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Managing a nonprofit in a collective agreement environment
September 13, 2004
By Louise Chatterton Luchuk
Would it surprise you to learn that 40% of employees working in the
nonprofit sector report that they are part of a union or are covered
by a collective agreement? This is what the Canadian Public Research
Network (CPRN) discovered when it extrapolated data from Statistics
Canada's 1999 Workplace and Employee Survey for the report Coping
with Change: Human Resource Management in the Nonprofit Sector.
Prior to the December 2003 release of the report, little was known about
the extent of unionization within the nonprofit sector.
Putting their money where their mouth is
You would expect to find unions in the social justice field and the Council
of Canadians is one such unionized nonprofit. Back in 1985, the Council
had a very small staff. By 1996, the organization had grown and six or
seven staff formed a bargaining unit affiliated with CAW Local 567. Today,
the Council is a larger-sized nonprofit employer with approximately 30
national and regional employees. As Victoria Gibb-Carsley, acting
director of campaigns and communication, points out, "for us, it's about
putting our money where our mouth is." Unionization makes sense because
many staff and board members are labour activists with histories of union
involvement. Unionization also makes sense because the Council has traditionally
been very outspoken on issues that are also important to unions and the
labour movement, namely trade agreements and globalization.
Increasing the degree of fairness and equity
For Gibb-Carlsey there are advantages to being a manager in a unionized nonprofit
organization. For one thing, the collective agreement clearly spells out
expectations. "Everyone in the organization is on the same page,"
she says. "We all have the same documents to work from and we are
all accountable to those documents." Union members and management also
have the right to a due process that is clearly defined. Although non-unionized
nonprofits often have processes too, they may not have the same clarity
of recourse that is found in the collective agreement. "Non-unionized
managers may have more latitude. Sometimes this is fair and sometimes
not. Sometimes employees are happy. Sometimes they are not. With a collective
agreement, you increase the degree of fairness and equity."
At the other end of the size spectrum is the Simon
Fraser Public Interest Research Group (SFPIRG), a student funded and
directed resource centre that supports environmental and social change
through research, education and action. Whereas the Council of Canadians
is large enough to have managers plus the staff who form the basis of
the bargaining unit, SFPIRG has only three permanent part-time staff plus
one eight-month contract student. All employees are part of the union,
including the contract student employee (however they are not eligible
for some of the benefits, such as RRSP benefits). SFPIRG has been unionized
for approximately 15 years and employees belong to CUPE 2396, which also
represents other small organizations in BC's Lower Mainland.
Decreasing frustration, increasing productivity
Emily Aspinwall, administrative coordinator, cites a very important benefit
of a collective agreement in a small nonprofit organization - especially
one that is student-led. In SFPIRG's situation, there is a student board
of directors and student employees, which means high turnover and varying
levels of experience. "In this environment," says Aspinwall, "a collective
agreement is really important because skills and structure are not there.
The collective agreement stipulates how we are to handle things. That
means we're not draining the organization's resources trying to figure
out how to deal with situations."
It is also important to have the stability of a collective agreement that
is written down on paper. Aspinwall doesn't know who the board will be
next year. While the employment situation may be working great now, the
stability of a written collective agreement protects employees in future
years when the board may be comprised of different directors. Aspinwall
also values the protection for nonprofit employees who care about their
jobs and their organizations. "There is a grey line when you care about
your job. The collective agreement protects against exploitive expectations
that you'll come in on the weekend to work, etc. because you care about
your job."
Aspinwall says that although there is a grievance process, it is not always
the most useful way of dealing with situations. At SFPIRG, they first
try to resolve issues via consensus. "Yes, stand up for your rights, but
look for the best way to accomplish this," advises Aspinwall. As a result,
some in the union or labour world do not understand the type of conflict
resolution process that nonprofits like SFPIRG need. Another suggestion
from Aspinwall is to use resources from within the organization, as SFPIRG
does, to work with the union to make it more relevant and responsive to
the needs of the nonprofit sector.
The perspective of a labour relations specialist
Jorge Talbott is a lawyer who operates his own consulting
firm that assists nonprofits in their labour relations. He sees a
tendency in unionized nonprofit organizations to hire managers straight
from the bargaining unit. "Yanking them out," as Talbott puts it, "and
putting them in charge of old friends." The nonprofit sector is often
tightly knit and people want to maintain their friendships. But once promoted
to management, notes Talbott, the friendships can't remain without accusations
of favoritism. "These managers just get burned. I see it constantly in
the nonprofit sector." Also, if a manager is too close to employees, poor
performance, lateness, etc. sometimes are allowed to slide because the
manager is too scared to point out the behaviour of a friend.
Talbott also finds that managers in the nonprofit sector are very conscientious
and worry about making mistakes. Often they are concerned that if they
do something wrong regarding discipline that they could cause a grievance.
However, according to Talbott, "in the for-profit sector grievances happen
every day and it's a badge of honour. It's how you learn."
Despite the fact that so many nonprofit employees work in a unionized
or collective agreement environment, there is still a lot to learn about
union terminology, collective agreements, and effective union relations.
There are special considerations that differentiate unionized nonprofits
from unionized for-profits, but as Gibb-Carlsey and Aspinwall point out,
there are many benefits that make it worth the effort.
(Please note: Several union representatives were contacted for their perspective
on unionized nonprofits but were unavailable or in the midst of collective
bargaining and therefore felt it was not an appropriate time to comment.)
Louise Chatterton Luchuk is a freelance writer and consultant who
combines her love of writing with experience at the local, provincial
and national levels of volunteer-involving organizations. For more information,
visit www.luchuk.com.
