proportion of regular income, to workers during a strike. Many unions do not supply monetary aid but distribute groceries and other types of aid to needy families of strikers.

Strikebreakers:
Persons who continue to work during a strike or who accept employment to replace workers on strike. By filling strikers’ jobs, they may weaken or break the strike. Also known as scabs.

Strike Fund:
Funds held by international or local unions for allocation during a strike to cover costs of benefits, legal fees, publicity. and the like. Some international unions assess each member a smell amount each month to build the fund. Other unions use the international's general fund. The amount of the fund often determines the staying power of the workers and, consequently, the success or failure of the strike. Strike funds are often designated in union financial statements as "emergency", "Reserve" or "special" funds.

Strike Notice:
Formal announcement by a group of workers to their employer or to an appropriate government agency that on a certain date they will go on strike.

Strike Vote:
A vote conducted among employees in a bargaining unit on the question of whether they should go on strike.

Struck-Work Clause:
A clause in a collective bargaining agreement which permits employees to refuse to perform work formed out by a strike-bound plant.

Successor Rights:
The rights, privileges, and duties of a union or employer that succeeds another by reason of a merger, sale, amalgamation. or transfer of jurisdiction.

Supervisor:
An employee having certain management rights, such as the right to hire or fire or to recommend such action.

Supplemental Unemployment Benefit(SUB) Plans:
Private plans providing compensation for wage loss to laid-off workers, usually in addition to public unemployment insurance payments.

Sweat Shop:
A factory where wage rates and sanitation. safety and working conditions do not meet accepted standards.

Sweetheart Contract:
 Term of derision for an agreement negotiated by an employer and a company-dominated union granting terms and conditions of employment more favourable to the contracting union than the employer would be willing to grant to a rival non-dominated labour organization. the usual purpose being to keep the rival out.

Take-home Pay:
 The net paycheck after tax and other deductions have been made.

Technological Change:
 Technical progress in industrial methods, for example, the introduction of labour-saving machinery or new production techniques. Such change can result in manpower reductions. (See Automation.)

Technological Unemployment:
 Unemployment that results from the introduction of labour-saving machinery.

Termination:
 The ending or severance of a worker's employment with an employer, whether by layoff, discharge or voluntary severance.

Time-and-a-half:
Wage payment at one and one-half times the employee's regular rate of pay or of the statutory minimum rate of pay for all hours worked in excess of a specified number per day or week.

Time Card:
The record sheet on which, either manually or mechanically, a worker's attendance is reported.

Time Clock:
 Clock with a mechanism to indicate on a paycard. by punch hole or other means, the time of arrival and departure of employees.

Trade Union:
(See Union.)

Tripartitism (Tripartism):
 Consultation between representatives of labour, management and government to consider issues of mutual interest.

Trusteeship:
(See Union Trusteeship.)

Unemployed:
    Persons who do not have work. The official definition, for unemployment insurance purposes, describes the unemployed as those persons who during the reference week: (a) were without work, had actively looked for work in the past four weeks (ending with reference week), and were available for work: (b) had not actively looked for work in the past four weeks but had been on layoff for twenty-six weeks or less and were available for work: (c) had not actively looked for work in the past four weeks but had a new job to start in four weeks or less from reference week, and were available for work.

Unemployment Insurance:
    A federal program whereby eligible unemployed persons receive cash benefits for a specified period of time. These benefits are paid out of funds derived from employer, employee and government contributions.

Unfair Labour Practice:
    A practice on the part of either union or management that violates provisions of federal or provincial labour law.

Unfair Labour Practice Proceeding:
    A proceeding before a labour relations board to determine whether an employer or a union has committed unfair labour practices as charged.

Union:
    The unit of labour organization which organizes and charters locals in the industries or trades as defined in its constitution, sets general policy for its locals, assists them in the conduct of their affairs, and is the medium for co-ordinating their activities. Finances are obtained from the locals through per capita dues. Unions usually hold regular conventions of delegates from the locals at which general policy is set and at which officers are elected. A union may be affiliated with a larger labour organization (e.g.. congress, federation. labour council).

Union Dues:
    Periodic payments by union members for the financial support of their union.

Union Label; Bug:
    A tag, imprint or design affixed to a product to show it was made by union labour.

Union Local:
    (See Local Union.)

Union Organizer:
    A person who solicits workers to join a union.

Union Scale:
    A rate of pay set by a union contract as the minimum rate for a job, whether or not paid to a union member.

Union Security Clauses:
    Provisions in collective agreements designed to protect the institutional authority of the union,

    Examples of union security clauses are: closed shop, an agreement between union and employer that the employer may hire only union members and retain only union members in the shop; preferential hiring, an agreement that an employer, in hiring new workers, will give preference to union members: union shop, an agreement that the employer may hire anyone he wants, but all workers must join the union within a specified time after being hired and retain membership as a condition of continuing employment; maintenance of membership, a provision that no worker must join as a condition of employment, but all workers who voluntarily join must maintain their membership for the duration of the contract in order to keep their jobs. (See also Checkoff, Closed Shop, Maintenance of Membership, Rand Formula, Union Shop, Modified Union Shop.)

Union Shop:
    A place of work where every worker covered by the collective agreement must become and remain a member of the union. New workers need not be union members to be hired, but must join after a certain number of days. (See Union Security Clauses, Modified Union Shop.)

Union Steward:
    Union member ordinarily elected to represent workers in a particular shop or department, His or her functions may include collecting dues, soliciting for new members, announcing meetings, receiving, investigating, and attempting the adjustment of grievances. and education.

Union Trusteeship:
    Describes a situation in which a national or international union suspends the normal operations of a union local and takes over control of the local's assets and the administration of its internal affairs. The constitutions of many international unions authorize international officers to establish trusteeships over local unions in order to prevent corruption, mismanagement and other abuses.

Unjust Dismissal:
    Dismissal of an employee in on arbitrary or unjust fashion, contrary to statute or in contravention of a collective agreement.

Unorganized Workers:
    Workers who do not belong to any union.

Vacation:
    Paid leave for a relatively extended period. Employers are required by law to give employees paid annual vacations, the length of time being dependent on length of service and provisions of the collective agreement.

Voluntary Recognition:
    A voluntary agreement (not involving the formal certification process) between on employer and a trade union to recognize the trade union as the exclusive bargaining agent of the employees in a defined bargaining unit.

Wage and Price Controls:
    Government effort to restrain wage and price increases. usually through the establishment of some form of review or control agency (e.g.. Anti-inflation Board).

Wage Determination:
    The practices and procedures used to fix wage rates in collective bargaining.

Wage Differentials:
    Variations among wage rates due to a variety of factors - job content, location, skill, industry, company. sex, etc. Unions are frequently concerned with eliminating wage differentials not based on the degree of effort or skill required in a job but considered discriminatory.

Wage Parity:
    Equality of wages between workers in the same occupation but in different geographical areas: for workers in the same sector, e.g.. the public sector, but in different occupations, e.g.. policemen and firemen: or for workers in the same occupation but in different companies or countries.

Walkout:
    A spontaneous, co-ordinated work stoppage.

White-collar Workers:
    Term used to describe non-manual workers, e.g.. office. clerical, sales, supervisory, professional and technical workers. To be contrasted with blue-collar workers, e.g.. maintenance and production workers.

Wider-based Bargaining:
    (See Broader-based Bargaining.)

Wildcat Strike:
    A spontaneous and short-lived work stoppage, not authorized by the union. It is usually a reaction to a specific problem in the workplace, rather than a planned strike action.

Work Restriction:
    Limitation ordinarily placed by unions on the types or amounts of work that union members can do.

Work Rules:
    Rules regulating on-the-job conditions of work, usually incorporated in the collective agreement. Examples (1) limiting production work of supervisory personnel: (2) limiting the assignment of work outside an employee's classification: (3) requiring a minimum number of workers on a job: (4) limiting the use of labour-saving methods and equipment.

Work Sharing:
    Plan by which available work is distributed as evenly as possible among all workers when production slackens. or by which working time is generally reduced to prevent layoffs. Under the Canada Employment and immigration Commission's Work Sharing Program. in effect since 1982. unemployment insurance benefits help compensate workers for the reduction in wages caused by such an arrangement. Under the same program. workers affected by work sharing may take part in appropriate vocational training.

Work Stoppage:
    A cessation of work resulting from a strike or lockout.

Work To Rule:
    A practice where workers obey to the letter all laws and rules pertaining to their work, thereby effecting a slowdown. The practice also frequently involves a refusal to perform duties which, though related. are not explicitly included in the job description. (See also Slowdown.)

Worker Directors:
    Representation of employee interests by persons, usually union officials, on the board of directors of a corporation. Practised in a number of European countries, notably West Germany.

Worker Participation:
    The opportunity for workers to share, either directly or indirectly through elected representatives. in the decision-making process. Various degrees of participation may be identified according to the amount of influence that workers are allowed to exert. Thus, communication refers to the simple conveyance of information to workers either before or after decisions have been made. Consultation involves sounding out workers' opinions, usually before decisions are made. Co-determination refers to a system under which workers are able to participate in a joint decision-making process. Participation is often used as a synonym for industrial democracy.

Workers' Compensation:
    Compensation payable by employers collectively for injuries sustained by employees in the course of their employment. Each province has a workers' compensation act.

Working Conditions:
    Conditions pertaining to the worker's job environment, such as hours of work, safety, paid holidays and vacations, rest periods, free clothing or uniforms, possibilities of advancement etc. Many of these are included in the collective agreement and subject to collective bargaining.

Works Council:
    A form of industrial democracy found primarily in European countries. consisting of plant level committees of workers or both workers and management. Committees are involved with issues ranging from the basic rights of employees. to plans relevant to employee welfare, to full co-determination in areas such as personnel.