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April 12, 2012
- Teacher Troubles in Ontario
- Federal Job Cuts Continue
- Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada
- Look, it’s SuperCommuter!
- 'Trapped' Employees Burning Out
- Most Canadians Concerned About Income Inequality
- The State of Canada’s Labour Markets
- Public Sector Unionism and Collective Bargaining in the U.S.
- Unemployment Challenges in the U.S.
- Work Attitudes in the European Union
- Unemployment Woes in Japan
- The “poor, bloody, loyal crew” of the Titanic
Teacher Troubles in Ontario
Toronto Star, April 9, 2012: “Education Minister Laurel Broten urges elementary teachers back to talks”
The Globe and Mail, April 9, 2012: “Ontario's elementary teachers strongly urged to return to bargaining”, by Karen Howlett
National Post, April 4, 2012: “TDSB budget shortfall reaches $110-million”
The Toronto Star, April 4, 2012: “Toronto District School Board hatches plan to retrain education assistants”, by Kristin Rushowy
Federal Job Cuts Continue
“Border guards, food inspectors and policy specialists across the federal government are among the thousands of public servants receiving notices this week that their jobs are in jeopardy. More staff received notices on Wednesday than any other day since the release of the cost-cutting March, 2012, federal budget: more than 7,000 workers in at least 24 departments.”
CP24, The Canadian Press, April 12, 2012: “Cuts could lead to border slowdowns, union says”
The Globe and Mail, April 11, 2012: “Federal job cuts strike border services, food inspection, Veterans Affairs”, by Bill Curry
CBC News, April 11, 2012: “5,500-plus federal job cut notices sent out: Clement defends measures as 'still the right thing to do'”, by Meagan Fitzpatrick
Toronto.com, April 4, 2012: "NFB to cut $6.7 million from budget”, by Chantaie Allick
Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada
“Temporary foreign workers represent the largest source of foreign labour in Canada, one which employers in Canada are becoming increasingly dependent. With such large numbers, courts across the country are increasingly being faced with employment-related cases for temporary foreign workers. One example is a recent decision of the British Columbia Supreme Court in Dominguez v. Northland Properties Corporation, 2012 BCSC 328 (CanLII). “
Recently, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney stated he wants to fill gaps in the labour market by “importing more highly qualified workers on a permanent basis, helping them to hit the ground running, and curbing our reliance on temporary foreign workers in areas where joblessness is high.”
Workplace Wire, April 09, 2012: “Foreign Workers and the Law: Class Action Approval a Warning Shot to Employers”, by Sharaf Sultan
The Toronto Star, April 8, 2012: “Ottawa needs to balance common sense and compassion in immigration reform”
Look, it’s Super-Commuter!
"The twenty-first century is emerging as the century of the “super-commuter,” a person who works in the central county of a given metropolitan area, but lives beyond the boundaries of that metropolitan area, commuting long distance by air, rail, car, bus, or a combination of modes. The super-commuter typically travels [90 miles (145 km) or more] once or twice weekly for work, and is a rapidly growing part of our workforce. The changing structure of the workplace, advances in telecommunications, and the global pattern of economic life have made the super-commuter a new force in transportation."
New York University Wagner School of Public Service, Rudin Center for Transportation, February 2012: “The Emergence of the “Super-Commuter””, by Mitchell L. Moss and Carson Qing (PDF, 17 pages)
Financial Post, April 7, 2012: “The rise of the super-commuter”, by Nicolas Van Praet
Statistics Canada, August 24, 2011: “Commuting to work: Results of the 2010 General Social Survey” by Martin Turcotte. (PDF, 14 pages)
'Trapped' Employees Burning Out
“Whether you feel a sense of obligation about your work or are staying on the job because you don’t see an alternative, new research suggests the end result for employees could be the same: burnout. According to Montreal researchers, the decision to stick with your company – whether by choice or because of slim pickings in the job market – can lead to emotional exhaustion, a chronic state of physical and mental depletion resulting from continuous stress and excessive job demands.”
The Globe and Mail, April 6, 2012: “Sticking with employer can lead to burnout”
Toronto Star, April 6, 2012: “Employees who feel trapped in jobs more likely to suffer burnout”, by Debra Black
Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business, 2011: “The effect of leadership, perceived support, idealism, and self esteem on burnout”, by N.W. Twigg, B. Kang, B
Most Canadians Concerned About Income Inequality
“The Broadbent Institute has launched its new Equality Project with a poll by Environics Research that shows the majority of Canadians view growing income inequality as a big problem with long-term consequences - a problem that undermines Canadian values. The poll also shows Canadians are ahead of their politicians in supporting the need for higher taxes to protect social programs. And this finding: 83% of Canadians support raising taxes on the richest.”
Broadbent Institute, April 2012 : Equality Project (Full report , PDF, 12 pages)
The Globe and Mail, April 10, 2012 : “Canadians open to tax hikes to create more equal society, poll finds”, by Gloria Galloway
The Toronto Star, April 9, 2012: “Broadbent poll uncovers public desire to close inequality gap”
The State of Canada’s Labour Markets
“Following a few months of disappointing numbers, the labour markets churned out 82,000 jobs in March—the largest monthly increase in more than three years. An added bonus of this latest wave of hiring is that almost all the gains were in full-time employment.”
The Conference Board of Canada, April 2012 : A snapshot of the Canadian economy for the last six months. Free access.
The Globe and Mail, April 9, 2012 : “The widening gap in Canada’s labour market”, by Tavia Grant And Richard Blackwell
The Globe and Mail, April 6, 2012: “Labour market shakes off winter blues: Economy creates 82,300 jobs in March, its best month since recession, as unemployment rate falls to 7.2 per cent”, by Tavia Grant
Public Sector Unionism and Collective Bargaining in the U.S.
“In this paper we provide new evidence showing that, on balance, public employees are under-compensated relative to their public sector counterparts and that the effects of unions on compensation are considerably smaller in the public than in the private sector. We also review and summarize empirical evidence pertaining to the uses and effectiveness of public sector dispute resolution procedures and to public and private sector joint labor-management initiatives to reform work practices and enhance organizational performance.”
Employment Policy Research Network, April 2012: “Toward a New Generation of Empirical Evidence and Policy Research on Public Sector Unionism and Collective Bargaining”, by David Lewin, Thomas Kochan, and Jeffrey Keefe. (PDF, 39 pages)
Unemployment Challenges in the U.S.
“The Labor Department reported that the economy added just 120,000 jobs in March, a sharp slowdown from the pace of the prior three months where growth averaged 246,000. The slowdown was pretty much across all sectors, with manufacturing, which added 37,000 jobs in March, being the major exception. In spite of the weak job growth, the unemployment rate edged down from 8.3 percent to 8.2 percent.”
Center for Economic and Policy Research, April 6, 2012: “Sharp Slowdown in March Jobs Numbers, Wages Remain Stagnant”, by Dean Baker
“The unemployment effects of the 2007–09 recession were similar to those of a rainstorm, according to "Who Is the Most Unemployed? Factors Affecting Joblessness," an article featured in the first quarter 2012 issue of EconSouth. As staff writer Lela Somoza explains, like a rainstorm, the effects were not evenly distributed. "Some people got a little wet, and others got caught in a downpour—without their umbrellas." The article details some of the demographic groups that were hardest hit by the most recent recession and looks at how they have fared in the recovery. Among the most high-profile demographic groups hit by the recession were men, who accounted for about three-quarters of job losses during the downturn.”
Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, EconSouth, 2012: Who Is the Most Unemployed? Factors Affecting Joblessness (PDF)
The Toronto Star, April 12, 2012: “U.S. jobless claims cast cloud on labour market”
The Globe and Mail, April 10, 2012: “Less firing, but not enough hiring in U.S. jobs market”, by Kevin Carmichael
U.S, Bureau of Labor Statistics, March 29, 2012: Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2012–13 Edition.“The profiles featured here cover hundreds of occupations and describe What They Do, Work Environment, How to Become One, Pay, and more. Each profile also includes BLS employment projections for the 2010–20 decade.”
Link provided by IWS Documented News Service
Work Attitudes in the European Union
“This report aimed to assess the main dimensions of work attitudes in the European Union and in a selected sample of extra-EU countries, by analysing several data sources in a comparative way. Some preliminary conclusions can be drawn. It seems that countries at different stages of industrial development experience different combinations of preference for work, job characteristics, work ethics and life satisfaction. Developing countries seem to put work before family and leisure time, while assigning a lower overall importance to social life and relational goods. On the other hand, advanced, post-industrial economies seem to assign a higher relevance to social life, while showing a preference for intangible job characteristics, higher levels of life satisfaction and weaker work ethics.”
Eurofound, March 22, 2012: “Data report on work attitudes”, by Lucidi, Federico; Ruiu, Gabriele; Lisi, Gaetano
(PDF, 53 pages)
Unemployment Woes in Japan
Japan Labor Review, Spring 2012 : “Unemployment and its detrimental effects”. (PDF, 122 pages).
Articles include:
- Legal Benefits System for Retirement Risk in Japan: Basic Structure and Relationship with the Employment System
- Changes in Family Life Resulting from the Unemployment of the Husband
- The Psychological Impact of Job Loss in Japan after the "Lehman Shock"
- Unemployment and Happiness
- Recession, Unemployment, and Suicide in Japan
Toronto Star, April 12 : “Sony to slash 10,000 jobs as new CEO reveals turnaround strategy”, by Tim Kelly and Chris Gallagher
The “poor, bloody, loyal crew” of the Titanic
“In the 100 years since the Titanic sank, one group of people on board have been reduced to the role of mere ballast. Nameless in almost all accounts of the sinking, they were nevertheless the most numerous, and suffered losses which made even third-class passengers seem privileged. They were the crew: the poor bloody, loyal crew.”
The Independent, March 4, 2012: “The forgotten victims: How the Titanic tragedy handed a devastating legacy to the people of Southampton: Of the 700 crew who perished on the Titanic, 550 came from Southampton. Their stories have rarely been told – until now”, by David Randall
Coventry Telegraph, April 10, 2012: “Muriel Manning talks about her father Percy Ball who survived the Titanic”, By Catherine Vonledebur
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