January 12, 2012
- Morley Gunderson Named 2011 LERA Fellow
- Morley Gunderson Prize: Nominations Now Open
- Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP one of Canadian Lawyer's top 10 labour and employment boutique firms
- Global Risks 2012 Report
- Will Caterpillar Be “Upset” By Labour?
- Public Sector Unions in B.C. Preparing for Battle
- Pension Plans Ailing Health
- Factory Jobs Paying Less In The U.S.
- The Tale of One American Factory
- Suicide Concerns in the News Again at Apple’s Foxconn Factory in China
- Labour Strife 2012
- Weakening Labour Laws in the U.S. with “Right to Work” Rhetoric
- Minimum Wage Hikes in Eight States
- Do You Trust your Management Consultant?
- Book of the Week
Morley Gunderson Named 2011 LERA Fellow
The Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) has recognized Prof. Morley Gunderson for his "contributions of unusual distinction to the field" by naming him a LERA Fellow. It noted his body of work on the role of public policies in the labor market including youth employment, strikes, and cross-national comparisons and analysis of institutions. Morley joins an impressive group of LERA Fellows that include Tom Kochan of MIT, Orley Ashenfelter from Princeton, Harry Katz at Cornell and Richard Freeman at Harvard. He is the first non-American to receive this award. The award was presented at the LERA Annual Meeting in Chicago in January 2012.
Morley Gunderson Prize: Nominations Now Open
The Morley Gunderson Prize was established in 1997 as a tribute to Morley’s extraordinary commitment to the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources at the University of Toronto. It recognizes a current student or graduate of the Centre who combines outstanding professional achievement with dedicated and significant service to the Centre. Nominations may be submitted by current students, graduates, faculty and staff to the Director, Anil Verma, by January 31, 2012. The selection committee considers all nominations, and the presentation of the award is a highlight of the annual Sefton Lecture, co-sponsored by the Centre and Woodsworth College of the University of Toronto. This year's Sefton Lecture will take place at 7 pm on March 28 and more details will follow shortly. Nominations for the Morley Gunderson Prize should be sent to: director.cirhr@utoronto.ca.
Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP one of Canadian Lawyer's top 10 labour and employment boutique firms.
"Jeffrey Sack, Howard Goldblatt, and Michael Mitchell came together in the mid-1970s to found a law firm that promised to protect the rights of working people. Their mandate has broadened to include criminal and constitutional work, but the labour focus remains. The 49-lawyer firm represented the Canadian Labour Congress in three of the biggest labour-relations cases in the last decade: 2001’s Dunmore v. Ontario (Attorney General), B.C. Health Services from 2007, and Ontario (Attorney General) v. Fraser in 2011."
Canadian Lawyer Magazine, January 2012: Labour & employment boutiques holding their own.
Global Risks 2012 Report
The World Economic Forum’s Risk Response Network (RRN) has released its 2012 Global Risk report. The report identifies many of the challenges facing decision-makers with the aim of improving “public and private sector efforts to map, monitor, manage and mitigate global risks.” In response to a perceived increase in global risks, associated with the global economy and the societal and environmental challenges of their being over 7 billion people, the Forum created the RRN to help provide an “independent platform to better monitor, prepare for, respond to and mitigate global risks.” The report is based on a survey of 469 experts “from industry, government, academia and civil society.”
World Economic Forum, 2012: Global Risks 2012 Seventh Edition: An Initiative of the Risk Response Network (interactive microsite online) or click here for the PDF (64 pages)
World Economic Forum: Risk Response Network (RRN) website
The New York Times, January 10, 2012: “The Failure of Governance in a Hyperconnected World”, by Lee Howell
World Economic Forum@davos: the World Economic Forum on Twitter
Will Caterpillar Be “Upset” By Labour?
Electro-Motive Canada (EMC), owned by the U.S. company Caterpillar Inc., has locked out over 400 workers at its London plant after they refused a 50 per cent cut in wages and benefits. Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) Local 27, the union representing EMC workers at the London plant, says that it rejects the wage cuts while Caterpillar continues to be a profitable business. Meanwhile, in North Carolina, Caterpillar has benefited and profited from state-led initiatives that use taxpayer dollars to help 400 workers acquire the skills needed to work in Caterpillars’ new plant in the state. A report from Good Jobs First found that such state supported initiatives “attract companies that create few jobs, pay low wages or scrimp on health insurance.”
CBC, January 2, 2012: “London plant lockout sidelines more than 400 workers: Concern increasing that work may be moved to Indiana plant”, CBC News
CAW, January 5, 2012: “CAW Questions Government Claims Regarding Electro Motive Assets, Calls for Full Disclosure of Sale”, CAW News & Events
Ontario Labour on Facebook: STOP CATERPILLAR! London Day of Action Against Corporate Greed (Jan 21)
OFL@OntarioLabour: Ontario Federation of Labour’s Twitter account
New York Times, January 7, 2012: “Private Sector Gets Job Skills; Public Gets Bill”, by Motoko Rich
Good Jobs First, December 14, 2011: “Report: States Spend Billions on Economic Development Subsidies that Don’t Require Job Creation or Decent Wages”, (3 pages)
Good Jobs First: website
Public Sector Unions in B.C. Preparing for Battle
“Unions representing nearly a quarter million public-sector employees in British Columbia are negotiating contracts with the government this year, and a labour expert says there could be chaos on the labour front.”
Canadian Press, January 10, 2012
Globe and Mail, January 10, 2012: Union urges B.C. to let liquor stores open Sundays
Times Colonist January 10, 2012: Beyond 'net zero,' a chance for a raise
Pension Plans' Ailing Health
Canadian pension plans suffered dramatic losses last year, particularly in the third quarter when stock values around the world plummeted. "For many organizations, these conditions have resulted in larger plan deficits at the end of 2011 and will lead to higher pension costs in 2012 and beyond," said Ian Markham, Towers Watson's Canadian retirement leader.
Towers Watson Pension Finance Watch, Third Quarter 2011 (12 pages PDF)
Mercer, January 10, 2012: Devastating 3rd quarter losses leave Canadian pension plans unable to make up ground in 4th quarter
Aon Hewitt, January 6, 2012: Defined Benefit Pension Plan Sponsors Face Higher Contributions in 2012 as Solvency Ratios Decrease Managing Risk Factors Helps Improve Funded Status
CBC News, Jan 6, 2012: Some firms face stiff pension contribution hikes: Quebec, Manitoba might need to provide funding relief to plans
Toronto Star, January 5, 2012: Pension plans' health declined sharply in 2011, studies find; Slump in stocks hit even the defined benefit plans hard
Factory Jobs Paying Less In The U.S.
Jobs in the manufacturing sector in the US are increasing but they are increasingly lower wage positions. “The ‘wage premium’ for manufacturing jobs has been disappearing over the last several decades, relative to service sector jobs requiring similar skill levels.” The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics International Comparisons of Hourly Compensation Costs in Manufacturing for 2010 indicates that hourly wages for manufacturing jobs in the U.S. were lower than some European countries, Australia and Canada.
Policy Shop, January 10, 2012: Not Your Father's Factory Job
New York Times, January 4, 2012: WORKING FOR LESS: Factory Jobs Gain, but Wages Retreat
The Tale of One American Factory
“In the past decade, the flow of goods emerging from U.S. factories has risen by about a third. Factory employment has fallen by roughly the same fraction. The story of Standard Motor Products, a 92-year-old, family-run manufacturer based in Queens, sheds light on both phenomena. It’s a story of hustle, ingenuity, competitive success, and promise for America’s economy. It also illuminates why the jobs crisis will be so difficult to solve.”
Atlantic Magazine, Jan/Feb, 2012: Making It in America
A visit to Greenville, North Carolina, and the factory floor of Standard Motor Products. “The company makes replacement parts for car engines. I thought this would involve big, noisy machines stamping out parts and spewing oil. Instead I saw workers hunched over microscopes.”
NPR, January 12, 2012: The History Of Factory Jobs In America, In One Town (Podcast, 6 min 10 sec).
Suicide Concerns in the News Again at Apple’s Foxconn Factory in China
The Globe and Mail, January 12, 2012: Chinese Foxconn workers threaten mass suicide over Xbox layoffs
The Guardian, April 30, 2011: Apple factories accused of exploiting Chinese workers, Poorly paid workers are said to work excessive hours and suffer humiliations in the drive to produce iPads and iPhones.
New York Times, June 6, 2010: After Suicides, Scrutiny of China’s Grim Factories.
Labour Strife 2012
Well worth waiting for the advertising to end – just cue up the pointer to the 35 minute mark once the Lang and O'Leary Exchange begins and you can watch and listen to CIRHR MIR graduate and Morley Gunderson prize winner, Armine Yalnizyan of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, talk about current labour issues.
CBC Video, Lang and O'Leary Exchange : Labour Strife 2012, January 5, 2011: starts 35 minutes in (after you watch a bit of advertising
Weakening Labour Laws in the U.S. with “Right to Work” Rhetoric
“As Indiana works to rebuild its economy following the Great Recession, some advocates are promoting the idea that the state’s future hinges on adoption of a so-called “right-to-work” (RTW) law. Despite the name, right-to-work laws do not confer any sort of right to a job. Rather, they dilute union bargaining strength by making it harder for workers’ organizations to sustain themselves financially. Proponents argue that by weakening labor laws, RTW will lure outside companies—particularly manufacturers—into the state.”
Economic Policy Institute, January 3, 2012: Working hard to make Indiana look bad: The tortured, uphill case for ‘right-to-work’ By Gordon Lafer
Minimum Wage Hikes in Eight States
“One common misconception about minimum-wage workers is that they are mostly teenagers, working part time. In fact, of the roughly 1.4 million low-wage workers who will benefit from Jan. 1 minimum wage increases in eight states, roughly 80 percent are at least 20 years old and 78 percent work at least 20 hours per week. The percentage of affected workers who fit the false stereotype of teenage, part-time workers is a mere 12 percent.”
Economic Policy Institute, January 4, 2012: Most minimum-wage workers are not teenagers By David Cooper
Do You Trust your Management Consultant?
House of Lies is an American comedy television series which premiered on Showtime on January 8, 2012, based on the book, House of Lies: How Management Consultants Steal Your Watch and Then Tell You the Time, written by Martin Kihn, a former consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton.
“House of Lies is one of those shows. It is astonishingly ambitious, funny, serious, and entertaining. Best of all, it speaks to the mood of skepticism about the way business is done in the United States, who makes the money and how they acquire it. This is a show that reflects much of what the Occupy movement is about.” [Globe and Mail]
The Globe and Mail, January 9, 2012: Greed is no joke in dark comedy House of Lies, by John Doyle
Book of the Week
Good Jobs America: Making Work Better for Everyone, by Paul Osterman and Beth Shulman. New York : Russell Sage Foundation, 2011. 181 p. ISBN 9780871546630 (pbk.)
"At a time of fierce debate over America's economic future, this fresh and deeply researched book provides a welcome antidote to the complacent conventional wisdom that good jobs are gone for good. One of the nation's leading experts on the low-wage labor market, Paul Osterman, has teamed up with one of the nation's leading champions of low-wage workers, the late Beth Shulman, to produce a powerful, informed case for making 'bad' jobs better. What Osterman and Shulman show is that doing so would benefit not just low-wage workers. It would also benefit our society and our economy more broadly." --Jacob S. Hacker, Yale University
About the Authors:
Paul Osterman is NTU Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management and a member of the Department of Urban Planning at MIT. Beth Shulman was senior fellow at Demos, chair of the Board of the National Employment Law Project, and co-chair of the Fairness Initiative on Low-Wage Work.
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