Forging Business-Labour Partnerships: The Emergence of Sector Councils in Canada
Published by University of Toronto Press.
The recent emergence of joint business-labour sector councils represents a major
innovation in Canadian industrial relations. The federal government and certain
provincial governments have developed these councils as a key component of their human-resource
development initiative. This collection brings together the views of economists, political
scientists, and industrial-relations specialists on this important experiment.
The authors suggest that, despite its innovative spirit, the sectoral initiative
is fragile. Its future viability and wider diffusion depend on mutual trust and the
long-term commitment of labour, management, and governments. Still, the consensus-building
approach is seen as a remarkable achievement in Canada's adversarial institutional
climate, with the potential of transforming the nature and direction of Canadian
labour-management relationships.
In bringing together a wide range of views on sector councils, this book is a singular
resource for all those interested in industrial relations, labour economists, and public policy.
Morley Gunderson is Professor of Economics & Industrial Relations, University of Toronto.
Andrew Sharpe is Executive Director of the Ottawa-based Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Tom Kochan
Acknowledgments/List of Sector Councils
Introduction
Morley Gunderson & Andrew Sharpe
I: Economic and Historical Perspectives on Sector Councils
An Historical Perspective on Sector Councils
Gary Fletcher
The Development of Sector Councils in Canada: An Economic Perspective
Douglas A. Smith
II: Labour and Business Approaches to Sector Councils
A Labour Perspective on Sector Councils
Kevin Hayes
A Canadian Business Perspective on Sectoral Human Resource Councils
Jock A.Finlayson
Human Resources Think for Themselves: The Experience of Unions in the Sectoral Skills Council
David A.Wolfe and D'Arcy Martin
III: Sector Initiatives in Quebec and Ontario
The Configuration of Sectoral Human Resource Initiatives in Quebec in the 1990's
Jean Charest
Ontario's Experiment of Sectoral Initiatives: Labour Market and Industrial Policy, 1985-1995
Neil Bradford
IV: Sector Councils and Joint Governance
The Dynamics of Joint Governance: Historical and Institutional Implications for Sector Councils
Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld
Sector Councils as Models of Shared Governance in Training and Adjustment
Carol Joyce Haddad
The Canadian Steel Trade and Employment Congress: Old-Fashioned Labour-Management Cooperation or an Innovation in Joint Governance
Anil Verma, Kai Lamertz and Peter Warrian
V: Evaluation of Sector Councils
Program Evaluation Criteria Applied to Sector Councils
Morley Gunderson and Andrew Sharpe
VI: Sector Councils, Corporatism and Industrial Relations
Sector Councils and Sectoral Corporatism: Visible? Desirable?
Michael Atkinson and Cassandra Pervin
The Role of Sectoral Initiatives in the Canadian Industrial Relations System
Richard Chaykowski
Conclusion:Issues and Lessons from Sector Councils Experience
Morley Gunderson and Andrew Sharpe |
List of Contributors
Michael M.Atkinson is a professor of political science and vice-president (academic) at University of Saskatchewan.
Neil Bradford is an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at Huron College, University of Western Ontario.
Jean Charest is an assistant professor at the école des ralations industrielles, Université de Montréal.
Richard Chaykowski is an associate professor at the School of Industrial Relations at the Queen’s University.
Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld is an associate professor at the School of Labour and Industrial Relations at Michigan State University and visiting scholar in the Program on Negotiations at Harvard Law School.
Jock A.Finlayson is vice-president, policy, at the Business Council of British Columbia.
Gary Fletcher is the former director of the Sector Studies Division at Human Resources Development Canada.
Morley Gunderson is a professor at the Centre for Industrial Relations and Department of Economics at the University of Toronto.
Carol Joyce Haddad is a professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Technology at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
Kevin Hayes is senior economist at the Canadian Labour Congress, with responsibility for labour market policy.
Kai Lamertz is a graduate student in the Faculty of Management at the University of Toronto.
D'Arcy Martinis a national representative for the Communications, Energy, and Paperworkers Union.
Cassandra Pervin is a graduate student in political science at McMaster University.
Andrew Sharpe is executive director of the Ottawa-based Centre for the Study of Living Standards.
Douglas A. Smith is a professor of economics at Carleton University.
Anil Verma is a professor at the Faculty of Management and Centre for Industrial Relations at the University of Toronto.
Peter Warrian is a senior research fellow at the Centre of International Studies at the University of Toronto. From 1989 to 1992 he served as executive director of the Canadian Steel Trade and Employment Congress.
David A.Wolfe is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto.
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