Thoughts from a Management Lawyer

Is there a better way to cut costs?

That's what McKinsey & Company ask in a short Conversation Starter article.  The article starts:

According to a recent McKinsey Quarterly survey, 79 percent of all companies have cut costs in response to the global economic crisis—but only 53 percent of executives think that doing so has helped their companies weather it. Yet organizations continue to cut. Cost reductions often go wrong, we believe, and our experience suggests that they can be done in a better way.

That is startling - only 53 percent of executives think that doing so has helped their companies weather it [the global economic crisis].   Cutting costs often means reducing headcount and taking salaries and benefits and other associated costs out of the business.  If 53% don't think that the cost cutting measures they've employed have helped, it makes you wonder what they're going to look like once this financial crisis ends. 

Final Post on Distracted Driving in Ontario

You're going to have to pay a little more attention behind the wheel if your driving in or through Ontario.  Bill 118 (an Countering Distracted Driving and Promoting Green Transportation Act, 2009) comes into force on Monday, October 26, 2009. 

The government has said that there will be a 3 month grace period during which time the focus will be on education rather than enforcement.  The police will start issuing tickets starting on February 1, 2010.

The Ministry of Transportation has some good information on the Bill and how and when it will apply.

The Government also promulgated regulation 366/09 that fleshes out, in pretty user friendly terms, some of the details of Bill 118. 

There are many articles:

BlackBerry addicts face crackdown at the wheel

Monday is hands-free day: Some gadgets to consider

Most drivers using cellphones will get lectures

Jordan Furlong Joins Edge International

My friend Jordan Furlong has joined Edge International!  This is exciting news and I couldn't be happier for him.  

Have a read of Jordan's blog, Law21 and you'll get a taste of his thinking  on "the unfolding nature of the legal profession".  I've known Jordan for a long time (since his days as the Editor of The Lawyers Weekly) and over those years he's always been an obliging, supportive and patient sounding board to me, for which I have been grateful.    

I wish Jordan every success.

What a Difference a Year Makes

While there is some debate about the origin of the Labour Day holiday, it would seem that Canada is where it all began though it really doesn't much matter.  Here's a short article from the Canadian Encyclopedia and another from Wikepedia.

To many, the meaning of the holiday is lost and it has become associated with the end of summer and the start of the school year.  

But, as the Toronto Star remind us:

Nearly 500,000 more Canadians will be unemployed this Labour Day than last, and while economists say the recession is over, job losses are expected to continue well into next year, and many of those who lost their jobs don't qualify for Employment Insurance.

Union's continue to fight for reform and conditions of work and argue that they still make a difference. 

This has been a devastating year and individuals and their families have suffered greatly.  My sincere wish and hope is that better times are around the corner for those people who have had to deal with so much.   

Using Strike Replacements

Strikes and lockouts are never fun events.  No one "wants" these things.  Companies are in business to make a profit and employees want to work to provide for themselves and their families.  I wouldn't go so far as to say that a strike or lockout means that the union and company have failed, but it certainly means that their negotiations were unsuccessful in getting a negotiated deal.  Maybe that's lawyer-speak

I was interviewed yesterday by CBC Radio Sudbury on the thorny and emotional issue of using strike replacement workers.  Employers (in Ontario under the Labour Relations Act, 1995) are free to survive a strike through the use of replacement workers.  There is a narrow exception where they use "professional strike breakers" but that is exceedingly limited.  Some jurisdictions, such as Quebec, have anti-replacement laws (derogatorily and colloquially called anti-"scab" laws) preventing, except in limited circumstances, the use of replacements during a strike. 

The decision to operate during a strike is a complex one (e.g. the City of Toronto decided not to fully engage replacement workers during the recent strike and were criticized by some for that decision).  In Sudbury, news that Vale Inco has decided to engage replacements to continue operations has generated criticism by others.  

Employers have a right in Ontario to operate during a strike.  Whether they chose to do so is another matter.  The short (and sometimes long) term impact of this decision on labour relations can be significant. If labour relations are power relations as I was taught in my Industrial Relations days at McGill, then either party should be at liberty to use all lawful means to shift the balance of power in its favour with a view to having the other side yield to accepting its terms.  

City of Toronto Strike Ends

The City of Toronto Council approved collective agreements with striking unions thus bringing to an end the 39 day strike.  Of course they were going to approve the deal but the margin was 21-17, tighter than most people anticipated.  But the residents of Toronto are not happy with either side. 

As with any strike (or lockout), it's important for both sides to conduct a post mortem and draw hard learned lessons from what has taken place. Strikes and lockouts are part of the labour relations landscape in Canada, and the fact that they take place is not the point.  The point is to learn from them.

What could have been done differently?  How might the negotiation strategy been been approached differently?  What could have been done differently with the strike contingency plan?  How might the communication/messaging  been handled differently?  Add the words "if anything" or "if at all" before the question mark because you might conclude that you would have done everything exactly as you did it.  The point is to examine and take apart what took place in the clear light of day and ask those (and other) hard questions.  It would be unfortunate not to learn from these experiences even if the lesson is that you wouldn't have changed a thing.

VIA Heads to Arbitration

Yesterday I posted about the spill off consequences flowing from the VIA and City of Toronto strikes.  Today we hear that VIA and the Teamsters are going to final and binding arbitration to resolve their outstanding issues.  Given the rhetoric, this was a surprise.  The layoffs reported yesterday have been canceled.

In other news, the City strike is "down to the wire" with a midnight deadline thrown up by one of the unions.

Overtime Class Action to be Appealed

It would seem that the Ontario Court's recent ruling that refused to certify a class in the highly publicized CIBC overtime class proceedings will be appealed.  That according to the excellent Financial Legal Post.  Of course, no one is falling off their chair in surprise at this news given what's involved.

The Statement of Claim sets out the nature of the allegations.

National Post Series on Labour-Management Relations and More

The National Post is running a series of articles on labour-management relations during the economic crisis.  I was interviewed for the article Getting Real that has now been published.

Speaking of the economy, last Thursday I spoke at a Canadian Institute conference called "Workforce Restructuring: Practical Guidelines and Legal Strategies for Reducing Employer Liability in Difficult Times" about "Structuring the Severance Package: Innovative Solutions for Difficult Times". 

 

PR Battle in Recessionary Times

The National Post has an article What’s the deal with union benefits? that reviews some of the pressures facing unions to hang onto what they've achieved through years of collective bargaining.

In other news, The Windsor Star writes how OFL leader feels 'anger I have never seen' discussing a recent meeting in Amherstburg at which stories of dwindling pensions were discussed.  One employee with 47 years at the time of her retirement in 1998 was faced with the following:

She had what she thought was a good company pension – $2,448.90 a month. The first cut of $507 a month came two years ago. Just recently, she got a notice that her company pension could be cut to as little as $1,000 a month.

These are indeed interesting times for unions and unionized employees.  With unionization rates at around 30%, it remains to be seen how unions will respond to the economic pressures and member concerns.