Perry Work Report for the week of May 17, 2010

May 17, 2010

​

Labour Board directs Vale Inco and Steelworkers back to the bargaining table

Vale Inco and Steelworkers Local 6500 have been directed back to the bargaining table by Ontario Labour Board Chair Kevin Whitaker. The nine workers, fired during the strike, were apparently the only outstanding issue in the most recent round of negotiations that began on April 26, 2010 and Vale Inco confirmed had broken down on May 7, 2010. The United Steelworkers had requested that the Ontario Labour Relations Board hold an expedited hearing regarding the nine workers who had been fired during the strike.   According to Reuters: “"The board directs the parties to return to the bargaining table to recommence negotiations," Ontario Labour Relations Board Chair Kevin Whitaker said in a decision on Monday following a hearing on the status of nine Vale employees fired during the strike."

Extract from the OLRB decision 3033-09-U dated May 16, 2010: 

“13. Accordingly, the Board directs the parties to return to the bargaining table to recommence negotiations, preferably with the assistance of Mr. Burkett. Further, the parties are directed to turn their attention to and bargain all of the issues which remain outstanding with the exception of the return to work protocol. Finally, the parties are only to deal with and address the return to work protocol when they have reached agreement with all other terms of a Memorandum of Settlement.”

Same decision different interpretation

The Union’s perspective: “"Basically what the decision said was get back to talks, get an agreement in principle ... and then the board will deal with the nine discharged members," Fera said.  "We think that's very, very positive."[cited from The Sudbury Star, May 17, 2010 see below]

Vale Inco spokesperson Steve Ball’s perspective: “"We will discuss all outstanding issues when talks resume," Ball said. When asked if that meant no — the company would not separate the issues involving the return to work protocol from the other outstanding issues — Ball said: "I didn't say no. I said we will discuss all issues that are outstanding when talks resume." "[cited from The Sudbury Star, May 17, 2010 see below]

Sudbury Star, May 17, 20010: Get back to the table VALE INCO STRIKE: Labour Relations Board tells company, Steelworkers ... 

Reuters, May 17, 2010:  Vale, Sudbury union ordered back to bargaining

NortherLife.ca, May 17, 2010:  Steelworkers' lawyer hopeful negotiations will re-start this week

Sudbury Star, May 15, 2010: Labour board ruling on fired strikers coming next week

Sudbury Star, May 13, 2010:  No ban on replacement workers: premier Ontario’s Premier Dalton McGuinty said in the Legislature:  "To be perfectly clear, we strongly urge and encourage the employer not to hire replacement workers,"

Northern Life.ca, May 12, 2010: Labour board agrees to hearing about fired Vale Inco workers

Reuters, May 7, 2010: Talks break down in Vale Sudbury strike

 

Special Issue on Millennials and the World of Work

The most recent issue of the Journal of Business and Psychology , Volume 25, Number 2 / June, 2010 is titled:Special Issue on Millennials and the World of Work: What You Didn't Know You Didn't Know;  with Guest Editors: David G. Altman and Jennifer J. Deal .

Just six of the twelve available studies:

“Millennials at Work: What We Know and What We Need to Do (If Anything)” by Jennifer J. Deal, David G. Altman and Steven G. Rogelberg  

“A Review of the Empirical Evidence on Generational Differences in Work Attitudes” by Jean M. Twenge

“Millennials and the World of Work: An Organization and Management Perspective” by Andrea Hershatter and Molly Epstein  

“Millennials in the Workplace: A Communication Perspective on Millennials’ Organizational Relationships and Performance” by Karen K. Myers and Kamyab Sadaghiani  

“New Generation, Great Expectations: A Field Study of the Millennial Generation” by Eddy S. W. Ng, Linda Schweitzer and Sean T. Lyons – press release from

University of Guelph:  Millennials Replace Corporate Ladder With Catapult, Study Finds

“Millennials’ Career Perspective and Psychological Contract Expectations: Does the Recession Lead to Lowered Expectations?” by Sara De Hauw and Ans De Vos

Journal of Business and Psychology, Volume 25, Number 2 / June, 2010 is available online to those with a UTORID –click here for UTLibraries stable link to this journal title

 

Cornell HR Review

Sorry that I didn't spot this one earlier (but thanks to an email from Stuart Basefsky Director, IWS News Bureau, Institute for Workplace Studies, Cornell/ILR School ) -- here is the link to essays from the Cornell Review – all are available free online --  just take a look at the archives. (archives go back to December 21, 2009)

“The Cornell HR Review is a graduate student organization whose primary purpose is to publish a body of human resources (HR) scholarship. The Review is published periodically throughout the year and is available exclusively online. The volunteer staff comprises professional and doctoral students at Cornell’s School of Industrial & Labor Relations and the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management, with student editors making all editorial and organizational decisions. The organization is formally registered with Cornell University as an independent organization.”

Current essays for May 2010 include:  

“A Fine Balance: Effectively Managing Growth and Contraction,” by Nathan J. Sheranian

“When Gender, Sex Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and Domestic Violence Come to Work,” by Joshua D. Rosenberg Daneri

“Three Strategies for Managing through Economic Change,” by John Sherman

Cornell HR Review

 

Some Women CEO’s out earn the Men in 2009

Does the CEO pay of women who earn extraordinary pay packages -- 47.2 million for Carol Bartz of Yahoo! Inc. and $26.3 million for Irene Rosenfeld of Kraft Foods Inc. -- mean that the glass ceiling is broken?  Only 15 out of every 500 CEOs are women so the ceiling is still intact according to New York University professor Shelia Wellington (formerly of Catalyst).  Wellington also points out that the wage gap remains at 20 percent and that women work to raise families and pay for homes – not buy champagne. 

“Sixteen women heading companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index averaged earnings of $14.2 million in their latest fiscal years, 43 percent more than the male average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News from proxy filings. The women who were also CEOs in 2008 got a 19 percent raise in 2009 -- while the men took a 5 percent cut.” [from Bloomberg.com] 

Bloomberg.com, May 17, 2010: CEO Pay Breaks Glass Ceiling as Bartz Gets $47.2 Million in ‘09

Bloomberg.com May 17, 2010:  Video clip: Women CEOs Earn More than Men, Get Pay Raise in 2009

Bloomberg.com, May 17, 2010: Video clip: Wellington Says Glass Ceiling on Pay for Women Is Intact

 

Best Paying Jobs for Women

Men are still earning 20 percent more than women according to tabulations of weekly earnings made by Forbes using Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Women make up half the workforce and are often primary breadwinners so Forbes has analyzed weekly   earnings to determine the best paying jobs for women.  Number one is CEO, followed by pharmacist, lawyer, surgeons and physicians, computer programmer and occupational therapist in the 10th position.

Forbes.com, May 3, 2010:  Best Paying Jobs for Women:  Best-Paying Jobs For Women:  Women's earnings are stalled at around 80% of men's, but more women are seeking out jobs that pay them the most. Some may surprise you by Jenna Goudreau

 

Falling Behind: Canada's Lost Clean Energy Jobs

The report, Falling Behind: Canada’s Lost Clean Energy Jobs, assesses the employment impact of Canada’s failure to invest in clean energy.  The report compares clean energy investment in Canada and the United States including support for renewable energy, greener transportation and energy efficiency.

Report, May 4, 2010: Falling Behind: Canada's Lost Clean Energy Jobs (16 pages, PDF)

Press release: May 4, 2010: Lack of Federal leadership on clean energy costs Canadians 66,000 new jobs

BlueGreen Canada website:   Blue Green Canada is an alliance between the United Steelworkers and Environmental Defence to support the development of good green jobs as part of a new green economy.

 

The Downturn

“The most remarkable features of the contraction that started in 2008 were its speed and severity, which were most in evidence after August, initially in financial markets and then in output and employment. This paper compares the downturns in stock, commodity and exchange rate markets with their previous three cycles. It then examines how the unprecedented declines in financial and commodity markets were reflected in output and employment during the 2008-2009 recession.”

Canadian Economic Observer, Statistics Canada, May 2010 internet edition: “The accelerated pace of the 2008-2009 downturn” by Philip Cross

 

Labour Market experiences of Aboriginal people living off-reserve

“This is the second report in the series. This report presents national estimates on the labour market experiences of Aboriginal people living off-reserve from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). These estimates are based on the years 2008-2009 and cover Aboriginal people living off-reserve in the ten provinces. This report examines the labour force characteristics of the Aboriginal people, namely the employment and unemployment rates by Aboriginal identity. The report provides estimates for non-Aboriginal as well as for Aboriginal, North American Indian, Métis and Inuit populations. Data are presented for the following characteristics: age, sex, educational attainment, province or region and industry.”

The Aboriginal Labour Force Analysis Series, Statistics Canada, released May 13, 2010: Aboriginal People Living Off-reserve and the Labour Market: Estimates from the Labour Force Survey, 2008-2009 (23 pages, PDF)

 

The Class of 2010

A briefing paper by the Economic Policy Institute examines the employment prospects for youth graduating this year in the United States. The class of 2010 faces the highest rates of unemployment in at least a generation.  Unemployment rates for both college graduates and non-graduates younger than 25 are nearly doubletheir pre-recession levels. The paper also discusses how U.S government policy both assists and neglects young workers damaged by the economic recession. 

Briefing Paper, May 11, 2010 (14 pages, PDF)

 

Youth Unemployment in the double digits

A report released by the OECD in April 2010 finds that youth unemployment continues to rise and will remain in the double digits throughout 2011.  TD Bank economist Don Drummond offers an extensive analysis of the effects of youth being out of the labour market for an extended period.

CBC, April 21, 2010: Youth unemployment skyrockets: OECD (with video clip interview of DOn Drummond)

Rising youth unemployment during the crisis: how to prevent negative long-term consequences on a generation? OECD Social, Employment and Migration papers, no. 106, April 14, 2010 (34 pages, PDF)

OECD Press release with video clips, April 20, 2010: Governments must tackle rising youth unemployment urgently, says OECD's Gurría

 

Education and the Economy

This report addresses the concerns that “Canada’s labour force will not be sufficiently educated and skilled to meet the educational requirements of future jobs. In order to rise to this challenge, post–secondary education institutions will be expected to educate a greater portion of Canada’s population.”

TD Bank Financial Group Special Report, May 17, 2010: Post-secondary Education is a Smart route to a brighter Future for Canadians:  Standard of Living and Education Linked to High Degree by Don Drummond, Craig Alexander and Shahrzad Mobasher Fard (38 pages, PDF)

Torstar news Service, May 18, 2010: More university funding needed to secure economic future: Report

 

Guiding At-Risk Youth Through Learning to Work

A study has been released by the European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training in response to an increasing level of youth unemployment in Europe. The study draws attention to guidance measures and initiatives applied across Europe to aid school completion and education-to-work transitions of young people who risk dropping out of mainstream education and training or who already have done so. The study suggests that coordinated approaches should be combined with outreach work to identify and reach those individuals who are in most urgent need of support.

Research Paper (182 pages, PDF)

 

Book of the Week

Not For Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities, by Martha C. Nussbaum. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 2010. 158 p.  ISBN 9780691140643 (hardcover)

In this short and powerful book, celebrated philosopher Martha Nussbaum makes a passionate case for the importance of the liberal arts at all levels of education.

Historically, the humanities have been central to education because they have rightly been seen as essential for creating competent democratic citizens. But recently, Nussbaum argues, thinking about the aims of education has gone disturbingly awry both in the United States and abroad. Anxiously focused on national economic growth, we increasingly treat education as though its primary goal were to teach students to be economically productive rather than to think critically and become knowledgeable and empathetic citizens. This shortsighted focus on profitable skills has eroded our ability to criticize authority, reduced our sympathy with the marginalized and different, and damaged our competence to deal with complex global problems. And the loss of these basic capacities jeopardizes the health of democracies and the hope of a decent world.

In response to this dire situation, Nussbaum argues that we must resist efforts to reduce education to a tool of the gross national product. Rather, we must work to reconnect education to the humanities in order to give students the capacity to be true democratic citizens of their countries and the world.

Drawing on the stories of troubling--and hopeful--educational developments from around the world, Nussbaum offers a manifesto that should be a rallying cry for anyone who cares about the deepest purposes of education.

About the Author: Martha C. Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics in the Philosophy Department, Law School, and Divinity School at the University of Chicago. She is the author of many books, including Hiding from Humanity: Disgust, Shame, and the Law (Princeton).

 

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