January 13, 2011
- CIRHR Library has a new website!
- Six Reasons to Hire an MIRHR Student this Summer
- Morley Gunderson Prize: Nominations Now Open
- Green/ing Jobs: Definitions, Dilemmas, Strategies: panel discussion
- Vale and Voissey Bay and some overpaid employees
- Queen’s University Staff join United Steelworkers
- Public Sector Unions
- The Labour Movement -- less influential and more unpopular?
- The Unwritten rules of advancement and Women’s representation in Corporate Governance for 2010
- Who or where is a desirable employer?
- Just what your parents always told you - stand tall, sit straight
- More Jobs!
- Do PhDs get the jobs they expect?
- How Innovative Auto Industry Practices Could Help Transform Health Care
- Books of the Week
CIRHR Library has a new website!
The CIRHR LIBRARY is pleased to announce that we have a new website:http://cirhr.library.utoronto.ca (This link will take you to http://www.library.utoronto.ca/cirhr/ -- both links work)
We now use the same website design as UTLibraries. Maneuvering on our web pages will be a greatly improved experience for the University of Toronto community and others who are familiar with the UTLibraries' web pages. We have many people to thank for our new website:
Marc Lalonde: Web Coordinator, Librarian, UofT Libraries, Information Technology Services - Digital Library & Web Services. Marc, who designed the UTLibraries web pages, set up our new website, trained our staff and looked after a myriad of details to get us up and running. We could not have done it without you, Marc - thank you so much!
Stephanie Orfano: Social Sciences & Humanities Librarian, University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), downtown campus. A huge thank you to Stephanie, who did a wonderful job designing, rewriting and inputting much of the content –we were lucky to have Stephanie working in the library while she was a graduate student at the iSchool, University of Toronto Faculty of Information.
Monica Hypher: Library Technician, CIRHR Library. Monica has developed and maintained the CIRHR Library web page from the very beginning. We could not have moved to the new CMS system without her wealth of experience and knowledge or without her wonderful photographs of the Centre, including architectural details that you may have missed!
Hilary Luk: current graduate student, iSchool, University of Toronto Faculty of Information. Thanks also to Hilary, who was involved in the labour intensive updating of the new pages.
Six Reasons to Hire an MIRHR Student this Summer
- Gain access to the top talent in Industrial Relations and Human Resources – MIRHR students are carefully selected, highly motivated, and will bring a positive attitude towards working and learning into your organization.
- Get help with your special projects or other short-term requirements.
- Evaluate potential new employees - our graduates are highly sought after and many employers return annually to recruit new graduates. Gain a competitive advantage: recruit once, hire twice.
- Energize your human resources or labour relations teams by hiring a student who will bring energy, enthusiasm, and a fresh perspective.
- Promote your organization as one that is committed to developing Industrial Relations and Human Resources professionals.
- Receive up to $3,000 tax credit per student.
We invite you to contact Chantal Emond at the Co-op Programs in Management. She will be able to assist you with the entire recruiting process and can answer any questions you may have about the summer work term or its participants. Chantal Emond can be reached by telephone at (416) 287–7361 or via email at emond@utsc.utoronto.ca.
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 Anil Verma, Interim Director of the Centre by Monday, January 31, 2011. 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 24 and more details will follow shortly. Nominations for the Morley Gunderson Prize should be sent to: director.cirhr@utoronto.ca.
Green/ing Jobs: Definitions, Dilemmas, Strategies: panel discussion
Green jobs have been increasingly touted as the solution to job loss and environmental crisis. Will Canada transition to a cleaner economy that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and employs a new generation of workers? Are green jobs the only link between environmental policy and employment policy?
Defining green jobs raises further questions. What is a green job? Do we need new green jobs or greener jobs? Who will benefit in the transition towards a low-carbon economy? What strategies do we need to transition to greener workplaces?
Join Work in a Warming World (W3) for a panel discussion of these challenging issues featuring expert activists, academics and policy makers.
When: Thursday, January 20th 3pm
Where: Jackman Humanities Building Room 100A, 170 St George St, University of Toronto
There is no cost for attending, but please RSVP, as space is limited: W3info@yorku.ca
Vale and Voissey Bay and some overpaid employees
“Striking employees at the Voisey's Bay Nickel mine in Labrador are voting on an agreement proposed by a provincially appointed industrial inquiry commission. The 130 workers at the nickel mine, represented by the United Steelworkers Union, have been on strike since August 2009 ... the mine is owned by brazil-based Vale, formerly known as Vale Inco. Vale says it will only accept a deal negotiated directly with the union. Last October, when it appeared the dispute was deadlocked, former premier Danny Williams ordered an industrial inquiry commission to look into the strike and report its findings. The commission's report and proposed settlement were released last week.” [from CBC, January 12, 2011]
CBC, January 12, 2011: Striking Voisey's Bay workers vote on proposal: Owners of nickel mine say they'll only accept a negotiated settlement
CBC, January 7, 2011: Compromise to end Vale strike: N.L. commission: Inquiry commission's report released Friday after talks break off
Newfoundland Labrador, Labour Relations Agency, Industrial Inquiry: Voisey’s Bay : October 23, 2010 – January 7, 2011
Newfoundland Labrador, Human Resources, Labour and Employment, January 7, 2011: Provincial Government Releases First Report from Voisey’s Bay Industrial Inquiry Commission
Report of the Industrial Inquiry Commission - Report No.1, December 22, 2010 (65 pages, PDF)
Northern Life.ca, January 12, 2011: Vale employees asked to pay back $1 million in wages: “the relocation of the company's payroll department to Toronto as one of the reasons for problem.”
Queen’s University Staff join United Steelworkers
“The new bargaining unit will number more than 1,200 employees. Queen's staff will join 7,500 other university employees in Ontario who are already members of the USW - at the University of Guelph and at the University of Toronto and its affiliated colleges Victoria University and St. Michael's University College.”
USW News, December 13, 2010: Administrative staff of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, have voted to join the United Steelworkers (USW).
Queen’s University Staff Union – United Steelworkers website
Public Sector Unions
“People in the private sector are only just beginning to understand how much of a banquet public-sector unions have been having at everybody else’s expense (see article). In many rich countries wages are on average higher in the state sector, pensions hugely better and jobs far more secure. Even if many individual state workers do magnificent jobs, their unions have blocked reform at every turn. In both America and Europe it is almost as hard to reward an outstanding teacher as it is to sack a useless one.”
The Economist, January 6, 2011: The battle ahead: The struggle with public-sector unions should be about productivity and parity, not just spending cuts
“THE past 30 years have been dismal ones for the labour movement. In the American private sector trade-union density (i.e., the proportion of workers who belong to unions) has fallen from a third in 1979 to just 7% today. In Britain it has dropped from 44% to 15%. Nor is this just an Anglo-Saxon oddity: less than a fifth of workers in the OECD belong to unions.”
The Economist, January 6, 2011: (Government) workers of the world unite! Public-sector unions have had a good few decades. Has their luck run out?
“Is a world dominated by banks, large corporations and wealthy people (all of which use their money and influence to distort markets and policies to their further advantage) any better than one dominated by unions (which at least spread out the benefits which they get for their members, benefits which, however exaggerated, pale in comparisons to publically funded bonuses in the financial sector)?”
“The decline of private sector unions wasn't something that just happened naturally. Rather it is the result of decades of work in strike breaking, gutting labor laws, and sustained anti-union propaganda by the plutocratic press. The goals of the Thatchers, the Reagans, The Economist, is a world without unions. All of the rhetoric in this article is really a mask for "unions are bad and must be aggressively opposed, defeated, and destroyed.”
The Labour Movement -- less influential and more unpopular?
“The result is that it’s easier to dismiss unions as just another interest group, enjoying perks that most workers cannot get. Even though unions remain the loudest political voice for workers’ interests, resentment has replaced solidarity, which helps explain why the bailout of General Motors was almost as unpopular as the bailouts of Wall Street banks. And, at a time when labor is already struggling to organize new workers, this is grim news.
In a landmark 1984 study, the economists Richard Freeman and James Medoff showed that there was a strong connection between the public image of unions and how workers voted in union elections: the less popular unions were generally, the harder it was for them to organize. Labor, in other words, may be caught in a vicious cycle, becoming progressively less influential and more unpopular. The Great Depression invigorated the modern American labor movement. The Great Recession has crippled it. “
The New Yorker, January 17, 2011: The Financial Page: State Of The Unions, by James Surowiecki
The Unwritten rules of advancement and Women’s representation in Corporate Governance for 2010
Catalyst’s most recent research report looks at European employees perceptions of the unwritten rules for advancement at work as well as how employees navigate these rules within their organizations. The analysis provides an understanding of how unwritten rules might play out or vary across different cultural contexts.
Catalyst, January 2011: Unwritten Rules: Why Doing a Good Job Might Not Be Enough Europe (12 pages, PDF)
Women’s representation in Corporate Governance for 2010
In 2010, women held 15.7 percent of board seats at Fortune 500 companies. In both 2009 and 2010, more than 50 percent of companies had at least two women board directors, yet more than 10 percent had no women serving on their boards. Similar to 2009, women of color held 3.0 percent of all board seats and represented about one-fifth of all women directors.
Catalyst, December 2010: 2010 Catalyst Census: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors, by Rachel Soares, Jan Combopiano, Allyson Regis, Yelena Shur, and Rosita Wong (2 pages, PDF)
Catalyst, December 2010: additional data provided via links on right side of page
Who or where is a desirable employer?
“A recent survey of job seekers in eight job markets in Asia showed significant gaps between the reputations of Asian and Western companies in terms of being a desirable employer. “
Aon Hewitt Consulting, Asia Connect, January 2011: Job Seekers Preference Survey (5 pages, PDF)
Asia Connect, January 2011: you can subscribe to this free newsletter from this page.
Just what your parents always told you - stand tall, sit straight
According to new research from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, posture plays an important role in determining whether people act as though they are really in charge.
Association for Psychological Science, January 6, 2011: Standing Tall Is Key for Success in 2011
Globe and Mail, January 7, 2011: Attention, job-seekers: sit up straight by Wency Leung
Psychological Science published online 13 December 2010: Powerful Postures Versus Powerful Roles: Which Is the Proximate Correlate of Thought and Behavior? Li Huang, Adam D. Galinsky, Deborah H Gruenfeld and Lucia E. Guillory
More Jobs!
“Canada's economy added more jobs than expected in December, with a net 22,000 new positions concentrated in full-time, private-sector work, while the unemployment rate unexpectedly held at 7.6 per cent. “[Globe and Mail]
“Strong gains in manufacturing and transportation and warehousing: Following a decline of 29,000 the previous month, manufacturing employment increased by 66,000 in December. The bulk of thegains were in Ontario and Quebec and were spread across a number of industries. This follows little overall change in the manufacturing sector in the previous 18 months.” [Statistics Canada]
Globe and Mail, January 6, 2010: Why Canada’s jobs market isn’t as strong as it appears by Michael Babad
Globe and Mail, January 7, 2010: Canada adds 22,000 jobs in December, by Jeremy Torobin
Statistics Canada, released January 8, 2011: Labour Force Information – Analysis, December 2010
Statistics Canada, released January 8, 2011: Labour Force Information, December 5 to 11, 2010 (59 pages, PDF)
Do PhDs get the jobs they expect?
The study provides a profile of doctoral holders two years after graduation by examining their demographics and program characteristics as well as their expectations at the time of graduation. It also analyses their mobility patterns, with a particular focus on graduates who moved to the United States. Finally it examines the graduates' labour market outcomes, including employment rates, income, industry and the prevalence of over-qualification as compared to the graduates' expectations.
Statistics Canada, January 6, 2010: "Expectations and Labour Market Outcomes of Doctoral Graduates from Canadian Universities,” by Louise Desjardins and Darren King. Culture, Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics: Research Papers (60 pages PDF) or (html)
How Innovative Auto Industry Practices Could Help Transform Health Care
ILR Online Webcast: How Innovative Auto Industry Practices Could Help Transform Health Care January 19, Online Date: Wednesday, January 19, 2011, Time: 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm (EST)
The auto industry has faced many challenges in the last few years. But there is still much to be learned from automakers' labor-management partnerships and how these practices can be applied to restructuring today's healthcare system.
This topic will be explored in a LIVE webcast moderated by Peter Lazes, director of the Healthcare Transformation Project at Cornell University's ILR School. A panel discussion will feature:
Harry Katz, ILR's Kenneth F. Kahn Dean and auto industry expert; Tom Kochan, MIT Sloan School of Management, who has done research at both Saturn and Kaiser Permanente, the largest HMO in the U.S.; Mike Bennet, past president of UAW Local 1853, Saturn Corporation; John August,executive director for the Coalition of Unions, Kaiser Permanente
Register for the Webcast
Books of the Week
The Marketplace of Ideas: Reform and Resistance in the American University, by Louis Menand. New York : W.W. Norton, 2010. 174 p. ISBN 9780393062755 (hardcover)
Selling Out: Academic Freedom and the Corporate Market, by Howard Woodhouse. Montréal : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2009. 350 p. ISBN 978-0-77353-580-0
The American Faculty: the Restructuring of Academic Work and Careers, by Jack H. Schuster and Martin J. Finkelstein. Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. 569 p. ISBN 9780801891038 (pbk.)
Academic Capitalism and the New Economy: Markets, State, and Higher Education, by Sheila Slaughter and Gary Rhoades. Baltimore, Md. : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004. 370 p. ISBN 9780801892332
Visit the Recent Books at the CIRHR Library blog.
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