Assignment:
Review the Jason Foster's article " Solidarity on the TransCanada".
Review the NFB FILM "24 Day in Brook"
The article and the film both deal with 2005 organizing drive and strike at Lakeside Packers in Brooks, Alberta.
Answer the following questions regarding the case in answers of 200 to 300 words each.
1. Why was the plant non-union and why did a series of organizing drives fail?
2. What were the workers biggest concerns that led to the union drive?
3. Why did the employer fight the union so fiercely and what does this tell us about their approach to labour relations?
4. What was different about the 2005 organizing drive? What made it successful?
5. Why did race become a factor in the organizing drive and strike?
6. What motivated some workers to cross the picket line and go to work during the strike?
7. What role did the state play in the dispute? Was it a constructive role? Why or why not?
8. What finally led to the resolution of the strike?
9. What does this case tell us about how the practice of labour relations differs from the process laid out in the text book (McQuarrie, Fiona A.E. (2015). Industrial Relations In Canada 4th ed. John Wiley & Sons Canada)?
10. In your own opinion, what could the parties (unions, employers and state) have done differently to prevent the strike.