10 Steps to Effective Labour Dispute Contingency Planning

Transcription

1 10 Steps to Effective Labour Dispute Contingency Planning Union demonstration during 2002 Province Wide Strike against Government of Ontario Canada Malcolm Smeaton Whitehorse Group Inc. Whitehorse Group Inc.

2 P a g e 2 Contents Malcolm Smeaton Contingency Planning Profile 3 Strategic Advice for Employers on Creating and Implementing Labour Dispute Contingency Plans 5 10 Step Guideline to Effective Labour Dispute Contingency Planning 8

3 P a g e 3 Contingency Planning Profile Malcolm Smeaton ABCP, CPP Labour Disruption Contingency Planner Malcolm Smeaton is a seasoned and experienced labour relation professional with extensive experience in labour dispute contingency planning. Malcolm Smeaton Malcolm has many years of experience in developing and delivering training programs to both operational managers and Human Resource professionals dealing with labour dispute contingency planning, strike management and communications during labour disputes. He has developed both operational and HR polices related to labour disputes, both strikes and lockouts. He has prepared return to work protocols to respond to the needs of the workplace following labour disruptions. Malcolm created and implemented policies and programs to assist in restoring the workplace following the return to work. He has effectively liaised with police services, postal services, security services, courier industry, contractors and transportation services to insure that the needs of the organization are met during a labour dispute. He works well with internal and/or external legal counsel involved in the protection of the organization s rights as a service provider, employer and property owner. His advice will assist the organization to effectively manage access by the public to the organization s critical services either remotely or in person, as applicable. Malcolm s direct experience in developing and implementing contingency plans, legal strategies, communications, training programs is substantial: Government of Ontario Malcolm has been appointed by the Secretary of Cabinet of Ontario as Executive Lead for each period (seven (7) periods) of labour dispute contingency planning from 1994 to The labour dispute contingency planning project for the Ontario Government consisted of developing plans for twenty-six ministries with approximately 160 Divisions managing 330 key business units representing thousands of service locations across the province. On two occasions, major strikes occurred.

4 P a g e 4 In 1996 the main bargaining unit of 45,000 employees went on strike for six (6) weeks. In 2002, the same bargaining unit of 45,000 employees went strike for eight (8) weeks. Malcolm was assigned as Corporate Strike Management Lead during both strikes. Hydro One In 2005 Malcolm was seconded to the Hydro One Contingency Planning team by the Secretary of Cabinet to assist planning for a strike by the Hydro engineers. This was at a time with the supply of electricity to the province was complicated by reduced capacity at nuclear power facilities and increase demand due to weather. Aggressive picketing led to the Attorney General intervening on behalf of the Crown. Malcolm arranged for the managers to gain access to blockaded sites relying on helicopter and marine transport when no other access was available. Liquor Control Board of Ontario In 2006 Malcolm was assigned to assist the LCBO with labour disruption contingency planning and managing during strike training. Malcolm contributed to an extensive contingency planning exercise in a retail environment that spanned the entire province. Malcolm also assisted the LCBO in the development of a pre strike public communication strategy that saw store sales reach levels only previously achieved during the winter holiday season. The combination of skillful collective bargaining, a robust contingency planning program and the pre strike communications strategy resulted in a quicker than expected settlement at the bargaining table and a strike was adverted. Malcolm additionally has significant project management skills in particular for large projects. He was responsible for critical event planning and response for the Ontario government for many years. He has been certified by the Disaster Recovery Institute (DRIC) in Business Continuity Planning and has served as President of DRI Canada. He was also certified by ASIS as a Certified Security Professional (CPP) in In addition to various senior management training courses Malcolm has received training from Harvard University Kennedy School in Leading during Crises and Senior Executives in National and International Security. Training and consulting services are provided in all planning areas mentioned in this paper. Please contact Malcolm Smeaton as follows: malcolmsmeaton@whitehorsegroup.ca Office cell

5 P a g e 5 Role of Contingency Planning Strategic Advice for Employers Creating and Implementing Labour Dispute Contingency Plans Labour Dispute Contingency Planning (LDCP) plays a key role in the collective bargaining process; it serves a strategic purpose in collective bargaining and will have a significant Impact on outcomes. Both public and private sector employers should always fully consider the labour dispute contingency planning process before decisions are made on strikes vs. lockouts and whether to maintain service to clients or cease/reduce operations during a labour dispute. Based on experience, most union leaders are likely to equate an employer s state of preparedness to withstand a strike, with the employer s willingness to withstand one. Minimal preparation may signal that the employer does not plan to defend its position, possibly signalling to the union that the employer has other organizational priorities and will ultimately have to accede to the union s demands when faced with a strike threat. This situation may weaken the employer s bargaining power and raise the union s expectations at the bargaining table. Conversely, full preparedness for a work stoppage will be seen by union leaders and employees as the employer s commitment to a specific outcome, ensuring settlement expectations acknowledge the employer s fiscal realities. The earlier the employer begins LDCP, the more likely it will be able to influence the union s and employees expectations. Beginning too late (for example, after the parties have tabled their bargaining proposals) runs the risk that expectations have already been set among union leaders and the union s general membership. While the union may threaten to withdraw services as a tactic to pressure the employer into accepting its bargaining demands, the employer s ability to credibly respond by continuing services without the striking employees balances the parties bargaining power. Also the employer may be able to shift production or provide services to clients from another jurisdiction. It also dampens the union s and members expectations at the negotiating table, making them more realistic and a settlement without a strike or lockout more likely.

6 P a g e 6 Impact of LDCP on Negotiations Minimal Planning Maximum Planning Probabilities: Higher demands Higher strike risk Greater Risk of Service interruption Risk of public embarrassment Lessens employer s bargaining power Probabilities: More reasonable demands Lower strike risk Less Risk of Service interruption Employer is prepared Increases employer s bargaining power Employers have a Range of Options in determining its approach to LDCP: Minimalist Option Characterized by: Labour dispute unlikely to occur Identifying LDCP Lead for each Department Review previous or existing planning materials corporately Minimal involvement of organization s managers in the reviewing and updating process. (Keeping planning activities quiet.) Manager redeployment strategy only rolled out immediately prior to potential strike. Start training of managers only if bargaining stalls.

7 P a g e 7 Intermediate Option Characterized by: Chance of Labour dispute 50/50 Identify LDCP Lead for each Department LCDP plans created, previous LDCP plans reviewed, revised and updated based on new organizational structures or changes in services. Active involvement of affected Departmental managers in updating plans Redeployment strategy implemented request for manager volunteers with pre-training occurring immediately prior to the strike. Establishment of corporate and Departmental strike response teams. Start training of managers and strike planning when bargaining commences. Start discussions with external service providers only for absolutely critical services when bargaining commences. Enhanced Option Characterized by Likelihood of labour dispute, including a lockout, better than 50/50 Executive, Departmental and Site Leads identified. Special Leads identified for critical services e.g. IT and payroll. Fine-tuning of LDCP manager guidelines to ensure Departments are prepared to deal with existing LDCP issues including pre strike incidents such as a work to rule strategy by the union. Creation and/or updating of LDCPs based on new organizational structure, new operational considerations and updated LDCP guidelines. Special plans to address critical services such as IT and payroll issues. Site leads appointed to coordinate responses to picket line activities. Strategic redeployment targeting managers with previous experience in critical areas, pre-strike training sessions, and with broad appeals for manager volunteers. Negotiate and finalize contingent agreements with service providers for resources such as security, IT and legal. Set up of the corporate and/or Departmental strike response teams and centres Arrange Public Inquiry Call Centre (1-800 numbers) and/or websites. Start planning a minimum of six (6) months prior to the expiry of the collective agreement. Selecting an Option The selection of which option is best for an organization during a specific round of collective bargaining is taken by the senior management team following discussion with other parties the senior management team deems appropriate to consult. E.g. Board of Directors Committee, legal, Human Resources etc.

8 P a g e 8 10 Step Guideline To Effective Labour Dispute Contingency Planning The Employer should employ standard assessment and reporting tools from Human Resources, business continuity, security and project planning disciplines to produce comprehensive plans that: 1. Identify and prioritize critical business units in each department The Employer should use established business continuity tools to identify and prioritize critical business services based on organizational input and a business impact analysis based on a labour disruption. Provide managers an assessment tool for completion prior to meeting with LDCP planner. 2. Identify the minimum staffing levels and skill sets required to maintain critical business units in each department. Using historical staffing information, vacation scheduling, skills required, licences /certifications, and an assessment tool, the LDCP planner should work with department managers to determine minimum staffing levels for a labour disruption of various durations. 3. Identify the strategies on dealing with non- critical business units (e.g., cease service and redeploy, reduce service, etc) Resources available from Non-critical business units may be redeployed, noncritical unit services may be consolidated or services may be curtailed during the labour dispute. A review of current or previously determined recovery time objectives will assist in the exercise. The LDCP planner should work with the organizations senior departmental managers, legal and communication staff prior to making these recommendations. 4. Develop strategies to minimize labour disruption impacts to critical business units (e.g., alternate work locations, site consolidations/closures etc.) Minimizing the impact of the labour disruption to key business units is key to effective labour dispute contingency planning. Strategies must ensure that the delivery of services from critical business units is the prime objective of both the local business unit plan and the overall corporate plan for the Organization.

9 P a g e 9 5. Develop departmental labour disruption contingency plan that incorporate goals 1-4, and identifies the work to be done under each business unit. Managers who are responsible for the day to day management of critical business units are the key resource in creating a plan for critical business units. They are the most knowledgeable of both the strategies to find work arounds to aid in delivering services during a disruption and where in the organization key resources may be available to assist in the delivery of their services. 6. Create a corporate wide spreadsheet that summarizes the business units, minimum staffing levels, staffing deficits/surpluses and skill sets for all business units. Providing a current summary report of the status of contingency planning, on a regular basis, is key to effective decision making by senior management. The provision of the report to senior management also serves as motivation to both LDCP planner and business unit management to achieve appropriate progress on the contingency planning for business units. 7. Develop a corporate wide labour disruption plan that addresses issues such as; security, staff redeployment, replacement workers/contractor engagement, picket line monitoring, evidence collection & court injunctions, communication, information Technology, Payroll and Human Resources policy issues. The corporate plan must be comprehensive and provide a project time line that ensures the organization will be completely prepared for a labour dispute, but does not incur contractual obligations with external service providers too soon or at too great an expense. Specific legal and public communication plans and strategies should be determined at the onset of the planning process. Human Resource policy issues for both striking staff and non striking staff are necessary. Payroll and strike compensation issues for non striking staff have both moral and communications impacts. A governance structure for both pre planning and strike management should be included in the corporate plan. Direct communications between the LDCP process and the bargaining team is critical. 8. Create and deliver a training module that educates management staff on how to deal with labour issues during a strike. An effective Managing during a Labour Dispute training program for managers and other non union staff will have a significant impact on whether a labour dispute actually occurs and if it does, how effective

10 P a g e 10 the Employer will be in delivering key services during the labour disruption and finally, the length of the labour disruption. A training program delivered by a knowledgeable, experienced and effective trainer will affect the support of managers for the employer s bargaining position, raise the moral and confidence of managers that they can manage through a labour dispute and restore their organization after the dispute ends. 9. Develop a Business Continuity/Labour disruption checklist for business unit managers on maintaining their business units, dealing with staff shortages and addressing strike issues. As collective bargaining may continue for some time following the completion of labour disruption plans and after managers received their Managing During a labour Dispute training program it is important that managers have a tool that will allow them to refresh themselves. 10. Develop tools and guidelines for managers to assist their involvement with the LDCP planning process. Suggested documents, and materials that may be made available to managers and senior managers: Departmental and Corporate wide summary spreadsheets Training module for managers Managing during Labour Dispute Manual for Managers Lockout Guideline Rotating Strike Response Guideline Illegal Strike Response Guideline for Managers Communications Guidelines Internal and External Strike Training Videos Labour Dispute Qs and As for Managers Incident Report for Managers master Readiness check list for managers Important Legal notice: This document is copyright protected. Individual employers may reproduce the document for their own internal use, subject to the following condition. The copyright owner, Whitehorse Group Inc. will grant permission for this document to be reproduced in part or in whole without charge if the user gives notice to info@whitehorsegroup.ca of their intention to reproduce the document prior to the reproduction of the document. Commercial use or reproduction of the document for publication or any other purpose must be negotiated with the copyright owner.