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Executive Roles & Responsibilities | Positions

CIRA’s positions

CIRA adopts, at the Annual General Meeting, various positions on contemporary issues or particular situations. These guide the executive committee in their actions for they represent their members’ considerations.

Equity

Whereas the Canadian Industrial Relations Association (CIRA) stands in solidarity with communities engaged in the fight against anti-Black racism, racism and discrimination;
Whereas many people identifying to one or more marginalized groups are witnessing the results of policies and decisions driven by racial and gender exclusion that undermine the economic health and well-being for all working people;
Whereas the fight against racism and discrimination in our societies needs to be stepped up and is a shared responsibility;

Therefore be it resolved that the Assembly mandates CIRA's Executive Committee to take effective actions to promote equity and greater representation of women and/or minority groups (visible, ethnic and religious minorities, Black, Indigenous, racialized persons, LGBTQ2+ persons, and persons with disabilities) in its membership and in its management and activities, and to promote research on these issues.

Be it further resolved that the CIRA will advocate for equity in industrial relations departments, schools, research centers, and in professional practices.

Adopted at the 2020 AGM
Revised at the 2021 AGM

CIRA/ACRI Statement on Program Closures and Job Cuts at Laurentian University

The Canadian Association of Industrial Relations/ l’Association canadienne des relations industrielles (CIRA/ACRI) condemns the decision by the Ontario Government and Laurentian University to layoff 110 faculty and 41 staff and to close 69 programs, including the Workplace and Labour Studies program. CIRA/ACRI also deplores the overall impact on programs offered to French-language students.

Laurentian University has a long and distinguished record of service to a variety of communities, whether English, French, or Indigenous, and a stellar record in the education of students from all backgrounds and in the pursuit of original scholarship.

Laurentian’s Workplace and Labour Studies program is a prime example of these traditions. The announcement of its intended closure is an immense loss for working families in Sudbury and beyond, as well as for the broader research and practitioner communities at local, national and international levels. Its closure will deprive workers, their families and their community of a precious resource to help make their work and their lives better. So too the program’s closure will deprive practitioners of the tools necessary to promote fair, equitable, useful and productive work.

CIRA/ACRI particularly deplores the unprecedented decision to force the university into creditor protection under the Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) in order to shelter it from customary labour protections and obligations to bargain in good faith. This marks an undesirable model of behaviour for all employers and one that Canada’s labour laws should prevent. Rather than restructuring and job layoffs, what is required is full consultation, social dialogue, and democratic decision-making in organizational governance.

The crisis at Laurentian is a symptom of the chronic underfunding of Canada’s post-secondary education system. This situation has been made worse by the Ontario and federal government’s refusal to provide emergency funding relief for Laurentian, which it could have readily underwritten.

CIRA/ACRI calls on the provincial government to reverse these decisions and on the provincial and federal governments to provide emergency funding for Laurentian University. It also calls on both levels of government to reinforce their commitment to affordable and accessible post-secondary education for all Canadians as a public good. Only transformative policy changes will prevent a similar situation from occurring again and provide the post-secondary education that all Canadians need and deserve.

The Canadian Association of Industrial Relations/ l’Association Canadienne des relations industrielles represents professionals, researchers, academics, and students addressing work, employment, and industrial relations in Canada. It brings together leading scholars and practitioners to enhance the quality of jobs and improve workplace practices.