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May 31, 2012
- Conference Announcement
- CP Strike Derailed by Labour Minister Raitt
- Women In Corporate America
- Making Telework Work
- CEO Pay In the U.S. And The Top 1%
- Canada’s Seniors, and Their Pension Plans
- Workers’ Wants
- Domestic Work – What’s it Worth?
- Is Life Getting Better? The OECD Reports
- UK: Fair Access to Professional Careers: a Progress Report
- Improving Gender Diversity Could Boost Union Survival in Britain
- Productive Australians, and the Bloody Bludgers
- Book of the Week
Conference Announcement
Bargaining in the Broader Public Sector/ Labour Arbitration Conferences
Sheraton Centre Hotel, Toronto 2012
Presented by Lancaster House and The University of Toronto, Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources
- Pre-Conference Workshop(s), Tuesday, December 11, 2012
- Bargaining in the Broader Public Sector Conference, Wednesday, December 12, 2012
- Labour Arbitration Conference, Thursday, December 13, 2012
- Post-Conference Workshop(s), Friday, December 14, 2012
Register and pay by Friday, September 14, 2012 to save $200 off each regular conference or workshop price!
Click here to register for the 2012 Bargaining in the Broader Public/Labour Arbitration Conferences in Toronto.
CP Strike Derailed by Labour Minister Raitt
“Ottawa’s move to halt a strike at Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. will get the trains rolling again soon, but back-to-work legislation is being flagged as part of a worrying pattern of government intervention that could devalue collective bargaining at a cost to employers. Federal Labour Minister Lisa Raitt’s decision on Monday to send the dispute to binding arbitration came as the economic impact mounted from the walkout by 4,800 CP employees, who went on strike last Wednesday [May 23] over management proposals to slash pension costs.”
The Globe and Mail, May 29, 2012: “Arbitrator in CP strike will have power to impose contract”, by Brent Jang
The Toronto Star, May 29, 2012: “Walkom: The CP Rail strike and Harper’s pre-emptive war on labour”
The Financial Post, May 29, 2012: “CP Rail strike symptomatic of bigger pension challenge in Canada”, by Dan Ovsey
The Toronto Star, May 28, 2012: “CP Rail: Back-to-work laws end strikes, but don’t bring labour peace”, by Vanessa Lu
The Globe and Mail, May 28, 2012: “Ottawa’s back-to-work interventions worry both firms and workers”, by Brent Jang And Bill Curry
Women In Corporate America
Women in the workplace: “The business benefits are clear: a wider, deeper swath of talent to solve problems, spark innovation, and, in many cases, mirror a company’s own customer base. Yet the top circles of corporate America remain stubbornly male—as in 2011, only 14 percent of women serve on executive committees, and only 3 percent serve as CEOs. But these numbers don’t tell the whole story.” McKinsey & Company, with the help of 60 Fortune 500 or similarly sized companies, took a closer look at the progress these companies were making in advancing their women.
McKinsey & Company, 2012: “Unlocking the full potential of women at work”, by Joanna Barsh and Lareina Yee. (PDF, 14 pages)
Wall Street Journal, May 2012: Women in the Economy. A web page with links to many stories and videos about women and work.
The Globe and Mail, May 20, 2012: “How to measure workplace gender diversity”, by Harvey Schachter
Making Telework Work
“Analyzing data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and culling current research in the field, this study delves into teleworking in the United States to uncover current trends. During the past decade, research has shown that telework has become a go-to strategy for employers and employees in mitigating work-life conflicts, increasing workforce flexibility, and growing employee productivity and engagement. While the telework trend is increasing, many human capital executives are still confused over what to do about telework or how to enhance programs. Analyzing data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey and culling current research in the field, this report provides guidance for executives to understand the shifts occurring in telework practices [...] recommendations are provided for executives thinking of implementing or enhancing telework initiatives to maximize program effectiveness.”
The Conference Board, Inc., May, 2012: The Incredible Disappearing Office: Making Telework Work”, by Amy Abel and Gad Levanon (PDF, 24 pages).
(Available to the University of Toronto community, via your Conference Board of Canada e-library account)
The Sacramento Bee, May 29, 2012: “The Incredible Disappearing Office: New Technology, Tighter Budgets, and Evolving Culture Bring Telework into the Mainstream”, by The Conference Board
CEO Pay In the U.S. And The Top 1%
The Economic Policy Institute, in a new paper, “calculates that chief executives at America's 350 biggest companies were paid 231 times as much as the average private-sector worker in 2011. [...] Wages in America have been flat for years while CEO pay has risen substantially, sometimes with little relation to company performance. Disgruntled shareholders are making their displeasure known. This week the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, a big investor in Sprint Nextel, said it would vote against the re-election of boss Daniel Hesse to the board (plus five other senior executives) at this month's annual meeting in protest at compensation packages and underperformance.”
Economic Policy Institute, May 2, 2012: “CEO pay and the top 1%: How executive compensation and financial-sector pay have fueled income inequality”, by Lawrence Mishel and Natalie Sabadish
(PDF version, 7 pages)
The Economist, May 8, 2012: “The ratio of CEO to worker compensation: Are they worth it?”, by J.S.
Canada’s Seniors, and Their Pension Plans
According to data from the 2011 Census of Population, seniors accounted for 14.8% of the population in 2011, up from 13.7% in 2006. However, the proportion of seniors in Canada remained among the lowest of the G8 countries. A full analysis is available in the report, The Canadian Population in 2011: Age and Sex.
Statistics Canada, May 29, 2012: 2011 Census: Age and sex.
Statistics Canada, May 29, 2012: The Canadian Population in 2011: Age and Sex. (Also available inPDF, 27 pages.)
The Toronto Star, May 29, 2012: “2011 Census: Canada is getting older”, Bruce Campion-Smith
The Toronto Star, May 29, 2012: “2011 Census: How an aging population will sway social policy”, by Les Whittington
The Globe and Mail, May 29, 2012: “Census shows spike in seniors, increasing East-West labour gap”, by
Bill Curry
The Globe and Mail, May. 27, 2012: “Tracking the aging population”, by Tavia Grant
Membership in registered pension plans (RPPs) in Canada amounted to 6,065,750 in 2010, an increase of 42,000 or 0.7% from 2009. Membership increased in public sector plans, but declined in private sector plans. Membership in public sector pension plans rose 1.8% to 3,140,970, while the number of members in private sector plans declined 0.5% to 2,924,790. As a result, the public sector accounted for 52% of total membership in RPPs, up from 46% a decade earlier. In the early 1980s, membership in the private sector represented almost 60% of total members.
Statistics Canada, May 25, 2012: Pension plans in Canada, as of January 1, 2011
(PDF version, 4 pages)
Workers’ Wants
A new study finds that 65% of university students expect to make an impact on causes and issues they care about in their future job. Conducted by the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, Net Impact's Talent Report: What Workers Want in 2012, investigates “what workers want out of their jobs in the year 2012; it examined demand for impact jobs, and how the youngest generation of workers might differ from their older counterparts. The survey also set out to consider how life goals, job satisfaction, impact jobs in practice, and citizen activities rank in importance, value, and fulfillment for current and upcoming generations ... Just 1 in 10 students thought it is going to be "very easy" to find a job, and only another 23% said it will be "somewhat easy." Nearly half (46%) said finding a job will be "somewhat difficult," with another 13% believing that it will be "very difficult."
John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, May 2012: “Net Impact Talent Report: What Workers Want in 2012”, by Professor Cliff Zukin Mark Szeltner. Prepared for: Net Impact
(Executive Summary, PDF, 12 pages) (Full Report, PDF, 99 pages)
Domestic Work – What’s it Worth?
“An article in this month’s Survey of Current Business provides fascinating estimates of the value of household production in the United States from 1965 to 2010. Like most previous efforts, it relies primarily on measures of the total amount of time devoted to unpaid household tasks, multiplied by a household worker’s market wage. That is, it asks, “How much would it have cost if you had hired a nanny or a maid to do it?”
May 2012, Survey of Current Business: “Accounting for Household Production in the National Accounts, 1965–2010”, By Benjamin Bridgman, Andrew Dugan, Mikhael Lal, Matthew Osborne, and Shaunda Villones. (PDF, 14 pages)
New York Times, May 28, 2012: “Valuing Domestic Product”, by Nancy Folbre. Nancy Folbre is an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Is Life Getting Better? The OECD Reports
This Index allows you to compare well-being across countries [including Canada], based on 11 topics the OECD has identified as essential, in the areas of material living conditions and quality of life. Is life really getting better? How can we tell? What are the key ingredients to improving life – is it better education, environment, healthcare, housing, or working hours? Does progress mean the same thing to all people or in all countries and societies? A pioneer in this emerging field of research, the OECD has been working for almost ten years to identify the best way to measure the progress of societies – moving beyond GDP and examining the areas that impact everyday people's lives. Today, the fruit of this work is manifested in the OECD Better Life Initiative.” View data and summaries by country or topic, and compare data for women and men.
OECD, May 2012: Better Life Index.
Executive Summary (PDF, 2 pages)
The Times, May 24, 2012: “Under-educated and overweight, but life's not all bad”, by Chris Johnston
UK: Fair Access to Professional Careers: a Progress Report
This report looks at the opportunities available to individuals from different backgrounds to enter and progress in professional careers. It considers how these opportunities have changed since 2009, when Alan Milburn issued a call for action to employers and Government to tackle barriers to fair access.
UK, Cabinet Office, May 30, 2012: Fair Access to Professional Careers: a Progress Report: A progress report by the Independent Reviewer on Social Mobility and Child Poverty (PDF, 89 pages)
The Guardian, May 30, 2012: “Internships should be subject to labour market rules, says social mobility tsar: Alan Milburn says work experience is key to helping people from poorer backgrounds into professions”, by Shiv Malik
Improving Gender Diversity Could Boost Union Survival in Britain
"The paper examines if workplace gender diversity offers some explanation for the decline of unions in Britain. Using the WERS2004 linked employer-employee data and alternative econometric estimators it reports an inverse relationship between workplace union density and gender diversity. Gender and ownership status based sub-group analyses suggest the inverse relationship to be stronger for male union members and those in the private sector. Gender group size based analysis reveals a positive link between workplace union density and gender diversity in workplaces with a female majority. The findings in this paper may mean that unions (and their main constituents, men) may need to embrace the changing workplace demography genuinely to improve their fate."
University of Nottingham and IZA, May 12, 2012: “Union Decline in Britain: Is Chauvinism Also to Blame?”, by Getinet Haile. Download paper at SSRN. (PDF, 29 pages).
Productive Australians, and the Bloody Bludgers
According to a new Ernst & Young report, most Australian workers are productive. Some are Super Achievers (23 per cent of Australia's workforce), or Solid Contributors (46 per cent). And then, there are the Bludgers - the Patch Participants (24 per cent) and the Lost Souls (7 per cent), costing business more than $40 billion a year in wasted time, according to a national Ernst & Young survey.Bludger: noun, a person who lives off the efforts of others; a person who does not pay his fair share or who does not make a fair contribution to a cost, enterprise, etc., a cadger; an idler, one who makes little effort.
Ernst & Young, May, 2012: What makes Australians productive?
Ernst & Young, May 2012: The Ernst & Young Australian Productivity Pulse Wave 2
(PDF, 12 pages)
The Courier-Mail, May 28, 2012: "'Bludgers' cost businesses $40b a year, but Queenslanders third most productive", by James McCullough
Book of the Week
The Working Class Majority: America's Best Kept Secret, by Michael Zweig. 2nd ed. Ithaca : ILR Press, 2012. 220 p. ISBN 9780801477331 (pbk.)
"In this pungent critique of class and economics in the United States —part economic theory, part political lecture, and part reportage of working-class life—Zweig offers an insightful, radical analysis that will make many readers rethink commonly held but unexamined beliefs. Zweig supports his arguments with statistics, facts and personal stories and argues with a forcefulness and conviction backed by a deeply moral sense of the dignity that is due to each person in their work and workplace."—Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Michael Zweig is Professor of Economics at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he has won the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. He has served two terms on the state executive board of United University Professions, Local 2190, American Federation of Teachers, representing nearly 25,000 faculty and professional staff throughout the SUNY system. His earlier books include Religion and Economic Justice and The Idea of a World University.
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