Union certification: Developing a level playing field ... - LabourWatch

Union certification: Developing a level playing field for labour relations in Quebecgap in economic efficiency afflicting Quebec andto do so in the next 25 years, there will be a needfor imagination, insight and courage to bringabout the required changes in economicenvironment and policies. We are in a certain waycondemned to be more efficient and moreinnovative than our main competitors.Quebec’s economic difficulties appear toresult essentially from four main causes: a generallack of incentives for adaptation, productivityand innovation; the growing ineffectiveness ofpublic mechanisms for coordination andallocation of resources; opaque and perniciousmanipulation of prices, too often viewed as afavoured support mechanism for organizedinterest groups; and the absence of a balance,comparable to that found among our maineconomic competitors, in labour relationsbetween unions and employers, not only in thepublic sector but also in the private sector, as wehave seen above.This last factor is probably what bestexplains Quebec’s difficulties in terms of privateinvestment and job creation, especially in termsof full-time jobs.It is quite apparent that our private andpublic Quebec companies will not manage tocreate jobs here at the necessary pace becausethey do not find it profitable to do so. Among thefactors explaining this state of affairs, it isimportant not to underestimate the obstacles totechnological and organizational innovation andflexibility too often created, first, by the presenceof too high a level of unionization compared toour main competitors, and also by the difficultyin challenging established supplier networks forgoods and services, especially in the publicsector. 44. On this subject, see Marcel Boyer, Manifesto for a Competitive SocialDemocracy, 2009, www.cirano.qc.ca/~boyerm/20090414_BOYER_Manifesto_en.pdf.Montreal Economic Institute33