A Thesis Submitted for the Degree of PhD at the University of Warwick Permanent WRAP URL: http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/110022 Copyright and reuse: This thesis is made available online and is protected by original copyright. Please scroll down to view the document itself. Please refer to the repository record for this item for information to help you to cite it. Our policy information is available from the repository home page. For more information, please contact the WRAP Team at: [email protected] warwick.ac.uk/lib-publications TH E BRITISH LIBRARY DOCUMENT SUPPLY CENTRE THE POLITICAL APPARATUSES OF PRODUCTION: GENERATION AND RESOLUTION OF INDUSTRIAL CONFLICT ---------------- IN CANADA AND BRITAIN AUTHOR LARRY HAIVEN INSTITUTION University of Warwick and DATE I o t a ’S Attention is drawn to the fact that the copyright of this thesis rests with its_ author. This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no information derived from it may be published without the author’s prior written consent. THE BRITISH LIBRARY DOCUM ENT SUPfLY CENTRE ~ n ~ n cm* mi! RÉDUCTION X ________21 Cflro. ^ THE POLITICAL APPARATUSES OF PRODUCTION: GENERATION AND RESOLUTION OF INDUSTRIAL CONFLICT IN CANADA AND BRITAIN LA R R Y H AIV EN \ A Thesis Submitted in Fulfillment of the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy ■; 9. c t <> o e School of Industrial and December, 1988 Business Studies University of Warwick SUMMARY This study explores the subject of cross-national variations in industrial conflict, looking specifically at a 'matched set' of factories in Canada and Britain. The comparison between these two countries is intriguing. Since 1943, Canadian governments have sought to regulate industrial conflict by a distinct formula whose three pillars are a) legally enforceable collective agreements meant to circumscribe disputable issues, b) the outlawing of strikes during the term of the collective agreement, and c) the substitution, for industrial action, of a well-defined grievance and arbitration procedure to settle the disputable issues arising during that term. Dispute resolution is formal, collective agreements are comprehensive and arbitral jurisprudence is encyclopaedic. In Britain, on the other hand, dispute resolution has been left almost entirely to the parties themselves. Collective agreements are not enforceable and sketch the barest details of co-regulation. An ill-defined body of 'custom and practice' still governs in most day-to-day disputes. Strikes are legally possible for all groups of employees at any time on any issue related to the workplace. And arbitration, though available, is voluntary and widely shunned by both parties. Dispute resolution is highly informal. While one might, from this comparison, predict a higher level of strike activity in Britain, Canada has equalled or surpassed Britain over the past twenty-five years in industrial conflict. Why might this be so? The study reviews several sets of theories on cross-national variations in industrial conflict and finds that the Canada-Britain comparison does not fit any of them. Suggesting a synthesis of the "institutional" and "political economy” theoretical approaches, it proposes to concentrate on the political struggle over production at the shop floor in a "politics of production" approach. Defining four "political apparatuses of production" (interests, rights, adjustments and enforcements), the study examines how these "microinstitutions" for conflict-handling articulate with three key loci on the frontier of control where conflict can erupt (discipline, the structuring of the internal labour market and job control). Through the use of intensive interviews in four workplaces (two in each country) in the brewing and aluminium fabrication industries and the analysis of general data on industrial relations in the two countries, the analytical framework is applied to examine the generation and resolution of industrial conflict. CONTENTS CHAPTER lî INTRODUCTION.............................................. 1 1. The Canadian Question........................................1 2. Two Systems of "Dispute Resolution".........................5 3. A Comparison of Strike Activity............................. 7 4. Problems 1n Comparative Theory............................. 11 4.1 The 'Cultural' Approach............................. 12 4.2 Institutional Approaches............................ 16 4.3 Political Economy Theories.......................... 19 4.4 The Interplay of Politics and Institutions......... 21 5. A 'Politics of Production' Approach........................24 6. The Political Apparatuses of Production....................28 7. Three Substantive Areas of Conflict Generation and Resolution............................................. 34 8. Conclusion and Plan of the Thesis..........................37 CHAPTER II: INTRODUCTION TO THE WORKPLACES......................... 39 1. Introduction................................................39 2. Labour Markets..............................................41 2.1 The Canadian Plants................................. 42 2.2 The British Plants.................................. 46 BRITMET.......................................... 46 BRITBREW........................................ 48 2.3 Summary..............................................50 3. Size........................................................ 51 4. Technology..................................................54 4.1 Introduction........................................ 54 4.2 The Aluminium Plants................................ 57 Casting.......................................... 57 Fabrication...................................... 58 Finishing........................................ 59 Packing......................................... 60 Craft Work...................................... 60 4.3 The Breweries....................................... 61 Brewing......................................... 61 Packaging....................................... 63 Staging......................................... 64 Distribution.................................... 65 Craft Work...................................... 66 4.4 Summary............................................. 67 5. Product Markets............................................ 68 5.1 The Breweries....................................... 70 5.2. The Aluminium Plants................................ 72 5.3 Summary............................................. 74 6. Management Organisation and Structure....................... 74 7. Union Organisation and Power.............................. 77 7.1 Introduction........................................ 77 7.2 BRITBREW............................................ 79 7.3 BRITMET............................................. 82 7.4 CANBREW............................................. 86 7.5 CANMET.............................................. 88 7.6 Summary............................................. 91 8. Concluding Remarks.........................................91 Contents...page b CHAPTER III: INTERESTS.............................................. 93 1. Introduction............................................... 93 2. The Canadian Plants........................................ 93 3. The British Plants........................................ 101 4. Interests Agreements...................................... 107 5. Concluding Remarks........................................ 115 CHAPTER IV: RIGHTS................................................ 117 1. Introduction.............................................. 117 2. The Canadian Plants....................................... 119 2.1 Grievance Procedures...............................120 2.2 Patterns of Grievance Resolution.................. 122 2.3 The Effect of Arbitral Jurisprudence on Grievance Resolution............................... 126 2.4 The Subject Matter of Grievances.................. 129 3. The British Plants........................................ 130 3.1 The Multiplicity of Prescribed Procedures.........132 3.2 Appearance vs. Reality.............................134 3.3 The Persistence of Informality.................... 136 4. Concluding Remarks........................................ 140 CHAPTER V: ADJUSTMENTS............................................. 143 1. Introduction.............................................. 143 2. The Canadian Plants....................................... 143 2.1 Unwritten Provisions............................... 144 2.2 Limitations on Unwritten Provisions............... 146 2.3 Arbitration as an Arena for Adjustment............ 148 Arbitral Approaches to Adjustment................149 2.4 The Consideration of Past Practice 1n Arbitration........................................ 152 Extrinsic Evidence..............................152 Estoppel........................................ 154 The Doctrine of Fairness....................... 157 3. The British Plants........................................ 166 3.1 Status Quo......................................... 167 3.2 Custom and Practice................................ 169 3.3 Differences Between Canada and Britain 1n the Operation of Adjustments................... 171 4. Concluding Remarks........................................ 176 CHAPTER VI: ENFORCEMENTS.............................................177 1. Introduction.............................................. 177 2. The Canadian Plants....................................... 177 2.1 Strike