NCJ Number
70882
Journal
Canadian Police College Journal Volume: 4 Issue: 2 Dated: (1980) Pages: 79-129
Date Published
1980
Length
51 pages
Annotation
This report provides an overview of the current state of labor relations in Canada's police forces, based on published information and interviews and a mail questionnaire survey of over 50 police officers.
Abstract
Despite variations among Provinces, urban police forces share many common factors with respect to labor relations. All major municipal forces and most forces in smaller communities are unionized. In all jurisdictions, income, pensions, working conditions, and management rights are issues of conflict, although most police associations have little interest in strikes, and police strikes are illegal in many jurisdictions. Collective bargaining, used in all provinces, can be benign or stressful and disruptive. Associations and management are increasingly well-prepared in their bargaining and are becoming more aggressive. In municipal forces, a large proportion of management personnel are former members of police associations. In most forces both management and labor have a clear sense of frustration. Attention to union issues may cause a decline in police service or a deterioration in police-community relations. In the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), staff relations representatives are used as alternatives to an association or union. The RMCP seems to enjoy more amicable labor relations than do municipal forces. Collective bargaining should emphasize explicit and professional negotiations; trivial issues should be handled through other means, and mediation, conciliation, and arbitration services should be improved. Moreover, politics should be kept out of bargaining with police unions. Descriptions of U.S. and British police-labor relations, discussions of police-labor relations in each region of Canada, 23 references, and a bibliography listing 123 sources are included.