SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT -- CHANGE OF DATES FOR CONFERENCE
The following message is a repeat, except for the change in dates:
not the Thanksgiving weekend but the Remembrance Day weekend in Canada.
If you replied to the earlier announcement, please confirm that
you are available on the new dates.
If you had not (yet) replied and are interested in coming in some
capacity (speaker, workshop participant, attendant), please
let us know.
Our grant application must be finalised by 8 July, so please send
us your suggestions and/or confirmation before that date.
Thank you.
Paul Phillips, programme chair
Jesse Vorst (convener)
The rise and demise of collective bargaining: 50 years PC1003
Conference 10-13 November 1994 -- Winnipeg
Secretariat: 361 University College, University of Manitoba,
Winnipeg MB R3T 2M8. Phone 204-474-9119. Fax 204-261-0021.
E-mail: Internet/NetNorth [EMAIL PROTECTED]
June 1994
Dear friend,
To commemorate the landmark PC1003 we are planning a conference around
the history and state of collective bargaining in Canada and
other western industrialised countries. The text of the conference
description, as submitted to the Social Sciences and Humanities
Research Council, is enclosed.
We hope to have some thirty speakers at the conference from various
walks of life and work: unionists, academics, students, activists.
Perspectives will be provided from a number of areas: labour &
industrial relations, economics, politics & political science, law,
history, sociology, and others.
If early contacts are any indication,
there is considerable interest to attend this event.
The proceedings of the conference will form the basis of a
publication, to be available in the spring of 1995.
Formal plenary sessions (with research papers), round-tables
and workshops are planned.
With this letter we invite you to submit a proposal for your
participation -- hopefully in the form of the presentation of a
paper; please fill out (typed) the enclosed SSHRC form and return
to the above address by 30 June. We have to submit our session
line-ups by 8 July to SSHRC who (we hope) will provide financial
support to the conference.
Note that your submission does not, at this stage, commit you
to formal participation. We need it to complete the SSHRC application
and to get some idea of the interest for the conference.
We also enclose a preliminary participation form; please return that
at your earliest opportunity. It is designed to find out whether you
are interested to participate in any type of of the various events
planned -- or to just attend without active involvement.
The weekend of 10-13 November has been chosen for a number of practical
reasons, and is now the definite time for the conference.
We hope to hear from you soon.
With greetings of peace,
Jesse Vorst
Conference convener
TEXT OF CONFERENCE PROPOSAL AS SUBMITTED TO SSHRCC:
In 1944, as the 2nd World War was drawing to a close,
the Canadian government propelled by worker unrest and
a new liberal-left political ethos emanating from
revulsion of fascism, passed Order-in-Council PC1003,
legislation that revolutionized industrial relations
in Canada. The Order-in-Council incorporated union
recognition and compulsory collective bargaining
provisions borrowed from the United States' Wagner
Act with Canadian-British union legalization
provisions and government intervention provisions
that date back to the 1872 Trades Union Act and
the 1907 Industrial Disputes and Investigation Act.
PC1003 was incorporated in Federal Legislation in
1948 and ultimately in provincial legislation
shortly thereafter. The era that followed in
industrial relations has been labelled in the US
as the era of the "labour-management accord"
though the general characteristics are more or
less common to the "Anglo" economies (Canada, US,
Britain).
The central principles of the accord were a) acceptance
by the employers of collective bargaining, unions and
the right of labour to a "fair" share of national
income; b) acceptance by unions and labour of the rights
of capital to manage and introduce technological change;
and c) acceptance by government of its obligation to
maintain full employment (Keynesian demand management)
and provide a basic welfare state to insure labour
against the vagaries of industrial capitalism.
The Accord appeared as a great success for over two
decades, until the 1970s, when a combination of economic
and political events/forces resulted in a gradual
unravelling of the concensus and an increase in class
conflict. The dismemberment is perhaps best documented
in Leo Panitch and Don Shwartz's multi-edition book
** The Assault on Trade Union Freedoms **.
What is not well explored are the economic and political
factors leading to the collapse of the "accord", nor
of the industrial relations regime and ideology
that has replaced the system introduced 50 years ago.
This involves a multi-disciplinary approach -- economics,
industrial relations, politics, sociology, law, history --
to the last half century.
It is the intent of the conference, therefore, to explore
the various disciplinary (and interdisciplinary) aspects
of the "industrial relations regime of PC1003".
Preliminary planning would suggest the following general
session foci.
a) The Rise and Fall of the Post-War Economic Expansion;
b) Labour, Government and Management in the Post-PC1003
period;
c) Labour Law and Industrial Relations after 1944;
d) Political-Economic Change and the Future of Canadian
Industrial Relations;
e) Work and Organized Labour: Past and Future.
These are obviously not hard-and-fast categories. The
purpose is rather to evaluate the experience of the
past half-century since the passage of PC1003 in terms
of what it might tell us about the future direction
of industrial relations in Canada. In this regard,
we hope to include an international perspective with
comparative papers on countries of similar economic
development -- United States, Britain, Sweden,
Australia, Germany.
Since the Wood's Task Force Report of 1966, we have
not had any general review of the Canadian industrial
relations system instituted by PC1003 in 1944.
While a single conference can not substitute for an
enquiry as broad as the Task Force, it can serve to
illuminate and raise issues that have perhaps been
neglected in the Canadian industrial relations system
since then. The 50th anniversary of PC1003 provides
the ideal opportunity for such an evaluation and review.
THE FOLLOWING FORM IS FOR USE BY THE CONFERENCE SECRETARIAT
Conference participant form
The rise and demise of collective bargaining: 50 years PC1003
Conference 10-13 November 1994 -- Winnipeg
Secretariat: 361 University College, University of Manitoba,
Winnipeg MB R3T 2M8. Phone 204-474-9119. Fax 204-261-0021.
E-mail: Internet/NetNorth [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Preliminary Participation Form
____ I am interested in presenting a paper on the following topic:
(I attach the SSHRC form with the proposal and other information typed in)
____ I am interested in participating in a workshop (without a formal
paper) on the following topic:
____ I am interested in attending the conference but cannot actively
participate in a plenary session or a workshop.
PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Surname: First name(s):
Present affiliation and mailing address (incl. postal code):
Phone: (home)(_____)_______________ (work)(___)________________
Fax:(_____)__________________
e-mail:______________________________ on the following net:
Please, return this form (typed) and the SSHRC-form (if
applicable) to Jesse Vorst (see the address listed at the top of this form).
June 1994
THE FOLLOWING FORM IS TO BE FILLED OUT FOR FORWARDING BY THE SECRETARIAT
TO SSHRCC. PLEASE DO NOT SEND TO SSHRCC DIRECTLY.
Name:
Role in conference:
Degrees (if applicable), starting with most recent:
Relevant positions (employment & otherwise relevant):
Recent and relevant publications:
Abstract of proposed paper or presentation (10-30 lines):
