Strike votes are a normal part of the negotiation process and are often essential to balance the employer’s power with the collective strength of the members of the bargaining unit. A strong positive strike vote tells the employer that Members
- support their bargaining team;
- stand behind the mandate they gave the team;
- do not accept concessions tabled by the employer; and,
- are willing to withdraw their labour if an acceptable compromise is not reached.
If you are concerned about the possibility of having to go on strike, the best way to prevent that is to vote ‘yes’ to the strike vote. The stronger the strike mandate, the more leverage it gives to the bargaining team’s ability to negotiate a reasonable settlement from the university.
Further Reading
For more analysis of the function and importance of strike votes in collective negotiations, see below for comments by David Doorey, Professor of Industrial Relations at York University:
For a brief review of faculty settlements in Ontario, please review slides by Bradley Weinberg, Professor of Industrial Relations at Queen’s:
For a conversation about why it’s important to support the Bargaining Team, please see the article written by Karen Rudie, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Queen’s: