Perry Work Report: work&labour news&research, September 25, 2015

September 25, 2015

Announcement:

Ethics of Decent Work

Against the backdrop of the popularity of the term decent work, this event will explore what decent work entails, with panelists providing insight on the economic, political and sociological factors that are currently impacting workers in Canada.

Panelists include:
    Dr. Rafael Gomez, Associate Professor, University of Toronto
    Deena Ladd, Coordinator, Workers' Action Centre
    Armine Yarnizyan, Senior Economist, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
    Michael Lavergne, Sustainable Supply Chain Consultant and Author
    Dr. Gerald Hunt, Director, Centre for Labour Management Relations (Moderator) 

The event is FREE and does not require registration. Come to learn and share your thoughts and ideas. A light lunch will be provided.

Date: Wednesday, October 7th, 2015 
Time: 12:00 PM -- 02:00 PM
Location: TRS Commons (1-150), 7th Floor, Ted Rogers School of Management, 55 Dundas St. W. 

Consulting Projects Needed -- IRE1715H-Y Consulting Models, Practices and Applications

The Centre is offering a new graduate course for MIRHR students on consulting models and practices. It starts in the fall and runs over two terms. It has a significant practical component as students are expected to work in teams on a consulting engagement.

As the instructor for the course, I am looking for five projects that would enable the teams to experience the consulting process from contracting to project completion. If you have any suitable projects, I'd love to hear from you at ann.armstrong@utoronto.ca. Thank you!

Cheers! 
Ann Armstrong 

Follow us on the CIRHR Library Tumblr and on the CIRHR Library Twitter.

Ottawa's War on Data

“When told that his small Prairie town had, in profound ways, fallen off the statistical map of Canada, Walter Streelasky, mayor of Melville, Sask., is incredulous. Streelasky had no idea Melville had been rendered a ‘statistical ghost town’ after the mandatory long-form census was cut in 2010.... Melville still exists -- but as a shadow. We know how many people live there, but nothing about them -- where they work, their education levels, whether they’re married, single or divorced, how many are immigrants, how many are unemployed, how many live in poverty.”

“Towns like Melville are far from the only entities vanishing from official Canadian records. Physicist Raymond Hoff, who published more than 50 reports on air pollution in transport and toxic chemicals in the Great Lakes ... at Environment Canada between 1975 and 1999, doesn’t seem to exist, either. ‘Nothing comes up when I type my name into the search engine on [Environment Canada’s] website,’ says Hoff, now a professor emeritus at the University of Maryland.”

“Protecting Canadians’ access to data is why Sam-Chin Li, a government information librarian at the University of Toronto, worked late into the night with colleagues in February 2013, frantically trying to archive the federal Aboriginal Canada portal before it disappeared on Feb. 12. The need for such efforts has taken on new urgency since 2014, says Li, when some 1,500 websites were centralized into one, with more than 60 per cent of content shed.”

“A months-long Maclean’s investigation, which includes interviews with dozens of academics, scientists, statisticians, economists and librarians, has found that the federal government’s ‘austerity’ program, which resulted in staff cuts and library closures (16 libraries since 2012) -- as well as arbitrary changes to policy, when it comes to data -- has led to a systematic erosion of government records far deeper than most realize, with the data and data-gathering capability we do have severely compromised as a result.”

“How many Canadians live in poverty now, compared to 2011? We don’t know; changes in income-data collection has made it impossible to track.”

“Disappearing data is only one part of a larger narrative of a degradation of knowledge.... The result is a crisis in what Canadians know -- and are allowed to know -- about themselves. Less discussed, however, is how data erasure also threatens the economy, industry, the arts, and the country’s ability to compete internationally.”

Maclean’s, September 18, 2015: “Vanishing Canada: Why we’re all losers in Ottawa’s war on data,” by Anne Kingston

Voices-Voix Coalition, June 2015: “Dismantling Democracy: Stifling debate and dissent in Canada” (66 pages, PDF)

The Effects on Innovation

The Maclean’s article states that “the National Research Council (NRC), the country’s pre-eminent scientific institution, has seen a similar erosion ... ‘The NRC was the Rolls-Royce of federal science,’ says [University of Ottawa professor Jeremy Kerr]. It now defines itself on its website as a ‘concierge service’ -- ’a single access point where small and medium-sized enterprises can find high-quality, timely advice to help them innovate and accelerate their growth.’ Output has plummeted: Published research, in areas ranging from medical technologies to astrophysics, declined from 1,425 reports in 2010 to 436 in 2012. Innovation, measured in patents filed, also declined, from three in 2010 to zero in 2012. ‘Their research mission has been destroyed.’”

So, it came as no surprise when the Conference Board of Canada’s announced that Canada only merits a C grade when it comes to global innovation. The Conference Board says this “should be a wake-up call that all is not as it should be” and “chided Canada for falling behind in areas such as information technology investments, corporate research and development, along with patents and productivity.”

“‘We should be very concerned about Canada’s mediocre performance in innovation,’ says Ilse Treurnicht, chief executive officer of MaRS Discovery District, an innovation centre in Toronto.’In a fast-paced global knowledge economy, innovation is the driver of economic and social prosperity.’”

The Globe and Mail, September 21, 2015: “Canada’s small market no excuse for a poor grade in innovation,” by Paul Attfield

The Conference Board of Canada, How Canada Performs -- Innovation [website]

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The Leap Manifesto

“Canada is not this place today -- but it could be."

“We could live in a country powered entirely by truly just renewable energy, woven together by accessible public transit, in which the jobs and opportunities of this transition are designed to systematically eliminate racial and gender inequality. Caring for one another and caring for the planet could be the economy’s fastest growing sectors. Many more people could have higher wage jobs with fewer work hours, leaving us ample time to enjoy our loved ones and flourish in our communities.”

“We know that the time for this great transition is short. Climate scientists have told us that this is the decade to take decisive action to prevent catastrophic global warming. That means small steps will no longer get us where we need to go.”

The Leap Manifesto: A Call For A Canada Based On Caring For The Earth And One Another -- sign it today!

“Here are its five core demands:

  • Respect for all -- We can start by acknowledging the poverty and inequality faced by the original caretakers of this land and fully implementing the UN Declaration On The Rights Of Indigenous Peoples. And by welcoming refugees and migrant workers, -’recognizing Canada’s contributions to military conflicts and climate change.’
  • A clean, green economy -- A future powered by community-controlled, democratically run, 100 per cent renewable energy. ‘There is no longer an excuse for building new infrastructure projects that lock us into increased extraction decades into the future.’
  • Kiss bad trade deals goodbye -- End all trade deals that interfere with our attempt to rebuild local economies and regulate corporations. Develop localized, ecologically based agro systems to better absorb shocks in global supply and produce healthier and more affordable food.
  • Make polluters pay -- The economic philosophy that has underpinned government decisions for the last decade is ‘a fossilized form of thinking that has become a threat to life on earth, says the Manifesto, and it’s been particularly damaging to low-carbon sectors like education and health care. All the money we need to pay for the Leap is already there if we axe fossil fuel subsidies, tax carbon and cut military spending.
  • No more first past the post -- Move toward a political system where every vote counts and corporate money is removed from election campaigns.”

Now Magazine, September 23, 2015: “Naomi Klein’s giant leap: ‘We live in an historic moment -- one that demands audacity, ambition and courage,’” by Adria Vasil

“Consider the response to the Leap Manifesto, a declaration released this week by an unprecedented coalition of Canadian authors, artists, national leaders and activists in the midst of a federal election. It lays out a vision -- bolder than anything on offer from political parties -- to transition the country off fossil fuels while simultaneously improving the lives of most Canadians. Climate change is presented not just as an existential crisis but an opportunity -- indeed, imperative -- to make the political and economic system more just and fair.”

“The smear-jobs started resounding immediately through the echo-chamber of the corporate press. The manifesto was advocating the 'overthrow of capitalism,' a 'utopia' that could be brought about only through 'immediate social revolution.' It would 'crash our economy,' throwing millions into poverty. No pragmatic politician could entertain the 'manifesto’s madness,' thundered Canada’s national paper of record.”

The Guardian, September 17, 2015: “The Leap Manifesto isn’t radical. It’s a way out of Canada’s head-in-the-sand politics”

Is It Affordable?

“There are many who will read The Leap Manifesto and find the goals worthy and exciting, but who will legitimately wonder, 'These ideas sound great, but how can we pay for all the green and social infrastructure envisioned? Is such a plan really affordable and realizable?'"

“Fair questions. But the answer, in short, is yes.”

“The money we need to pay for this great transformation is available -- we just need the right policies to release it. Like an end to fossil fuel subsidies. Financial transaction taxes. Increased resource royalties. Higher income taxes on corporations and wealthy people. A progressive carbon tax. Cuts to military spending. All of these are based on a simple 'polluter pays' principle and hold enormous promise.”

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, September 2015: “We can Afford the Leap,” by Bruce Campbell, Seth Kleinand and Marc Lee (4 pages, PDF)

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Submissions to Ontario's Changing Workplace Review

Ontario Ministry of Labour, The Changing Workplaces Review [website]

Canadian Lawyer, September 7, 2015: “Shaking up Labour Laws,” by Shannon Kari

Submissions currently available on the web:

AMAPCEO, September 2015: “Submission to the Changing Workplace Review” (15 pages, PDF)

Association of Ontario Health Centres, June 2015: “Strengthening employment legislation in Ontario: Upstream policies to help promote health and wellbeing” (9 pages, PDF)

Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 79, September 22, 2015: “re: Changing Workplace Review”

Canadian Media Guild (CMG), September 2015: “The glory and the grind: the reality of working in TV and media in Ontario CMG submission to the Ontario Changing Workplaces Review” (90 pages, PDF)

Home Care Ontario, September 2015: “Submission to Ministry of Labour Consultations: Changing Workplaces Review” (16 pages, PDF)

Income Security Advocacy Centre, September 18, 2015: “Making Work Work for All: A Submission to the Changing Workplaces Review”

Labour Council Toronto and York Regions, September 2015: “Submission to the Changing Workplaces Review” (11 pages, PDF)

LIUNA Local 183, September 17, 2015: “Submissions to the Changing Workplace Review”

OCUFA, September 2015: “Improving workplace standards, bringing fairness to Ontario universities” (13 pages, PDF)

OCUFA Report, September 2015:  “Ontario faculty make the case for better and fairer labour laws”

Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI), June 16, 2015: “Presentation to Special Advisors on Changing Workplaces Review” (3 pages, PDF)

Ontario Chamber of Commerce, September 18, 2015: “Maintaining Ontario’s Competitive edge: The business perspective on labour reform” (16 pages, PDF)

Ontario Federation of Labour, June 18, 2015: “Preliminary Submission The Changing Workplaces Review” (27 pages, PDF)

Ontario Federation of Labour, May 2015: “Briefing Note on Labour Law Reform”

OSSTF/FEESO, September 14, 2015: “Submission to the Ministry of Labour on the Changing Workplaces Review”

Peel Regional Labour Council, September 2015: “Submission To The Changing Workplaces Review” (5 pages, PDF)

Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO), September 21, 2015: “Response to the Changing Workplaces Review Submission to the Ministry of Labour” (30 pages, PDF)

Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul, July 28, 2015: “Part Time employment,” by Tara Kainer

Social Planning Toronto, September 15, 2015: “Submission to the Changing Workplaces Review: Workers Deserve $15 Minimum Wage and Better Protections” (4 pages, PDF)

Toronto South Local Immigration Partnership, 2015: “Deputation: The Changing Workplaces Review,” by Sandra Guerra (4 pages, PDF)

Unifor Local 88, September 18, 2015: “Submission to the Changing Workplaces Review-Consultation to Strengthen Labour Laws in Ontario”

Unifor, June 16, 2015: “Changing Workplaces Review” Toronto Consultation, Speaking notes, Katha Fortier (6 pages, PDF)

Wellesley Institute, September 2015: “Submission to the Special Advisors of the Ontario Changing Workplaces Review” (14 pages, PDF)

Workers’ Action Centre, March 2015: “Still Working on the Edge: Building Decent Jobs from the Ground Up, Summary Report” (18 pages, PDF)

Workers Health & Safety Centre, June 16, 2015: “Ontario reviews employment laws in face of changing workplaces”

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Women and Work in a Warming World

“The inspiration for this issue of Women and Environments International came from an international conference on work and climate change. This was held in Toronto in December 2013 by the research group Work in a Warming World, under the direction of Professor Carla Lipsig-Mumme. The papers in the conference’s sessions dealing with women’s work were the basis for most of the articles in this issue. The problems of climate change are enormous and the under-performance of governments in dealing with them is a chronic problem. But increasingly the questions of how work can change, both to better meet people’s needs and to begin to mitigate the worse impacts of climate degradation, are having some effect on public policy discussions.”

“The message of this issue on Women and Work in a Warming World is that it is crucial that governments and policy makers (and even environmentalists) broaden the view of what would constitute a ‘green economy’ to include a greater emphasis on care work and the services sectors. This would shift the typical policy focus from an emphasis on cleaning up dirty industries (which of course needs to be done), to including and promoting a more rational society designed to meet people’s fundamental needs: physical, political and social well-being. If a ‘green economy’ meant not just cleaner energy and transportation, but structural sustainability, women’s work would be clearly situated as central in bringing about this transition.”  

Women & Environments, Fall 2015: “Editorial: Women and Work in a Warming World,” by Marjorie Griffin Cohen and Patricia E. Perkins 

Work and Climate Change Report archive

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Who Are the Middle Class Anyway?

“The definition of ‘middle class’ is conveniently malleable, and, hence, inspired campaign strategy. (They’re talking about us!) Nearly every campaign promise -- from the New Democrats’ $15-a-day child care to the Conservatives’ increased benefits for education-savings plans and the Liberal promise to lower the middle-income tax bracket -- is targeted to the average working Canadian family, especially the one with kids.”

“Nearly half of Canadians define themselves as middle class, even if they’re not, and another chunk aspires to get there. Politicians know this is the hard-working, solid-living, Canadian-as-poutine group to win over. But who exactly are they? There is no universal definition of this mythical contingent.”

“Is it the amount on their paycheques? The value of their investments and the equity in their house? The fact that they even own a house? Maybe it’s not so much about money at all, but how they make it and what they do with it. Maybe it’s about how people see themselves -- you think you’re middle class, so you are.”

The Globe’s Erin Anderseen investigates how the middle-class can be numerically measured, and how the concept of “middle-class” has actually changed over the decades.

Class portrait: The Globe and Mail asked eight Canadians across the country what being middle-class means to them. See what they had to say.

The Globe and Mail, September 18, 2015: “The Middle Class: Just Who Are They, Anyway?,” by Erin Anderssen

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Compensation Planning Outlook 2016 -- Preview

“To assist in preparing compensation plans for 2016, this preview provides key findings in advance of the full report that will be available in October. The data, supplied by 367 organizations across Canada, are based on responses to this year’s Compensation Planning Outlook survey. The preview reveals that the overall average base pay increase for non-unionized employees is projected to be 2.6 per cent in 2016 (including zeros), with 5 per cent of organizations planning a pay freeze across all employee groups. Among other noteworthy findings, the preview reveals that projected increases are highest in government at 3.0 per cent, followed by chemical, pharmaceutical, and allied products at 2.9 per cent. The lowest average increases are expected in the health sector, with an average increase of 1.5 per cent. Regionally, Saskatchewan has the highest average projected increases, at 3.2 per cent. The lowest average increase is expected in British Columbia at 2.3 per cent.”

The University of Toronto community (students, faculty, librarians, and staff can set up accounts with the Conference Board of Canada that allows them to download IR/HR and compensation reports for free using the CIRHR Library's subscription. For more information click here.

Conference Board of Canada, September 2015: “Compensation Planning Outlook 2016 -- Preview”

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A Toxic Work World

“[America’s] model of winning at all costs reinforces a distinctive American pathology of not making room for caregiving. The result: We hemorrhage talent and hollow out our society.”

“To begin with, we are losing women. America has unlocked the talent of its women in a way that few nations can match; girls are outpacing boys in high schools, universities and graduate schools and are now entering the work force at higher salaries. But the ranks of those women still thin significantly as they rise toward the top, from more than 50 percent at entry level to 10 to 20 percent in senior management. Far too many discover that what was once a manageable and enjoyable work-family balance can no longer be sustained -- regardless of ambition, confidence or even a partner who shares tasks equally.

“This looks like a ‘women’s problem,’ but it’s not. It’s a work problem -- the problem of an antiquated and broken system. Bad work culture is everyone’s problem, for men just as much as for women.

“To support care just as we support competition, we will need some combination of the following: high-quality and affordable child care and elder care; paid family and medical leave for women and men; a right to request part-time or flexible work; investment in early education comparable to our investment in elementary and secondary education; comprehensive job protection for pregnant workers; higher wages and training for paid caregivers; community support structures to allow elders to live at home longer; and reform of elementary and secondary school schedules to meet the needs of a digital rather than an agricultural economy.”

“Change in our individual workplaces and in our broader politics also depends on culture change: fundamental shifts in the way we think, talk and confer prestige. 

“We can, all of us, stand up for care. Until we do, men and women will never be equal; not while both are responsible for providing cash but only women are responsible for providing care. The women’s movement has brought many of us the right to compete on equal terms; it’s time for all of us to claim an equal right to care.”

The New York Times, September 18, 2015: “A Toxic Work World,” by Anne-Marie Slaughter

The New Republic -- “The Balance: The Case for Paid Leave” [website]

But We Also Need to Stop Babying Female CEOS

“Sitting in Dreamforce’s ‘Women’s Innovation Panel,’ the final keynote and culmination of a new ‘Women’s Leadership Summit’ track introduced to the multi-day Salesforce event this year, my stomach churned at how insulting panel host Gayle King was to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki and The Honest Company CEO (and actress) Jessica Alba. It was more than grandstanding: it was a complete farce.”

“‘Susan, you know something about babies,’ King said during the panel. ‘This is what I love about Susan: she has five children.’ Wojcicki smiled, and confirmed King’s statement. ‘By the same husband?’ King inquired.”

“15 minutes into the panel, and Gayle King had asked one of the most powerful women in Silicon Valley if all of her children have the same father.”

“... [O]n the same stage where Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella demonstrated his company’s products and at the same conference where Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick merited the values of maintaining a philanthropic arm to multi-billion dollar businesses, Alba and Wojcicki fielded questions about maternity leave, how they remain in their families’ lives, and whether they could invent a stylish shoe that doesn’t hurt your feet at the end of the day. Innovation, indeed.” And of course, “[t]here’s nothing that inspires women quite like asking a successful actress whether she believes her company is an adequate fallback once she’s had her last fuckable day.“

“It’s frustrating to see women invited to speak about their companies only to be subjected to such patronizing, unhelpful questions. If Salesforce wants to open the door and have earnest discussions of how female executives run their businesses and grow them successfully, then it needs to stop taking cues from outdated stereotypes about what a female audience wants to hear from these events.”

TNW News, September 18, 2015: “Dreamforce’s ‘Women’s Innovation’ panel is why we should stop babying female CEOs,” by Lauren Hockenson

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The Latest on Millennials (Or Whatever They Want to Be Called)

“Millennials will soon become the nation’s largest living generation. They already have surpassed Generation X to make up the largest share of the U.S. workforce.”

“Despite the size and influence of the Millennial generation, however, most of those in this age cohort do not identify with the term ‘Millennial.’ Just 40% of adults ages 18 to 34 consider themselves part of the ‘Millennial generation,’ while another 33% -- mostly older Millennials -- consider themselves part of the next older cohort, Generation X.”

“Generational names are largely the creations of social scientists and market researchers. The age boundaries of these widely used labels are somewhat variable and subjective, so perhaps it is not surprising that many Americans do not identify with ‘their” generation.’”

Pew Research, September 3, 2015: “Most Millennials Resist the ‘Millennial’ Label: Generations in a Mirror: How They See Themselves”

Regardless of what they’d like to be called, here’s the latest research on the “Millennial” generation:

Samara Canada, September 2015: “Message Not Delivered: The Myth of Apathetic Youth and the Importance of Contact in Political Participation”

Deloitte, June 2015: “The Deloitte Millennial Survey 2015: Mind the Gaps”

The Millennial Impact, June 2015: “2015 Millennial Impact Report” (42 pages, PDF)

Pew Research, July 29, 2015: “More Millennials Living With Family Despite Improved Job Market,” by Richard Fry

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Labor Movement Must Take a Side on Criminal Justice Reform

“Protesters were still marching through the streets of Ferguson last September when AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka got up to speak at the labor federation’s state convention in nearby St. Louis. Trumka went on to call for police demilitarization, an end to mass incarceration, and a ‘serious and open-ended conversation’ to reckon with the labor movement’s legacy on race. In the same breath, he echoed perhaps the most dependable trope of blue shield apologia, inviting his audience to ‘think about what it means to be a police officer in this country where violence is so often the norm.’”

Sooner rather than later, “unions will likely be forced to take sides in the debate over criminal justice reform. And painful though it may be for labor, the choice is ultimately not a hard one.”

“This August, to mark the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s killing, leaders of the Ferguson protests released Campaign Zero, a comprehensive policy platform whose stated goal is to ‘end police violence in America.’ One of its ten components is a section devoted to the removal of collective bargaining language and state and local statutes that currently impede ‘effective misconduct investigations and civilian oversight.’”

“Statistically, the decision is already making itself. Latinos, the fastest growing demographic in America, and blacks -- black women in particular -- are already emerging as the new face of organized labor. But historically, too, from Union Leagues in the Reconstruction South to the United Auto Workers’ Walter Reuther on the frontlines of the March on Washington, racial justice is at the heart of labor solidarity in America, and vice versa. As Michael Billeaux, the former co-president of the Wisconsin University teachers’ assistants union, put it at a recent conference, ‘The labor question in this country has always been deeply, inextricably bound to the question of Black freedom, and when the Black freedom struggle advances, so, too, does all of labor.’ It won’t happen all at once, and it probably won’t happen from the top down, but if Black Lives Matter is the latest incarnation of the Civil Rights struggle, then the future of the labor movement stands next to it.”

New Republic, September 8, 2015: “The Labor Movement Needs to Take a Side on Criminal Justice Reform,” by Steven Cohen

Campaign Zero research, last updated September 16, 2015: “Read the research studies, articles, and other documents on this page to learn more about the historical context, effectiveness, and key considerations for implementing Campaign Zero policy solutions.”

And in Toronto...

CBC News, September 2, 2015: “Ontario carding consultations end at tense Toronto meeting”

The Globe and Mail, June 18, 2015: “Toronto Police Services Board restores stricter year-old carding policy,” by Selena Ross 

The Globe and Mail, June 18, 2015: “Video: Desmond Cole calls for Toronto police to address racism, not just carding”

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The Wrong Way to Close the Gender Wage Gap

“Young blacks in America have had significant improvements in educational attainment since the early 1980s. They are completing high school and college at higher rates than in the past, which has helped to mitigate some of the negative employment effects of past recessions. However, wages for young blacks have declined since the late 1970s, with rates for black men in particular decreasing significantly -- even for those with college degrees. The wage data also continue to show that young blacks have been hit harder than whites during the recent recession and incomplete recovery.”

Report downloads: PDF (7 pages, PDF) | Flash

This is part four in the Young Black America series. Other reports in this series include:

Center for Economic and Policy Research, August 2015: “Young Black America Part Four: The Wrong Way to Close the Gender Wage Gap,” by Cherrie Bucknor

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Robots Are Us

“Not so long ago the idea of robots patrolling neighborhoods or caring for children was the domain of science fiction. While robots have yet to replace police and daycare workers, technology has become so advanced that automated systems are taking on greater roles in society and the workplace.”

“Academic research has explored the diverse impacts of technology on employment -- what happens when jobs shift elsewhere or when they’re atomized through Internet-enabled technologies. A 2015 study from Uppsala University and the London School of Economics looked the economic impact of industrial robot use in 17 countries from 1993 to 2007 and found that robots contributed to the economy, partly by helping humans do their work better.”

“A 2015 study for the National Bureau of Economic Research, ‘Robots Are Us: Some Economics of Human Replacement,’ uses an economic model to explore the potential impact of increased workplace automation. The authors -- Seth Benzell, Laurence Kotlikoff and Guillermo LaGarda of Boston University and Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University -- develop a model that calculated the initial and final states of an economy with two inputs to production (capital and code) and two types of workers (low-tech and high-tech). They then tested the impact that variations on workplace conditions and industrial policies will have on the economy.”

Shorenstein Center, Journalist’s Resource, August 11, 2015: “The future of robots in the workplace: The impact on workers,” by Rachael Stephens

NBER Working Paper, February 15, 2015: “Robots Are Us: Some Economics of Human Replacement,” by Seth G. Benzell, Laurence J. Kotlikoff, Guillermo LaGarda, Jeffrey D. Sachs (40 pages, PDF)

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Seeing Through the Cloud

“The authors of this report undertook a year-long study to investigate the privacy implications of using services hosted in the global cloud where the data at issue would be stored or processed in another nation’s jurisdiction, regardless of whether it was encrypted or not. As academics from the humanities, law, and information studies, we were drawn to this question following Edward Snowden’s 2013 release of documents which revealed the sweeping extent of domestic state surveillance activities by the United States, especially those targeting 'non-US' persons. We could not reconcile this information with claims that data faced a 'similar risk' from such surveillance regardless of where in the world it was stored or processed.”

“Based on the findings of our research, we strongly recommend that:

  1. Canadian organizations should not outsource eCommunications services beyond Canadian jurisdiction until adequate measures for ensuring legal and constitutional protections equivalent to those in Canada are in place.
  2. When considering eCommunications options, including outsourcing, organizations should conduct thorough and transparent Privacy Impact Assessments (PIAs) and Threat Risk Assessments (TRAs), taking into account constitutional and other protections provided under Canadian law, as well as the risks of using services hosted in foreign jurisdictions. The 'similar risk' assertion should no longer be used in PIAs to support extra-national outsourcing. 
  3. Organizations that have already outsourced to companies that place data outside Canadian jurisdiction should revisit these decisions in light of the deeply flawed 'similar risk' assertion and what is now known about, for example, mass surveillance practices in the USA. Organizations should consider the risk of similar practices occurring in other countries.”

“Seeing Through the Cloud: National Jurisdiction and Location of Data, Servers, and Networks Still Matter in a Digitally Interconnected World,” by Heidi Bohaker, Lisa Austin, Andrew Clement and Stephanie Perrin (61 pages, PDF)
Download the Executive Summary (3 pages, PDF) here.

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada [website]

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Libraries at the Crossroads

“American libraries are buffeted by cross currents. Citizens believe that libraries are important community institutions and profess interest in libraries offering a range of new program possibilities. Yet, even as the public expresses interest in additional library services, there are signs that the share of Americans visiting libraries has edged downward over the past three years, although it is too soon to know whether or not this is a trend.”

“A new survey from Pew Research Center brings this complex situation into stark relief. Many Americans say they want public libraries to:

  • support local education;
  • serve special constituents such as veterans, active-duty military personnel and immigrants;
  • help local businesses, job seekers and those upgrading their work skills;
  • embrace new technologies such as 3-D printers and provide services to help patrons learn about high-tech gadgetry.”

“Additionally, two-thirds of Americans (65%) ages 16 and older say that closing their local public library would have a major impact on their community. Low-income Americans, Hispanics and African Americans are more likely than others to say that a library closing would impact their lives and communities.”

Download the PDF version of this report here (52 pages).

Pew Research, September 15, 2015: “Libraries at the Crossroads,” by John B. Horrigan

Maclean’s, August 12, 2015: “Why libraries matter,” by Brian Bethune

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Migrant Workers in India

“The good-humored social worker [Meghwal] makes his way through hundreds of lanky construction workers clustered around a chai peddler as they wait for contractors to ride up on motorcycles and hire them for the day. It can take some convincing, but the laborers desperately need what Meghwal has to offer: a simple laminated identification card. Most have traveled from rural areas in other states to find work, leaving behind their village homes, families and identifying documents, which are often accepted only within the state. Without local IDs, their already unstable lives become even more difficult: They can’t access food subsidies, buy local SIM cards for their cellphones, open bank accounts or protect themselves against abuse from unscrupulous employers.”

“Identification is a tricky requirement in a country caught in the flux of large-scale urbanization -- with millions of people leaving their villages to search for employment as the once dominant agriculture industry changes and shrinks. More than 300 million of India’s people are migrants, which means they left their birthplace or last residence in the past decade, according to a 2013 United Nations development report. And those statistics often leave out thousands of seasonal migrants, usually 20- to 30-year-old men who leave their native homes every few months to lay tiles or make bricks in a city, according to a 2014 Aajeevika Bureau report.”

The New York Times, September 18, 2015: “A Card That Gives Migrant Workers a Name,” by Ankita

The Wire, September 16, 2015: “Is the Aadhaar Card Voluntary? It’s Not Yet Clear,” by Surabhi Shukla and Upasana Garnaik  

United Nations Development Programme, September 2009: Migration and Human Development in India by Priya Deshingkar and Shaheen Akter (90 pages, PDF)

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Book of the Week

Fairness in the Workplace: A Global Perspective, by Aaron Cohen. New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2015. 264 p. ISBN 9781137524294 (hardcover)

From the publisher: "Fairness in the Workplace takes a multi-dimensional approach to the concept of organizational fairness, one that views organizational fairness as being comprised of procedural justice, organizational politics, organizational trust, and psychological contract breach, all of which are indicators of the global evaluation of the (un)fairness of the organization. This evaluation, in turn, predicts the employees' attitudes and behaviors. Such an approach moves from a simplified view of the focal constructs as unique perceptions to a more nuanced understanding of each construct as representing one aspect of the overall assessment of the organization as fair or unfair. By combining them into a concept that represents a higher level of abstraction, we can develop a robust scale with which to measure organizational (un)fairness that has the potential to improve our predictions about employees' attitudes and behaviors. This approach expands existing motivation theories. Furthermore, the book covers the relationship between organizational fairness and organizational outcomes."

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