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Union as Change Agent in Safety Management

"In the spring of 1991, the workplace community was shocked by the death of one worker and the maiming of another in two separate incidents. The union called for a comprehensive review of safety at Toronto Hydro, to be undertaken jointly by the union and management." This paper will take the form of a case study of the experience of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Local One and Toronto Hydro. Beginning in 1991,the Union took an aggressive approach to the need for a new philosophy of safety management. We took the view that putting the union at the center of the change process was critical to its success. And that the union had to have an ongoing partnership role in the administration of any new safety system to ensure its continued relevance. The employer did not share this view and the clash that resulted provided only limited gains for workers in the area of improved health and safety conditions and the union's participation in work management. Toronto Hydro is one of the largest municipal utilities in North America in terms of the number of employees as well as the size of its distribution system. This publicly owned corporation purchases electrical power from Ontario Hydro and distributes it on a monopoly basis to industrial, commercial, and residential customers in the city of Toronto. CUPE Local One is a public-sector union local with 1200 members in two bargaining units; one clerical and technical, known as the "salaried" unit, and the other bluecollar and skilled trades; the "hourly" unit. The workers of the utility have been organized since 1915, initially by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. We are now organized along industrial lines but the pride of craft and the knowledge of the work and the workplace remain.