INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

CASE ANALYSIS; FINAL OFFER

Aiman Rashid Bsmt18020

Question 1:
Yes, UAW’s internal structure did pose a hindrance to the negotiations going on at GM Canada.
This is because Bob White who was the Canadian Director of UAW and was representing it in
the negotiations, had to take authorization from the International UAW’s President, Owen
Bieber in Detroit, before finalizing anything, whether it be the date of strike or the points of
negotiations. Bob white was independent minded and it irritated him. Also the relations
between the international union and White had been strained since he was appointed as the
Canadian Director. It can also be seen in the documentary that, Owen Bieber tried to do
negotiations with GM’s management on his own, without even informing White. While on the
other hand, White was trying his best to fight for the increased benefits for the workers and the
increase in hourly wages by rejecting management’s lump sum offer. But still, White could not
stand against him because he knew that Owen Bieber can abandon the Canadian’s right to
strike and not only this, he could also block their access to the union’s strike fund of worth 500
million dollars. Also John Clout who was the Chairman of the St. Catherine’s plant, is the main
opposition of White in the committee. When White at last somehow managed to make Bieber
agree with his plan, he represented it among the committee members and then john clout
stood against it as he was the only committee member who could challenge the UAW’s leader.
Now, White had to neutralize him and he did. But overall, White had to face many hindrances
in his way and the negotiating power of UAW at Canada, was negatively affected.
Bonus Question:
Industrial action is the action taken by the employees as a protest or strike against the
management. And the strike fund is a reserve which is kept by the union for workers so that
they can pay workers while they are on strike to help them to fulfill their basic necessities.
Union collects it by taking small amount of money each month by its members and the workers.
Other people can also donate for it. This fund was very important for the Canadian auto
workers since firstly; it had become very difficult for White to convince the GM’s management
to make a separate deal for the Canadian wing by providing them proper wage increases and
some other demands as well. And there were higher chances that it would take much time to
convince them. Which means that the workers had to be on strike for longer time. Secondly;
there were also chances that the company could completely stop its activities in Canada and all
the workers would be out of their jobs. Hence the strike fund would help the workers to survive
through such times.
Question 2:

1
The level of motivation of Robert White to maintain demand was very high. This is because of
the following reasons:
1. He had to convince Owen Bieber first after that he had to convince the committee
members. All of them were against him but at last he made everyone agreed on his
points.
2. He knew very well that Owen Bieber could stop their access to the 500 million dollars
strike fund and it was a huge risk to stand against him.
3. Management was not in any way, ready to agree with his demands and was only trying
to manipulate them by making negligible changes in its offer.
4. It took him a month long of much hard work to make management to give a
considerable deal but he stood steadfast and finally succeeded.
5. He knew that management could completely stop its operations in Canada and there
was a risk of huge employee layoff but he took that risk.
The level of motivation of management was also high because:
1. It was not really compromising with the Canadian union to give them a separate deal
according to their demands.
2. It took a month long for them to actually negotiate with the union.
3. Even after that negotiation, they proposed a 2.5 percent increase in wages however the
traditional wage increase since years was 3 percent.
So, I think that overall the MD was quite high.
The level of motivation of the union to reach an agreement was there because it did agree upon
the 2.5 percent increase in hourly wages. The level of motivation of the management to reach
an agreement was there since they agreed on giving a separate plan for the Canadian workers
and gave a 2.5% increase in hourly wages. But in both these cases MD is way higher than MA.
So, the resultant negotiating behavior is “Distributive Behaviour”.

2
Question 4:
The relative power advantage of GM was that it could completely stop their operations in
Canada and shut down their plants however that of UAW was that the workers could go on
strike which could bring huge losses to the company. The conflicts between the UAW was also a
power for GM and in the same way if the union goes on strike, it would show a bad image of
GM.
The relative power advantage of the UAW of GM Canada side was that;

 In US, there was an issue of massive layoffs and the Owen Bieber wanted job security for
its employees
 However, it wasn’t an issue in US, hence they wanted hourly wage increases
The relative power advantage of the UAW of GM US was that;

 The part of UAW was that Owen Bieber was the president of UAW
 And Bob White, who was negotiating on behalf of GM Canada had to approve
everything
The perceived relative bargaining advantage of UAW of GM US was that;

 Bob White thought that Owen Bieber would block the access to the strike fund if they
will go fort without his permission or against his instructions

3
  Bob White feared that Owen Bieber would do final negotiations with GM without even
informing him
The perceived relative bargaining advantage of UAW of GM Canada was that;

 Owen Bieber knew that Bob White was a hero in the eyes of the Canadian workers
hence they would do as White says.
Hence the difference between demands and requirements of GM Canada and GM US led to
the formulation of CAW as a separate entity.
Question 5:
The management style which was prevalent at different plant sites in GM Canada was the
adversarial style which means it was a more authoritarian style that the workers had to do
what they ordered them to do. Workers were considered as a factor of production and
some collective representation was acceptable by them. Rod Andrew was trying to use
paternalistic approach and wanted to use same profit sharing schemes in both US and
Canada. The management strategy they used was Reforming wage and salary structures
which comes under institutionalization. This is because they were trying to change the wage
and salary structures to control wage costs the wage policies of the management moved
away from productivity to the job evaluating structures on the basis of what they paid.
The Canadian director Bob White had to take permission before any decision he took from
the date of strike to the points of negotiation, this irritated the independent minded White.
Since the relations between the president of UAW Owen Bieber and the Canadian director
Bob White was strained, management tried to make use of the levels of collective
bargaining to turn around the situation to their liking. They tried to do negotiations with
Owen Bieber regarding to the Canadian wing as well, behind White’s back. This forced
White to negotiate with the management as soon as possible so that Bieber don’t finalize
anything on his own.
Question 5:
Before the strike of 1984 workers were only treated as a unit of production and the working
environment provided to them was un acceptable. They weren’t allowed to leave the line
even to go to the washroom and they had to wait for hours for the replacement to come
and then they could leave their line. Workers wanted to change the working conditions.
Additional work was forced on them and they weren’t paid for it. And after the strike of
1984, work place environments became better and management started giving workers,
importance. They were given rest breaks and were paid for the additional work as well and
overall workers benefits increased.