Friday, January 13, 2017

Cooperative Culture

Seven years ago, CLAC began an innovative new labour relations training program. Is it making a difference?

Melissa Davis is an assistant manager in the deli department of a grocery store in Alberta. Richard Saumier is the vice-president of a trucking company in BC. Denyse Lake is a personal support worker in Ontario. What do all three of these people have in common? All have taken part in CLAC’s Cooperate to Win program.

Every workplace has conflict. But conflict is not necessarily a bad thing. In many ways, it can help build community in a workplace, but it also has the potential to tear a workplace apart. The key is how we address conflict.

Cooperate to Win is an innovative labour relations training program developed by CLAC for stewards and managers. Its purpose is to provide them with an understanding of the basic principles of positive labour relations, and it is designed to assist in creating a workplace culture where conflict can happen in a positive setting. It begins with the premise that conflict in the workplace is inevitable, but that does not mean that it has to be negative. If conflict occurs in a positive labour relations atmosphere, then the outcome also likely will be positive.

The program is taught in CLAC member centres in various provinces. It takes participants through four labour relations themes: creating a positive culture, roles and responsibilities, workplace rules, and progressive discipline. Each topic includes an instructional session; a drama session, which puts the concepts into a real world environment; a session featuring interviews with labour relations experts offering both union and management perspectives, as well as thoughts by arbitrators; and, finally, a quiz to ensure participants have understood the concepts.

CLAC has been offering Cooperate to Win training since 2009. Is it making a difference? We spoke individually with Denyse, Melissa, and Richard—three people working in three different provinces in three very different fields: healthcare, grocery retail, and transportation. We asked them about their experience with the program, what they learned, and whether it had made a difference in their workplace.

Who do you work for and what do you do?

Melissa: I’m an assistant manager in the deli department of Save-On-Foods’ Lewis Estates location in Edmonton. I’ve been a Local 301 member and union steward for seven years on and off at different stores during the nine years that I’ve been part of Save-On-Foods. I provide leadership for my staff members who work with me behind the deli counter and make sure that our department is always safe and that we have everything prepared for our customers. We’re all part of a team here, and our focus is always on customer service, being aware of the customers in the store and greeting them.

Richard: I work for Clark Reefer Lines Limited, which operates under the name of Clark Freightways, based in Coquitlam, BC. We have six company-owned and operated facilities in the province, and we have approximately eighty-five trucks. We employ about 215 union and non-union employees. I’m vice-president of the company and that puts me on an executive team of three, including our president and CEO and our chief financial officer. I’ve been in this position for over four years and with the company for over eleven.

Denyse: I’m a PSW [personal support worker] with VON Canada [Victorian Order of Nurses] in Brantford, Ontario. I’ve been with VON for over 17 years. We joined CLAC Local 305 in 2014 and I’ve been a steward and served on the bargaining committee. I do home visits to help people with their personal care, which can include anything from helping them bathe and transferring them out of bed to meal prep and helping them with their exercises. Basically, I help them meet their daily needs of living. It’s very rewarding work, to see at the end of the day that I’ve helped someone.

When did you take part in the Cooperate to Win program, and what did you learn from it?

Melissa: Save-On-Foods has been involved with Cooperate to Win right from the beginning in 2009. I represent CLAC on our Cooperate to Win Committee and take part in new employee orientations at the store, introducing them to the union, our collective agreement, and the program. The whole purpose of Cooperate to Win is to build understanding with each other. There are different ways to approach certain situations. Rather than making assumptions and getting angry, we can create a positive work environment if everyone cooperates with each other.

Richard: We took the program a few years ago. I attended, as did our president and CEO, as well as our operational supervisors, dispatchers, warehouse supervisors, and head office terminal manager. One of the common themes of the program is the importance of active listening. Transportation is very much a real-time industry, and decisions are made and changed constantly. Improving communication with the front-line staff and helping them be part of the decisions has helped us improve. I liked that the program wasn't biased on the union or employer side—it didn't pull any punches for either side. It challenged both to improve themselves.

Denyse: I took the program a couple of months ago. Cooperate to Win has given me a lot more insight into how to deal with conflict. Whenever you’re going into a labour-management meeting, you have to realize you’re going to have three different groups—management, the employer, and union stewards—and three different personalities and perspectives.

How has what you learned made a difference at your workplace?

Melissa: I’ve always worked in a cooperative way but some of our managers didn't know any other way than to be confrontational. Watching them embrace Cooperate to Win has made such a huge difference, and as a result, the company as a whole has improved by leaps and bounds. They work with the union to find a solution that’s best for the employees. For example, if somebody’s not working out in one department, they’re more likely now to look for another department that might be a better fit for that employee as opposed to giving up on them. They try to keep the employees and groom them and work with them.

Richard: It’s the conversations that go on now that management doesn’t need to know about. The program spoke to our supervisors and made them think differently when management wasn't around. When they’re having conversations with the union employees and people in their charge that we don't need to know about, we have more confidence now that they’re doing it with more respect. It forced some reflection on our supervisors.

Denyse: Having union representation, employees sometimes view things with management as power-based, and that can lead to demands of “I want this.” Cooperate to Win taught me how to talk with my co-workers first and explain that the approach we take is not based on power but on our interests. We don’t go into a situation as union versus management, like we’re out to get each other. We’re together, and we resolve problems together. I used this approach in one recent case and it worked out just great.

What is your biggest takeaway from Cooperate to Win?

Melissa: It’s so important to have a positive work environment, and that’s what Cooperate to Win works toward. If you don't have a positive work environment, it creates a negative atmosphere in the store, and that trickles down to not just your staff members, but to your customers too. So the most important part for me is always focussing on having a positive work environment and positive team members.

Richard: I was surprised to see that the vignettes and scenarios presented in the program were relative to our own backyard. I don’t remember the exact vignette, but the one that sticks in my mind is where there’s confrontation between the supervisor and their immediate employee and how there’s really no need for that. You need to come with respect and honesty to that situation, working together and collaborating. That’s the biggest takeaway. I left there challenged knowing these situations were going on, and that we needed to help further improve our culture to avoid them.

Denyse: The most important thing I learned from Cooperate to Win is that there are three different types of relationships: power-based, rights-based, and interest-based. Which one will work best? I never really thought a lot about it before until we went through the three different types, and the interest-based relationship is the one that works the best. And that’s what I’ve been applying.

Final thoughts?

Melissa: I am very passionate about Cooperate to Win and what it stands for. I support it 100 percent, and I’m very happy that CLAC works that way. I was never a big supporter of unions in the past, but I’m a big supporter of CLAC because of programs like Cooperate to Win. The program is supported across Save-On-Foods, from upper management to the store managers to those of us on the floor. Whatever we decide to do in our Cooperate to Win Committee, a memo will go out to all store managers on the initiatives that we've put in place, and then we have weekly meetings and ask about what’s been done. It’s definitely improved things for employees.

Richard: Cooperate to Win hammered home for me the need for respect. A lot of companies in our industry still rule with an iron fist, but we’re not that type of old-school management company, so we didn’t have as far to go. I believe the outcome of the training has been to create more of a collaborative environment at Clark Freightways.

Denyse: All of the stewards that took part in the program, we were already pretty much on the same page. We really shared a lot of the same viewpoints. But because the managers and supervisors have also gone through the program, when we go into a meeting, they have the same tools and the same approach to things that we have to deal with an issue. And that’s made a huge difference.

The Four Pillars of Positive Labour Relations

Positive culture – In a workplace with a positive culture, workers and management have a positive attitude and look for ways to cooperate, rather than ways to disagree. This is the first step to positive labour relations.
Roles and responsibilities – Management, the union, and individual employees all have roles to play in the workplace. Often, there is confusion about these roles, and this can lead to unnecessary conflict. Getting the roles straight is an essential part of positive labour relations.
Workplace rules – For any group of people to get along, members of that group have to live by a set of rules. But if rules are not fair or effective, there will be conflict. Knowing how to make and enforce rules correctly is essential to positive labour relations.
Progressive discipline – When a person breaks a rule, there has to be a process for correcting that person’s error. But how do employers do it in a way that is effective and fair to everyone involved? That is what progressive discipline is all about. A positive relationship between union and management cannot exist without it.

Three Types of Relationships

Power-based relationships – One side has most of the power and tells the other side what to do. In a non-unionized workplace, the employer has most of the power. It can dictate salaries, promotions, demotions, schedule changes, and just about everything else, with no input from its employees. But there are also small companies that are dominated by powerful unions. In this situation, the employer has difficulty making decisions necessary to manage its business because it fears the union’s reaction. Power-based relationships make positive labour relations impossible.
Rights-based relationships – Both sides have some power, and they focus on the rights that their power gives them. This is the type of relationship that often occurs in traditional unionized environments. Labour law and union contracts give management a lot of rights, including the right to run the business and to make rules. The union also gets a lot of rights, including the right to strike when a contract expires and to grieve. The problem with focussing on rights is that disputes over rights are usually resolved by a third party. A rights-based relationship makes it very difficult to develop positive labour relations.
Interest-based relationships – Both sides have power and rights, but they focus on their interests. An interest is anything that is to the advantage or benefit of a person or group. When people focus on their interests, they are in a good position to negotiate. This is because they don’t get stuck on one particular answer. Instead, they look at a number of possible answers that might address their interests. An interest-based relationship is critical to positive labour relations.

Melissa Davis - Save-On-Foods

Denyse Lake - Victorian Order of Nurses

Cooperative Culture

The Four Pillars of Positive Labour Relations

Three Types of Relationships

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