05 October 2011

In the Eye of the Storm: The Québec Labour Movement in a Renewal and Organisational Deadlock

The Centre for Sustainable Organisations and Work, and the School of Management take pleasure in inviting you to the following seminar:

Event:	In the Eye of the Storm: The Québec Labour Movement in a Renewal and Organisational Deadlock
Person:	Professor Jean-Noël Grenier
Date:	2011-10-11
Time:	12.00 pm – 2.00 pm
Location:	Building 108, 239 Bourke Street, Level 16, Room 100

Professor Jean-Noël Grenier, Department of Industrial Relations, Social Sciences Faculty, Laval

Jean-Noël Grenier is a professor at the Department of Industrial Relations, Social Sciences Faculty, Laval University since 2004. Previously he was a college teacher and union officer for the National Federation of Teachers affiliated to the CNTU (FNEEQ-CSN). He obtained a Ph.D. in Industrial Relations from Laval University in 2003. He has been involved in different anti-globalization movements (ATTACK; CLAC) and maintains close ties to the public services labour movement in Québec and is frequently called upon for conferences, workshops and training sessions for union officers, staff and members at various levels of the union structure.

Jean-Noël Grenier has published articles and book chapters in the field of Industrial Relations concentrating on the experience of public services workers and unions in the context of neoliberal policies. He is affiliated to The CRIMT (Interuniversity Center for Research on Globalization and Work) where he collaborates to research projects in the area of public services and union renewal. He is currently conducting a comparative research project with colleagues in various countries on union responses to the restructuring of the State and of public services in the context of neoliberalism and the more recent financial (now public sector) crisis.

This paper aims at sketching out the prospects for Union Renewal within the Québec Labour Movement with a specific focus on the contradictions facing unions in the public services. The central argument is that reform underway in the public services offers opportunities for Renewal but that, in a rather contradictory manner, early success in opposing attempts to dismantle important elements of the Québec Model, have sowed the seeds for inertia among the main union bodies. While Public and Broader-Public Sector Unions have been successful in mobilizing historical alliances with social movements (e.g. community-based groups and environmental groups) in opposition to attempts to privatize public services, they have met little success in mobilizing their own members. One explanation for this is that the process of Renewal has been top-down with the view that local representatives or organisations are essentially transmission channels for policies determined at the central level. This weakness may have serious consequences in the present context of restrain and reduction in expenditures. That is not to say that current efforts at reinforcing the traditional structure and capabilities at the central level are misdirected, rather they are insufficient in that they fail to draw on the potential of workplace organisations.

The structure of the presentation is as follows. Firstly, some specifications of the Québec Labour Movement and of Québec Society will be presented. Second, we will briefly describe the Québec labour movement in terms of competing union central bodies and local organisations within the public sector. We will then present the challenges of the current attack to public services and the responses of the labour movement. The final part of the discussion will present a critique of these initiatives.

Please contact Benedict Ciantar at Benedict.Ciantar@rmit.edu.au for more information

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