Labour Economics
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
Labour Economics examines the functioning and dynamics of labor markets, focusing on the behavior of employers and employees, wage determination, employment, and income distribution. The course explores key concepts such as labor supply and demand, human capital theory, wage structures, labor mobility, and the impact of unions and public policy on labor market outcomes. Analytical tools are used to assess issues such as unemployment, discrimination, and the effects of globalization and technological change on work. By integrating theoretical frameworks with empirical evidence, students gain a comprehensive understanding of contemporary challenges and policies in the field of labor economics.
Recommended Textbook
Industrial Relations in Canada 4th Edition by
Fiona A.E. McQuarrie
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Chapter 1: An Introduction to Industrial Relations in Canada
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Q1) Unions emerged in response to working conditions that are almost unknown today, at least in most industrialized countries.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) In 2014 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of the workers employed by Wal-Mart in Jonquierre, Quebec stating what reason?
A) Wal-Mart was required to negotiate with the union
B) Wal-Mart failed to prove that the store was unprofitable
C) Wal-Mart had contravened the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
D) Wal-Mart had acted in bad faith by not concluding a collective agreement
Answer: B
Q3) Which right contained in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has been the subject of major cases dealing with industrial relations?
A) Freedom of association
B) Freedom of the press
C) 1Freedom of conscience
D) Right to vote
Answer: A
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Page 3
Chapter 2: Theories of Industrial Relations
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Q1) What were some of the changes brought about by the industrialization and mechanization of the Industrial Revolution?
Answer: New inventions meant great increases in production capacity and less demand for skilled workers. The prevalence of child labour became the norm thus further deskilling the work. Relatively low land costs also meant that factories were easily established and built. Improvements in transportation and communication meant that raw materials and finished goods could easily be marketed in areas far beyond their place of origin. As a result, workers were required to travel to the workplace and their work became far more routine.
Q2) The 18<sup>th</sup> century new economy focus on production resulted in all but the following
A) Increased production
B) Goods produced at lower cost
C) Wage reduction by 50%
D) Families being a part of the work life
Answer: C
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4
Chapter 3: History of the Canadian Union Movement
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Q1) What is the term used to describe an organizing model which focuses on "strength in numbers" rather than limited representation of a particular elite group?
A) Trade unionism
B) Craft unionism
C) National unionism
D) Industrial unionism
Answer: D
Q2) How did the Catholic Church respond to the presence of the Knights of Labor in Quebec?
Answer: The Church, referring to a letter obtained from the Vatican, declared membership in the Knights of Labor a "grievous sin" since they supposedly required "unswerved obedience to occult chiefs". Knights' members were banned from taking communion and had to file declarations that they had left the Knights if they wished to regain the privilege of taking communion. A later intervention by a leader of the Knights with Catholic bishops caused the letter to be rescinded and the Knights continued to operate.
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Chapter 4: The Structure of Canadian Unions
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Q1) What is the Solidarity Fund?
A) A fund to assist disadvantaged workers
B) A fund to provide medical and pension benefits
C) A labour sponsored investment fund
D) An employer sponsored investment fund
Q2) List some of the functions of parent unions.
Q3) Almost 20 years ago, which labour council altered its focus to concentrate on the community's needs?
A) Toronto Labour Council
B) Halifax Labour Council
C) Regina Labour Council
D) Calgary Labour Council
Q4) List at least five of the types of issues, which are discussed at the national conventions of the Canadian Labour Congress.
Q5) Name the individual paid to assist in union operations and briefly describe their responsibilities.
Q6) Usually the union membership is free to structure the union as it sees fit.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 5: The Organizing Campaign
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Q1) What are the three major components of an application for certification?
Q2) Which of the following has little or no effect on an employee's decision to support a union?
A) Union-related attitudes of others in the workplace
B) The attitudes of supervisors and managers
C) The wishes of family members
D) The employees' socio-economic standing
Q3) What are the three different decision-making points in the certification process?
Q4) A 'sweetheart agreement' does not consider the needs and wants of the employees. A)True
B)False
Q5) What are the two primary reasons that a union would like to include as many employees as possible in their application for certification?
Q6) SEIU plans to organize workers in every workplace in Ottawa involved in what type of work?
A) Fast food
B) Janitorial
C) Temp agency
D) Long term care
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Chapter 6: Establishing Union Recognition
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Q1) A union can circumvent the application bar by withdrawing their original application for certification for non-technical reasons.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Describe some unfair labour practices which might be used by unions and employers to influence the outcome of a certification attempt.
Q3) Why would a labour board hold a hearing during the application for certification? What form would such a hearing take? (155)
Q4) What is an application bar?
Q5) What facilitates union raiding?
A) More educated employees
B) Fewer public sector jobs
C) No labour legislation explicitly forbids raiding
D) The flourishing of highly aggressive unions
Q6) What is the effect of the issuance of certification by a labour relations board?
Q7) In the context of a union certification, what is a raid?
Q8) Who may initiate a raid in the context of a union certification?
Page 8
Q9) What is an unfair labour practice in the context of an organizing campaign?
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Chapter 7: Defining and Commencing Collective Bargaining
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Q1) Which of the following forms of union security requires membership in the union as a condition of employment?
A) Hiring Hall
B) Company union
C) Rand formula
D) Closed shop
Q2) Under which of the following circumstances can labour boards be proactive in allegations of bad faith?
A) At the beginning of the bargaining
B) When there has been an impasse
C) To order the parties back to the table
D) None of the above
Q3) Describe the process known as union dues check-off.
Q4) Discuss 'good faith' bargaining and give examples of actions that have been categorized as bad faith bargaining. (193-194)
Q5) Describe the union security provision known as the Rand formula.
Q6) What should be the first action undertaken by a well prepared negotiating team?
Q7) What is a religious exemption?
Q8) What is the ideal composition of a union bargaining committee? (183) Page 9
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Chapter 8: The Collective Bargaining Process
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Q1) Which of the following is not one of the principles of mutual gains bargaining?
A) Separating the people from the problem
B) Focusing on interests rather than positions
C) Insisting that the result be based on some objective standard
D) Emphasizing the wishes of both parties
Q2) Describe the bargaining sub-processes known as intra-organizational bargaining and attitudinal structuring.
Q3) Which of the following best describes the term "factional conflict"?
A) Disputes between chief negotiators on bargaining priorities
B) Disputes within an organization about conflicting demands
C) Disputes between bargaining committees on key issues
D) All of the above
Q4) Which of the following best describes the ratification process?
A) It allows both side's constituents to have a voice on the resulting collective agreement
B) It ensures that all of the parties' priorities have been achieved
C) It requires unanimous support for the memorandum of settlement to be confirmed
D) All of the above
Q5) Describe the transaction costs associated with negotiations.
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Chapter 9: Strikes and Lockouts
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Q1) Strikes and lockouts are the two most public events in the entire industrial relations process.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Discuss each side's actions and motivations that can end a strike. (Pages 261-263)
Q3) A work-to-rule campaign occurs when union members interpret the terms of the collective agreement very narrowly and follow them very closely in order to slow down production.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which set of numbers represents the findings from an Ontario study on strikes; with the first number representing the bargaining unit size when strikes are most frequent and the second number representing the bargaining unit size when strikes are least common?
A) 150-300; and 300-499 members
B) More than 500; and less than 21 members
C) 150-300; and 50-149 members
D) 150-300; and less than 21 members
Q5) What is secondary picketing and under what conditions is it authorized?
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Chapter 10: Third-Party Intervention During Negotiations
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Q1) An advantage of using item-by-item final offer selection is that:
A) The arbitrator can incorporate items from both parties' proposals
B) The arbitrator gets to dictate his/her own terms of the collective agreement
C) Both parties will always be happy with the outcome
D) Both parties will be equally unhappy with the outcome
Q2) Which of the following processes is not considered neutral third party intervention in the bargaining process?
A) Mediation
B) Parliamentary inquiry
C) Arbitration
D) Conciliation
Q3) What is the advantage of total package final offer selection?
A) It encourages the parties to submit realistic proposals
B) The arbitrator can pick and choose individual items from each side
C) It is the least time consuming
D) It creates win-loss outcomes
Q4) What is unique and interesting about Industrial Inquiry Commissions? (Page 296-297)
Q5) Describe the role of a conciliator.
Q6) Describe the form of third-party intervention known as mediation-arbitration.
Page 13
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Chapter 11: The Grievance Arbitration Process
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Q1) In assessing the timeliness of a grievance, when does the grievance begin?
Q2) When a labour relations board accepts a complaint that the union has failed to meet its duty of fair representation, it undertakes an investigation of the workplace grievance.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What is one factor that has greatly contributed to the formality, legality, and costly nature of grievances?
A) The expertise required of arbitrators
B) The complicated nature of cases
C) The involvement of legal counsel
D) The tight timelines for filing grievances
Q4) Assuming a three-step grievance procedure, what typically happens at step two of the process?
Q5) Individuals named as arbitrators in collective agreements must have a background in industrial relations or law and are experienced third-party decision makers with union exerience.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Define the term "grievance."
Page 14
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Chapter 12: Changes to the Union or the Employer
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Q1) What change in a business is not usually part of a declaration of succesorship?
A) Expansion
B) Merger
C) Spin-off
D) Move to a larger premises
Q2) When a raiding union is successful and a new certification order is issued, what is the only change to the previous certification order?
A) The names of the employer and the union
B) The identification of the bargaining unit
C) The scope of the certification order
D) The name of the union
Q3) Which of the following statements holds
A) Newly certified unions are less likely to be raided
B) There are time bars in place to restrict when applications for certification can be made for a group of workers already in a certified union
C) Raiding can occur at any time before the expiry of the collective agreement
D) Raiding is illegal in a few Canadian jurisdictions
Q4) When can issues of successorship arise?
Q5) What is meant by the term successorship?
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Chapter 13: Future Issues for Workers, Work Arrangements,
Organizations, and the Industrial Relations System
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Q1) Women enter and leave the labour force more often than men because they do not have the same financial responsibilities as men.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How is globalization affecting the Canadian union movement?
A) It is forcing unions to seek mergers with international unions
B) It is affecting their travel and communication costs
C) It is raising concerns about potential job loss and reduced protection for employees
D) It is increasing their resource base
Q3) More visible minority than non-minority women work in jobs involving manual labour.
A)True
B)False
Q4) It is easy for unions to adapt to the business models of multinational organizations with businesses in different locations and spanning different industries.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Discuss the interrelationship between visible minorities and underemployment.
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