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Austerity as an opportunity for union revival: Québec public school teachers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Jean-Noël Grenier  and
Patrice Jalette
Jean-Noël Grenier*
Affiliation:
Laval University, Canada
Patrice Jalette
Affiliation:
University of Montréal, Canada
*
Jean-Noël Grenier, Pavillon J-A-DeSève, Université Laval, 1025, av. des Sciences-Humaine, Local 3170, Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada. Email: Jean-Noel.Grenier@rlt.ulaval.ca
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Abstract

This article proposes an account of how two teachers’ labour federations have been reacting to austerity measures in public education. Current austerity measures have coincided with the renewal of collective agreements, thus allowing the study of how unions link bargaining stances to wider issues of service quality and accessibility. Union responses are the result of at least three influences: the institutional framework for public sector collective bargaining and worker representation, the previous orientation of members and their organisations towards social and work relations, and ongoing innovations for renewal and member engagement. We posit that union responses can contribute to renewal if they are guided by concerns to redefine union purpose, union organisation and building capacities. Under these conditions, unions are able to engage members and push forward an alternative agenda to that of the government. In doing so, they may be able to forge temporary alliances with outside stakeholders, namely parents. Analysis of union responses should consider the dialectic between union renewal effort and the opportunities and constraints of the institutional framework for public sector collective bargaining. The challenge for these two labour federations is in sustaining member engagement and activism beyond the current context of collective bargaining.

Keywords

E62H62lJ53Austeritycollective bargainingpublic educationpublic sectorteachers’union renewalunion strategies
Type
Symposium Articles
Information
The Economic and Labour Relations Review , Volume 27 , Issue 1: Symposium: Public Service Employment Relations and Austerity: Challenges and Consequences , March 2016 , pp. 64 - 80
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2016

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