Perry Work Report for the week of November 07, 2011

November 7, 2011

 

CIRHR Library’s New LibGuide

Students! find out which databases are the best for your research in industrial relations and human resources or which Blogs and Tweets are worth your time or how to get a RefWorks account. 

Learn how to search for books in our catalogue or scan our news feeds from Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Statistics Canada, or Labour Start.

A big thank you goes to Yasmin Hartung for this great resource.  Yasmin is the CIRHR Library's i-School work study student who also writes stories for the Perry Work Report,.

CIRHR Library LibGuide – to explore just click on the blue subject tabs.

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Air Canada Flight Attendants Arbitration Decision

“The dispute centred on the airline’s aim to start a low-cost carrier, wages, working conditions and pensions. Both sides had agreed that the ruling would be final and binding.”  

The arbitrator, Elizabeth MacPherson “said her decision most closely resembled what would have been achieved had the case not been referred to an arbitrator by the federal government and instead been allowed to run its course through collective bargaining — including the right to a strike or lockout.”

 'Flight attendants are rightfully disappointed and angry.'—Paul Moist, national president of CUPE"

"The union said it submitted to arbitration only “under [the] threat of back-to-work legislation and after two unwarranted referrals to the Canada Industrial Relations Board by … Raitt.” [CBC News]

News, Nov 7, 2011: Air Canada union slams arbitrator's decision 'Flight attendants deserve better than this decision,' says CUPE head

Canadian Press, November 8, 2011: Air Canada flight attendant union slams 'disappointing' arbitrator's decision

CBC News, Oct 13, 2011: Government's recent labour interventions highly unusual, experts say: Using back-to-work law in unprecedented ways By Kazi Stastna, 
Posted:

Globe and Mai, Nov. 07, 2011: Arbitrator rules for Air Canada management, union says, by Brent Jang

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Two Charter Challenges

The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is arguing that the Canadian “government violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms when it imposed back-to-work legislation on postal workers in June 2011."

"The Canadian Union of Postal Workers filed the constitutional challenge in Ontario Superior Court... it argues that the freedom to associate guaranteed in the charter was violated by the federal government's bill that ordered 48,000 Canada Post employees back to work."

CBC, October 12, 2011: Postal union mounts legal battle with Ottawa Back-to-work legislation violates charter rights, union says By Meagan Fitzpatrick, CBC News

CUPW Notice of Application

Globe and Mail, November 3, 2011: Arbitrator in Canada Post dispute resigns…The union says the resignation creates an opportunity for both sides to return to the bargaining table and negotiate a deal.

The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour filed their legal argument in the Saskatchewan Court of Queen's Bench related to the Charter Challenge by the SFL et al against Bills 5 & 6, legislation which the Wall government introduced and passed in late 2007 and early 2008.

Larry Hubich’s Blog, September 2011
Larry Hubich's Blog October 2011

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, April 2010: Restoring the Bargain: Contesting the Constitutionality of the Amendments to the Saskatchewan Trade Union Act (Bill 6) by Dr. S. Muthu (64 pages, PDF)

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Videos:  Union-Management Relationships in Negotiations

Canadian Labour Reporter speaks with Buzz Hargrove on the current state of labour relations and how unions and management need to work together in the future. Hargrove is a visiting professor at Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of Management.

Canadian Labour Reporter Video, October 31, 2011: Buzz Hargrove on the current state of labour relations

The Canadian Labour Video Series includes:

The future of labour law after the Fraser decision Jun 7, 2011, Michael Lynk
In April, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Ontario's farm workers did not have a right to unionize. The Fraser decision may represent a more conservative trend in the interpretation of the right of association in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Canadian Labour Reporter spoke with Michael Lynk, Associate Dean of University of Western Ontario's Faculty of Law, about what the Fraser decision could mean for the future of labour law.

The impact of making the TTC an essential service, March 22, 2011, Maurice Mazerolle
Maurice Mazerolle, director of the Centre for Labour Management Relations at Ryerson University, speaks with Canadian Labour Reporter about what making Toronto's transit system an essential service means for labour relations.

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Generational Career Shift

A recent study examined career-related differences among the four generations of workers in today’s work-place: Matures; Baby Boomers; Generation Xers; and Millennials. Over 3,000 Canadians were surveyed to determine if there were significant inter-generational differences in their work priorities, career attitudes, career experiences and career outcomes.

November 2, 2011: Generational Career Shift: Summary  Report of Key  Findings, by Sean T. Lyons Eddy, S.W. Ng, Linda Schweitzer (56 pages, PDF)

Globe and Mail, November 1, 2011: Study of workplace priorities highlights generation gap, Wallace Immen

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Legal Hiring on the Rise but No positions for Articling Students

Legal hiring is on the rise, according to Robert Half’s “2012 Legal and Professional Salary Guide”. Based on a survey of 150 lawyers working at large law firms and corporations across Canada, the Guide provides information on hiring trends and starting salaries in the legal field.

Robert Half Legal: go to the website to download a free PDF version of the Guide, “The 2012 Legal and Professional Salary Guide” (PDF, 28 pages)

Globe and Mail, October 31, 2011: “Legal hiring on the rise: report”, by Jeff Gray

Globe and Mail, November 2, 2011: Law profession faces an ‘articling crisis’,  Jeff Gray

SLAW: The Future of Articling in Ontario, October 2, 2011

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Fewer Jobs and Less Pay

CIBC’s monthly employment quality index The pace of job growth in Canada is slowing, with the economy generating on average 17,000 new jobs a month over the third quarter vs. 29,000 a month in the second quarter and 33,000 in the first quarter. And those fewer jobs are, on average, of lower quality.

Globe and Mail, November 2, 2011: More jobs, but not better paid ones: CIBC, by Tavia Grant

Canadian Employment Quality Index, November 2, 2011: Quality of Jobs: Losing Momentum by Benjamin Tal (4 pages, PDF)
“Today’s Labour Force Survey release is bad news: employment fell by 54,000 between September and October. But look at last month’s release: an increase of 61,000 between August and September. Both numbers are large: the typical monthly change in employment is about 20,000 jobs.”

Globe and Mail Blog, November 4, 2011: Headline jobs numbers don’t tell the real story, by Stephen Gordon

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Canadian Taskforce for Women’s Business Growth

"Today, women retain ownership in 47% of Canada’s 1.6 million small and medium-sized enterprises and majority ownership in 16% of Canadian SMEs.  In 2010, over 900,000 of the 2.6 million self-employed workers in Canada were women.  Women-owned businesses represent significant untapped potential to expand the Canadian economy."

Globe and Mail, Nov. 06, 2011: Canada urged to support its female entrepreneurs, by Rita Trichur

The Canadian Taskforce for Women’s Business Growth, November 2011: Action Strategies to Support Women’s Enterprise Development (8 pages, PDF)

University of Ottawa, Telfour School of Management: Taskforce for Women’s Business Growth website

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Canadians Support High Immigration Levels

Survey findings suggest that two important sources of pro-immigration views are the belief in immigration as an economic benefit to Canada, and pride in Canadian multiculturalism. These two pillars reinforce each other, says the author of the study, Jeffrey Reitz, and they provide broad support for immigration as an important nation-building strategy.

 IRPP, October 2011: Pro-immigration Canada: Social and Economic Roots of Popular Views. by Jeffrey G. Reitz

News release , October 18, 2011

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Climate Change: Labour and Trade Unions need a Voice

“Trade unions, as well as environmentalists and civil society have much to contribute. They need to be included in the development of a more environmentally responsible approach to addressing climate change, one that does not rely simply on furthering the individual market-based decisions of the corporate sector.”

Canadian Centre for Policy Analysis, October 25, 2011: Climate Change and the Canadian Energy Sector: Implications for Labour and Trade Unions, by John Calvert, Marjorie Griffin Cohen  (80 pages, PDF)

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Barrick Slapped over SLAPP Suit

“A Quebec court has ruled that Barrick Gold Corporation must pay three authors for its conduct in a defamation suit on a book criticizing Canadian mining practices in Africa.
The decision in this significant freedom of expression case under Quebec’s new anti-Slapp measures .
Members of the University of Toronto community have publicly protested a multi-million dollar donation from Barrick Gold founder and chairman Peter Munk for the establishment of the Munk School for Global Affairs, pointing to the “libel chill” as one of the ways the funding arrangement affects academic freedom : The Perils of Philanthropy : The Case of the Munk School by Paul Hamel , John Valleau

CAUT Bulletin, October 2011: Barrick Slapped over SLAPP Suit: Court orders payment in mining company’s lawsuit against authors.

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ILO Global Job Crisis

The International Labour Organization has warned.The global economy is on the verge of a new and deeper jobs recession that may ignite social unrest, the International Labour Organization has warned.

Press Release, October 31, 2011: World of Work Report 2011:  ILO says world heading for a new and deeper jobs recession, warns of more social unrest

ILO, Executive Summary, October 2011: World of Work Report:  Making Markets Work for Jobs, 2011 (8 pages, PDF)

ILO Global Job Crisis Observatory

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United States Poet Laureate a Union Man

Pulitzer Prize winner Philip Levine, known for his detailed and personal verse about the working class, was appointed the new poet laureate of the United States in August 2011

“I’m a fairly irreverent person and at first I thought, “This is not you. You’re an old union man,’’’ Levine said …

The Economist: Intelligent Life, Phillip Levine: Poet of Drugery

Poets.org: Overhand the Hammers Swing: Poems of Work by Philip Levine: an essay that includes interpretations of poets of work

Groucho not Karl

The Economist, October 27, 2011: Groucho Marx and T.S. Eliot: An unexpected alliance:  … and if you prefer Groucho to Karl this is for you  … “Whatever it is, I’m against it.”

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Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union  Rights, 2011

From the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC):  “ We are pleased to introduce the new website for the Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights. We have worked hard to improve the readability of the text and to make the information more easily available to the user.

Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights: use mouse on top red bar to find country of interest or mouse over the map to see the number of cases by county

Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights -- Canada

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Book of the Week

Greed, Lust & Gender: a History of Economic Ideas, by Nancy Folbre. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2009. 379 p. ISBN 9780199238422 (hardcover)

When does the pursuit of self-interest go too far, lapsing into morally unacceptable behaviour? Until the unprecedented events of the recent global financial crisis economists often seemed unconcerned with this question, even suggesting that "greed is good." A closer look, however, suggests that greed and lust are generally considered good only for men, and then only outside the realm of family life. The history of Western economic ideas shows that men have given themselves more cultural permission than women for the pursuit of both economic and sexual self-interest. Feminists have long contested the boundaries of this permission, demanding more than mere freedom to act more like men. Women have gradually gained the power to revise our conceptual and moral maps and to insist on a better-and less gendered-balance between self interest and care for others.This book brings women's work, their sexuality, and their ideas into the center of t! he dialectic between economic history and the history of economic ideas.

About the Authors:

Content

Visit the Recent Books at the CIRHR Library blog.

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This publication is protected by Canadian copyright laws and may not be copied, posted or forwarded electronically without permission.

Questions or comments: cirhr.library@utoronto.ca

Editors: Vicki Skelton and Yasmin Hartung
Designer: Nick Strupat

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

Date posted