May 10, 2010
- Decent Work for Domestic Workers
- Employee Representation in the New World of Work
- Canadian Labour Board Law Conference & Bora Laskin Award Dinner
- 2010 Living Wage in Metro Vancouver
- Improving Aboriginals’ Education Key to Manitoba’s Economic Future
- Bridging the Chasm: Tool kit tackles Toronto’s structural deficit
- Will the Change in Supply Teaching Regulations make a difference?
- Workopolis Competes with Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin
- Good News on Employment
- Improving Education and Employment for Disadvantaged Youth in the United States
- New Website on rights and responsibilities in union officer elections
- World Economic Forum’s Lisbon Review 2010
- “In the spill’s aftermath”
- Book of the Week
Decent Work for Domestic Workers
“On March 29th 2010, an international seminar on decent work for domestic workers took place at McGill University. CRIMT (which co-organized the event with the LLDRL) is happy to announce the launch of a dedicated Website which features the summary and audio recording of all seminar presentations. The installation of Quicktime Player is required to listen to the audio clips.”[seminar announcement from the CRIMT website]
Abstracts of the international seminar papers
International Labour Office (ILO), 2010: Decent work for domestic workers (134 pages, PDF)
Employee Representation in the New World of Work
“Employee Representation in the New World of Work: The Dynamics of Rights, Voice, Performance and Power, 47th CIRA Meeting/International CRIMT Conference, Université Laval, Quebec, Canada
Registration is now open! - Program and details
The era of globalization and new information technologies has brought about significant changes in workplace configuration, workforce composition and expectations, and in the management of human resources as firms seek competitive advantage in an increasingly competitive environment. These changes pose considerable challenges to the traditional notions of employee representation, the core tenets of which were inspired in Canada under the Wagner Act exactly 75 years ago. The nature of these challenges will be fully explored and debated at an international conference to be held from 16th to 18th June 2010 at Laval University in Quebec City.” [conference announcement from the CRIMTwebsite]
Canadian Labour Board Law Conference & Bora Laskin Award Dinner
Register now for the Canadian Labour Board Law Conference & Bora Laskin Award Dinner presented by Lancaster House and the University of Toronto, Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources on Tuesday, October 19 and Wednesday, October 20, 2010 at The Sutton Place Hotel Toronto 955 Bay Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2A2.
2010 Living Wage in Metro Vancouver
An updated report released by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives revealed that $18.17 is the living wage required for a family residing in Metro Vancouver. The living wage is determined as the hourly rate at which a household can meet its basic needs (such as housing, child care, food and transportation) once government transfers and deductions have been calculated. The announcement followed last week's news that the New Westminster's city council voted unanimously to adopt a living family wage for city and contract employees, making it the first municipality in Canada to do so. British Columbia has had the highest level of child poverty in the country for the past six years.
Report Update: Working for a Living Wage 2010 (8 pages, PDF)
Original Report: Working for a Living Wage 2008 (52 pages, PDF)
Improving Aboriginals’ Education Key to Manitoba’s Economic Future
According to a study conducted by the C.D. Howe Institute, lack of improvements to the education outcomes among Manitoba’s Aboriginal youth will limit the province’s ability to offset the fiscal effects of the boomers’ departure from the workforce. As stated by policy analyst, Colin Busby, Manitoba has one of the largest Aboriginal population in Canada but also the worst gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal education outcomes. With such a significant amount of Aboriginal high school dropouts, Busby argues that Manitoba cannot rely solely on expanding international immigration to boost workforce growth.
E-brief, May 5, 2010 (8 pages, PDF)
Bridging the Chasm: Tool kit tackles Toronto’s structural deficit
The Board of Trade has released Bridging the Chasm, which makes recommendations for improving the City of Toronto’s finances. Suggestions include reforming the City’s labour model, reducing / eliminating debt to enable infrastructure investment and implementing multi-year operating budgets.
Bridging the Chasm: Fixing the City’s Finances – Final Recommendations (11 pages, PDF)
Toronto Star, May 4, 2010: Contract-out to kill deficit, city urged: Board of trade also suggests pension changes, selling assets
Will the Change in Supply Teaching Regulations make a difference?
From September 1, 2012 onward, every Ontario teacher retiree will be permitted 50 days of re-employment in each school year.
Ontario Teachers Federation, May 10, 2010: Communiqué Pension Update: THE 95/20 RULE IS RETIRING
Globe and Mail, May 11, 2010: Ontario to monitor retired teachers' costly supply work: But new rules mean pensioners actually will be able to work more days than now in a flawed system costing millions
Workopolis Competes with Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin
Online job sites such as Workopolis.com , Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com are advertising on TV and YouTube to communicate the advantages of using these sites. The YouTubes are worth a watch. Workopolis has also introduced a new section to its website that features employers describing what makes their company unique.
Workopolis: see beyond the job posting, May 11, 2010 on YouTube
CareerBuilder – casual Fridays questioned, January 2010
Monster – 23 YouTubes in a row
Good News on Employment
Employment increased by 109,000 in April, the largest monthly gain in percentage terms since August 2002. The unemployment rate edged down 0.1 percentage points in April to 8.1%, as more people participated in the labour market. In terms of employment by age adults have regained recession losses but youth remains at 7.5 percent of its peak.
Labour Force Survey, May 7, 2010
Globe and Mail, May 8, 2010: Canada adds a record 108,700 jobs: Private sector sees largest growth as jobless rate drops to 8.1 per cent
Improving Education and Employment for Disadvantaged Youth in the United States
A paper released by the Urban Institute examines low high school graduation and employment rates that continue to plague disadvantaged youth in America, especially young African American men. The paper aims to explore solutions that can improve education and employment conditions through the fostering of youth development and mentorship. As the author of the paper suggests, policy efforts should seek to promote a range of approaches for youth with ongoing evaluation efforts to access the suitability of program components.
Paper: Improving Education and Employment for Disadvantaged Young Men (43 pages, PDF)
New Website on rights and responsibilities in union officer elections
The U.S. Department of Labor has a new interactive website, the Union Elections Advisor, to help millions of union members, union officers, union election committees and candidates in union elections better understand their rights and responsibilities under the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act. When you are on the website croll down to click on continue.
World Economic Forum’s Lisbon Review 2010
Sweden remains the most competitive economy as measured by the European Union’s own competition benchmark, the Lisbon criteria, followed by Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands, according to the World Economic Forum’s Lisbon Review 2010 released May 11, 2010 ahead of the upcoming World Economic Forum on Europe.
The Lisbon Review 2010: Towards a More Competitive Europe? (32 pages, PDF)
“In the spill’s aftermath”
From the Letters to the Editor, Globe and Mail, May 11, 2010 (scroll down to read):
“Since the explosion in the Gulf of Mexico and oil spill, I have been curious about the media’s lack of coverage of the 11 workers who were killed. I have not learned about their lives or families, who they were, how they felt about their work and the risks involved or how their loved ones are coping.” Sandy Goldman, Toronto
“Eleven workers are dead, and we have a catastrophe, arguably as bad or worse than the Exxon Valdez in 1989. We all remember the Ocean Ranger, an offshore drilling unit that belonged to Mobil that sank in 1982 killing 84 people. Last year, a shuttle helicopter crashed into the North Atlantic en route from St. John’s to the offshore oil fields, killing 16 workers.
Offshore drilling is very dangerous. Big Oil needs tough regulations and safety standards. Oil companies need to be closely policed. Oil rig workers need unions to protect their health and safety, and their jobs – and to work with environmentalists and public policy makers to safe guard our future here on this planet.”
Dave Coles, president, Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada
Book of the Week
Creating Healthy Organizations: How Vibrant Workplaces Inspire Employees to Achieve Sustainable Success, Graham Lowe. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2010. ISBN 9780802099808
Creating Healthy Organizations will help you to strengthen the links between people and performance in humanly sustainable ways. Author Graham Lowe provides a new perspective on the drivers of employee wellbeing and organizational performance. The book's action-oriented model of a healthy organization blends the author's consulting experience with insights from workplace health promotion, human resources, organizational change and leadership, employee engagement, and corporate social responsibility. Visit the website at: http://creatinghealthyorganizations.ca/
About the Author:
Graham Lowe is president of The Graham Lowe Group Inc., a workplace consulting and research firm. Graham has helped numerous organizations in the private, public and non-profit sectors create healthy and productive work environments. His evidence-based approach to consulting is based on a successful academic career as a Professor of Sociology (now Professor Emeritus) at the University of Alberta.
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