Perry Work Report for the week of May 16, 2013

Perry Work Report, May 16, 2013

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Be sure to watch TVO Tonight on The Agenda, Thursday May 16, 2013:  Jobs Then, Jobs Now: 
Rafael Gomez: The Jobless Youth: No shades required: University of Toronto industrial relations professor Rafael Gomez on the economic cost and problem of high youth unemployment.

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How to Save the Middle Class / Do LCBO Workers Have Cause to Strike?

"Both the left and the right harken back with nostalgia to days when things were better for the middle class. Were things really better for everyone? If so, what can be done to regain what both the left and the right feel has been lost?"

TVO, The Agenda with Steve Paikin, May 15, 2013: "How to Save the Middle Class"

TVO, May 15, 2013: "The Agenda with Steve Paikin: How to Save the Middle Class" (video)

TVO, The Agenda, May 15, 2013: Video: Do you think LCBO workers have cause to strike?: LCBO workers may go on strike, starting on the Victoria Day long weekend. (video)

The LCBO, OPSEU, and the "Part-Time Blues" by Daniel Kitts Wednesday May 15, 2013: To help explain to the public what's at stake, OPSEU has put together a little music video:

Most people who chose to respond were supportive of the workers. Many people were convinced by the union's argument that too many LCBO workers were forced to accept precarious, part-time work. 

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What Does Bill 85 Chanage?

“Bill 85, the Saskatchewan Employment Act is a sweeping re-write of Saskatchewan’s labour laws, including the Trade Union Act, the Labour Standards Act, the Occupational Health and Safety Act, the Health Labour Relations Reorganization Act and the Construction Industry Labour Relations Act. In total, 33 pieces of legislation were repealed and/or amended.”  Bill 85 received Royal Assent on May 15, 2013.
Among the changes [NUPGE]:

  • dramatically increases the number of employees who cannot join a union by declaring their job duties 'confidential'
  • imposes a separate bargaining unit for supervisors
  • encourages ‘carve-out’ raids that will allow for the break up existing unions into small fragments
  • allows for decertification attempts anytime after the first 24 months of a certification order
  • imposes increased restrictions on the bargaining process, such as a 14-day cooling off period before strike or lockout can occur and 48-hour strike notice must be provided
  • allows an employer to identify any of its offers — including its first — as a ‘final offer’, and force a union vote on it and
  • weakens workers' rights to reasonable work hours, overtime pay, meal breaks and weekends off. [NUPGE]

According to the province, noteworthy elements [CBC]:

  • The addition of leave to provide care to a critically ill child as well as leave provisions relating to circumstances when a child dies or disappears due to a criminal act.
  • Providing part-time employees with overtime for all hours worked in excess of eight hours in a day.
  • Clarification that employees are entitled to overtime where the daily maximum hours established by their work schedule are exceeded. The two schedules provided for in the legislation include hours in excess of eight hours in a day or 10 hours in a day.
  • Requiring employees to provide two weeks written notice of their intention to leave their jobs.
  • Clarification of the definition of employee to make it clear that employees whose primary duties are confidential in nature and directly impact the bargaining unit cannot belong to a union.
  • Requiring unions to provide an audited financial statement to its members and provide unaudited financial statements for each bargaining unit to the members of the unit (unions may provide the information in various means including electronically).
  • Indexation of the minimum wage.
  • Provisions to protect individuals searching for work from mistreatment and fraud perpetrated by unscrupulous recruitment service providers
  • Reduction of the qualification period for maternity, parental and adoption leave from 20 weeks to 13 weeks of service.

National Union, NUPGE, May 14, 2013: "Saskatchewan government passes restrictive and undemocratic labour law changes"

CBC, May 13, 2013: "Overhaul of Sask. labour laws gets final OK at legislature."

Saskatchewan Employment Act: Bill No. 85: Â An Act respecting Employment Standards, Occupational Health and Safety, Labour Relations and Related Matters and making consequential amendments to certain Act, (186 pages, PDF) Royal Assent, May 15, 2013.

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Cheaper Factory Workers May Not Mean Lower Jobless Rates

"[I]f you think high wages and benefits drive up unemployment, think again. And if you think low wages and benefits hold unemployment down, think again. There are several things to keep in mind in the data from the U.S. Labor Department and the World Bank.

But they tell us something important, nonetheless, particularly amid such a fierce debate over so-called right-to-work legislation in the United States, and similar discussions in some parts of Canada.

Such laws, which generally weaken organized labour by allowing workers to opt out of paying union dues, are seen as attractive in terms of drawing jobs to a region.

But consider what the BLS report shows for 2011 in terms of average hourly compensation costs in manufacturing, in U.S. dollars, including wages, benefits and the cost to employers of social insurance. Then add in 2011 jobless rates as published by the World Bank. While not all are manufacturing powerhouses, some are, and the numbers tell an interesting tale.
The numbers also don’t take into account regional differences within countries. But an examination of jobless levels in the United States for 2011 shows no discernible pattern. Some right-to-work states boasted unemployment below the national average, and some suffered far higher levels.

In Canada, unemployment was running at 7.8 per cent in Ontario and Quebec in 2011, well above that of the resource-rich Prairie provinces and well below that of Atlantic Canada, though not much higher than the jobless level of British Columbia.
What this all shows is that there is no pattern, which is food for thought when the issue next arises."

The Globe and Mail, May 13, 2013: "Cheaper factory workers may not mean lower jobless rates," by Michael Babad 

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What a Mother Needs Most

"A 2013 report on modern parenthood by Pew Research finds that working women and mothers of children under age 18 feel more rushed than men feel. It’s easy to understand why. While men have upped their time spent on housework and parenting over the last four decades, women still do much more. Mothers who work in the paid labor force spend almost twice as much time with children as fathers do (13.5 versus 7.3 hours per week). They also spend an average of 18 hours on housework versus dads’ 10 hours. That’s a weekly 14.2 hour home-front gender gap, which shows why mom finds herself in a time bind that makes her hurry, multitask, and act impatient and stressed."

Atlantic Monthly, May 10, 2013: ”What a Mother Needs Most Is Time Not breakfast in bed. Not flowers. Not a card.” by Nanette Fondasmay

"The way mothers and fathers spend their time has changed dramatically in the past half century. Dads are doing more housework and child care; moms more paid work outside the home. Neither has overtaken the other in their "traditional" realms, but their roles are converging, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of long-term data on time use."

PEW Research, March 14, 2013: Modern Parenthood: Roles of Moms and Dads Converge as They Balance Work and Family  by Kim Parker and Wendy Wang

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Flipping Burgers Not So Flippant

"According to a study published by Drexel University’s Center for Labor Markets and Policy, teens who spend some time bagging groceries or syphoning fries into happy meals have a larger shot at success throughout their career.

Paul Harrington, a Drexel University labor economist and lead author of the study, says that work experience in a formal job (such as a gig in food service or retail for a larger company) during high school (from ages 16 to 19) correspond to a 20 to 25 percent increase in salary for teens almost a decade later."

Metro News, May 6, 2013: "Tie on that apron, kids: Drexel University study says teens who have jobs are more likely to succeed," by Julia Furlan

Drexel News Blog, May 10, 2013: "Prepare Teens for Work," Alex McKechnie

Commonwealth Corporation and the Drexel University Center for Labor Markets and Policy, April 2013: “Signaling Success: Boosting Teen Employment Prospects,” by Paul Harrington and Nancy Snyder with Anne Berrigan Laura Knoll (48 pages, PDF)

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Unpaid Internships: Avoiding Exploitation and Lawsuits

Workers and employers must both be wary. Workers should know their rights and employers should respect them. And employers should also know the law: in the absence of a well-defined legal framework at the federal level, unpaid internships are largely regulated by the provincial Employment Standards Act. The use of properly drafted contracts that clearly set out the terms and conditions of internships is also crucial.

The Star, May 13, 2013: "Unpaid Internships: Avoiding exploitation and lawsuits," by Vikram Barhat

The Canadian Intern Association is an organization that not only advocates against the exploitation of interns but aims to improve the internship experience for both interns and employers as well. Their website offers tips and advice for interns, and effectively summarizes the law in every province regarding internships.

Most recently, the association, in response to a brief report created by the Library of Parliament on unpaid internships, called on the Government of Canada to have Statistics Canada include internships in the federal census as at the crux of the report is a lack of statistics available on internships in Canada.

"Employment Lawyer Andrew Langille estimates there are 300,000 illegal unpaid internships across the country. Including internships on the census would verify this estimate and provide much needed data on the prevalence of unpaid internships in certain industries, regions, and classes of people."

Canadian Intern Association, May 11, 2013: "Statistics Canada "best potential agency" to collect data on internships"

The topic is timely as many youth are currently seeking summer employment. Langille warns against Canadian telecommunications companies in particular, arguing they are among the worst offenders when it comes to exploiting young workers in Canada. He points out WIND Mobile in particular, who is currently hiring a score of unpaid interns for the summer and failing to pay them the prevailing minimum wage.

Youth and Work, May 9, 2013: "Why Can’t Wind Mobile Pay Their Interns?," by Andrew Langille

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Survey Says Reshoring 'Symbolic' and Will Not Lead to Jobs Boom

"Our data and interviews with more than two dozen executives show that reshoring is symbolic. It does not represent the rebirth of American or European manufacturing,” said Kevin O’Marah, chief content officer of supply chain specialist SCM World, who co-authored a study of 330 business leaders’ future plans with Hau Lee of Stanford University."

The Globe and Mail, May 10, 2013: "Survey says reshoring ‘symbolic’ and will not lead to jobs boom," by Andrew Bounds (Financial Times)

The Economist, January 19, 2013: "Coming Home:  A growing number of American companies are moving their manufacturing back to the United States"

The MIT Forum for Supply Chain Innovation, January 2013:  2012 Annual Reshoring Report: U.S. Re-Shoring: A Turning Point (14 pages, PDF)

SCM World, May 11, 2011: "2011 Chief Supply Chain Officer Report,” by Kevin O’Marah and Hau Lee (must register to view the report)

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Playing Hooky from Work

"A new survey titled "Sick or Tired?" found that 54 per cent of Canadians readily admit that they have called into work sick when they actually were not sick. And of those who said that they have faked being under the weather to avoid working, the majority - 65 percent - stated that they have done so because they felt stressed or burned out.

The new survey demonstrates an alarming trend as unplanned absences impact the business bottom line. When lost productivity and other operational expenses tied to employee absences are considered, the cost of absenteeism can impact as much as one-third of overall payroll costs. Canadian organizations representing all sectors need to urgently adopt techniques to more effectively manage unplanned employee absences."

Kronos, May 15, 2013: "New Survey Finds 54 Percent of Canadians Admitting to Playing Hooky From Work: Feeling Burned or Stressed Out Is Cited As Key Reason"

Kronos, May 10, 2013: "Out Sick: How Employee Absence Hurts Your Bottom Line" (7 pages, PDF)

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Growing Risk of Inequality and Poverty as Crisis Hits the Poor Hardest

Income inequality increased by more in the first three years of the crisis to the end of 2010 than it had in the previous twelve years, before factoring in the effect of taxes and transfers on income, according to new OECD data.

The analysis says that the welfare state has cushioned the blow for many but warns that further social spending cuts in OECD countries risk causing greater inequality and poverty in the years ahead.

After taxes and transfers, the richest 10 per cent of the population in OECD countries earned 9.5 times the income of the poorest 10 per cent in 2010, up from 9 times in 2007. The gap is largest in Chile, Mexico, Turkey, the United States and Israel, and lowest in Iceland, Slovenia, Norway and Denmark."

OECD, May 15, 2013: Growing risk of inequality and poverty as crisis hits the poor hardest

OECD Income Distribution Database: Data, Figures, Methods and Concepts

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How the Case for Austerity Has Crumbled, by Paul Krugman

"The real mystery, however, was why Reinhart-Rogoff was ever taken seriously, let alone canonized, in the first place. Right from the beginning, critics raised strong concerns about the paper’s methodology and conclusions, concerns that should have been enough to give everyone pause. Moreover, Reinhart-Rogoff was actually the second example of a paper seized on as decisive evidence in favor of austerity economics, only to fall apart on careful scrutiny. Much the same thing happened, albeit less spectacularly, after austerians became infatuated with a paper by Alberto Alesina and Silvia Ardagna purporting to show that slashing government spending would have little adverse impact on economic growth and might even be expansionary. Surely that experience should have inspired some caution."

New York Review of Books, June 6, 2013: "How the Case for Austerity Has Crumbled," June 6, 2013 Paul Krugman

TVO, The Agenda with Steve Paikin, March 25, 2013: Video: Is Austerity Harming Ontario? with Jim Stanford

CCPA, March 18, 2013: "More Harm Than Good: Austerity’s Impact in Ontario," by Trish Hennessy, Jim Stanford

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Another Generation Rises: Looking Beyond the Millennials

"A new generation without an official moniker and relatively unknown to the larger corporate society of the United States is trudging through the American education system just like millions of others before them, and they are just starting to think about what they want to do with their lives.

In the meantime, though, some marketing companies and consultants across the country are trying to capitalize on this rising generation by studying them to help companies determine what products this generation will consume and how.

And more recently, some companies and consultants have begun to study this next generation to help businesses prepare for them as professionals. One marketing firm in Iowa coined the name the "Pluralist Generation" in reference to its tolerance for diversity. Others call them "Gen Z," though that name seems unlikely to stick as critics argue using "Z" implies an end of some sort.

Still, others tout the "Homeland" generation when discussing the group succeeding the millennials. And finally, a fourth name has been given to this new cohort by one consultant—the "Re-Generation," which is a nod to the group's apparent commitment to environmental responsibility.

No matter what they end up being called, there is one thing businesses can count on from this generation: like all those that have come before them, this generation will surely impress its own unique needs upon the workplace."

Workforce, April 12, 2013: "Another Generation Rises: Looking Beyond the Millennials," by Max Mihelich

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Canadian Industrial Relations Association 50th Annual Conference

The Centre for Labour Management Relations (Ted Rogers School of Management, Ryerson University), in collaboration with the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources (University of Toronto) are excited to announce that they will be co-hosting the 50th Annual Canadian Industrial Relations Association (CIRA) Conference in Toronto from May 29 - May 31.

This years conference will bring together scholars, students, policy-makers and practitioners from across the globe to reflect on the enormous changes that have taken place in the patterns of employment and the roles of the state, unions, and employers in the workplace since 1962 when CIRA held its first conference.

Conference attendees will have the opportunity to learn from over 60 paper presentations, engage in over 20 panel discussions, and connect with over 150 speakers.

You can find the programme here.

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Making Factory Conditions Better

"April’s factory collapse in Bangladesh, which killed more than 1,000 people, has renewed public debate over working conditions in the developing world: How can dangerous and debilitating factory work be improved?

For more than a decade, MIT political scientist Richard Locke has studied that question. Locke has made hundreds of visits to factories around the world, heading a team of researchers who have been collecting an unprecedented amount of information from companies. For years, Locke thought that the answer might lie in private policing: multinational firms auditing the factories where their suppliers produce goods, noting safety violations, and threatening to withhold business from those suppliers.

But in recent years Locke has changed his view. Private oversight, he thinks, is not enough to eliminate workplace dangers, excessive hours, child labor and poor wages. Governments, he says, must set and uphold better factory standards as well.
This incident should prompt Western clothing companies to build a partnership of trust and to impose incentives that encourage the textile industry of Bangladesh to implement labour safety standards. Locke has demonstrated in his works that improved labour rights in the garment industry occur when a horizontal partnership is built instead of a top-down relationship."

MIT News, May 6, 2013: "How to Make Factory Conditions Better."

Locke, Richard M. The Promise & Limits of Private Power: Promoting Labor Standards in a Global Economy. New York: Cambridge University Press, April 2013.

The changes now occurring in Bangladesh combine both private oversight and government action.

The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, spearheaded by IndustriALL, UNI Global Union, and its NGO partners, currently covers more than 1,000 supplier factories after several multinationals added their signatures (H&M, Inditex, C&A, Primark/Penny, Tesco, PVH, and Tchibo).

"In acceding to the binding program of fire safety reforms based on independent inspections, worker-led health and safety committees, and union access to factories, signatories commit to underwrite improvements in dangerous factories and properly confront fire safety and structural problems. Importantly the Accord grants workers the right to refuse dangerous work, in line with ILO Convention 155."

Moreover, on May 13, 2013, the Bangladesh government agreed to enact changes in the labour legislation that would allow factory-level trade unions to form without the permission of employers, one day after announcing plans to raise the minimum wage for garment workers; a new minimum wage board will issue recommendations for pay raises within three months.

IndustriALL Global Union, May 15, 2013: "Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety released"

IndustriALL Global Union: "Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh" (6 pages, PDF)

IndustriALL Global Union, May 14, 2013: "Final Countdown for companies to sign Bangladesh Fire and Safety Accord before 15 May midnight deadline"

The Globe and Mail, May 13, 2013: "Bangladesh to allow garment workers to form trade unions in wake of disaster," by Farid Hossain

The Globe and Mail, May 13, 2013: "Toll from Bangladesh building collapse at 1,127 as search for victims nears end," from Reuters

CBC News, May 12, 2013: "Bangladesh plans to raise garment worker wages"

The Globe and Mail, April 20, 2013: "The garment disaster is no time to abandon Bangladesh," by Asif Farooq

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ILO Conference and Papers: The Economic Case for Improving Working Conditions in Small and Medium Enterprises

"International experts, researchers and field practitioners are meeting at the ILO to discuss how investing in working conditions, safety and health and training can turn into increased competitiveness and performance and result in a win-win scenario for small and medium enterprises in developing and transition economies.

As a complement to a right-based approach to achieving better working conditions, the ILO has implemented a number of programmes that point to the economic case for better working conditions, pointing to resulting increases in enterprise performance. However, for many, this win-win scenario is not convincing, with concerns over the cost of improved working conditions being the main barrier to buy-in. If ILO wishes to shift perspectives, from seeing improved working conditions as a business cost to seeing them as a business investment with productivity and competitiveness returns, it is clear that empirical evidence supporting the win-win scenario is needed."

ILO Conference, May 9-10, 2013: Improving working conditions in small and medium enterprises--conference papers available on ILO website

May 7, 2013:  Draft Literature Review: The relationship between improved working conditions and firm-level outcomes in SMEs

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Book of the Week

 

The Promise and Limits of Private Power: Promoting Labour Standards in a Global Economy, by Richard M. Locke. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 224 p. ISBN 978-1-107-67088-4.

The Promise & Limits of Private Power examines and evaluates various private initiatives to enforce fair labor standards within global supply chains. Using unique data (internal audit reports, access to over 120 supply chain factories and 700 interviews in 14 countries) from several major global brands (NlKE, Hewlett Packard, Philips van Heusen) and the ILO's Factory Improvement program in Vietnam, this book examines both the promise and the limitations of these approaches to actually improve working conditions, wages, and working hours for the millions of workers employed in today's global supply chains. Through a careful, empirically-grounded analysis of these programs, this book illustrates what mix of private and public regulation is needed to address these complex issues in a global economy.

About the Authors:

Richard Locke, the Class of 1922 Professor of Political Science and Management, is the Head of the MIT Political Science Department. His current research is focused on improving labor and environmental conditions in global supply chains. Locke has published 4 books as well as numerous articles on economic development, labor relations, and corporate responsibility. Locke, along with MIT Sloan colleagues, spearheaded the development of the Laboratory for Sustainable Business (S-Lab), a course seeking to provide students with in-depth knowledge of the various sustainability issues society faces today.

Locke also pioneered the popular Global Entrepreneurship Laboratory, a course that teaches students about entrepreneurship in developing countries by placing them in internships with startups in an array of companies in various emerging markets. As a result of this work, Locke was named a 2005 Faculty Pioneer in Academic Leadership by The Aspen Institute, awarded the MIT Class of 1960 Teaching Innovation Award in 2007 and the Jamieson Prize for Excellence in Teaching in June 2008.

Visit the Recent Books at the CIRHR Library blog.

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