Perry Work Report for the week of March 16, 2010

March 16, 2010

​

The Changing Canadian Workplace

A report by Don Drummond and Francis Fang of TD Financial titled, The Changing Canadian Workplace examines the future affects of: the looming retirement of the baby boomer generation; a future labour shortage which will require that immigrants, aboriginals, women, and older workers be utilized more efficiently; the need for access to higher education for lower income Canadians; the growing gap between rich and poor and the need for adequate pension coverage for all.

TD Bank Financial Group, March 8, 2010: The Changing Canadian Workplace (27 pages, PDF) + Executive Summary

The Changing Canadian Workplace is also the title of Don Drummond’s Sefton Memorial Lecture, which will be delivered Thursday, March 25, 2010, 7:00 p.m. Kruger Hall, Woodsworth College, 119 St. George St.

Globe and Mail, March 15, 2010: Cut the Wage Gap (an editorial on the Budget, Canada’s prosperity and Immigrant economic success)

 

Strike Continues at Vale Inco

After eight months on strike, 88 percent of Steelworkers Local 6500 member voted against the current five year offer by Vale Inco – according to union leaders “the deal would cut special bonus pay, reduce employee workplace rights, allow more contracting out and provide no assurances some would return to their jobs.” Vale Inco in a “message to employees” states that they will not use a third party in negotiations and provides a copy of the offer with appendices. Finally, Jeffery Simpson comments on how foreign ownership has meant that Canada has “branch plant operations”.

Toronto Star, March 15, 2010: Vale gloom deepens for Sudbury; Eight months on strike, 88 per cent of Steelworkers reject latest offer from Brazil-based nickel giant

Vale Inco, March 7, 2010: Message to Employees – March 7, 2010

Vale Inco, March 7, 2010: Company Offer to Settle the Strike March 7, 2010 (10 pages, PDF)

Appendices to Company Offer March 7, 2010 (51 pages, PDF)

Fair Deal NOW! Site for Vale Inco families and community members

Domestic Ownership [Jeffery Simpson from the Globe and Mail]

“Other countries know this. In Brazil, Vale is shielded from unwanted takeover by the government's “golden shares,” which give authorities veto power. No Brazilian government would dream of allowing Vale to fall into foreign hands, whereas Ottawa waves takeovers through like a cop trying to speed traffic along.”… “Domestic ownership doesn't axiomatically make for labour-management harmony. But domestic ownership can create large-scale companies that, if properly led, can conquer foreign markets, in a way no foreign owners would allow their branch plants to try. Does anyone think Canadian companies such as RIM or SNC-Lavalin would be doing what they do around the world (RIM is making an announcement in Brazil this week) if they were branch plants?"

Globe and Mail, March 9, 2010: We've sold off assets so often, branch plants 'R' us, by Jeffery Simpson

 

Corporate Gender Gap Report 2010

Leading companies are failing to capitalize on the talents of women in the workforce, according to the World Economic Forum’s Corporate Gender Gap Report 2010. It is the first study to cover the world’s largest employers in 20 countries and benchmark them against the gender equality policies that most companies should have in place but are, in fact, widely missing.

World Economic Forum, March 8, 2010: Business failing to close the corporate Gender Gap

World Economic Forum, March 8, 2010: The Corporate Gender Gap Report, 2010 (122 pages, PDF)

Women Leaders and Gender Parity Programme (World Economic Forum)

World Economic Forum, October 2009: Global Gender Gap Report, 2009

 

Working Women with Disabilities

As part of its Living with Disability Series, Statistics Canada has released an article titled Life satisfaction of working-age women with disabilities. Drawing on survey results of the 2006 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, this article examines how Canadian women with disabilities aged 25 to 54 describe their level of life satisfaction on the following levels: daily activities, quality of relationships with family and friends, and health.

Report, March 8, 2010 (9 pages, PDF)

 

Corporate Support for Employees Volunteering Overseas

Leave for Change is a program that promotes and supports employee volunteerism in the developing world by encouraging employees from participating companies and organizations to transform part of their annual leave into a 2 to 4 week volunteer assignment in a developing country. There are currently twenty participating Canadian companies including: Deloitte & Touche; Fraser Milner Casgrain; Humber College; University of British Columbia; and University of Guelph.

Leave for Change (Uniterra) website

Globe and Mail, March 10, 2010: Talent without borders

 

Creating a Social Media Policy for your Workplace

An article on the Benefits Canada website looks at how successful companies such as Best Buy are using YouTube to communicate their culture to current and future employees. This article looks at how to write a social media usage policy for your company or institution to avoid some of the negative effects of social media networking by employees. Results from a survey on employee use of social media at work found that it was not widely used.

Benefits Canada, March 11, 2010: Does social media belong in the workplace? by Susan Deller

Are Employees “Being Social” on Company Time? Randstad Work Watch Survey Reveals Social Media Not Widely Used at Work, January 5, 2010

 

You’ve got to have friends (as Bette Midler sang)

A Randstad Work Watch Survey has found that having friends at work has both an upside and a down side for employers and employees. “With many pegging the current economy for stalled career growth and salary freezes, the days of workplace competition and rivalry are being replaced by teamwork and camaraderie as American workers seem to be viewing workplace friendships as possessing more benefits than risks.”

Do benefits of workplace friendships outweigh risks? new Randstad work watch survey finds lines between personal and professional lives have blurred, February 23, 2010 (3 pages, PDF)

Globe and Mail, March 12, 2010: Good company; having close pals at work not only makes the job more enjoyable, but boosts morale and productivity, studies show

FastCompany, Feb 24, 2010: Workplace Friendships: Good for Morale, Bad for Productivity, by Addy Dugdale

 

Smart Commute program

“Making better choices about how we travel for work shouldn’t just be the responsibility of employees.” Organizations can take a look at the Smart Commute program to help their employees make eco friendly choices in their daily commute to work. Literature on the Smart Commute website provides employers with a business case for adopting the program.

TMA Toolkit: B5 Business Case for TDM – provides case studies

Toronto Star, March 14, 2010: 8: 30-9: 30 a.m.: Help employees make Smart Commute choices; How to reduce our carbon footprint the other 23 hours of the day by San Grewal

 

Incentive Programs Adjusted

A survey completed by Mercer reports that companies are “strengthening how their incentive compensation programs align with business strategies to reinforce payouts that are commensurate with performance” in response to the impact of the recession. Survey results note that one-third of organizations have introduced new financial measures to their annual incentive plans.

Survey, March 11, 2010

 

Health & Safety in the Workplace

The Institute for Work & Health has released the Health & Safety Smart Planner which is designed to help workplaces understand the benefits and costs of occupational health and safety programs. This report also includes a review of the education and training that leads to safer practices among workers and addresses the problem of health and safety in small businesses.

Report, March 2010 (8 pages, PDF)

 

Social Assistance Punishing the Poor – numbers rise as EI benefits run out

The C.D. Howe Institute has released a report on reforming social assistance in Canada, suggesting that it become a federal-led effort. This report discusses program rules which deny or cancel the benefits of most Canadian welfare, disability or social service programs once recipients have a modest level of savings. Because of these restrictions, recipients are forced to liquidate their savings. As well, an article in the Globe and Mail looks at the rising number of welfare cases in Ontario and calls for an expansion of the Federal Employment Insurance program.

Report, Down but Not Out: Reforming Social Assistance Rules that Punish the Poor for Saving, March 2, 2010 (6 pages, PDF)

Globe and Mail, 15 March 2010: Ontario seeks Ottawa's help as welfare cases spike; Province calling for national standard for accessing EI benefits

 

Issues in Post-Secondary Education

A number of papers have recently been released by the Caledon Institute of Social Policy which discuss various issues in post-secondary education. This series of five commentaries draws from data published in an in-depth study titledStudent Aid Meets Social Assistance, released in September 2009.

Proposed Reforms to Post-Secondary Education, March 2010 (3 pages, PDF)

The Power of Post-Secondary Education, March 2010 (2 pages, PDF)

Barriers to Post-Secondary Education, March 2010 (3 pages, PDF)

Welfare Rules and Post-secondary Education, March 2010 (3 pages, PDF)

Welfare Routes to Post-secondary Education, March 2010 (3 pages, PDF)

Study, Student Aid Meets Social Assistance, September 2009 (77 pages, PDF)

 

Book of the Week

Blue-Green Coalitions: Fighting for Safe Workplaces and Healthy Communities, by Brian Mayer. Ithaca, N.Y. : ILR Press, 2009. 240 p. ISBN 9780801474637

What do unions and environmental groups have to gain by working together and how do they overcome their differences? In Blue-Green Coalitions, Brian Mayer answers these questions by focusing on the role that health-related issues have played in creating a common ground between the two groups. By recognizing that the same toxics that cause workplace hazards escape into surrounding communities and the environment, workers and environmentalists are able to collaborate for the protection of all.

About the Author:

Brian Mayer is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Florida.

 

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: contact us at cirhr.library@utoronto.ca.

Editor: Vicki Skelton
Designer: Nick Strupat

Copyright © 2008 Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, University of Toronto. All rights reserved.

Date posted