Perry Work Report, March 21, 2013
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- Keep Kevin Page in the Parliamentary Budget Office
- Why you Should Care, About our Parliamentary Budget Officer
- Librarians’ Code of Conduct Protecting the Government from “High Risk Activities”
- HRSDC Website: another case of disappearing data and research
- New Labour-Management Relations Certificate Program
- Summer School in Advanced Studies in Labour, HR and Employment Relations
- The Budget 2013
- National Skills Training Strategy
- Skills Shortages?
- Temporary Foreign Workers Controversy
- Can Unions Save the Creative Class?
- Why Twenty-Somethings Aren’t Doomed to Be Poor (but Thirty-Somethings Might Be)
- OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-Being
- The Informal Economy and Decent Work
- Book of the Week
Keep Kevin Page in the Parliamentary Budget Office
“Harper has the ability to extend Page’s term so he can oversee this budget, and Page is willing to serve. If thousands of us speak out right now, we can force Harper to extend Kevin Page’s term, or risk proving to Canadians that his economic management cannot stand up to strong independent scrutiny.”
Send a message to Prime Minister Harper and your MP now telling them: Don’t destroy our federal budget watchdog! Extend Kevin Page’s term and strengthen our Parliamentary Budget Office.
Let Harper Know that Democracy Counts
Ottawa Citizen, March 12, 2013: Federal government’s choice for interim PBO fuels fears office will be gutted, by Katherine May
Why you Should Care, About our Parliamentary Budget Officer
“It was an accident that the current PBO became a true legislative budget office. If Parliament, the media and Canadians want a true legislative budget office they will have to stand up. The current PBO is about to go down… The timing of the selection process and the interim appointment of the librarian do not support the interests of Parliament.” Continue…
Macleans.ca, March 11, 2013: Out like a lion: 5 exit interviews with Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page,” by Emily Senger
Librarians’ Code of Conduct Protecting the Government from “High Risk Activities”
A new Code of Conduct for Librarians at Library and Archives Canada keeps librarians from their true vocation of assisting Canadians in finding out who they are, not telling them.
Carol Off of CBC’s “As It Happens” interview about the LAC “Code of Ethics”, March 20, 2013: Librarians cannot participate in conferences or professional events as Library & Archives Canada librarians.
Government of Canada, March 2013: Library and Archives Canada Code of Conduct
LAC PowerPoint for training employees in the LAC Code of Conduct :https://www.dropbox.com/s/9n6bk9wtua3qjg1/LAC%20V%26E%20Training%20English.pptx
“MacDonald, Turk and Samek say the six conditions appear to rule out federal librarians or archivists interacting on their own time with academics or heritage or genealogy groups and associations, as they may lobby, collaborate and receive funding from the LAC.”
“This is a cultural icon we are talking about,” says Samek, who expects the code to have a “demoralizing, self-censuring” effect on the LAC staff”
“Smart suspects the new code reflects a “generalized suspicion of public servants” by the Harper government. And he says LAC managers are likely not keen to have staff fielding questions about funding cuts and changes at LAC, which are eliminating several specialist archive positions; moving to digitalize materials; and reducing public access to archival collections.”
Sample statement from Training Materials: Government of Canada: LAC Code of Conduct:
”As public servants, our duty of loyalty to the Government of Canada and its elected representatives extends beyond our workplace to our personal activities. Public servants must therefore use caution when making actions that could potentially damage LAC’s reputation or public confidence in the public service and the Government of Canada.“
Montreal Gazette, March 16, 2013: ”Canada’s federal librarians fear being ‘muzzled’,” by Margaret Munro
The story is laid out on Meg Ecclestone's Storify "blog": http://storify.com/mjecclestone/conversations-with-james-moore
HRSDC Website: another case of disappearing data and research
Huffington Post, March 10, 2013: Harper Government Centralizing, Slashing Federal Web Info
Currently librarians at the University of Toronto are scrambling to archive government websites with rich information resources that are disappearing – being taken down without notice from the government.
Here are some examples of what you can no longer find on the Human Resources and Skills Development website. Using the the Wayback Machine, an internet archiving website since 1996, you can sample what was once there. The missing studies, data, and research and publications will not be easy to find in the future. You will have to know what was there in order to fill out the forms required to make requests for any documents or data.
Wayback Machine: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Labour Program, 2010: Innovative Workplace Practices
Current webpage: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Labour Program, 2013: Innovative Workplace Practices
Wayback Machine: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Labour Program, 2009: Wage Adjustments – note that analysis goes back to 1988
Current webpage: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Labour Program, 2013: Wage Adjustments
Wayback Machine: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Labour Program, 2009: Labour Law
Current webpage: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Labour Program, 2013: Labour Law
New Labour-Management Relations Certificate Program
Scott Walsworth (MIR and Phd grad from the CIRHR) is directing a new initiative:
New labour relations course offered by the Edwards School of Business and the Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Saskatchewan. It is an intensive five day program intended for labour leaders, human resource managers, and labour relations officers. Participants will join academics and leading practitioners drawn from Western Canada to develop expertise in collective bargaining, mediation, the legal framework, and arbitration, among others.
The first offering of the Labour-Management Relations Certificate is scheduled for September 15 to 20, 2013 in Saskatoon.
Scott Walsworth explains:
"We have a well-established and highly active labour relations community in the West, as evidenced by the largest local CIRA chapters in the country. In the past, working professionals interested in university level labour relations training had two options. They could travel to Ontario and attend the Queen’s program or they could attend one of the Queen’s courses when it was offered in various cities in Western Canada where Ontario experts are parachuted in for the week.
In either case, students are not exposed to instruction tailored to the labour relations climate of Western Canada. The legislation is slightly different but more importantly students are meeting classmates and instructors from Ontario that they will likely never see again.
In our program, staffed by academics and practitioners from Western Canada and attended exclusively by participants from Western Canada, students are meeting people they will later work with. Led by a small group, the likes of Daphne Taras, Allan Ponak and Beth Bilson, we put the call out and we were encouraged by the response from employers and unions, although we were not surprised; this is an initiative whose time has come."
The LRM Certificate is now accepting applications for the September offering. Space is limited to 24 spots. Click here for more information.
Summer School in Advanced Studies in Labour, HR and Employment Relations
"We are pleased to announce the third annual Summer School in Advanced Studies in Labour, HR and Employment Relations at the University of Montreal's School of Industrial Relations (ERIUM). The Summer School will start on Monday July 15th, 2013 and end on Thursday August 15th, 2013. The three seminars in International Perspectives on Health and Safety, International Human Resource Management and Partnership and Social Dialog will each be taught (in English) twice a week.
This is an opportunity for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students and practitioners to embark on an intense and stimulating intellectual adventure in a vibrant urban setting. Students from partner and exchange programs are especially welcome."
Full details, including course descriptions here. For more information contact : Cristina Piccoli cristina.piccoli@umontreal.ca
The Budget 2013
Jobs Growth and Long-Term Prosperity Economic Action Plan 2013: Tabled in the House of Commons By the Honourable James M. Flaherty, P.C., M.P. Minister of Finance March 21, 2013 (442 pages, PDF)
The Globe and Mail, March 21, 2013: Video: Five things you need to know about the federal budget: From jobs training to tax and spending measures. Chris Hannay and Stuart A. Thompson give you the rundown of what you need to know about the 2013 federal budget.
CBC News, Mar 21, 2013: No tax cuts, little new spending in federal budget Money moved around for skills training, new cash added for infrastructure by Laura Payton,
CBC News, March 21, 2013: Budget plan extends manufacturing incentives Deficit focused budget has help for Ontario while targeting tax cheats.
CBC News, Mar 21, 2013: Feds to target sick leave in public service negotiations
Rabble.ca, March 21, 2013: Budget 2013: Smoke, mirrors and very few details By Karl Nerenberg
National Skills Training Strategy
“The government is looking at nothing less than remaking the Canadian labour force… There’s a general feeling there are too many kids getting BAs and not enough welders.”
“Officials say various proposals for a new national skills training strategy went to cabinet and back to the drawing board at least twice in the past year… The latest version is set to become the centrepiece of the federal budget being presented Thursday by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.”
“Measures aimed at promoting apprenticeships will feature prominently in the budget… The feds also want to break down provincial licensing barriers that currently prevent many skilled workers from using their credentials in all parts of the country.”
“Finally, the budget is expected to contain specific measures aimed at helping to train or retrain aboriginals, older workers, recent immigrants, and people with disabilities.”
The Globe and Mail, March 19, 2013: ”Flaherty to make skills training a budget focus,” by Bill Curry
HRSDC, Labour Market Agreements website (with links to provincial websites)
The Government of Canada’s national report on Labour Market Agreement activities and results is available: National report for 2008-09 and 2009-10 (HTML) (PDF)
CBC News, March 18, 2013: “Peeved Harper aims at ‘remaking Canadian labour force’,” by Greg Weston
CBC News, February 19, 2013: Interactive Map: Where Canada’s job vacancies are - and aren’t
C.D. Howe Institute, e-Brief, March 6, 2013: “Who Is Still Standing in Line? Addressing a Mismatch of Skills and Jobs in the Canadian Labour Market,” by Philippe Bergevin
Skills Shortages?
"As I noted yesterday, much of the talk about skills shortages in Canada is data-free, and factually-challenged. What, for instance, are we to make of claims that we have a huge shortage of people in the construction trades, when even a simple look at Labour Force Survey data tells a very different story?"
Higher Education Strategy Associates, March 20, 2013: “Skills Shortages,” (Part 1 & 2) by Alex Usher
Temporary Foreign Workers Controversy
“Over the past decade the number of temporary foreign workers in Canada has tripled.”
“The rise of temporary foreign workers, who now occupy one in 50 jobs, has become a source of controversy as the economy sputters. Critics of the program argue that it depresses wages and fosters unsafe work conditions. Employers say it provides a reliable stream of labour and fuels economic growth.”
The Globe and Mail, March 20, 2013: ”Surge in foreign workers shows challenge for job training,” by Joe Friesen
Can Unions Save the Creative Class?
”Union membership, and ensuing muscle, have been in steep decline in both the public and private sectors.”
”Also in decline: America’s creative class — artists, writers, musicians, architects, those part of the media, the fine arts, publishing, TV and other fields — faced with an unstable landscape marked by technological shifts, a corporate culture of downsizing, and high unemployment.”
“So is it time for artists to strap on a hard hat? Maybe unions or artists’ guilds can serve and protect an embattled creative class. With musicians typically operating without record labels, journalists increasingly working as freelancers as newspapers shed staff, and book publishing beginning what looks like a period of compression, unions might take some of the risk and sting out of our current state of creative destruction.”
”If you’re worried about inequality in this country, which is just galloping along, the main cause – even bigger than the skewed tax code – is the decline of unions.”
Salon, March 18, 2013: “Can unions save the creative class? Newspapers are dying. Musicians and writers can’t get paid. Maybe it’s time for creatives to really organize,” by Scott Timberg
This is the third installment in a new series called Working Ahead, which will examine key issues facing the modern American worker, and how we can use our everyday spending habits to help save and create good jobs. The series is brought to you by the AFL-CIO. To read the other stories in this series, click here.
Why Twenty-Somethings Aren’t Doomed to Be Poor (but Thirty-Somethings Might Be)
“All of this adds up to a single sad possibility, according to the New York Times’ Annie Lowrey: Today’s twenty- and thirty-somethings may never end up as rich and financially secure as their parents. Lowrey’s story points to a recent study by the Urban institute, which suggests that Americans under forty, financially wracked by student debt and the housing bust, have saved up much less wealth than the generations before them. Because wealth compounds over time, there’s a strong chance they won’t ever catch up.
But the Times misses something key, I think, which is that not everybody under 40 is in the same boat. As this graph from Urban Institute’s study shows, it’s mostly Americans in their thirties (in red) who have seen their net worth collapse compared to 30 years ago. The quarter-life set are actually doing a bit better. “
The Atlantic, March 17, 2013: Why Twenty-Somethings Aren’t Doomed to Be Poor (but Thirty-Somethings Might Be)
OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-Being
"Being able to measure people’s quality of life is fundamental when assessing the progress of societies. There is now widespread acknowledgement that measuring subjective well-being is an essential part of measuring quality of life alongside other social and economic dimensions. As a first step to improving the measures of quality of life, the OECD has produced Guidelines which provide advice on the collection and use of measures of subjective well-being. These Guidelines have been produced as part of the OECD Better Life Initiative, a pioneering project launched in 2011, with the objective to measure society’s progress across eleven domains of well-being, ranging from jobs, health and housing, through to civic engagement and the environment."
Access to HTML: OECD Guidelines on measuring subjective well-being
or (270 pages PDF)
The Informal Economy and Decent Work
This practical Policy Resource Guide, initiated and completed by the Employment Policy Department, is the first initiative to bring together in one volume, a synthesis of knowledge, policy innovations and good practices facilitating transition to formality highlighting the multiple pathways and the indispensable synergies and coherence amongst the objectives of employment promotion, social protection and upholding rights.
ILO, March 19, 2013: The Informal Economy and Decent Work
Book of the Week
Lean in: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, by Sheryl Sandberg. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2013. 228 p. ISBN 9780385349949 (hardcover)
UTLibraries link to catalogue record: http://go.utlib.ca/cat/8784496
Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry. This means that women’s voices are still not heard equally in the decisions that most affect our lives. In LEAN IN, Sheryl Sandberg examines why women’s progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled, explains the root causes, and offers compelling, commonsense solutions that can empower women to achieve their full potential.
Visit the Recent Books at the CIRHR Library blog.
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Designer: Nick Strupat
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