The Upper Canada University is a small University in the outskirts of Toronto. It has a student population of 8500. It was unionized in 1996. This has resulted in to very acrimonious relations within the University leading to at least two strikes. This has resulted in many negotiations. The last round of negotiation resulted in a new collective agreement beginning July 1, 2008. This did last long though. Increasing costs and the shrinking of provincial grants have been the biggest contributing factors so far.
The deteriorating financial situation behooved the University to look for a replacement for the retiring University President from the private sector. Lorna Desmond, an experienced corporate manager with vast knowledge in management in different companies was chosen. The Faculty of Upper Canada University was not amused with the choice. Even though Desmond managed to improve the status of affairs in the University, many in the faculty remained skeptical of her understanding of the University due to her private sector background.
In early October, there was a strange turn of events when it was concluded by the University that it faced a financial crisis. This was made clear by the dwindling amounts of the endowment fund among other things. The Upper Canada University therefore suggested that it had to trim the fixed operating costs such as heating and maintenance, faculty and staff salaries, and administrative costs. This did not go well with the staff members of the faculty. They began to criticize the administration making use of the classroom and the mailing system. Notable among them was Mr. Thorsen Gunnar, the head of faculty of Political Science. In his discussion with the President, he made it clear that he had the right to complain. It was evident that the faculty felt aggrieved by the actions of the management by trying to gag them on how to pass information.
Notable among the issues which brought conflict was the utilization of the automatic “Out of Office” reply for email. The management felt that the faculty members and, more especially Mr. Thorsen were using it to incite students. It was therefore necessary to come up with a way of arbitration. It was agreed that students should be engaged in discussing the financial situation by the University association. They gave clear cut reasons for this. The working hours of the university workers were also clearly outlined. A collective agreement was drafted which contained among other things the rights of the management, academic freedom as well as academic responsibilities. Finally, the utility if the emails by the Professor David Weatherhead were established.
Reliable Insurance Company is a general property and casualty insurance company .Its headquarters is located in Saskatoon. The Reliable Insurance offices in Saskatchewan are under the Saskatchewan Trade Union Act. The non-managerial staff in the Regina office is under their second collective agreement.
This case is about Jeremy Haden, 26 years old Client Assistance clerk. He joined Reliable Insurance from a bank and has been found to be very hardworking and well behaved. He is not married. Hilary Gordon, the Director of Human Resources for Reliable is married with no children. She has worked for the company for ten years.
When Sean Whetmore, a Client Assistance Supervisor left Reliable to continue with his education, Jeremy among other workers applied for the position. Hilary Gordon came up with a selection committee which under took the recruitment exercise. Among the four shortlisted after the initial review of resumes and applications were Jeremy Hadden and Jennifer Brown. The four were interviewed by the committee. Jeremy Hadden and Jennifer Brown were the top contenders for the position. When Jeremy learnt that he was not selected, he was upset since he felt he had many things which placed him at a better position than Jennifer.
A meeting was arranged between Jeremy and Oliver Benson, pursuant to his union rights. Bob Burns, Jeremy’s Union steward and Hilary Gordon were present. It was learnt that Jeremy had been dropped after his FriendsOnline account was checked by the interviewing panel. They found out, among other things, that Jeremy loved using vulgar language which demonstrates immaturity. Jeremy filed two grievances. He alleged violation of the jobs-posting provision and also violation of his privacy buy improperly accessing his Friends Online site. These were herald by one arbitrator.
The arbitration in these two cases faced two fundamental challenges. Number one problem which is most obvious is the lack of laws governing the use of the online platforms of communication (Thomas & Russell 65). In the Upper Canada University case, the use of email has no clear guidelines on what content should be shared with the students. This leads to Mr. Gunner using the platform to criticize the establishment. Moreover, the students cannot be restrained in the use of the emails (Thomas et al 45). They send so many mails which makes it hard for the Professors to respond appropriately. This lack of proper legislation concerning use of the internet is also apparent in the Jeremy case. He had not imagined that he could be followed up on his social internet platforms. There seems to be no clear guidelines on how employees are expected to use the social platform (Estelle 23).
The second problem that arises is the attempt of the management to gag its employees. The freedom of expression is hereby being used against the employees even though; no law restricts members on what they should say about the management (Estelle 38). In both cases, it is evident that there is an element of mistrust between the employees and the management. And the management seems to having some kind of high handedness in dealing with the perceived behavior of their employers (Allan)
Works cited
Allan, J, Preparing and presenting your arbitration cases, Institute of Labor and Industrial,
Estelle, R, Arbitration cases in public employment American Arbitration Association, 1969, Print
Thomas, Gilroy & Russell, Dafflitto , Preparation and presentation of interest arbitration cases, Center for Labor and Management, College of Business Administration, University of Iowa,
1975. Print
