Perry Work Report: work&labour news&research, November 13, 2014

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November 13, 2014

We Only Protect a Certain Kind of Woman

"Do sexual dignity and security mean something different in a white collar setting than in a brothel, or on a street corner?"

"How, then, in the same week that Canadians were so publicly incensed about workplace harassment and abuse, could a new law that promises to sustain violence in a work context for a particular class of women move quietly through the Senate?"

"The answer seems to lie in the kind of women, and the kind of work, that galvanize public attention. Sexual harassment and assault in an office or boardroom are rightfully the objects of public scorn, distaste and calls for action. In contrast, social reactions to such conduct in other contexts, especially within sex work, are typically muted or inexistent."

"An opportunity was missed last week when the Senate approved Bill C-36. This could have been a moment to reflect on the realties of sex work in light of the national conversation unfolding across Canada about intimidation and violence through sexual assault and harassment. That reflection would have allowed for Canadians to contemplate -- and perhaps expand -- their collective commitment to ensuring women’s sexual dignity and security at work, regardless of type of work that they do."

The Globe and Mail, November 11, 2014: ”We condemn attacks on women at work, unless it’s sex work,” by Angela Campbell

"Many believe our justice system fails victims of sexual assault. Four legal experts join Michael with their thoughts on how to make things better for women who wish to come forward."

CBC Audio, The Sunday Edition with Michael Enright, November 9, 2014: ”Sexual assault and the law” [podcast 51:53 min.]

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Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Bill Passed

  • Tie future minimum wage increases to the Consumer Price Index for Ontario.
  • Ensure Occupational Health and Safety Act coverage for unpaid co-op students and other unpaid learners.
  • Eliminate the $10,000 cap on the recovery of unpaid wages through Ministry of Labour orders to pay and increasing the period of recovery to two years.
  • Expand employment protections to cover all foreign employees who come to Ontario under an immigration or foreign temporary employee program.
  • Hold temp agencies and their employer clients accountable for employment standards violations, such as failure to pay regular wages, overtime pay, and public holiday entitlements.

rabble.ca, November 6, 2014; “Bill 18 passes: Ontario’s minimum wage pegged to cost of living,” by Ella Bedard

Ontario Ministry of Labour, November 6, 2014: “Province Passes Legislation to Increase Minimum: Wage Ontario Strengthening Protections for Vulnerable Workers”

Legislative Assembly of Ontario: Bill 18 -- Stronger Workplaces for a Stronger Economy Act, 2014

Province of Ontario, September 2014: “Realizing Our Potential: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy (2014-2019)” (52 pages, PDF)

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Higher Minimum Wages Bring Economic Well-Being

"Here’s the bottom line: Regardless of the size of a country’s economy, its current economic situation, or the time frame chosen, people lead better lives as the minimum wage increases."

"Although correlation does not prove causation, the evidence we have assembled strongly suggests that higher minimum wages do indeed work to the financial betterment of society as a whole. Even if some low wage jobs disappear as minimum wages rise, the end result is greater economic security and prosperity overall for people who live and work in countries with the higher minimums."

Scholars Strategy Network, November 2014: “Evidence that higher minimum wages improve economic well-being: Research brief,” by Michael Krassa and Benjamin Radcliff (2 pages, PDF)

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Conservatives Cut 37,000 Government Jobs

"Canada’s Conservative government has wiped nearly 37,000 people off the federal payroll and reduced key services for Canada’s veterans and the unemployed and budgets for food safety in the 'rush' to pay for its promised tax cuts, according to a new report."

"The report, by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, concludes that the Conservatives are able to realize their promised surplus and tax breaks at the expense of front-line services, corroded by steady spending cuts that will continue for another two years -- even after the books have been balanced."

National Post, November 12, 2014: ”Conservatives have wiped 37,000 off the public-service payroll, cutting jobs faster than expected,” by Kathyrn May,

"While undermining Canada’s economic recovery, the rush to balance the budget has also impacted federally delivered services. The biggest cuts were made in areas where Canadians most heavily rely on the federal government," says Macdonald. "It is not a stretch to say that veterans and the unemployed, for example, will be deprived of services for the sake of hurrying a return to federal surpluses." 

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, November 12, 2014: “At What Cost: The Impacts of Rushing to Balance the Budget,” by David Macdonald and Kayle Hatt (10 pages, PDF)

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Statistics Canada Population Estimates Released and Statistics on Nunavut Public Service

"Canada’s population estimates by marital status, legal marital status, age and sex, as of July 1, 2014, are now available."

"Note to readers: These estimates are based on the 2011 Census counts adjusted for census net undercoverage and incompletely enumerated Indian reserves."

The Daily, November 13, 2014: “Canada’s population estimates: Age, sex and marital status, July 1, 2014,” by Statistics Canada

CANSIM Table 051-00421, Estimates of population, by marital status or legal marital status, age and sex for July 1

Ted Hsu, MP, Ted's Blog, November  5, 2014:  "Eliminating the census hurts research."

 

Public Service Jobs in Nunavut

"Despite internship programs and other attempts to lure Inuit and non-Inuit into the public service, the Government of Nunavut is still operating at 75 per cent human capacity, and only half those jobs are filled by Inuit."

"According to the latest statistics from the Department of Finance, which now oversees human resources, GN departments range in strength from a low of 61 per cent in the health department to a high of 89 per cent in the education department."

NunatsiaqOnline, November 13, 2014: “Nunavut government operates at three-quarters of its human capacity: As of June 2014, the GN’s public service counted 1,144 job vacancies”

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What’s Missing from the Labour Market: Data

"Temporary foreign workers. Unpaid interns. Current jobless rates on aboriginal reserves."

"These are just a few examples of the known unknowns in Canada’s labour market -- statistical gaps in our knowledge about how people are faring in the jobs market."

"Statistics Canada is in the midst of a redesign of its labour force survey (LFS), the first phase of which will be completed next year, that aims at ensuring its ‘relevance and quality.’"

"As Statscan releases its labour force survey Friday [November 7, 2014], The Globe asked several economists and people who analyze the jobs market what additional labour market information would be useful, and why. They were also given the option of saying nothing needs to be added. Here are their ideas:

  • Improve job vacancy survey and survey on skills shortages
  • Look to the U.S. – publish more detailed surveys more quickly
  • Improve survey on employment and income outcomes of graduates by discipline
  • More on involuntary part-time and underemployed workers
  • Average length of time to fill a job vacancy
  • Include persons with disabilities in the labour force survey
  • Better wage information
  • Emphasize confidence bands
  • Expand use of administrative data
  • Better data on adult education and training needs”

The Globe and Mail, November 6, 2014: “What’s missing from the labour market: data,” by Tavia Grant

Statistics Canada, November 7, 2014: “Labour Force Survey, October 2014”

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The GDP of Canadian Cities, StatsCan Report

"The national statistical agency on Monday [November 10, 2014] published what it called an experimental’ analysis of GDP by urban centre, breaking down the data across 33 census metropolitan areas (CMAs) from 2001 to 2009."

"It found that 72 per cent of Canada’s economic activity occurs in the country’s urban centres."

"Increased granularity of the GDP data wouldn’t replace everything that has been lost from the death of the long-form census (indeed, not even close), but it could certainly help fill some important gaps in understanding income, employment and productivity trends, and in a relatively timely manner."

The Globe and Mail, November 11, 2014: “Canadian urban GDP study shows why analysis is long overdue,” by David Parkinson

Statistics Canada, November 2014: “Metropolitan Gross Domestic Product: Experimental Estimates, 2001 to 2009,” by Mark Brown and Luke Rispoli

 

“Thanks to offshore oil production, St. John’s rocketed up from 15th-wealthiest city in Canada in 2001 to fifth-wealthiest city by 2009. Toronto, during that time, fell from third place to seventh.”

It’s a sign of just how much of a difference resource wealth can make -- and a sign of how unevenly that wealth is distributed. While St. John’s recorded an unemployment rate of 6.1 per cent in October, one of the lowest in the country, Newfoundland and Labrador as a whole had 12 per cent unemployment, by far the highest of any province.”

"The data overall shows a shift in economic power to the west, with Toronto and Montreal both falling in the rankings of cities with highest GDP and seeing their share of the national economy shrink as well.”

The Huffington Post, November 11, 2014: “St. John’s Is Richer Than Toronto, And Other Surprising Facts From StatsCan’s GDP Study,” by Daniel Tencer

The Globe and Mail, November 10, 2014: “Montreal economy lagging other major Canadian cities, report finds,” by Bertrand Marotte

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Canadian and Global Reports On The Future Of Manufacturing

"It’s been six years since the onset of the recession, and while Canada’s economy has rebounded, albeit modestly, the manufacturing sector remains stuck in the doldrums. Still, there’s cause for optimism, suggests a new study by researchers at the Lawrence National Centre for Policy and Management at the University of Western Ontario’s Ivey Business School in London, Ont. The report, available on the centre’s website, looks at case studies of nine successful manufacturing firms operating in three sectors -- auto parts, agri-food and diversified manufacturing. The project’s aim was to uncover the secret to their success and make recommendations that would benefit the broader sector."

The Globe and Mail, November 12, 2014: “How nine Canadian companies beat the manufacturing slump,” by Rosanna Tamburri

The sections of the report, “The Future of Canadian Manufacturing: Learning from Leading Firms,” are linked here:

World Economic Forum’s Global Manufacturing Report

"This report focuses on an analysis of trends in global manufacturing, mostly from a value chain perspective.”

"It emphasizes that future developments in global manufacturing are increasingly relying upon the development of capabalities [sic] related to innovation, labour and infrastructures. Developed countries have experienced a substantial decline in manufacturing employment, but this trend has also been counterbalanced by improvements in manufacturing capabilities."

World Economic Forum, November 2014: “The Future of Manufacturing: Driving Capabilities, Enabling Investments,” by Jean-Paul Rodrigue, Fadi Farra, Jun Ni, Joao Carlos Ferraz, and Ludovico Alcorta (40 pages, PDF)

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The Death Of Lifelong Jobs

"The plan had been to be a teacher, plain and simple, but finding jobs related -- even tangentially -- to her field proved to be anything but. In the years since graduating from teacher’s college, [Sandra] Poczobut gradually woke up to a harsh reality: she is part of a growing cohort of Canadians at risk of never knowing the security of a permanent job. Dealing with that reality meant coming to terms with terminal instability -- and chasing her dreams anyway."

"We look to work not just for income, but also stability, community, dignity, and the capacity to learn and grow. For that, [Janet Mantler, associate professor of psychology at Ottawa’s Carleton University] says, we need to feel some emotional reciprocity from our employers. Trouble is, today’s prevailing business philosophy is that firms don’t owe us any of that."

“‘It’s incredibly hard for us to envision changes,’ [Rosemary Venne, associate professor at the Edwards School of Business at the University of Saskatchewan] says. “We tend to get stuck in the moment when we’re making predictions.” Even now, surveys show university graduates want and expect the kind of careers their parents exemplify, or at least idealize.”

The Calgary Herald, November 4, 2014: “The death of lifelong jobs: Unlike past generations, younger workers are having to adjust to employment instability,” by Jessica Barret

This article is part of the Calgary Herald ‘Work in Progress' blog, by Jessica Barret, which also includes the stories:

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Office-Safety Tips for Your Soul-Sucking Desk Job

Because your desk job is killing you (not just mentally, emotionally, and spiritually, but apparently physically, too) here are some office-safety tips that may help you survive until retirement (although in this economy, that’s not such a bright beacon of hope anymore either).

Follow the 20/20/20 Rule: "Every twenty minutes, take a break from looking at your computer screen by going to the bathroom and staring at yourself in the mirror. Mutter something about how you’re wasting your twenties for twenty seconds, or until you start to weep. Excessive crying will only further dry out your eyes, though, so make sure to cut yourself off."

Stay Active: "Though your work will most likely keep you seated at your desk for the majority of the day, there are still plenty of things that you can do to keep your body in motion. One good option is to rock back and forth in the fetal position every time you realize that this isn’t what you thought life would be, and that there’s really not much you can do about it outside of winning the lottery or trying out one of those standing desks. Yeah, those seem like fun."

The New Yorker, November 7, 2014: “Office-Safety Tips for Your Soul-Sucking Desk Job,” by Alex Watt

Scientific American, October 14, 2014: “Killer Chairs: How Desk Jobs Ruin Your Health,”  by James Levine

And if the black cloud of desk-job-depression still hangs over your head, then perhaps these photographers of other people’s sad, sad work spaces will be the ray of sunshine you so desperately need.

WIRED, November 7, 2014: “Think Your Office Sucks? Here Are the 15 Saddest Desks We Could Find”

And if that ray of sunshine just isn’t cutting through the darkness, remember, at the end of the day, at least you get to leave your sad work space and your dead-end desk job and go home to see your family. If you’ve got the whole work-life balance thing figured out, that is.

Global News, November 13, 2014: “Parody video pokes fun at work-life balance of professionals”

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A Sense of Freedom: Let Employees Choose

"A sense of freedom -- the ability to choose what you work on, as well as how, when, and where you perform your work -- is a growing priority for talented professionals across sectors and industries, and one of the core elements of a fulfilling career."

"An LRN study released at the World Economic Forum in Davos found in a deep study that companies in which employees displayed 'high levels of freedom' in their relationships were 10-20 times more likely to outperform companies with low freedom scores. These findings speak for themselves."

Harvard Business Review, November 10, 2014: “Let Employees Choose When, Where, and How to Work,” by Nathaniel Koloc

"Companies that deny this trend, that instead seek to impose more powerful controls and erect walls to keep freedom at bay, will find that their smartest minds, most loyal customers, and most valuable partners will drift away and seek freedom with others."

"On the other extreme, a few enterprises have already started to devote energy and resources to fostering ‘Freedom From/Freedom To’ in relationships that matter. Some have the advantage of business models born of the era of freedom, but others are old-line companies reinventing themselves for the new age."

LRN, January 2014: ”The Freedom Report: An Empirical Analysis of How Freedom Impacts Business Performance: (20 pages, PDF)

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Go Ahead, Quit Your Job

“’People who switch jobs more frequently early in their careers tend to have higher wages and incomes in their prime-working years,’ said [Henry Siu, economist and co-author of a new study of youth unemployment ]. ‘Job-hopping is actually correlated with higher incomes, because people have found better matches -- their true calling.’”

"... [O]verall, Siu said, adults who switch jobs multiple times are more likely to find a position in their prime-work years where they earn a higher wage and have a lower chance of quitting. (As always, causality is difficult to prove: Perhaps pro-active behavior leads to both higher wages and a greater likelihood of quitting.)"

"Young people are more likely to be unemployed. Siu’s paper tries to understand why. Is it because they have a harder time finding work or because they’re more likely to leave jobs? I always assumed that youth unemployment was higher because it was harder to find a job than keep one, and most people graduating from college or high school are starting at zero."

"Siu informed me that I have it backwards. ‘You can quite clearly see the reason young people have relatively higher unemployment is not because they have a harder time finding jobs,’ he said. ‘Actually, they find jobs with greater ease than somebody who is 45 or 55. But they are more likely to leave a job.’”

The Atlantic, November 5, 2014: “Quit Your Job,” by Derek Thompson

NBER Working Paper Series, October 2014: “What Should I Be When I Grow Up? Occupations and Unemployment over the Life Cycle,” by Martin Gervais, Nir Jaimovich, Henry Siu, and Yaniv Yedid-Levi (34 pages, PDF)

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Think Tank 20 -- Growth, Convergence, and Income Distribution

"On November 15-16, world leaders will gather in Brisbane, Australia for the ninth G-20 summit. Leaders are aiming to increase world GDP and chart a pathway to sustainable, inclusive growth and resilience through both short and medium-term actions. In this report, experts from Brookings and around the world address interrelated debates about growth, convergence and income distribution, three key elements that are likely to shape policy debates beyond the Brisbane summit."

You can browse the report by individual chapters here, or download the full report by clicking here (187 pages, PDF).

Highlight from the Canada chapter entitled “Secular Stagnation is Not Destiny: Faster Growth is Achievable with Better Policy,” by Jean Boivin and Tiff Macklem (7 pages, PDF):

"The stakes for the G-20 are incredibly high. Faster growth is within reach, but it will require countries to take action individually and collectively. Secular stagnation is not destiny; but avoiding it will take determination and resolve."

Brookings, November 2014: “Think Tank 20 -- Growth, Convergence and Income Distribution: The Road from the Brisbane G-20 Summit”

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Outlook on the Global Agenda 2015

The World Economic Forum’s “Outlook on the Global Agenda 2015 features an analysis of the Top 10 trends which will preoccupy our experts for the next 12-18 months as well as the key challenges facing the world’s regions, an overview of global leadership and governance, and the emerging issues that will define our future.”

Deepening income inequality and persistent jobless growth are ranked number one and two, respectively. Income inequality is “one of the most visible aspects of a broader and more complex issue, one that entails inequality of opportunity and extends to gender, ethnicity, disability, and age, among others. In developed and developing countries alike, the poorest half of the population often controls less than 10% of its wealth.”

"While it is true that around the world economic growth is picking up pace, deep challenges remain, including poverty, environmental degradation, persistent unemployment, political instability, violence and conflict. These problems, which are reflected in many parts of this report, are often closely related to inequality."

When it comes to persistent jobless growth, “the phenomenon in which economies exiting recessions demonstrate economic growth while merely maintaining -- or, in some cases, decreasing -- their level of employment, ... the percentage of those [between the ages of 25-54] who are not working has risen by a factor of more than three over the course of [several years], and that trend seems inexorably upward. If current trends continue, it could well be that a generation from now a quarter of the middle-aged demographic will be out of work at any given moment.”

World Economic Forum, November 2014: ” Outlook on the Global Agenda 2015” [click here to download the full report, 94 pages, PDF]

Mapping the Future: The Future of Work

"... [R]ecently a robot was placed in a company’s board of directors, something that would be considered science fiction even five years ago. ... [W]e are witnessing a Second Machine Age, in which income and employment opportunities might be squeezed for the short-term, but will raise earnings in the long-term."

"Over the coming 10 years, we will face huge, tectonic forces of globalization and astonishing technological progress -- forces that must be confronted and embraced if we are to ensure economic opportunity and inclusiveness for all."

"We definitely need to rethink the social contract that our societies’ offer to workers, but trying to protect existing jobs at this pace of innovation is a deeply flawed idea."

"Creating a phenomenally plentiful, technologically sophisticated economy that can supply all the goods and services that we need, making them widely available to everyone, is what we should be aiming for."

World Economic Forum, November 2014: “Mapping the future: The future of work,” by Andrew McAfee

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Book of the Week

Globalization and Labor Standards Annotated Bibliography: an Essential Research Tool, by Katherine V.W. Stone. Lake Mary, Fla. : Vandeplas Publishing, 2014. 438 p. ISBN 9781600422195

The Globalization and Labor Standards (GALS) Annotated Bibliography is a compendium of articles about international labor rights, national and transnational labor standards, and comparative labor law that have been published in law journals. All of the articles in the library are abstracted and cross-referenced by subject. Each article is accompanied by an annotation that describes its contents clearly and concisely. The annotations have been written by Professor Katherine V.W. Stone with the help of her students at the Cornell Law School, the Cornell School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and UCLA School of Law. This volume compiles all of the content in the GALS bibliographic library from 2000 to 2014. The purpose of the book is to preserve the wealth of material developed over the past fifteen years and make it available to libraries and researchers.

 

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