Abstract
Between 1968 and 1975, the Province of Quebec instituted several laws to combat violence and corruption in its construction industry. Among them were a requirement that all construction workers belong to a union, and all contractors to the sole employers' association; province-wide coverage of construction workers and employers by a single collective agreement at any given time; the presumption of guilt of anyone charged with criminal activities in the industry; mandated multiple sources of manpower, to prevent monopolies in manpower allocation; mandatory elections of union stewards, to prevent abuses by appointed stewards; the barring from union office of those with criminal records; and government trusteeship of several union locals. The author credits these measures with dramatically reducing violence and corruption, but cautions that they might not be readily transferable to labor relations systems outside Quebec.
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