Perry Work Report for the week of February 11, 2011

February 11, 2011

​

Lancaster House Human Rights and Accommodation Conference and Queen’s IRC Survey

Human Rights and Accommodation Conference  presented by Lancaster House and Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resouces, University of Toronto  on April 27 to 28, 2011 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel.  February 14th  is the special early bird deadline to save $200 when you register and pay

Lancaster House: Human Rights and Accommodation Conference, Toronto

An Inquiry into the State of HR in Canada – a Queen’s IRC Survey

"The state of the human resources (HR) field in Canada is changing. In response to this changing landscape, the Queen's IRC is seeking to better meet the needs of our valued clients who specialize in HR. In 2009, we launched an Advanced HR program and we continue to focus our research on the future of the HR profession in Canada. As part of our research, we invite you to participate in an online survey. The purpose of this survey is to describe the current and future state of the HR profession in Canada, based on perspectives of practitioners.

Below you will find a link to our survey. We anticipate that this online survey should take approximately 20 minutes to complete. The survey is divided into two sections. In the first section, we ask demographic questions that will help us to understand the varied roles and responsibilities of HR professionals. In the second section, we ask your perspectives on the HR profession." [from IRC Queen's University]

Please complete the survey on or before Monday, February 28, 2011.

Queen's IRC Survey

Back to top

 

CIRHR Library is Tweeting

For current news on privatization of garbage collection in Toronto, public sector wages  and the TTC essential service question, the CIRHR Library is Tweeting articles from the Globe and Mail as they appear – below is a retrospective. Follow the CIRHR Library on Twitter for the current news. As well you can find us on Facebook.

Globe and Mail, February 11, 2011: “In garbage collection, competition is rarely wasted,” by Benjamin Dachis

Globe and Mail, February 9, 2011: Privatization: How much is too much? By Anna Mehler Paperny

Toronto Star, February 8, 2011: Private garbage collection more efficient: ex-mayor

Globe and Mail, February 7, 2011: Ford kicks off plan to contract out Toronto's garbage collection by Kelly Grant and Anna Mehler Paperny

Globe and Mail, February 7, 2011: Plan to contract out Toronto garbage pickup is no cause for alarm by Marcus Gee

Globe and Mail, February 8, 2011: Rising provincial wages put pressure on cities to match, by Karen Howlett

Globe and Mail, February 3, 2011: The Ontario public-sector wage freeze that wasn't

Globe and Mail, February 3, 2011: TTC union vows not to disrupt service during contract talks by Adrian Morrow

Back to top

 

Contracting Out the Garbage and More Income Inequality: a letter to the editor on privatization

“Privatization itself doesn’t necessarily reduce costs: Competition results in cost savings whether the services are provided by public employees or private contractors. This was the case in East York before amalgamation, and recently in Ottawa and Port Moody, B.C.: The public unions were able to outcompete private contractors.” [from the Globe and Mail]

Globe and Mail, February 11, 2011: “In garbage collection, competition is rarely wasted,” by Benjamin Dachis
“Municipalities that put waste service provision to competitive tender have substantially lower average costs per household than municipalities with few of their services provided through contracts.”

C.D. Howe, September 2010: “Picking up Savings: The Benefits of Competition in Municipal Waste Services,” by Benjamin Dachis

More Income Inequality – a letter to the editor on privatization

“Marcus Gee (Curb The Hysteria About Contracting Out – Feb. 8) says that such a move would not be the end of the world. Proponents of privatization say the bulk of savings would come from the fact city workers enjoy greater benefits than their private sector counterparts.

So what would be the effect of such a change? I suspect that after time the taxpayers will still pay the same for their services but, while the workers will be paid less, owners and upper management of the private companies could enjoy compensation many times greater than their municipal counterparts. In other words, a transfer of wealth from one segment of society to another.

The greater the gap between the incomes of the many and those of the few, the less chance we have to enjoy a civil society. It is not in the nature of business to reverse this trend. If our democratically elected leaders will not be the ones to do so, then who will?  Ian Argue, Toronto” [from the Globe and Mail]

Globe and Mail, February 10, 2011: Letters to the editor,: Who gets hurt?

Globe and Mail, February  7, 2011: " Plan to contract out Toronto garbage pickup is no cause for alarm," Marcus Gee (same article as "Curb The Hysteria About Contracting Out – Feb. 8" -- article titles vary)

Back to top

 

Collaborative Connections with Unions

Take a look at the Canadian HR Reporter video on the value of building trust and credibility with your labour relations partner titled, “How  employers can work with unions,” featuring  an interview with Gayle Fisher, chief human resources officer for the Ontario Securities Commission.  The video was also named one of Canadian HR Reporter’s top videos for 2010

Canadian HR Reporter TV: Gayle Fisher discuses Labour relations

Canadian HR Reporter.com, December 14, 2010: Top 10 HR videos of 2010: Most popular videos on Canadian HR Reporter TV

Gayle Fisher is a graduate of the Masters program at the Centre for Industrial Relations & Human Resources, University of Toronto.

Back to top

 

Competency Framework for Labour Relations Professionals

“The purpose of this Queen’s Industrial Relations Centre (IRC) research initiative was to identify and categorize competencies required by a successful Labour Relations Professional (LRP). Drawing on the 154 survey responses collected, a LRP Competency Framework is proposed. The resulting framework informs the IRC’s program planning and delivery, and is intended to be a practical tool for LRPs to plan their professional development activities.

IRC, Queen’s University, January 2011: Developing a Competency Framework for Labour Relations Professionals, Anne Grant, LL.B, LL.M (ADR), C.Med., 2010 (13 pages, PDF)

Back to top

 

Bob Mackenzie : Hamilton MPP was a passionate advocate for working people

“Bob Mackenzie, the passionate worker rights and social-equity advocate who served as Hamilton MPP and Ontario’s first NDP labour minister, died Monday at 82.” [from The Hamilton Spectator]
According to Sid Ryan, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, he was an activist first and a politician second. "People in Ontario knew they had a champion in the legislature no matter where he was sitting - in opposition or in government. He was a true icon for the labour movement and a working-class hero if ever there was one." [from the Globe and Mail]

Globe and Mail, February 7, 2011: “Hamilton MPP was a passionate advocate for working people:  He made progress on pay equity, workplace safety and unionization rights for farm workers,” by Noreen Shanahan

The Hamilton Spectator, January 17, 2011: Bob Mackenzie, the passionate worker rights and social-equity advocate who served as Hamilton MPP and Ontario’s first NDP labour minister, died Monday at 82.

Bob Mackenzie Ontario Graduate Scholarship: Established in 2004 by the Lupina Foundation in honour of the former Minister of Labour, MPP for Hamilton East and union activist as a lasting tribute to his commitment to the rights of workers.

Back to top

 

Funding Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance System

“This website will be updated as the review moves forward. Postings will include research information, helpful resources, submissions and comments from interested parties. Please check this website to stay current on the progress of the Funding Review and to learn the views of others.”

Funding Review Chair:  Harry Arthurs, University Professor Emeritus, former Dean of Osgoode Hall Law School and former President of York University.   Advisory Panel: Maureen Farrow, Buzz Hargrove, John O’Grady and John Tory.

Working Together for a Sustainable Future:   www.wsibfundingreview.ca

Progress to date

Green Paper: Funding Ontario’s Workplace Safety and Insurance System: a green paper for public discussion issued by the wsib funding review, H.W. Arthurs Chair (22 pages, PDF)

Back to top

 

The Perils of Philanthropy: The Case of the Munk

“Review of the details shows that the Munk bequest for the School of Global Affairs was accepted with completely inadequate academic oversight, with the result that the trade-offs implicit in that acceptance were in turn never properly explored, and the resulting Memorandum of Agreement contains several protocols carrying grave threats to basic academic values, including academic freedom.

Hopefully, in retrospect, we can all -- faculty, members of the Academic Board and the Governing Council, administrators, etc. -- agree that the events display very serious shortcomings in the way we have come to govern this University.” [from The Blue and White…]

“There is a further proviso in the Space Plan for the School (MoA, Schedule A) that is so offensive that it fair takes one’s breath away. To quote, "The main entrance of the Heritage Mansion will be a formal entrance reserved only for senior staff [of] and visitors to the School and the CIC." It goes on to explain that there will be other entrances around the corner on the side street (Devonshire Place), usable by lesser folk.”[from The Blue and White…]

The Blue and White: The University of Toronto Magazine, February 2011: “The Perils of Philanthropy: The Case of the Munk School,” by Paul Hamel, John Valleau

The Blue and White: The University of Toronto Magazine inaugural issue

Peter Munk OUT of UofT: a campaign to get Barrick Gold's influence out of the University of Toronto

Today’s lesson from the gospel of Peter Munk, by Stephen Kimber on January 10, 2011

Back to top

 

Pension Plan Problems at the University of Toronto

The University of Toronto has recently introduced a document titled, Ensuring a Sustainable Pension Plan for the University of Toronto. The University of Toronto Faculty Association (UTFA) has responded with a critique of that document: 
“There is no evidence in the report to substantiate the Administration’s claim that the “current benefit levels require a higher level of contribution”. Furthermore, the distribution of cost is a labour relations issue and not a pension financing issue.” 
Links to documents are provided below with OCUFA’s take on university pension issues.

University of Toronto, January 2011: Ensuring a Sustainable Pension Plan for the University of Toronto (19 pages, PDF)

University of Toronto Faculty Association, January 31, 2011: UTFA commentary on:  Ensuring a Sustainable Pension Plan for the University of Toronto [UTFA Pension issues website]

OCUFA, January 19, 2011: Update on Pensions in the University Sector

Back to top

 

Right Management HR Academic of the Year Award Nomination

Margaret Yap was a finalist for the Right Management HR Academic of the Year Award for the 2011 Human Resources Summit Awards.  Congratulations!  Margaret is a PhD graduate of the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources and is currently Associate Professor, Ryerson University:Director of The Diversity Institute in Management and Technology.

Back to top

 

Building Trust Between Managers and Diverse Women

A report from Catalyst looks at trust between managers and direct reports. The report examines two dimensions of trust:

Disclosure: When a direct report communicates sensitive or personal information to her manager.  

Reliance: The direct report’s ability to rely on her manager to take action on her behalf.

The analyses, which include perspectives from both diverse women and white male managers, show that organization-wide efforts are needed to overcome barriers to building trust in relationships between white male managers and diverse women direct reports.

Catalyst, February 2011: Building Trust Between Managers and Diverse Women Direct Reports (20 pages, PDF)

Back to top

 

Executive Search

A recent article in the Globe and Mail featured survey results from The Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC).  “It isn't only frustrated underlings who are thinking of jumping to a better career.  A survey of Canadian and U.S. senior executives found that 79 per cent hope to improve their career this year, which could include moving to a different employer." [from the Globe and Mail]

Globe and Mail, February 4, 2011: Senior execs aiming to find better jobs, by Wallace Immen
The Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) is the worldwide professional association for retained executive search firms (sometimes simplified as executive recruiters, or headhunters)

Association of Executive Search Consultants (AESC) website

“Executive Search at 50: A history of retained executive search consulting,”  (20 pages, PDF) includes an extensive listing of executive search consulting companies.

“The following firms and individuals are Sponsors or Strategic Alliance Partners of the AESC. These organizations provide a wide range of products and services of benefit to Executive Search Professionals, Senior Executives, and Human Resources executives and their practices.” 
AESC Partners

The BlueSteps Executive Search Blog

Back to top

 

Powering the Business of the environment and Ranking the Most Sustainable Cities in Canada

The GLOBE Foundation is a Vancouver-based, not-for-profit organization dedicated to finding practical business-oriented solutions to the world's environmental problems.

GLOBE launches new event series: GLOBE Costa Rica:  In June 2011, GLOBE will launch the first of a new series of biennial conference events with a specific focus on Latin America - GLOBE Costa Rica 2011.

British Columbia’s Green Economy website on this website you can find:

British Columbia's Green Economy: Securing the Workforce of Tomorrow (48 pages, PDF)
 
Careers for a Sustainable Future: A Reference Guide to Green Jobs in BC (34 pages, PDF)
Skilled, Qualified & Sustainable: A Reference Guide to Green Education & Training in BC (52 pages, PDF)

Ranking the Most Sustainable Cities in Canada

Corporate Knights, February 9, 2011: The 2011 Most Sustainable Cities in Canada : Ranking the most sustainable large Canadian urban centres.

Back to top

 

International Monetary Fund in AWE – missed the signs

“The IMF was overly influenced by (and sometimes in awe of) the authorities’ reputation and expertise.’’
“It’s hardly a secret that the hundreds of economists and officials at the International Monetary Fund failed miserably in their critical surveillance role during the run-up to the financial crisis, something the fund’s managing director, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, has acknowledged himself.”  [Globe and Mail]

Globe and Mail, February 9, 2011: 'Silo' culture at IMF missed the looming financial storm,” by Jeremy Torobin

IMF Performance in the Run-Up to the Financial and Economic Crisis: IMF Surveillance in 2004-07 website (report available by section in html)

IMF Performance in the Run-Up to the Financial and Economic Crisis: IMF Surveillance in 2004–07January 10, 2011 (59 pages, PDF)

Back to top

 

Book of the Week

Work on Trial: Canadian Labour Law Struggles, edited by Judy Fudge and Eric Tucker. Toronto : published for the Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History by Irwin Law, 2010. 426 p. ISBN 9781552211670

Work on Trial is a collection of studies of eleven major cases and events that have helped to shape the legal landscape of work in Canada. While most of the cases are well-known because of the impact they have had on collective bargaining, individual employment law, or human rights, less is known about the social and political contexts in which the cases arose, the backgrounds and personalities of the judges and the litigants, the legal manoeuvres that were employed, or the ultimate fate of all those who were involved. These studies, written by some of Canada’s leading labour and legal historians, provide this context. Beginning with Toronto Electric Commissioners v. Snider, one of the earliest and most important cases involving the division of powers in the Canadian federation, to the events leading to the articulation of the “Rand Formula” in the immediate post Second World War period, and on to the struggles of women workers in the late 20th century in challenging the continu­ing employment practices based on hegemonic gender-based assumptions, each study tells a compelling story, rich in detail and full of perceptive insights into the complex relationship between law and work.

About the Authors:

Judy Fudge is the Lansdowne Chair in Law at the University of Victoria. Eric Tucker, B.A., LL.B., LL.M. is a professor at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University.

Visit the Recent Books at the CIRHR Library blog.

Back to top

 

This publication is protected by Canadian copyright laws and may not be copied, posted or forwarded electronically without permission.

Questions or comments: cirhr.library@utoronto.ca

Editor: Vicki Skelton
Designer: Nick Strupat

Copyright © 2010 Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, University of Toronto. All rights reserved.

Date posted