Union-Management Relations
QUESTION 1
Several paradigms acknowledge the fact that workers and management can stand for various interests and objectives. The same entities can still disagree over the degree to which the case can have its way and the ease with which the dissimilarity can amicably be resolved in a market economy. They can as well differ over the role that conflict and power plays, especially where conflict can be regarded to be a fundamental aspect of industrial relations whereby either the management or labor officials are at an intrinsic power disadvantage against the other party. Besides, they disagree over the effectiveness and the impact of the labor unions and the necessity for altering the existing framework. The neoliberal, the managerialist, the orthodox-pluralist, the liberal reformist, and the radical are the five paradigms that John Godard outlines as capturing the ‘worldview’ and intentions of this excerpt. These paradigms are meant to serve as helpful points of reference in the effort to address some issues together with disagreements that triggered the battle demonstrated in recent labor negotiations between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW).
The Neoliberal Paradigm
The neoliberal perspective is a paradigm that conventional economists often adhere to. The theorists of the perspective were primarily concerned with optimizing the economic efficacy whereby they maximized the profit through the utilization of the available resources in the most frugal manner. Similarly, their analytical focus was basically on the role that market forces played in fostering the attainment of their primary objectives (Goddard, 2011). Neoliberals uphold a belief that market forces are meant, not just to facilitate the management in pursuit of its maximum efficiency, but also guarantee the fair and equitable treatment of employees.
The Managerialist Paradigm
On the other hand, the managerialist perspective is a paradigm that specialists of human resources management, as well as organizational behavior, adhere to. Whereas the concern of neoliberals is mainly anchored on the operation of markets as they believe that markets have to ensure both effectiveness for workers and unbiased treatment for the workforce, the focus of managerialists is mainly to optimize commitment as well as employee motivation once they are in the employment relationship. For this reason, the managerialists are often keen on implementing the managerial policies together with the business practices towards workers.
The Orthodox–Pluralist Paradigm
In the same breath, the orthodox-pluralist perspective has customarily been adhered to by the scholars of economic affairs and industrial relations. These scholars are known to adopt traditional institutionalist approaches, which resonate with the established underlying philosophy of the stipulated labor laws in Canada and entire North America. The orthodox pluralists are chiefly concerned with establishing a balance between the necessity for effectiveness in the respective economies as well as the need for fairness and equity in employment relations. Similarly, the pluralist also targets labor unionism, collective bargaining, and institutions of labor laws among other traditional concerns.
The Liberal-Reformist Paradigm
The fourth paradigm highlighted by Godard (2011) is the liberal-reformist perspective which is adhered to by the scholars who are more skeptical and reform-oriented. Nonetheless, they are usually keen on the reduction or elimination of inequalities and injustices while treating employees. This is considered to be the least cohesive of the five paradigms, though it overly involves a focus on challenges associated with inequality, discrimination, retrenchment and plant downsizing, meager emolument and benefits, unfair working conditions, and flaws in the stipulated frameworks of labor law as well as collective bargaining. The liberal reformists also pay maximum attention to more critical orientation while dealing with the challenges. This is different from adherents to the aforementioned three paradigms, who merely view these challenges either as trivial or scanty.
The Radical Paradigm
The final paradigm is the radical perspective, which is considered to be more critical concerning the liberal-reformist perspective. In this case, radicals have several concerns in common with liberal reformists, but their main focal point is the role of diverse sources of disputes perceived to be crucial to most capitalist economies as well as the implications of the very sources for industrial relationships. Besides, they believe that the challenges spotted by liberal reformists are practically prevalent in capitalist economies.
QUESTION 2
Arguably, the paradigm that would not suit this excerpt from the CFIB’s submission is the Fordism Paradigm. Based on John Godard’s argument, the model acts as the widespread communal compromise between labor and capital. Unlike the five paradigms, Fordism is engineered by the active state, in the industrialized capitalist nations, especially during the postwar era.
Since time immemorial, the shift in the economic policies from the management of demand to supply as well as the supplementary institutional variations of industrial relations used to be political strategies aimed at converting inflexible rules of Fordism into a bendable, neoliberal regime of administration. For this reason, Goddard (2011) claims that Fordism cannot, therefore, provide the basis for sustainable outcome in the labor negotiations between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) because it is unpredictable in its principles of labor relations.
Reference
Goddard, John . (2011). Industrial relations, the economy, and society. Concord, ON: Captus Press. (pp. 2-20).