POLICE LABOUR RELATIONS IN CANADA - A CURRENT PERSPECTIVE

• NCJ Number: 56838
• Journal: Canadian Police College Journal Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: (1979) Pages: 16-43
• Author(s): R JACKSON
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 28 pages
• Corporate Author: Canadian Police College Journal
• Sale Source: Canadian Police College Journal
• Language: English
• Country: Canada
• Note: PRESENTED TO THE CANADIAN POLICE LABOUR RELATIONS SYMPOSIUM, DECEMBER 1978

Annotation

THE IMPLICATIONS OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AND LABOR UNIONS WITHIN THE CANADIAN POLICE FORCE ARE ANALYZED.

Abstract

ALTHOUGH POLICE ASSOCIATIONS ARE NOT NEW IN CANADA, A MORE MILITANT LABOR RELATIONS POSTURE IS BEING ASSUMED BY THE POLICE AS A RESULT OF THE OVERALL RAPID GROWTH IN THE SIZE OF ORGANIZATIONS AND THE CONSEQUENT DEHUMANIZATION OF WORKING LIFE, POOR PERSONNEL POLICIES, LOW PAY, AND POOR BENEFITS. IN ADDITION, THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT GRANTED THE LEGAL RIGHT TO STRIKE IN 1967 THROUGH PASSAGE OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE STAFF RELATIONS ACT. THE MULTIPLICITY AND VARIETY OF LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORKS ARE ALSO A DOMINANT DIMENSION OF CANADIAN POLICE LABOR RELATIONS. POLICE, DISSATISFIED WITH LEGISLATION AND COURT DECISIONS, SENSING THAT PUBLIC DISSATISFACTION IS MIXED WITH INCREASING APATHY, ARE MARSHALING THEIR RESOURCES AND TARGETING THEIR EFFORTS AT PUBLIC POLICY FORMATION THOUGH POLICE ASSOCIATIONS. ONE IMPLICATION OF THIS IS THAT IN A SUBTLE WAY THE ASSOCIATION IS PREEMPTING MANAGEMENT AND IS TAKING UPON ITSELF A FUNCTION OF MANAGEMENT AS THE POLICE SPOKESMAN. SECONDLY EFFORTS TO AFFECT NATIONAL POLICY DECISIONS ARE INFLUENCING DEPARTMENTAL POLICY AT THE LOCAL LEVEL AS WELL. ONE RESULT HAS BEEN THAT A PRIMARY CRITERION FOR POLICE CHIEF SELECTION IS MODERN MANAGEMENT ABILITY, EMBRACING DIPLOMATIC, POLITICAL, AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN ORDER TO WORK COOPERATIVELY WITH THE POLICE ASSOCIATIONS AND TO IDENTIFY COMMON GOALS. MOREOVER, THE UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE POLICE PROFESSION, SUCH AS THE EXISTENCE OF A CLOSED FRATERNITY SYNDROME CAUSED BY FRUSTRATIONS AND THE LONELINESS OF THE BEAT, AND THE OFTEN AMBIGUOUS ROLE THE OFFICER MUST PLAY, SOLIDIFY POLICE LABOR RELATIONS AND SUGGEST THAT THE POLICE WILL ADOPT AS MILITANT A POSTURE AS OTHER GROUPS FROM THE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTORS. GIVEN THE RIGHT CIRCUMSTANCES, POLICE ASSOCIATIONS ARE LIKELY TO EXERT CONSIDERABLE PRESSURE. (MHP)