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March 1, 2012
- HR Academic of the Year Award
- Looking for Union Statistics?
- A Bad Week for Vale
- Two New Workers’ Compensation Reports
- Foxconn-like Conditions in the U.S.?
- Three Year Undergraduate Degree Proposed in Ontario
- Post-Drummond: Ontario’s Teachers’ Unions and Province Get Ready to Bargain
- Senior Stampede
- Manufacturing Matters in the U.S.
- Wooing Irish Workers to Canada, Just in Time for St. Patrick’s Day
- Executive Pay in Europe
- Love Hurts More Than Work
- Book of the Week
HR Academic of the Year Award
The HR Academic of the Year Award was recently presented to Margaret Yap, a Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources Centre graduate. “Dr. Margaret Yapis Associate Professor in Human Resources Management at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University. Her research interests are in the area of diversity and equity in organizations and human resource management in the global economy. She teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses in human resources management.” This award and ten others were presented at the HR Summit Awards;at a gala awards presentation on January 31st.
Looking for Union Statistics?
UnionStats.com, the Union Membership and Coverage Database resource provides “private and public sector labor union membership, coverage, and density estimates compiled from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly household survey, using BLS methods. Economy-wide estimates are provided beginning in 1973; estimates by state, detailed industry, and detailed occupation begin in 1983; and estimates by metropolitan area begin in 1986.”
And check out also the brand new website for the AFL-CIO.
International Labour Organization (ILO). View and download data and metadata for over 200 countries or territories from LABORSTA, an International Labour Office database on labour statistics operated by the ILO Department of Statistics. .
OECD, Stat Extracts. Trade Union Density Statistics from 1999 to 2010, for 34 OECD member countries.
OECD, StatExtracts. Union members and employees. Statistics from 1999 to 2010, for 33 OECD member countries.
A Bad Week for Vale
“A report following an eight-month investigation by Steelworkers Local 6500 alleges nickel mining giant Vale failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent the deaths of two miners last June in Sudbury, Ont. The 200-page report into the deaths of Jason Chenier and Jordan Fram in Stobie Mine was released Wednesday by the union. It presents evidence that Vale knew there was a problem in the mine beforethe workers died on June 8.” In other Vale news this week, the Ontario Labour Relations Board has ruled that the mining company “engaged in "patently unreasonable" conduct and violated provincial labour law by firing nine Sudbury workers without recourse to arbitration”.
CBC News, March 1, 2012: “Vale fatal accident report stuns mining community: Miners press for 'criminal consequences,' company denies allegations of negligence”
USW Local 6500, February, 2012: Executive Summary: Double Fatalities Investigation Report, June 8, 2011. (PDF, 12 pages). Download full report at this page. (207 pages)
CBC News, February 29, 2012: “Steelworkers union says fallen miner warned Vale in email: Local 6500 calls for charges against nickel company after 8-month probe”
CBC News, February 28, 2012: “Labour board ruling clarifies strikers' rights: Ruling on arbitration fundamentally preserves workers right to strike, as it exists under the labour relations act, lawyer says”
Canada Newswire, February 24, 2012: "Patently Unreasonable" Vale Breaks Ontario Labour Law
Labour Board Ruling Vindicates Steelworkers In Case of Fired Employees”
Two New Workers’ Compensation Reports
The Institute for Work & Health (IWH) has released an “Issue Briefing” that summarizes patterns in workers’ compensation claims in several Canadian provinces during the recent 2008-2009 recession.
The Institute for Work & Health (IWH), February 2012: The Canadian recession and the compensation of work-related injury and illness (PDF, 6 pages).
The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) recently published a study of all the provincial/territorial workers’ compensation boards. The study covers 35 indicators in seven major areas of workers’ compensation: cost of premiums; claims management; experience rating; classification and assessment; coverage; long-term fiscal sustainability; and customer service.
Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), December 2011: A Small Business Assessment of Workers’ Compensation (PDF, 44 pages).
Foxconn-like Conditions in the U.S.?
Many major online retailers, such as Amazon, fulfill orders using warehouse ‘pickers’. 15 percent of pickers, packers, movers, and unloaders are temporary workers. They may be "temporary" for years, while often enduring exhausting and dangerous workplace conditions, and draconian, inflexible rules and policies - all for as little as $7 an hour.
The Atlantic Wire, February 28, 2012: “Working In This American Warehouse Sounds As Bad As Working At Foxconn”, by Rebecca Greenfield
Mother Jones, March/April, 2012: “I Was a Warehouse Wage Slave: My brief, backbreaking, rage-inducing, low-paying, dildo-packing time inside the online-shipping machine.”, by Mac McClelland
NPR, On Point, February 28, 2012: “Online shopping. We point, click, and buy. Then what happens? We’ll investigate.” (Podcast. 45:35 minutes)
The Morning Call, December 23, 2011: “Almost 13,000 join boycott against Amazon.com: Local workers who bemoaned conditions are pleased by response to online petition”, by Spencer Soper
The Morning Call, November 6, 2011: “Amazon workers left out in the cold: Warehouse employees complained about 'freezing' for hours after alarms sounded”, by Spencer Soper
The Morning Call, September 25, 2011: “Amazon gets heat over warehouse", by Spencer Soper and Scott Kraus
The Morning Call, September 18, 2011: “Inside Amazon's Warehouse: Lehigh Valley workers tell of brutal heat, dizzying pace at online retailer”, Spencer Soper
Three Year Undergraduate Degree Proposed in Ontario
An Ontario provincial report says universities should cut four year undergraduate degrees to three years. In a survey of more than 850 students, 64 per cent said four year degrees have the most value, while 29 per cent said the two degrees are of equal value and 5 per cent felt the shorter 3 year degree was preferable. Undergraduate degrees could also be tailored to what employers are looking for according to Rowan O’Grady, president of recruiting firm Hays Canada. According to O’Grady: “...a shorter degree would certainly get young people into the labour market faster, it doesn’t mean they’ll get jobs faster”.
Higher Education Strategy Associates (HESA), February 21, 2012: Changing Times, Changing Places: The Global Evolution of the Bachelor’s Degree and the Implications for Ontario. Summary.Full report (PDF, 40 pages)
The Star, February 23, 2012: “Most Ontario university students prefer four-year bachelor degrees, survey finds”, by Kristin Rushowy
The Star, February 23, 2012: “Editorial: Three-year degrees will only devalue Ontario education”
The Star, February 22, 2012: “Ontario universities should offer three-year degrees, classes year-round and more online learning, says provincial report,” by Kristin Rushowy
Post-Drummond: Ontario’s Teachers’ Unions and Province Get Ready to Bargain
The Ontario government sent a memo last week to the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO), outlining a timetable for a Provincial Discussion Table (PDT) to settle collective agreements with teachers. In response, ETFO President, Sam Hammond, sent a letter to its members writing that the parameters outlined by the government “amounts to deep and mean-spirited strips to our collective agreements,” and, as a result, the ETFO executive had decided not to participate in further discussions of the document as scheduled by the government on March 5 and 6.
Government of Ontario, February 22, 2012: “Government of Ontario Parameters for the 2012 PDT Discussions” (PDF, 2 pages)
Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario, February 29, 2012: Letter to ETFO members from Sam Hammond, President of ETFO
The Globe and Mail, March 1, 2012: “Ontario set to get tough with teachers”, by Carys Mills
The Globe and Mail, March 1, 2012: "Clampdown on teachers’ labour costs will protect education, Ontario says", by James Bradshaw
Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association, February 29, 2012: “Government PDT Proposal”, Letter to OECTA members from Kevin O’Dwyer, President
Seniors Stampeding
In Canada’s economic resurgence of 2009, employers were hiring. But “strangely, none of the unions, social agencies, or the unemployed had any idea what all the new jobs were or who was getting them.” Now, a new report from the Toronto-Dominion bank shows that “older Canadians “stampeded” into the job market in the early months of the recovery.” Workers over 60 have accounted for 30 per cent of the country’s job gains, and 1 per cent of the newly employed workers were over the age of 70.
TD Economics, February 23, 2012: Older workers stampede into the labour market. (PDF, 3 pages)
The Toronto Star, Februrary 28, 2012: “Young workers sidelined as retirees stampede back into workforce”, by Carol Goar
The Toronto Star, February 24, 2012: “Older workers age 60-plus represent 8 per cent of the workforce, but account for 30 per cent of new job gains”, by Vanessa Lu
Statistics Canada, October 26, 2011: “Delayed retirement: A new trend?” by Yves Carrière and Diane Galarneau (PDF, 16 pages)
Manufacturing Matters in the U.S.
“Manufacturing matters to the United States because it provides high-wage jobs, commercial innovation (the nation’s largest source), a key to trade deficit reduction, and a disproportionately large contribution to environmental sustainability.” “American manufacturing needs strengthening in four key areas: Research and development; Lifelong training of workers at all levels; Improved access to finance; and an increased role for workers and communities in creating and sharing in the gains from innovative manufacturing.
Brookings Institute, February 22, 2012: “Why Does Manufacturing Matter? Which Manufacturing Matters? A Policy Framework”, by Susan Helper, Timothy Krueger, and Howard Wial. (PDF, 53 pages) Link provided by IWS Documented News Service.
“There is a growing chorus of sophisticated types telling the country that we could have millions more jobs in manufacturing, if only we had qualified workers.”...” In short, while there may be many businesses that complain about being unable to find workers with the necessary skills to fill manufacturing jobs, the data provide no evidence that this is a common problem.”
Center for Economic and Policy Research, February 22, 2012: “It's So Hard to Get Good Help”, by Dean Baker. (PDF, 3 pages)
Wooing Irish Workers to Canada, Just in Time for St. Patrick’s Day
“Faced with a massive skills shortage and a surge of job openings, Western Canadian employers are looking to an old source for new workers: hard-up Ireland”. This week, delegations from Alberta, B.C. and “the difficult-to-pronounce Canadian province of Saskatchewan”, are in Ireland “to entice Irish citizens to leave their economically devastated country and come to Canada”. 6,000 Irish workers are expected to move to Canada this year.
Inside Ireland, March 1, 2012: “6,000 Irish to emigrate to Canada”, by Sarah Greer
The Globe and Mail, February 28, 2012: “Western Canadian employers court the Irish”, by Sean Silcoff
Cork Independent, February 23, 2012: “Remote province [Saskatchewan] seeks Irish workers”, by Deirdre O'Shaughnessy
Regina Leader-Post, January 6, 2012: “Wide welcome mat needed”, by Murray Mandryk
Executive Pay in Europe
“This comprehensive Handbook offers a detailed analysis of regulations in Europe regarding remuneration packages, and a comparison across national systems.”Available to the University of Toronto community via your Conference Board of Canada e-library account
Conference Board of Canada, February 2012: "Executive Remuneration across Europe: A Handbook of Design, Disclosure, and Enforcement Rules”, by Matteo Tonello, Geert Raaijmakers
Love Hurts More Than Work
New research indicates that people regret decisions made about love more intensely than choices made about work. “Regrets can stem from love or work, but those stemming from the former seem to be the toughest to overcome. The need to belong is not just a fundamental human motive but a fundamental component of regret,” the authors write.
Wall Street Journal, February 23, 2012: “Study: Love Hurts More than Work”, by Rachel Emma Silverman
Book of the Week
The Chief HR Officer: Defining the New Role of Human Resource Leaders, edited by Patrick M. Wright ... [et al.]. San Francisco, California : Jossey-Bass, 2011. 310 p. ISBN 9780470905340 (hardback)
The Chief HR Officer offers the most current thinking on the evolving role of the chief human resource officer (CHRO). An essential resource for experienced and aspiring CHROs, the book shows leaders how to best prepare for and perform this critical role.
This comprehensive book shows how, in today's extremely competitive work environment, the job of the CHRO has expanded to encompass many important roles. Among other things, HR leaders must adapt to and address the demands of an increasingly diverse and demanding workforce, globalization, stricter regulatory requirements, increased accountability to the CEO and board of directors, and the complexity of leading the HR function with often limited resources.
About the Editor:
Patrick M. Wright, Ph.d., is the William J. Conaty GE Professor of Strategic Human Resources in the School of ILR at Cornell University. He teaches and conducts research in the area of strategic human resource management, with a particular focus on how HR practices, the HR function, and HR leaders can affect firm performance.
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Questions or comments: cirhr.library@utoronto.ca
Editors: Claire Wollen, Kim Parry and Yasmin Hartung
Designer: Nick Strupat
Copyright © 2012 Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, University of Toronto. All rights reserved.