Allen Ponak

Part-time Board member

Allen Ponak is Professor Emeritus of Industrial Relations at the University of Calgary. He holds a Bachelor of Arts, a Master of Labour and Industrial Relations and a Ph.D. in Industrial Relations. From 1976 to 2006, he was a professor at the University of British Columbia, McGill University and the University of Calgary. His research has been widely published and focuses on public policy, dispute resolution and public sector labour relations. He co-authored the leading textbook Union-Management Relations in Canada, served as National President of the Canadian Industrial Relations Association, and chairs the editorial board of Relations industrielles / Industrial Relations.  Dr. Ponak produced and narrated the documentary film Beyond Collision: High Integrity Labour Relations, which won the Silver Screen Award at the 2006 Los Angeles International Video and Film Festival. As an arbitrator since 1984, he has issued more than 450 decisions. He is a member and Vice-Chair (Canada) of the National Academy of Arbitrators. He founded the Calgary Labour Arbitration and Policy Conference and chaired it from 1983 to 2007.  Dr. Ponak was appointed as a part-time member of the Public Service Labour Relations Board on February 18, 2008, for a period of four years.