Perry Work Report for the week of March 30, 2011

March 30, 2011

 

Recent Tweets – click on http link or go to CIRHR Twitter page

Reject mandatory 'say on pay' votes: ICD http://t.co/PxZ98PH /via @globeandmail

Discussion: What's holding Canadian cities back? http://t.co/z8a695v /via @globeandmail

Entrepreneurship just needs 'rich people and nerds' http://t.co/HaVfKat /via @globeandmail

No wage hike in tentative deal between B.C., nurses http://t.co/zhSOXQF /via @globeandmail

No strike on Canada Line http://t.co/YkwGlQT via @globeandmail

Thousands protest British budget cuts http://t.co/6lCHPjC via @globeandmail

Transit problems across Canada prompt calls for politicians to address issue http://tgam.ca/BrNZ /via @globeandmail 9:18 AM Mar 27th via Mobile Web

A Minimum Wage Increase http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/opinion/27sun2.html

A Shabby Crusade in Wisconsin http://s.nyt.com/u/kG_UComputer ruling seen as landmark workplace decision http://tgam.ca/BrC0 /via @globeandmail

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Law Passed to Ban TTC Strikes in Ontario

“This bill has implications for labour relations in the entire province by interfering with free collective bargaining. It would be more honest to have a debate over what constitutes an essential service rather than arbitrarily make an exception to the current standards. This bill is dishonest and it is arbitrary.”[David Rapaport]

[Mr. David Rapaport’s  presentation to the Ontario Government, from the Committee Transcripts: Standing Committee onGeneral Government - March 21, 2011 - Bill 150, Toronto Transit Commission Labour Disputes Resolution Act, 2011]

Toronto Star, March 30, 2011: Ontario bans strikes by the TTC

CTV News, March 30, 2011: TTC strikes banned after bill passes by huge margin

Legislative Assembly of Ontario: Bill 150, Toronto Transit Commission Labour Disputes Resolution Act, 2011: Third Reading Carried on recorded division, March 30, 2011

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United States: the anti union movement

Academic Freedom issues:

Law Librarians Blog, March 28, 2011: [click on story at top of page] Just Say "No" to the Republican Party of Wisconsin: Academic Freedom in the Public Sector vs. State FOIA Request for Prof's Emails (excellent summary of the targeted professor William Cronon, a very well respected historian at the University of Wisconsin)

New York Times, March 26, 2011: Wisconsin Professor’s E-Mails Are Target of G.O.P. Records Request By A. G. SULZBERGER

New York Times, March 25, 2011: Editorial: A Shabby Crusade in Wisconsin

TPMDC, March 29, 2011 : Conservative Think Tank Seeks Michigan Profs' Emails About Wisconsin Union Battle ... And Maddow Evan McMorris-Santoro |

New York Times, March 21, 2011: We’re All Badgers Now, by Stanley Fish: A conversation about unionization and higher education between Stanley Fish and Walter Benn Michaels, professor of English at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Emails on university computers in the United States are being subjected to a SLAPP: Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, “And in what is being called a landmark decision, an Ontario court this week ruled that employees have a right to privacy for material contained on a work computer.” Globe and Mail, March 26, 2011: Computer ruling seen as landmark workplace decision

Indiana:

“Indiana House Democrats ended a nearly six-week boycott of the legislature and started to return from Illinois Monday afternoon after reaching a compromise with Republicans on a handful of union-related bills.”

Wall Street Journal, March 28, 2011: Indiana House Democrats End Walkout, Head Home, by Douglas Belkin and Kris Maher

Michigan reduces unemployment benefits:

Washington Post, March 25, 2011: Michigan first to act as states weigh reductions in unemployment benefits

Washington Post Graphic, March 25, 2011: Burden of jobless benefits

Washington Post Graphic, March 25, 2011: States in Crisis

Nebraska:

Sacramento Bee, March 30, 2011: Anti-union mood moves to Nebraska's modest unions, by Grant Schulte

Nevada:

Las Vegas Sun, March 30, 2011: Fight over collective bargaining looming in Legislature, by Anjeanette Damon (contact)

Ohio:
Newser, March 30, 2011: Ohio House Panel Approves Anti-Union Bill: But bill is softened from original version, by Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Wall Street Journal, March 24, 2011: Ohio's Governor Moves Against Unions: The reform goes further than Wisconsin's

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Labour Art Lost

“The newly elected governor of Maine, Paul LePage … not to be outdone by other Republican governors who are attacking unions, over the weekend he ordered the removal of a 36-foot mural celebrating labor from the lobby of the state Labor Department building in Augusta, and is retitling its conference rooms to remove the names of past labor leaders.

His reason? They might make businessmen uncomfortable. How many such businessmen visit the Labor Department? And how many faint with panic at the sight of a mural, which depicts historical scenes from Maine’s labor movement, like women building ships during World War II, and a 1986 paper strike?” [NYR Blog]

NYR Blog: Roving thoughts and provocations from our writers, March 29, 2011: The Art Destroyers by Garry Wills

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Is it Spring Time for Marx?

“Striking workers in Egypt provided crucial leverage in the downfall of Hosni Mubarak; thousands of people have poured onto the streets of the American Midwest to protest against draconian labour legislation in various states. In Britain, trade unions are organizing marches on Saturday that will probably be the largest seen in the country since the anti-war demonstrations of 2003. Workers may not be the gravediggers of capitalism, as Marx and Friedrich Engels prophesied, but they may no longer be its zombies, either.”[Globe and Mail, March 26, 2011]

Globe and Mail, March 26, 2011: With financial meltdowns and labour protests, is it the springtime for Marx? by  Elizabeth Renzetti

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Labour Law After Labour

“‘What is labour law for?’ is a question with a past. I therefore begin by sketching out its history. It has a present too, whose most striking feature – I argue – may well be the end of ‘labour’. And of course it has a future: what will labour law look like ‘after labour’? I address all three questions largely from a North American perspective, but with reference to experience in the United Kingdom and Europe. [Harry Arthurs]

Osgoode CLPE Research Paper No. 15, March, 21 2011: Labour Law after Labour, Harry W. Arthurs Osgoode Hall Law School - York University

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Ontario Budget

Globe and Mail, March 29, 2011: Globe Editorial: Ontario unveils a solid plan, but delays the heavy lifting

Canadian HR Reporter, March 30, 2011: 1,500 more jobs to be cut in public service: Ontario budget: But industry groups say government offside

Toronto Star, March 29, 2011: Ontario budget takes aim at public-sector pay

Public Sector Salary Disclosure 2011 (Disclosure for 2010) – will be available on Thursday March 31, 20111

Ontario Budget 2011 website

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Women in Banking and the Boardroom

According to recent studies women in the banking sector are still faced with the glass ceiling when it comes to executive positions.

The Globe and Mail, March 28, 2010: Top jobs remain out of reach for women in banking

The Gazette, March 25, 2011: Boardroom equity: are we there yet? Better governance comes when women are on the board, studies show. But most Canadian corporations are dragging their heels

Financial News, March 28, 2011: Revealed: scale of gender bias in investment banking

Financial News, March 29, 2011: How women are under-represented at banks (1 Page, PDF) a table of international comparisons of percentage of women on bank boards and executive committees

At the European Central Bank Diversity Forum, Viviane Reding the Vice-President of the European Commission addressed the gender gap in workplace and pay. She encouraged companies to support and sign up for the "Women in Boardroom Pledge”.

EU Commissions: March 28, 2011: The European Commission's New Gender Equality Strategy: Towards Quotas for Women in the boardroom? European Central Bank Diversity Forum Frankfurt

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Best Canadian Diversity Employers

“When Arnoldo Soto arrived in Alberta from Venezuela in 2006, he endured the newcomer’s conundrum. To snag a job as a mechanical engineer in Canada, he needed a Canadian license. But to earn that license, he required a year of experience as an engineer in Canada before he could apply.”[Globe & Mail]

Globe and Mail, March 27, 2011: “Employers untangle the dreaded Catch-22,” by Diane Jermyn

The Globe and Mail, March, 2011: “Canada's most welcoming employers for new Canadians,”

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Temporary Foreign Workers Program changes

Canada.  Human Resources and Skills Development, March 23, 20111: Temporary Foreign Worker program

Ogilvy Renault, March 23, 2011: Key Changes to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program Video

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Registered Apprentices: Who Continues, Who Quits

The number of registered apprentices in Canada more than doubled between 1995 and 2007, yet successful completion of apprenticeship programs increased by only about one-third as much. Uncovering the factors related to low completion rates is a necessary first step to ensuring that today’s skilled labour is replaced in the future.

This is a revised version of an earlier paper circulated under the same title (Laporte and Mueller 2010).

Statistics Canada, March 28, 2011: Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series: The Completion Behaviour of Registered Apprentices: Who Continues, Who Quits, and Who Completes Programs?  by Christine Laporte and Richard E. Mueller (40 pages, PDF) or HTML

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Mowat Centre Employment Insurance (EI)Task Force

“The Mowat Centre EI Task Force will issue its final recommendations for renewal of the EI system in late spring, 2011.”

Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation, School of Public Policy and Governance, University of Toronto, January 21, 2011: Employment Insurance (EI) Task Force: Making EI Work Discussion paper (23 pages, PDF): This discussion paper is intended as a general resource for framing the EI Task Force’s work. It begins by describing how the current EI program works.

Mowat Centre, EI  Task Force Consultation Report Back(46 pages, PDF) This report outlines the central themes that emerged through the Task Force’s consultation process.

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Engaging the Brits

The Prime Minister gave his backing to a new independent Employee Engagement Task Force during a launch event at 10 Downing Street. [from IWS Documented News Service]

The Task Force will ensure that a range of practical opportunities are made available for organisations wanting to learn about engagement. It will share good practice, generate debate and offer support via a new website. It will build on the report ‘Engaging for Success’, which David MacLeod and Nita Clarke produced in 2009 for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

BIS Department for Innovation and Skills, March 29, 2011:Task force to improve levels of employee engagement

Engaging for success: enhancing performance through employee engagement:  A report to Government by David MacLeod Nita Clarke, July 2009 (157 pages, PDF)

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International Summit on Teaching and Education

“Last week, for the first time ever, world leaders in education from 17 countries gathered in New York and traded ideas about how to put the best on education’s front lines.” [Globe and Mail]

Globe and Mail, March 28, 2011: An ancient profession adjusts to the 21st-century global classroom

Education International, March 2011: Education International and the International Summit on Teaching Profession, (5 pages, PDF)

World Bank, March 24, 2011: Working Together, Governments and Unions of Top-Performing Countries Show that it is Possible to Improve the Teaching Profession

Huffington Post, March 16, 2011: Uncommon Wisdom on Teaching, by Arne Duncan, Angel Gurría and Fred van Leeuwen

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Book of the Week

Critical Issues in Human Resource Management, edited by Ian C. Roper, Uracha Chatrakul Na-Ayudhya and Rea Prouska. London : Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2010. 445 p. ISBN 9781843982425 (pbk.)

Critical Issues in Human Resource Management is a substantial and authoritative multi-author textbook for HRM modules that take a critical approach. It problematises core HRM topics, encouraging sophisticated thinking about HR interventions. 

Visit the Recent Books at the CIRHR Library blog.

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Questions or comments: cirhr.library@utoronto.ca

Editor: Vicki Skelton
Designer: Nick Strupat

Copyright © 2010 Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, University of Toronto. All rights reserved.

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