Course

Industrial Relations

Faculty
Commerce & Business Administration
Department
Business
Course code
BUSN 3451
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 Weeks X 4 Hours per Week = 60 Hours
Max class size
35
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
This course is an introduction to the Canadian industrial relations system, including: the historical development of trade unions; the structure, organization and operation of unions; public policy covering labour and employment relations; union certification; collective bargaining; contract administration; dispute resolution; and, contemporary issues in labour relations.
Course content
  1. Nineteenth century origins of Canada's labour movement.  International unions.  Craft and industrial unions.  The Winnipeg general strike.  Socio-political forces affecting the growth and support for unions.  The Great Depression, war and post-war labour-management conflict.  Government response and legislation.
  2. The union local, national and international structures.  Labour councils and federations.  The Canadian Labour Congress.  Unions and union membership in Canada.
  3. Labour legislation and public policy.  B.C. Labour Code and guide.  Employment Standards Act.  Impact of Human Rights legislation.
  4. Reasons employees join unions.  The certification process.  Collective bargaining.  Contract administration.  Grievances.  Arbitration. Conciliation.  Mediation.  Strikes and lockouts.
  5. Contemporary issues.  Recent changes to legislation.  Labour and the NDP.
  6. Examine contemporary issues in labour relations.
Learning activities

Methods will include lectures, seminars, text and reading assignments, role-playing and classroom discussion.  Guest speakers and audio-visual materials will be used where appropriate.  All students will participate in a collective bargaining simulation.

Means of assessment
Midterm Examination   20%
Final Examination   30%
Simulation   30%
Participation   10%
Case Study   10%
   100%
Learning outcomes
  1. Examine the purpose and history of trade unions in Canada.
  2. Review the current structures, organization and operations of unions.
  3. Examine public policy and legislation covering labour and employment relations.
  4. Examine the processes of union certification, collective bargaining, and the administration of collective agreements.
  5. Understand effective negotiating approaches for resolving conflict and demonstrate this knowledge by role-playing in a collective bargaining simulation.
  6. Examine contemporary issues in labour relations.
Textbook materials

Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students

 

Anderson, Gunderson et al.  Union-Management Relations in Canada, Latest Edition.  Addison-Wesley.

B.C. Labour Code

Guide to the B.C. Labour Code

Requisites

Prerequisites

Algebra 11

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers to Other Institutions

Below are current transfer agreements from Douglas College to other institutions for the current course guidelines only. For a full list of transfer details and archived courses, please see the BC Transfer Guide.

Institution Transfer details for BUSN 3451
There are no applicable transfer credits for this course.

Course Offerings

There are no course offerings this semester.