January 17, 2011
- Philanthropy: private initiatives for public control?
- Canadian Government vs. U.S. Steel
- Vale Voisey’s Bay strike continues
- Workplace Bulletin, January 17, 2011
- Labor relations exercises for students and Profs
- Accommodating Parental needs and obligation in the workplace
- Expert Advisory Panel on Occupational Health and Safety in Ontario
- Negotiation for senior executives
- Get a job!
- Sex venues -- the next networking challenge for women?
- Deloitte 2010 Corporate Responsibility Report
- The Impact of Ontario Colleges’ Applied Research
- Report on Business Calendar – new!
- Good Jobs First- Subsidy Tracker
Philanthropy: private initiatives for public control?
“Consider the case of school reform in Washington, D.C. Former schools chancellor Michelle Rhee battled the teachers’ union in acrimonious contract negotiations for more than two years; she wanted greater control over evaluating and firing teachers. Her breakthrough move was to get $64.5 million from the Broad, Walton, Robertson, and Arnold foundations to finance a five-year, 21.6 percent increase in teachers’ base salary. The union took the money in exchange for giving Rhee some of the changes she wanted. The money came with a political restriction: the foundations could withdraw their pledges if there was a “material change” in the school system’s leadership.”
Dissent, Winter 2011: Got Dough? Public School Reform in the Age of Venture Philanthropy, By Joanne Barkan
Canadian Government vs. U.S. Steel
“Normally, workers involved in a labour dispute are denied EI benefits, but the union argued the Hamilton situation is different because the workers aren’t on strike, they’ve been locked out by a company that has also broken employment and production promises made to the government. (The federal government is suing the company over those broken promises, seeking penalties that now total about $15 million. The case could go to trial in the spring.)”
The Spec.com (Hamilton Spectator), January 15, 2011: U.S. Steel workers get financial boost
USW Workplace Campaigns: US Steel website
Hamilton Day of Action for Locked out U.S. Steel workers
Working families, retirees, students and other community activists are organizing bus trips to Hamilton for the rally in support of 900 locked-out U.S. Steel workers and 9,000 pensioners.
U.S. Steel locked out its Hamilton workers November 7, 2010. Issues: new hires onto a lesser, defined-contribution plan and the discontinuing of indexed pensions for 9,000 pensioners
USW News Releases, January 17, 2011: Ontario-Wide Mobilization Jan. 29 for Locked-Out Steelworkers
Montreal Gazette January 18, 2011: Times are changing for company pension funds, By Paul Delean
Vale Voisey’s Bay strike continues
“For one brief moment it actually looked like the 74-week-old Voisey’s Bay strike could finally come to an end. Unfortunately, it was just wishful thinking.”
The Telegram, January 15, 2011: A squandered chance for labour peace, by Michael Johansen
“Vale disagrees with the overall conclusions and direction of the Report. As a general observation the Report’s recommendations have been made without the benefit of a full inquiry on all of the issues contained in the Commission’s Terms of Reference. The Report reflects an incomplete analysis which isto be expected given the limited time the Commission had to complete its work.”
Vale Press release, January 7, 2010: Vale comments on the first report of the Industrial Inquiry Commission into the labour dispute between Vale and United Steelworkers local 9508
USW Workplace Campaign: Vale website
Workplace Bulletin, January 17, 2011
New Toll-Free Number Effective February 1, 2011, the Workplace Information Division, Labour Program, is introducing a new toll-free number for its inquiry line. Please call 1-877-259-8828 for current and customized information on industrial relations and collective bargaining.
Wage Adjustments – Public and Private compared:
Workplace Bulletin, January 17, 2011 (16 pages, PDF) as it is not indexed in the HTML version you may have missed this chart: Average Annual Percentage Wage Adjustments by Public and Private Sectors, a Chronological Perspective Since 2000 (found on PDF page 7)
Major Work Stoppages in Canada for 2010
HRSDC, Workplace Information Directorate Labour Program, January 17, 2011: Major Work Stoppages Involving 500 or More Employees from January 1 to December 31, 2010
Labor relations exercises for students and Profs
“For those of you who teach HR courses, I wanted to let you know that a labor relations exercise that I developed is available online through the Society for Human Resource Management Academic Initiative. The exercise gives students an interesting, fun, and interactive way to better understand the labor relations process. In addition, there are numerous other cases and exercises available through the SHRM Academic Initiative that you might find useful.” [Patrick McHugh, Associate Professor, Department of Management, George Washington University]
SHRM, December 16, 2010: The Student Collective Bargaining Act, By Patrick P. McHugh, Ph.D.
Accommodating Parental needs and obligation in the workplace
“The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (the "Tribunal") recently issued a series of decisions that affects how employers must consider issues relating to allegations of discrimination based on family status. Following these decisions, employers are under greater obligation to consult and potentially accommodate employees whose parental duties interfere with their work requirements.”
Ogilvy Renault, January 13, 2011: Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Expands the Duty to Accommodate Parental Obligations by Michael Horvat
Expert Advisory Panel on Occupational Health and Safety in Ontario
In January 2010 the Minister of Labour appointed Tony Dean as Chair of the Expert Advisory Panel to lead a review of Ontario's Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Prevention and Enforcement system. The appointed panel included three members each from labour, employers and academia with workplace health and safety expertise. The report is now available.
The recommendations balance the need to provide better protection and support for workers (especially young and new workers and recent immigrants) with the need to improve resources and compliance supports for the business community (particularly small businesses).
Ontario Government, December 16, 2010: Expert Advisory Panel on Occupational Health and Safety -- Report and Recommendations to the Minister of Labour (86 pages, PDF) or (html)
New release, December 16, 2010 (provides a summary)
Negotiation for senior executives
Why Negotiation Skills are Essential for Managers, an interview with Professor James K. Sebenius about the Program on Negotiation (Harvard)for Senior Executives.
Get a job!
The Globe and Mail’s current edition of the Report on Business Magazine has a feature article for job hunters. Read “Get a Job” for the inside track on what these employers want: Google; Barrick Gold; Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment; Encana; Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts; Deloitte; Sid Lee; and Research in Motion .
Globe and Mail, Report on Business Magazine: Plan for 2011: Get a job, by Steve Brearton, Dawn Calleja, Diane Jermyn Friday, Dec. 24, 2010
Sex venues -- the next networking challenge for women?
Since decriminalization of prostitution in Australia, where networking at sex venues has become a larger part of the corporate culture and where corporations can legitimately write off sex expenses, there has been a decline in the number of companies that have at least one woman on the board of directors and the share of women who are executives had fallen behind Canada and the United States.
Globe and Mail, January 17, 2011: The sex expense deduction: Not that far-fetched, by Marina Adshade
Deloitte 2010 Corporate Responsibility Report
Deloitte’s Corporate Responsibility Report is framed around two core topics:
1/ The contributions Deloitte makes to society through member firms' client service and engagement in global issues such as regulation, the education and skills gap, and sustainability
2/ The conditions for success, which are created through core programs such as ethics, talent management, quality, and independence
Deloitte, December 22, 2010: Corporate Responsibility Report (40 pages, PDF)
The Impact of Ontario Colleges’ Applied Research
This executive summary looks at how applied research services provided by Ontario colleges stimulate and accelerate the innovation activities of Ontario-based firms. [free publication]
The Conference Board of Canada , November 5, 2010: Innovation Catalysts and Accelerators The Impact of Ontario Colleges’ Applied Research (5 pages, PDF)
Report on Business Calendar – new!
Stay on top of key economic indicators, Bank of Canada announcements, personal finance deadlines and more with the year-long ROB calendar.
Globe and Mail, January 17, 2010: New tool: The ROB economic calendar
Good Jobs First- Subsidy Tracker
“A growing number of state governments are disclosing which companies they are giving tax breaks and other subsidies in the name of job creation and economic development. Yet much of that information is being disseminated through hard-to-find reports and web pages. SUBSIDY TRACKER is the first national search engine for state economic development subsidies. It brings together recipient data from a wide range of subsidy programs in states across the country.”[from IWS Documented News Service]
Subsidy Tracker : Discover Where Corporations are Getting Taxpayer Handouts Across the United States
Book of the Week
Management by Design: Applying Design Principles to the Work Experience, by Daniel W. Rasmus. New York : Wiley, 2010. 238 p. ISBN 9780470227510 (hardback)
Exploring the premise that the best way to attract and retain people, and their knowledge, will come from designing environments that turn today's increasingly virtual workplace into an attractive place for people to spend their time, Management by Design: Applying Design Principles to the Work Experience shows how the principles of design can be successfully applies to the work experience, making it a rewarding and productive.
- Reveals why the application of design to the workplace experience can improve the employee/employer relationship
- Why increased morale and employee loyalty start with a great work environment
- Explains why it is more important than ever to manage work experiences, especially with the projected work shortages in the coming decades
- This innovative book helps managers and executives connect the dots between employee retention, positive brand expression, and lasting stories that reflect well on an organization.
About the Author
DANIEL W. RASMUS is former director of business insights for Microsoft. Previously, he was vice president of collaboration and knowledge management research at Forrester Research.
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