What We Do

With over forty years of experience, in 2023 Bill Cole created COLE LABOUR to focus exclusively on clients' needs in collective bargaining and the engagement of members through building commitment and participation. What distinguishes Bill's practice is his combination of collective bargaining experience across many sectors, for organizations of all sizes, and a scholarly interest in negotiation research/theory and its strategic application in support of bargaining process and demands. ​

 

COLE LABOUR has a real focus on collective bargaining, from training to representation. Bill has been a spokesperson in negotiations for a full range of clients in the public and private sectors. He also supports bargaining committees through advanced training, complex decision-making, and process and bargaining strategies in both the public and private sectors. 

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With extensive experience working with essential services, he assists clients with managing dispute resolution, particularly interest arbitration and its variants (arb-med; med-arb; final offer selection). Having represented police, firefighters, and health care workers in hundreds of interest disputes, he draws upon a significant collection of interest arbitration decisions, covering almost six decades, to support client interests. 

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COLE LABOUR also focuses on unions as organizations. Having been a union president, Bill understands the relationship between union leaders and their members. Over the years, he has listened to many union leaders, from around the world, express concerns about member engagement and related concerns about commitment. Having decided that these questions warranted deeper investigation, Bill completed a doctoral degree with a focus on the causes and remedies for member engagement.  In doing so he sets aside the preoccupation with leadership and considers these engagement issues from the members' perspective.  Bill works with unions across Canada on engagement strategies.