June 24, 2016
Announcements:
The Perry Work Report: work&labour news&research will return in mid-September 2016. In the meantime, we will provide alerts concerning the release of Ontario's Changing Workplaces Review and the Gender Wage Gap Strategy reports, more 50th Anniversary celebration images and other announcements or events of interest over the summer holidays. The best way to follow us is on our Tumblr. Have a great summer!
From Professor Rafael Gomez, Director of the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources (CIRHR):
On Friday we celebrated the Centre’s 50th anniversary, alongside the 40th anniversary of the MIRHR. This was also the 30th anniversary of the PhD and the Employment Relations undergraduate program. So lots to celebrate.
The weather -- as predicted back in December 2015 when we picked the date! -- was wonderful. Over 120 alumni, former faculty and friends showed up for the event. It was a mixture of insight, fun and emotion and tributes were paid to many special people. Many also made special trips to join us -- Professor Daphne Taras made a detour following a trip from China to deliver the keynote address; Mike Pedersen (head of TD’s American banking operations) postponed work elsewhere to deliver a moving tribute to our very own Deborah Campbell, on the occasion of her 40 years at the Centre. As noted by Anil in a moving statement read aloud by Mike, Deborah is “official” employee No. 2, after Noah Meltz, at the Centre.
In short, it was a very fitting way to celebrate the accomplishments of so many.
I really was touched by the emotion and happiness of all the alumni, faculty and staff that showed up on Friday. I know some of you wanted to be there but couldn’t, all I can say is that some visual traces of the event will linger (such as the lovely outdoor vinyl poster celebrating the CIRHR’s 50 year history) and the “good vibes” generated at the 50th on Friday will stay with us as we move into the 2016-17 academic year.
Several videos were created for The Face of Work: A Peoples' History of CIRHR, 1965 -- 2015, part of the CIRHR's 50th Anniversary Celebration:
Each of the following videos features CIRHR photographs, alongside publications and other documents depicting the history of work and labour, dating from the era of one of the CIRHR's six directors: John Crispo (1965-1975), Noah Meltz (1975-1985), Morley Gunderson (1985-1997), Frank Reid (1997-2009), Anil Verma (2009-2015) and Rafael Gomez (2015- ).
- John Crispo Era (1965-1975) (1:18 min)
- Noah Meltz Era (1975-1985) (1:45 min)
- Morley Gunderson Era (1985-1997) (1:48 min)
- Frank Reid Era (1997-2009) (1:23 min)
- Anil Verma Era 2009-2015) (1:14 min)
- Rafael Gomez Era (2015- ) (0:35 min)
The final video covers the history of the CIRHR from 1965 to the present, presenting an overview of the six directors' eras.
- A Peoples' History of CIRHR, 1965 -- 2015 (3:16 min)
Visit our Flickr album to see photos from the Celebration -- and please feel free to email us your photos of the event at cirhr.library@utoronto.ca!
Follow us on the CIRHR Library Tumblr and on the CIRHR Library Twitter.
- Workplace Democracy for the 21st Century
- Introducing the Expanded CPP
- Why Expanding the CPP is the Right Thing to Do
- Why Expanding the CPP is the Wrong Call
- The State of the Mounties' Union Bill
- Manitoba's Controversial New Labour Law
- Dueling Campaigns Take On Alberta's Minimum Wage
- Placing Bets on the Future of Work
- Boosting Women's Workforce Participation
- The Sharing Economy and The Future of Work Conference
- Preventing Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in a Global Economy
- Manitoba Aboriginal Health and Safety Initiative
- Flexible Workforce Failure: The Long Term Decline in U.S. Prime-Age Male Labour Force Participation
- The Nu Jorker
- The Drama of Meaningless Work
Workplace Democracy for the 21st Century
“Workplace democracy speaks to an ever-present need to advance the fundamental rights of employees to associate freely and to have some say over business decisions that affect their lives. It also speaks to the need to respect the expertise that employees develop day in and day out on the job and, importantly, to strengthen protections and extend rights to marginalized workers who are bearing the brunt of the shift to low-wage, insecure, precarious work.”
“In this discussion paper, authors Rafael Gomez, Professor & Director of the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto and Juan Gomez, Senior Partner, Policy and Public Affairs at ThinkTank Toronto, offer recommendations on a path forward.”
"[The Broadbent Institute] will be publishing responses to this discussion paper from a diversity of perspectives throughout the summer. Stay tuned for responses on their blog.”
The Broadbent Institute, June 2016: “Workplace Democracy for the 21st Century,” by Rafael Gomez and Juan Gomez (76 pages, PDF)
Introducing the Expanded CPP
“Ottawa and most provincial finance ministers have reached a breakthrough agreement to expand the Canada Pension Plan, with all but Manitoba and Quebec signing on to the deal. The deal marks the first significant increase in CPP benefits since the program was launched 50 years ago. Premiums were increased in the 1990s, but those measures were to ensure the program was sustainable over the long term and did not include new benefits.”
“[Federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau] announced the agreement in principle ... that will set in motion a seven-year phase-in that is expected to start on Jan. 1, 2019. The new plan will require workers and their employers to pay higher contributions.”
“Under the current CPP, employers and employees each contribute 4.95 per cent of income between $3,500 and $54,900. The maximum CPP benefit is $13,110. The average annual payment is $7,974.84. Under the new deal, the upper earnings limit would rise to $82,700 by 2025. The current CPP deal is meant to replace 25 per cent of earnings up to the ceiling, while the new plan would aim to replace one third of income up to the new, higher ceiling. Once fully phased in, CPP premiums would rise by 1 percentage point each for employers and employees. Self-employed Canadians must pay both the employee and employer premiums.”
The Globe and Mail, June 20, 2016: “Finance ministers reach deal to expand Canada Pension Plan,” by Bill Curry and Sunny Dhillon
Ontario Newsroom, June 21, 2016: “Statement by Charles Sousa, Ontario Minister of Finance, and Indira Naidoo-Harris, Associate Minister of Finance, on the Agreement in Principle to Enhance CPP”
The Globe and Mail, June 22, 2016: “A new premium on retirement,“ by Janet McFarland and Ian McGugan
The Toronto Star, June 21, 2016: “What CPP expansion means to you,” by Adam Mayers
Maclean’s, June 21, 2016: “Making sense of the CPP expansion,” by Kevin Milligan
Why Expanding the CPP is the Right Thing to Do
“Yes, individuals and business will pay more in contributions as a result of the CPP reform plan announced on Monday. These are financially stressful times, and not a lot of us have spare cash. But the payoff of a bigger CPP retirement benefit is huge in a world where a majority of workers have no company pension plan to rely on.”
“The importance of the CPP is highlighted by the decline in the percentage of workers who are members of a company pension plan. Statistics Canada’s latest numbers say 6.2 million people were pension plan members in 2013. That means an overall coverage rate of 37.9 per cent, down from 38.5 per cent in the previous year.”
“Pension envy is a thing in Canada -- just mention teacher or civil servant pensions to your friends and family and watch the fun begin. The CPP is a great equalizer. It’s a pension for the masses, and it’s getting a little better.”
The Globe and Mail, June 21, 2016: “The reality of CPP reform: We can’t afford not to make these changes,” Rob Carrick
The Toronto Star, June 21, 2016: “CPP expansion a compromise worth celebrating: Editorial”
The Globe and Mail, June 20, 2016: “The mission to overhaul CPP (and save Gen Y in the process),” by Ian McGugun
The Globe and Mail, June 21, 2016: “CPP: A smaller paycheque today is a good thing for Canadians tomorrow,” by Tammy Schirle
The Globe and Mail, June 21, 2016: “Pension reform: A smaller paycheque now for a bigger payout later is a good deal”
Why Expanding the CPP is the Wrong Call
”The proposed expansion of the Canada Pension Plan poses a threat to many small and medium-sized businesses and could prevent them from hiring new workers or delay important investments, top business lobby groups say.”
“’The announced agreement to expand the CPP will basically be a form of payroll tax which, when it is in full force, will put further financial strain on Canada’s already struggling businesses and on the middle class,’ Perrin Beatty, president and chief executive of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, said in a statement Tuesday.”
“Entrepreneur Albert Schepers said the proposed pension reform is like a slap in the face to the small business sector, a major creator of jobs. ‘From a small business perspective, it’s going to hit us,’ said Mr. Schepers, president and senior engineer at GS Engineering Consultants Inc. in Windsor, Ont.”
“’Instead of hiring somebody full-time, because you’re committed to paying these payroll taxes, you might hire someone on a contract and part-time. So you’re going to find more people are working part-time.’”
The Globe and Mail, June 21, 2016: “CPP deal is a ‘devastating move,’ businesses warn,” by Bertrand Marotte and Kiran Rana
LinkedIn, June 20, 2016: “Canadians need to reform habits, not CPP,” by Jamie Graham
The Globe and Mail, June 21, 2016: "The CPP enhancement is only a half-measure,” by Barrie McKenna
The Toronto Sun, June 20, 2016: “Case not made for CPP increase"
The Toronto Sun, June 20, 2016: “So much for saving for ourselves: Business not pleased with CPP hike,” by Davif Akin
The Financial Sector is Not Concerned
“A group representing most major banks, insurance companies and other financial services in Toronto says it welcomes a federal-provincial agreement in principle to expand the Canada Pension Plan.”
“’We think a national comprehensive approach is the way to go,’ Janet Ecker, chief executive officer of the Toronto Financial Services Alliance, said Tuesday.”
“While sympathetic to groups complaining that it could increase the cost of doing business, Ecker said an expanded CPP is the most cost-effective solution, especially for Ontario.”
The Toronto Star, June 21, 2016: “Toronto’s financial sector welcomes expanded CPP,” by Dana Flavelle
The Globe and Mail, June 12, 2016: “CPP expansion won’t hurt wealth-management business, analysts say,” by Tim Shufelt
The State of the Mounties' Union Bill
“A committee of senators has scrapped the most controversial elements of the government’s bill to allow Mounties to form a union. Among the committee’s proposed amendments to bill C-7, the senate committee on national security and defence removed a long list of workplace issues -- from harassment and conduct to equipment and staffing levels -- that the legislation had excluded from collective bargaining.”
“For weeks RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson and other senior managers had told MPs and senators that the exclusions were necessary to maintain the authority granted to the commissioner under the RCMP Act. While Paulson continued to defend that position this week, he also acknowledged the exclusions have drawn overwhelming criticism.”
“Another amendment made by the Senate committee is that any future certification vote take place by secret ballot. That’s something Conservative MPs unsuccessfully asked for when the proposed legislation was before the House of Commons.”
“The government rejected that amendment, saying the process for certification would be addressed separately in Bill C-4. That bill seeks to reverse controversial public service labour relations changes made by the previous Conservative government, including that all applications for certification be decided by secret-ballot votes.”
CBC News, June 14, 2016: “Senators remove controversial bargaining limits in RCMP union bill,” by Allison Crawford
House of Commons of Canada, May 30, 2016: “Bill C-7: An Act to amend the Public Service Labour Relations Act, the Public Service Labour Relations and Employment Board Act and other Acts and to provide for certain other measures: As passed by the House of Commons”
CTV News, June 14, 2016: “Top Mountie defends RCMP labour bill,” by Jim Bronskill
CBC News, May 17, 2016: “Parliament misses Supreme Court deadline for RCMP union bill,” by Allison Crawford
“’Surely these exclusions go to the very heart of the collective bargaining process and should not be the exclusive purview of the commissioner,’ [Liberal-appointed Senator Larry Campbell, who introduced Bill C-7 in the Upper House] told senators.”
“When asked to list the exemptions he finds the most egregious, Campbell did not hesitate.”
"’I find all of the exemptions equally wrong. I believe that this is collective bargaining, and you don’t go into collective bargaining with one side saying, ‘We aren’t going to talk about this.’ You go into collective bargaining with everything on the table, he said.”
CBC News, June 4, 2016: Senate set to make major changes to RCMP union bill
Manitoba's Controversial New Labour Law
“Angry union members marched in the halls of the Manitoba Legislative Building on Wednesday to protest the Progressive Conservative government’s proposed changes to the province’s labour legislation.”
“More than 60 members of Unifor chanted and shouted in the gallery as the government tabled Bill 7, the proposed labour relations amendment act, which calls for the end of automatic certification for unions -- even if 65 per cent of employees in a workplace sign membership cards -- and instead would require secret ballot votes among workers before a union can be certified as their bargaining unit.”
“The amendment states that if ‘at least 40 per cent of the employees in the unit wished to have the union represent them as a bargaining agent, the [Manitoba Labour Board] shall conduct a vote by secret ballot of the employees in the unit.’"
CBC News, June 15, 2016: “Union members protest secret ballot proposed by Manitoba government”
Manitoba Legislature, June 15, 2016: “Bill 7 - The Labour Relations Amendment Act” (4 pages, PDF)
CBC News, June 14, 2016: “Unifor members attend Manitoba question period to protest Premier Pallister’s plan to change labour laws”
Winnipeg Free Press, June 16, 2016: “PCs criticized over ‘anti-labour’ legislation,” by Nick Martin
Dueling Campaigns Take On Alberta's Minimum Wage
“Alberta Labour Minister Christina Gray is standing firm on the province’s plan to hike the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2018, despite growing pressure from the restaurant industry.”
“Gray was responding to a campaign by Restaurants Canada urging the province to delay plans to hike the minimum wage by the end of the government’s first term in office.”
“The group launched a campaign Thursday called Not The Time that asks the government to restructure its plan. The Restaurants Canada campaign includes a petition and half-a-dozen formal consultation meetings planned in June. [Mark von Schellwitz, Restaurants Canada’s vice president for Western Canada] said he hopes it will be enough to change the province’s course on wage hikes by the end of the month.”
CBC News, June 6, 2016: “Alberta stands firm on $15 minimum wage by 2018 despite pushback,” by Zoe Todd
CBC News, June 2, 2016: “Alberta restaurant industry pushes to postpone minimum wage hike,” by Tricia Lo
The Edmonton Journal, June 21, 2016: “Edmonton restaurant forum calls for minimum wage freeze,” by Gordon Kent
“The Alberta Federation of Labour wants the NDP to keep its promise to raise Alberta’s minimum wage to $15 by 2018 despite backlash from the business sector. The “15 is fair” campaign has launched a website along with a template people can use to contact their MLA.”
CBC News, June 17, 2016: “Alberta Labour movement urging NDP government to keep minimum wage promise”
Ontario’s Growing Living Wage Movement
“Twenty-eight communities across Ontario are moving forward with local living wage initiatives. A couple of years ago, you could count the number of living wage communities on one hand. It’s a trend well worth watching because they’re helping to shift expectations about low-wage work in Ontario.”
“Interestingly, employers are helping to lead this movement with their wallets and their voices. Within its first year of existence, the Ontario Living Wage Network has signed up more than 100 living wage employers, and that list is growing. These employers represent a refreshing departure from the usual, tired debate that springs up every time a province tries to raise the minimum wage: claims that small businesses can’t afford to pay their workers a living wage.”
The Toronto Star, May 27, 2016: “The promise of the living wage movement,” by Tom Cooper and Trish Hennessy
Placing Bets on the Future of Work
“A recent study by two leading economists, Lawrence Katz and Alan Krueger, shows an increase of nearly fifty per cent over the past decade in what they call ‘alternative work arrangements’ -- freelancing, temping, and so on. The increase has been especially large in fields like transportation, education, the arts, and, counterintuitively, government. [Microsoft’s] bet on the future of LinkedIn is, to some extent, a bet on the continued expansion of that kind of work.”
“As Microsoft employees, [LinkedIn employees] will be entering an alternative universe ... They are going to be their world’s equivalent of corporate lifers, with generous salaries and benefits and some measure of job security, while working to promote the continued growth of a very different kind of work arrangement elsewhere in the economy.”
“Most members of the 'alternative work arrangement' population are less well off than those with more conventional work arrangements. Some like the risk, and some of those make it pay off. Some like the freedom. For many, it’s what you have to do when you’re not lucky enough to have a job. The technology world seems to be creating a small number of extremely successful people, a larger number of well-treated corporate employees, and an even larger number of people who wish they could be employees.”
The New Yorker, June 17, 2016: “LinkedIn’s Complicated Bet on the Future of Work,” by Nicholas Lemann
CBC News, June 13, 2016: “Microsoft buying LinkedIn for $26B”
National Bureau of Economic Research, March 29, 2016: “The Rise and Nature of Alternative Work Arrangements in the United States, 1995-2015,” by Lawrence F. Katz and Alan B. Krueger (34 pages, PDF)
Quartz, June 21, 2016: “The author of “The Sharing Economy” on Uber, China, and the future of work,” by Alison Griswold
Boosting Women's Workforce Participation
The Good News
“Between 2006 and 2015, the number of women worldwide taking the business school admission test jumped 38 per cent (more than triple that for male test takers), according to the Graduate Management Admissions Council. By 2014, women accounted for 44.4 per cent of test takers globally -- the highest female-to-male ratio in the history of the admissions test -- according to GMAC. Men still outpaced women (64 per cent to 36 per cent) among MBA degree holders in 2012-13, but as many women as men earned specialty business degrees that year.”
“But a ‘persistent gap’ still leaves women under-represented in top leadership positions, according to diversity advocates, with business schools urged to redouble efforts to attract qualified female candidates, recruit top female faculty members and invite successful female chief executive officers into the classroom. ‘They [business schools] are the main feeder pipeline for business talent,’ says Paula Bruggeman, co-author of the GMAC research report Minding the Gap: Tapping the Potential of Women to Transform Business.”
The Globe and Mail, June 9, 2016: “Women a growing presence at business schools globally,” by Jennifer Lewington
Graduate Management Admissions Council, March 28, 2016: “ Minding the Gap: Tapping the Potential of Women to Transform Business,” by P. Bruggeman and H. Chan (13 pages, PDF)
Medium, June 20, 2016: “A novel way of getting more women into work,” by Saadia Zahidi
But Will it Last?
“There are few phrases that come to mind that instigate more awe -- or fear -- than 'disruptive technologies.' On the one hand, it infers a new, more efficient world with endless opportunity, limited only by the imagination. On the flip side, it suggests turning existing business models inside out and leaving many jobless in its wake. While the current, popular imagine of disruption sees a male taxi driver (literally) driven out of business by new technology platforms, it may be women over all who draw the short end of the employment stick in this latest industrial revolution.”
“According to a recent report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) called The Future of Jobs: Employment, Skills and Workforce Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, job categories with the highest growth, such as architecture and engineering, currently see the lowest level of female participation. Meanwhile, the job clusters with the highest rate of female participation, such as office and administration roles, will be the ones most easily disrupted.”
“Although the report observed that while women’s participation in the work force is often shaped by national policies and cultures, it highlights four industries in which women are particularly under-represented: basic and infrastructure (chemicals, infrastructure and urban development, mining and metals); energy; mobility (aviation and travel, automotive, supply chain and transportation); and information and communication technology. These industries also experience a more dramatic drop-off of women between junior and senior levels. With current projections, the energy sector will have the lowest participation of women in junior roles out of any other industry by 2020.”
The Globe and Mail, June 17, 2016: “Do disruptive technologies hurt women more than they help?,” by Leah Eichler
World Economic Forum, January 2016: “The Future of Jobs: Employment, Skills and Workforce Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution” (167 pages, PDF)
The Sharing Economy and The Future of Work Conference
The Sharing Economy and the Future of Work Conference was held June 3, 2016 at by the Centre for Labour Management Relations, Ted Rogers School of Managment, Ryerson University
“The future of work is being reshaped by a variety of demographic, economic, legal, regulatory, and social factors that have led to changes in how organizations are structured, arranged, managed, and regulated, as well as changes in how work is distributed, organized, designed, and performed. “
“This one day conference [brought] together twenty speakers from academia, government, industry, labour, and law to provide perspectives on what employment / labour / work policies will be required to realize the maximum benefits, while mitigating the adverse risks, of the sharing economy.”
Conference powerpoint presentations and images may be viewed here.
Preventing Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in a Global Economy
“To reduce the health and injury risks of prolonged sitting, workers should change postures often and aim to stand for an equal amount of time that they spend sitting over the course of a work day.”
“That was Dr. Jack Callaghan’s message in a keynote address ... before an audience of about 400 researchers and clinicians at the 9th International Scientific Conference on the Prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (PREMUS 2016).”
“Although even a small decrease in sitting time has been shown to reduce musculoskeletal discomfort, from an overall health perspective, workers should aim for a one-to-one ratio of standing time and sitting time, said Dr. Callaghan. A key consideration is the frequency with which workers change positions, he also noted. Changing positions often, even if total sitting time is not reduced, can result in health benefits, including reduced low back pain.”
The Institute for Work & Health hosted PREMUS 2016, the 9th International Conference on the Prevention of Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Toronto on June 20-23, 2016.
“Every three years since 1992, PREMUS has gathered together scientists, students, practitioners in occupational health & safety, epidemiologists, ergonomists, industrial engineers, clinicians and policy-makers, with the goal of promoting multidisciplinary research and the translation of that research into applicable use.”
“The Institute for Work & Health has had a longstanding focus on work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), and ... [is] proud to continue PREMUS’s more-than-20-year history as an international platform for the exchange of knowledge and expertise in MSD research and intervention practice related to the prevention of work-related MSDs.
Ninth International Scientific Conference on the Prevention of Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders, Preventing Work-related Musculoskeletal Disorders in a Global Economy, June 20 - 23, 2016: Book of Abstracts (407 pages, PDF)
PREMUS 2016 Conference Program (111 pages, PDF)
Manitoba Aboriginal Health and Safety Initiative
“MAHSI represents a partnership between the Centre for Aboriginal Human Resources Development, the University of Winnipeg and the Northern Manitoba Sector Council and was developed through the WCB’s Research and Workplace Innovation Program.”
“This initiative was undertaken to address a lack of culturally appropriate health and safety training for a growing Aboriginal population and workforce that is at an increased risk of injuries. A key component of MAHSI includes its Online Learning Centre dedicated to Aboriginal workplace health and safety and offers resources to support employers in providing a safe work environment for Aboriginal workers.”
“MAHSI will also help increase Aboriginal workers’ awareness of their rights as employees, which includes their right to know about workplace hazards, their right to participate in health safety committees in the workplace, and their right to refuse work that is unsafe.”
Canadian Occupational Health & Safety, December 2015: “Manitoba introducing culturally appropriate training for Aboriginal workers”
The Manitoba Aboriginal Health and Safety Initiative (MAHSI) website
... and introducing the new worksafebc.com website redesign
“Our new site is the product of extensive consultation with our stakeholders -- including workers, employers, health and safety professionals, and health care providers -- to ensure we serve you better.”
“Our goal was to build a website that’s intuitive, user-centred, and easier to understand. We also offer many new features to make it easier for you to find the content and resources you need.”
worksafebc, June 21, 2016: Introducing the new worksafebc.com website
Flexible Workforce Failure: The Long Term Decline in U.S. Prime-Age Male Labour Force Participation
“In the United States, there is less standing in the way between an employer who wants to hire someone and a person who wants to work than in most Western European countries or Japan.”
“In theory, this flexibility should create more opportunities for anyone who wants work to find it, in contrast with European countries where companies are more reluctant to add jobs because regulations and union rules make it costly to fire people or sometimes even change their jobs.”
“Yet a higher proportion of working-age men are in the labor force in many of these countries with inflexible labor market policies. In the United States, 12 percent of 25- to 54-year-old men were neither working nor looking for work in 2014. That number was 7 percent in Spain and France, and 4 percent in Japan. And that’s despite a more generous social safety net in those countries that would, you might think, make it easier to drop out of the work force.”
“In other words, whatever the costs and downsides of European-style labor markets, they don’t seem to inhibit the number of prime-age men who work. They may even make less educated men more likely to remain part of the work force.“
“The economists also note some other factors that could explain the United States’ poor showing, particularly astronomical incarceration numbers. The male population in the United States includes many more former prisoners than in other advanced democracies, and they are disproportionately likely to be out of the labor force.”
“The analysis in this report has shown that simply making labor markets more ‘flexible’ is, at least, not sufficient for effective functioning and that making labor markets more ‘supportive’ is essential,” the report said.
The New Yorker, June 20, 2016: “The Long Term Decline in Prime-Age Male Labour Force Participation,” by Neil Irwin
Executive Office of the President of the United States, June 2016: The Long Term Decline in Prime-Age Male Labour Force Participation (48 pages, PDF)
The Nu Jorker
Welcome to The Neu Jorker, an hommage d'triomphe, a “‘send-up’” of New York’s most stimulating, mid-to-high-brow magazine. The Neu Jorker is a digital-only download and free to the public.
The Neu Jorker (82 pages, PDF)
The Drama of Meaningless Work
“There are no heroines in UnREAL. There’s only Rachel (Shiri Appleby), the morally roughed up, psychologically exhausted producer of Everlasting, a Bachelor-type television show on which women line up in crappy satin evening gowns to win the hand of a suitor. In theory, Rachel’s endurance at her awful job was rewarded with a promotion, but that barely lasted the span of the first episode of the second season, premiering this month on Lifetime. Quinn (Constance Zimmer), her boss and the erstwhile executive producer of the show, doesn’t give up control that easily. At the first sign of a problem -- Quinn’s slithery ex, Chet (Craig Bierko), is back from the jungle and looking to regain command himself -- Quinn takes the show back, relegating Rachel to second fiddle once more.”
“We live in an age of a lot of Rachels. Educated in Proust, Plath, and de Beauvoir, they arrived at professional jobs throughout the aughts with high expectations and suddenly found themselves doing meaningless, morally compromised work. You could say, perhaps, that the people who produce reality television chose that life for themselves. But it does seem like those members of the last few generations who wanted aspirational white-collar jobs -- in media, in entertainment -- found themselves coming up in a social context where, in an age of ostensible plenty, everything suddenly meant less.”
“[Rachel] functions as an avatar of our current work culture: burnt out, frustrated, bored, hostile, apathetic, helpless. Appleby’s been playing her as a kind of sleepwalker, a dutiful soldier whose eyes are still in mutiny. This season threatens to extinguish the last spark in them. That would be what would happen in the real world, anyway.”
The New Republic, June 21, 2016: “UnREAL: The Drama of Meaningless Work,” by Michelle Dean
The New Yorker, June 20, 2016: “Confessional: On ‘UnREAL,’ a former producer of “The Bachelor” satirizes her experience” by D.T. Max
The New Yorker, July 13, 2015: “Doll Parts: ‘UnREAL‘ deconstructs ‘The Bachelor,’” by Emily Nussbaum
Canadian viewers can view the first 3 episodes of season 2 here
Book of the Week
Waste Pickers Who Carry the Weight of the World: a Case Study in Ankara on Waste Pickers and the Informal Waste Collection Sector, by Gören Ceren Deniz. Saarbrücken : LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, 2012. 87 p. ISBN 9783659122811 (pbk.)
From the publisher: "This study, departing from the current concerns for the dissolving of the informal waste collection sector under the disturbance of neoliberal urban restructuring, focuses on the organization of the informal waste sector and its inner dynamics. By doing so, it attempts to change the perceptions about waste picking that can be summarized as; waste picking is a marginal, disorganized and stable activity. The findings of the field research show that, the power relations that the informal waste collection sector is built upon both among networks tied to each other with 'bounded solidarity' and among workers in the sector who are tied to each other by 'moral obligations' reveal that the informal waste collection sector in Ankara is an established and a very well organized sector. Another finding of this research is that the waste picking is like a protection shield of the poor to avoid more harsh conditions of poverty, yet regardless of the waste pickers’ position in the hierarchical scheme, it has a magnet affect on altering the social exclusion of waste pickers as it articulates the experiences of forced migration and poverty."
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