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Mr. Harris, Mr. Rae and Union Activity in Ontario

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  • Felice Martinello

Abstract

In 1990 Bob Rae's New Democratic (NDP) government was elected in Ontario and in 1993 they passed labour relations legislation favouring organized labour. In 1995 Mike Harris' Progressive Conservative (PC) government was elected and they quickly passed legislation much less favourable toward unions. Monthly data, 1987-98, are used to estimate the effects of the changes in government and legislation on certification and decertification activity and complaints of unfair labour practices. Certification activity increased and decertification activity decreased after the NDP legislation was passed. The opposite occurred with the election of Harris' Conservatives and the change of government had a significant impact, even before new legislation was passed. Complaints of unfair labour practice rose during the NDP tenure but returned close to historical levels under the PCs.

Suggested Citation

  • Felice Martinello, 2000. "Mr. Harris, Mr. Rae and Union Activity in Ontario," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 26(1), pages 17-33, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpp:issued:v:26:y:2000:i:1:p:17-33
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. W. Craig Riddell, 1993. "Unionization in Canada and the United States: A Tale of Two Countries," NBER Chapters, in: Small Differences That Matter: Labor Markets and Income Maintenance in Canada and the United States, pages 109-148, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Newey, Whitney & West, Kenneth, 2014. "A simple, positive semi-definite, heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation consistent covariance matrix," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 33(1), pages 125-132.
    3. Card, David & Freeman, Richard B. (ed.), 1993. "Small Differences That Matter," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226092836, Febrero.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Susan Johnson, 1999. "Automatic Certification or Mandatory Representation Votes? How the choice of union recogntion procedure affects union certification success," Department of Economics Working Papers 1999-06, McMaster University.
    2. S Johnson, 1999. "Automatic Certification or Mandatory Representation Votes? How the Choice of Union Recognition Procedure Affects Union Certification Success," Working Papers wp139, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    3. Luis L.M. Agular, 2001. "Doing Cleaning Work 'Scientifically': The Reorganization of Work in the Contract Building Cleaning Industry," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 22(2), pages 239-269, May.
    4. Scott Legree & Tammy Schirle & Mikal Skuterud, 2017. "The Effect of Labor Relations Laws on Unionization Rates within the Labor Force: Evidence from the Canadian Provinces," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 605-639, October.
    5. Bradley R. Weinberg, 2020. "Third-Party Intervention and the Preservation of Bargaining Relationships," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(2), pages 498-527, March.
    6. Susan Johnson, "undated". "Automatic Certification or Mandatory Representation Votes? How the choice of union recognition procedure affects union certification success," Canadian International Labour Network Working Papers 33, McMaster University.
    7. Bradley R. Weinberg, 2021. "‘til Dissolution Do Us Part: (Re)Assessing the First Contract and Trial Marriage Goals of First Contract Arbitration in Ontario," Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 119-144, January.
    8. Michael Smith, 2001. "What have the FTA and the NAFTA done to the Canadian labor market?," Forum for Social Economics, Springer;The Association for Social Economics, vol. 30(2), pages 25-50, March.
    9. Mikal Skuterud, 2007. "Identifying the Potential of Work-Sharing as a Job-Creation Strategy," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(2), pages 265-287.
    10. Susan Johnson, 2002. "Card Check or Mandatory Representation Vote? How the Type of Union Recognition Procedure Affects Union Certification Success," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(479), pages 344-361, April.

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