Problems in the Relationship between Labor and Management During the World War I - Essay Example

Law Assignment Law Assignment The federal government attempted to smooth over problems in the relationship between labor and management during the World War I by extending the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act to war production. Why did labor oppose this? The industrial disputes investigation act was adopted in Canada to prevent the occurrence of strikes and lockouts due to conflicts of the laborers and employers. Canada experienced depression towards the end of the nineteenth century and several interventions were implemented in the early twentieth century, including the Industrial disputes investigation Act of 1907 (Palmer, et al, 2015). The act provided aimed to ensure continuous supply by preventing workers from undertaking strikes as well as prohibiting punishment of employers and actions of third parties such as incites. The extension of this Act to the production war, a calm intervention between labor and management, was opposed by the labor for several reasons. The Act deprived the laborers’ rights to hold strikes as provided by the laws. According to the provisions of the Act, the laborers were not allowed to carry out any strike or lockout activity during the time when an investigation board appointed to look into their concerns with the employers. The workers who could go on to carry out the strike would be subjected to heavy fines as imposed by the Act. Owing to this, the workers had no option to implement a strike despite the conditions or terms of service they experienced. This was difficult to bear during the time of wars when the fighters were subjected to poor conditions and risky conditions. Acceptance of the Act would have meant they continued to work under the present conditions until the findings of the investigations were tabled. Consequently, they would suffer unlike if they had the power to go on strike according to the existing laws. The labor also opposed the extension of the Act since it did not provide for any adjustments of the terms and working terms by the employer during the investigations (Palmer, et al, 2015). This would deny the workers favorable experiences if employers would otherwise improve the conditions during the war time that might have been more necessary rather than waiting for recommendations from investigations. Further, the workforce had become more radicalized on their rights and power. They could thus turn down any effort that compromise their demands for services offered. 2. As a result of its growing concern over the labor radicalism, what action plan was adopted by the federal government? The emergence and fast growth of labor radicalism in Canada in early twentieth century raised the attention of the federal government. The radicalism led to formations of labor unions that undertook hundreds of strikes in pressure for increased wages and improved working conditions. Moreover, large unions were formed and attained thousands of members within very short time (Palmer, et al, 2015). These unions carried a massive strike calling for action of the government. To combat radicalism the federal government adopted a plan to fight activities and discourage growth. This includes developing restrictions for the labor unions such as reducing the powers for the unions. Less powerful unions could have a little influence on matters of the employees and consequently lead to reduced radicalism on their demands at workplaces. This was achieved through reduced provisions in laws. The union leaders would abide by the new the laws in leading the workers in expressing concerns and ultravires actions punished through court or laws. In addition, the government limited the maximum number allowed to join the union. This aimed at reducing the size of the unions, and hence the number of workers that could impact the labor market. Only the workers in the specified industries would join the unions and this served to split the large unions into smaller ones with reduced power. The government also adopted the plan to use force on serious events carried out by the unions and workers. For instance, the government forces used a firearm to overcome the demonstrating workers in the Winnipeg strike (Palmer, et al, 2015). The federal forces could not side with the workers, although their strike was consistent with law. The leaders were also arrested and charged in courts, which served to discourage leaders of other unions. Similar action was adopted for the One Big Union (OBU) which was one of the largest unions. The leaders of the union were arrested and charged before the court which led to collapsing of the union. 3. Describe what brought the defeat of labor radicalism in this period Labor radicalism soared in the first half of the twentieth century in Canada, but failed to survive after 1950s. The employees expressed strong demands in their terms of work with employers through the unions were on a spreading spree in the early 1900s. The unions pushed for improved health care and safety in places of work as well as improved wage failure of which they resorted to strikes against the labor acts. However, towards the 1950s the radicalism grew weaker and had little or insignificant influence in the labor market (Palmer, et al, 2015). This was partly due to little support from the government. The government reduced its involvement in matters of labor and did not give high attention to the demands of the workers and the labor unions. Although the workers pressured the government for stronger laws supporting unions, it responded with little systems and this discouraged efforts of the labor organizations than compared to the past. The unions also underwent transformation in leadership from strong activists to moderate leaders. As a result, the leadership grew weaker over the years and could not strongly fight for the grievances of workers (Palmer, et al, 2015). In addition, the employers failed to increase recognition of the unions despite the demands put forward. Consequently, they held little or no negotiations with the unions over the concerns raised by members. Owing to this the union had little achievements to offer to members. This discouraged non-members from joining the unions limiting growth and influence in the labor negotiations. The once large unions lost members and disintegrated into small groups that were not highly powerful. The unions also suffered defeats in the cases presented to the courts this had a negative implication for future importance. For instance, the union lost cases for Dominion cotton and industrial cape Bretton on the modernization of the mines which lead to massive unemployment. Strong actions such as armed abolition of the Winnipeg strike also contributed to reduced radicalism for fear of the use of excessive force of the government. 4. Discuss the government’s concerns over the growth of labor radicalism, paying attention to the spread of unionism among police and firefighter, the deepening split between the international unions and labor radicals, and the Winnipeg General strike. The World War I was associated with increased labor unions and radicalism that brought concerns to the Canadian government. The unions and the employers held strong stance on the issues of employees and negations were discouraged. The employers were unwilling to engage the unions that placed increased demands of the workers in order to pursue objectives of profit maximization. The employers sought increase production while exposing the workers to declining compensation and occupational health and safety rather than applying equitable systems based on the levels of production. Following this, the unions began to strengthen and spread to other sectors as more workers joined to raise their bargaining power for improved terms of work not achievable through individual approaches. Capitalizing on large numbers, the unions developed stronger alternative ways of expressing employee grievances such as staging powerful strikes. For example, the 1919 Winnipeg general strike was fuelled by the unions as a consequence of radicalization. The strike involved the Winnipeg workers who left their jobs for more than a month period claiming for poor relations in the city (Cruikshank& Kealey, n.d). Thousands of other Canadian workers also joined in the strike to sympathize with the Winnipeg colleagues as well as deliver increased interest. This made the Winnipeg strike the largest in Canadian history and raised concerns for similar events in the future that could significantly hurt the economy. The government was also concerned by the splitting of radicalized labor groups in Canada with the international labor unions. Consequently, the local unions could apply non-conventional labor policies and place unpreceded demands on the employers. This would cause instability in labor supply and lower industrial growth to the disadvantage of the economy. The firefighters and the police also formed unions to pursue improved work conditions and this was of concern to the government. The emergence of these unions threatened control and posed a danger to the security of Canada. Participation of the police and firefighter in the strikes could render the country vulnerable to war and instability since the people would not be adequately protected. The officers could also result into lower commitment in security duties and this had negative concerns such as increased insecurity cases and attempts to overthrow government agencies. Moreover, the unions could pressure for improved terms of work involving significant expenses not easily met by the government. This could potentially increase inequalities in expenditures since the government would be coerced to increase security budgets that may lead to reduced or unbalanced developments. 5. Discuss the reasons the federal government wanted to return to industrial voluntarism after world war I. Pay particular attention to why the government wanted to be seen as cooperating, and the problem faced by the federal government. The industrial voluntarism describes the situations whereby employers and unions would enter into agreements without the compulsion or the assistance of the government. Voluntarism was characteristic feature for the labor practices in Canada before the World War I and the government sought to support it in the aftermath of the war. During the early years of the twentieth century through the World War I, the government intervened in the issues of employers and labor unions to calm the relations between the two parties (Tucker, & Mucalov, 2010). This was in an effort to promote the economy by reducing the frequency of strikes and losses loss in production. The government intervened through the Acts as well as enforcement practices of people that broke the labor laws. For instance, the leaders of the Winnipeg general strike were subjected to actions of court as provided in the industrial dispute investigation act to bring an end to the longest experienced strike in the country. After the World War I, the Canadian government wanted to allow the industrial voluntarism to solve employer- worker conflicts. By following this course, the government aimed to promote cooperation with the practices of workers as well as the employers rather than supporting either side. The employers would initiate and develop guidelines upon disputes freely without the support of government. As such, neither of the party would view the government as unfair, and this could promote freedom in trade and economy (Tucker, & Mucalov, 2010). However, the government faced some challenges in reinstating voluntarism. The workers expressed concerns over the unethical practices of employers such as the lack of recognition of unions and failure to improve working conditions and compensation. The cost of living and inflations had increased as a consequence of the war, yet there were minimal improvements in terms provided by employers. The employers expressed concerns for exaggerated demands by the unions that hindered easy agreements with the employees. From this action, the government sought to promote the free labor market, although the players expressed concerns to ensure protection that promoted strikes. References Palmer, B. D., Frank, F., McCallum, T. & Rouillard, J. (2015). Working-Class History. Historica Canada. Retrieved 24 June 2015, from http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/working-class-history/ Tucker, S. & Mucalov, A. (2010). Industrial Voluntarism in Canada. Industrial Relations, 65-2, 215-235. Retrieved 24 June 2015, from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.417.5702&rep=rep1&type=pdf Cruikshank, D. & Kealey, G. S. (N.d). Strikes in Canada, 1891- 1950. Retrieved 24 June 2015, from https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/LLT/article/viewFile/2438/2842 Read More