Austerity and Collective Bargaining

Hello austerity readers. This Tuesday we have a presentation from Dr. Robert Hebdon (McGill University) on collective bargaining in Canada and austerity. Dr. Hebdon discusses how provincial governments - specifically Nova Scotia and Manitoba - enact fiscal restraint legislation, particularly on wage controls, and the effect of that on collective bargaining. These provinces respect the Supreme Court of Canada decisions which include collective bargaining and the right to strike in freedom of association, but exclude wages from this. Crisis narratives are utilized by these governments to legitimate a state of exception for wages in collective bargaining, undermining a key area of negotiation.

You can find the presentation on our Research Page under 'Case Studies'.   

To learn more about Robert, see his profile at McGill University: https://www.mcgill.ca/desautels/robert-hebdon.

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