As the Canadian workplace confronts the “great resignation,” “quiet-quitting” and labour shortages in general, the question of what employers can do to attract and retain workers has become ubiquitous. While wages and benefits loom large in workers decisions on whether to stay put or move on, the amount of power (or lack thereof) workers have within their respective workplace must also been seen as a contributing factor in workers’ employment decisions.
Workers without the benefit of a union contract often lack the ability to participate and influence the terms and conditions of their employment as well as the operations of their workplace. Enhancing Employees Voices in the Workplace by Dan Cameron proposes actions governments could take to empower workers so they can gain some of the benefits and decision-making power in the workplace currently enjoyed only by union members.
Dan Cameron is the former Director of Employee Relations of the Saskatchewan Public Service Commission. For nine years he was a lecturer in collective bargaining at the undergraduate and graduate levels at the Hill School of Business, University of Regina. As well, he has served as an adjudicator under the Canada Labour Code and as a guest presenter at collective bargaining conferences.
