You are on a bargaining team for the City of Guelph. You are a valuable member of the Human Resources team responsible for providing guidance to a diverse group of managers and bargaining the incoming collective agreement for employees. Your team is well prepared for bargaining with the union. You are very aware that tensions are high and you can expect a challenging negotiation.

The bargaining is between the City of Guelph and Guelph Civic Employees Union Local 244. There are approximately 500 employees involved. The main issues are compensation and job security. The workers are a very diverse group that includes outside and inside workers including garbage collection, snow removal, parks and recreation, water supply and treatment, and municipal licensing and permits.

After seven months of negotiations, the parties were unable to reach an agreement. The union members held a vote and reached a strike mandate. A manager asked you:

I) When can the employees go on strike?

ii) How does the fact that the employees are public sector impact the ability of the employer to force the employees to engage in their role (despite a strike mandate).

Another manager, Jorge, also asked if he could change the vacation entitlement for his employees. This will only impact 12 employees so he argued that it wouldn't be a big issue for the group.Do you see any issue(s) with the unilateral change that would benefit employees?

Question:

1. Define the problem.

2. Think about the problem: What laws and knowledge about collective bargaining are applicable?

3. Plan a solution: What advice would you provide the manager? Apply the knowledge (laws, etc).

4. When can the employees go on strike?

5. How does the fact that the employees are public sector impact the ability of the employer to force the employees to engage in their role (despite a strike mandate)?

6. Regarding Jorge's request to change the vacation entitlement for his 12 employees while the parties are engaged in collective bargaining, do you see any issues with the unilateral change?