Ontario Construction News staff writer
Ontario Construction Secretariat (OCS) has partnered with Constructionlab to develop a new labour relations course for labour and management stakeholders in Ontario’s unionized construction industry.
Following a formal request for proposals, OCS awarded a contract London-based Constructionlab to develop, design and implement a new course focusing on construction labour relations fundamentals.
The course, anticipated to quickly become an industry standard, will provide opportunities for participants to hone skills and learn through an intensive multi-day course focused on eight themes.
Topics will include historical context of construction labour relations, case law examples and scenarios, negotiation theory and style, grievances, and jurisdictional processes, health and safety and human rights.
Various adult learning strategies will be used, including break-out group sessions, dilemma, and negotiation exercises and more; the course will be designed to maximize the engagement of participants.
“We are thrilled to be working with Constructionlab and are confident this course will be an asset to industry stakeholders across the province,” said Robert Bronk, OCS chief executive officer.
“As a new wave of labour and management stakeholders start to take leadership positions, this course will provide historical perspectives and touch on key elements required to build trust, maintain and improve critical relationships and enhance ongoing stability in Ontario’s unionized ICI construction sector for years to come.”
Course content will be developed over the next three-months.
“One of the key aspects of the overall project is to ensure that as the course is being developed, it is being tested by those who are at the bargaining table and on the ground involved in local work area practices, grievance procedures and finding solutions to better Ontario’s existing industrial, commercial and institutional construction collective agreements,” said Derek Smith, project lead for Constructionlab.
The Ontario Construction Secretariat was formed in 1993 as a joint labour/management organization representing 25 unionized construction trades and their contractor partners in Ontario’s ICI construction sector.