October 4, 2010
- Unions make us Happy
- Potash Promises? “Broken promises mark foreign mining deals”
- PSAC Tentative agreement – 5.3% salary increase over 3 years
- Ontario Ministry of Labour—Employment Standards Workbook
- Older Workers – Top Employers for Canadians over 40 years
- Innovative pension reform possibilities
- The Gender Gap in U.S. Corporate Leadership
- Women improve the Performance of Teams
- Missing in Canada -- a culture of research and innovation
- Capitalizing on Culture series
- AonHewitt -- Pay Increase Survey
- Perspectives on Labour and Income: Employment patterns of postsecondary students 2010 and Recognition of newcomers' foreign credentials and work experience
- Income Inequality – current level underestimated – given choice, equality preferred
- 2010 Vital Signs Report has been released
- Book of the Week
Unions make us Happy
A recent research paper assess how labor unions affect cross-national variation in life satisfaction arguing that cross-national differences in the extent of labor organization play a significant role in satisfaction with life. Data is on fourteen industrial democracies: Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States using the most recent wave (2005) of interviews from the World Values Survey.”
The authors conclude that:
“To sum as bluntly as possible, it is the most vulnerable members of society who are most positively affected by membership in and the influence of organized labor in the industrial world. In addition… labor unions not only affect their own members, but society in general. Perhaps most crucially, we demonstrate that even in an era of declining union status across the industrial world that organized labor still affects life satisfaction to a significant extent.” (2010, Patrick Flavin; Alexander C. Pacek ; Benjamin Radcliff, P. 447)
Social Indicators Research, Volume 98, Number 3, 435-449: Labor Unions and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from New Data Patrick Flavin; Alexander C. Pacek; Benjamin Radcliff (alternative access to this article available on this page: http://www.springerlink.com/content/04j80x3512k33n86/ )
Potash Promises? “Broken promises mark foreign mining deals”
“Foreign mining firms including Vale SA of Brazil, Anglo-Swiss miner Xstrata PLC and London-based Rio Tinto PLC have all been able to cut Canadian jobs and, in some cases, reduce spending in Canada, less than three years after taking over Inco, Falconbridge and Alcan respectively, despite undertakings made to Investment Canada to maintain staffing and spending.”[From the Globe and Mail, October 4, 2010 see below]
“Export Development Canada, in a new lending strategy, has offered Vale as much as $500-million to help the company develop its operations in Canada. The deal is tied to another $500-million for Vale’s operations outside Canada, if the company uses Canadian goods and services, or for Vale exports if it uses Canadian suppliers.”[From the Globe and Mail, October 5, 2010 see below]
Globe and Mail, October 5, 2010: Vale loan angers mine workers, by Tavia Grant and David Ebner
United Steelworkers (Canada), October 4, 2010: Harper Government Empowering Vale’s Contempt for Canadian Working Families
Globe and Mail, October September – October, 2010: ongoing coverage of Potash
Globe and Mail, October 4, 2010: Broken promises mark foreign mining deals, by Andy Hoffman
Globe and Mail, October 4, 2010: Saskatchewan talks tough on Potash bid, by Brenda Bouw
The Conference Board of Canada, October 1, 2010: Saskatchewan in the Spotlight: Acquisition of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. — Risks and Opportunities Presented to: Government of Saskatchewan (77 pages, PDF)
PSAC Tentative agreement – 5.3% salary increase over 3 years
PSAC reached a tentative agreement with the Treasury Board for three of its five bargaining units-- Program and Administrative Services (PA), Operational Services (SV) and Education and Library Science (EB) -- will be put to a ratification vote by members in the coming weeks. Exploratory talks for the Border Services (FB) and Technical Services (TC) groups ended without agreement and regular bargaining will resume in 2011.
October 4, 2010: Highlights of the tentative agreement (scroll down) include: salary increases of 5.3% over three years -- 1.75% in 2011; 1.5% in 2012; 2.0% in 2013; the accumulation of severance pay on retirement and resignation has been discontinued.
Ottawa Citizen, October 4, 2010: PSAC, Treasury Board reach tentative agreement for three units, By Kathryn May
Ontario Ministry of Labour—Employment Standards Workbook
Ontario Ministry of Labour has introduced an employer workbook to assist employers and employees in understanding their rights and obligations under the Employment Standards Act (ESA).
Complying with the Employment Standards Act (ESA): A Workbook for Employers – HTML version
Older Workers – Top Employers for Canadians over 40 years
Top Employers for Canadians Over 40: click on the link to find out why each employer was selected: British Columbia Lottery Corporation; Business Development Bank of Canada; Canadian Security Intelligence Service; CH2M HILL Canada Limited; New Flyer Industries Canada ULC; Ontario Public Service; PCL Constructors Inc.; Royal Bank of Canada; Saskatchewan Government Insurance / SGI; Shell Canada Limited
Globe and Mail, September 30, 2010: Older workers feel the heat, by Diane Jermyn
Globe and Mail, September 30, 2010: 10 Best Employers for Older Workers
Innovative pension reform possibilities
A study titled, Improving Canada`s Retirement Saving: Lessons from Abroad, Ideas from Home, released by the Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) examines pension reforms in Norway, Sweden, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Saskatchewan. The paper provides insights that might help Canada to tackle challenges associated with its largely ineffective and costly voluntary programs.
IRPP, Recent release, September 28, 2010: Innovative pension reforms provide lessons for Canada
Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP) Study, September 28, 2010: Improving Canada`s Retirement Saving: Lessons from Abroad, Ideas from Home, by Patrik Marier (40 pages, PDF)
The Gender Gap in U.S. Corporate Leadership
A recent Catalyst report documents the lack of growth in the number of leadership positions held by women in Fortune 500 companies, the decrease in women’s representation the higher up the corporate ladder one goes, and how women’s representation in leadership and across industries has remained flat over time . The Fortune 500 leadership gap persists even though women comprise nearly half of the U.S. labor force and earn more advanced degrees than men. The pay gap for women begins with their first job.
Catalyst, September 28, 2010: Targeting inequality: The Gender Gap in U.S. Corporate Leadership: New Evidence onGender Pay Gap for Women and Mothers in Management, Testimony to U.S. Joint Economic Committee, by Ilene H. Lang, President&Chief Executive Officer, Catalyst.
The U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee, chaired by Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, held a hearing titled “New Evidence on the Gender Pay Gap for Women and Mothers in Management” on Tuesday, September 28, 2010, that explored these questions: Have we made progress in closing the gender pay and leadership gaps? What is its impact on American families and the economy? What can be done to achieve pay and leadership parity for women in American business?
United States, Joint Economic Committee, Sep 28 2010 : JEC Hearing: New Evidence on Gender Pay Gap for Women in Management
Women improve the Performance of Teams
“In two studies with 699 individuals, working in groups of two to five, we find converging evidence of a general collective intelligence factor that explains a group's performance on a wide variety of tasks. This “c factor” … is correlated with the average social sensitivity of group members, the equality in distribution of conversational turn-taking, and the proportion of females in the group.” [from the study cited below]
ScienceExpress, October 1, 2010: “Evidence for a Collective Intelligence Factor in the Performance of Human Groups,” by Anita WilliamsWoolley, Christopher F. Chabris, Alexander Pentland, Nada Hashmi, Thomas W. Malone (7 pages, PDF)
National Science Foundation, Press release, October 1, 2010: New Study Validates Factors That Enhance the Intelligence of a Group: Tendency to cooperate effectively is linked to the number of women in a group (links to lead author video explaining the findings)
Globe and Mail, October 1, 2010: If you want collective smarts, include women in your group Ingrid Peritz and Adrian Morrow
Missing in Canada -- a culture of research and innovation
“In the latest C-Suite survey of corporate executives, three-quarters said an aversion to risk in their own ranks is a key factor that keeps innovation and productivity low. Roughly the same proportion agrees that a culture of complacency dampens the drive to take risks on new products and new markets.”
Globe and Mail, October 4, 2010: C-Suite Survey: Executives see innovation as key: Canadian executives know who is to blame for this country’s poor track record on innovation: themselves, by Richard Blackwell
Globe and Mail, October 4, 2010: C-Suite survey: CHARTS: What executives said
The Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity, September 2010: Trade, innovation, and prosperity Working Paper 14 (62 pages, PDF) – download from this site
Capitalizing on Culture series
“Capitalizing on Culture is a new series from Your Business, The Globe and Mail’s home for entrepreneurs, about employee engagement, company culture and human resources. The series follows Richmond Hill, Ont.-based Trimark Sportswear Group and its quest to improve company culture.”
Globe and Mail, August 24, 2010 – to current date: Report on Business Capitalizing on Culture – follow the series
AonHewitt -- Pay Increase Survey
AonHewitt (merger is complete). Results from Aon’s Pay increase Survey: “Salary increase budgets for 2011 are expected to fall between 2.5% and 3.0% and for 2011, only 1 in 16 organizations are now planning a salary freeze.”
2010/2011 Aon Consulting Pay Increase Survey – Executive Summary, September 2010 (2 pages, PDF)
Perspectives on Labour and Income: Employment patterns of postsecondary students 2010 and Recognition of newcomers' foreign credentials and work experience
“This study uses the Labour Force Survey to examine long-term school-year employment trends among youth age 15 to 24 enrolled full time in community college, CEGEP or university, with particular focus on the recent downturn and nascent recovery. This is followed by a descriptive profile of the students who had a job in the 2009/2010 school year, including their average hours of work, average earnings and job characteristics. Information is also provided on long-term employment trends during the summer months.”
Highlights, September 29, 2010
Statistics Canada: Perspectives on Labour and Income, September 2010: “Employment patterns of postsecondary students” by Katherine Marshall (13 pages, PDF)
Globe and Mail, Septemberr30, 2010: Postsecondary students feel sting of recession by Tavia Grant and Jill Mahoney
Recognition of newcomers' foreign credentials and work experience
“This study uses the 2000 to 2005 Longitudinal Survey of Immigrants to Canada to examine foreign credentials and work experience recognition from the perspective of immigrants. The period covered by the survey precedes the labour market downturn that began in the fall of 2008. Although recent immigrants were disproportionately affected by the downturn, this study focuses on hypotheses relating to the recognition of credentials that should not be sensitive to the business cycle. This information may be of particular interest to those developing proposals for the federal, provincial and territorial Foreign
Credentials Recognition investment program announced in November 2009.”
Highlights, September 2010
Statistics Canada, Perspectives on Labour and Income, September 2010: “Recognition of newcomers' foreign credentials and work experience,” by René Houle and Lahouaria Yssaad (16 pages, PDF)
Income Inequality – current level underestimated – given choice, equality preferred
A study that looks at wealth inequality in United States found that respondents underestimate the current level of wealth inequality; respondent’s ideal wealth distributions are highly equitable, and most surprising was the desire among respondents, including Republicans and the wealthy, for a more equal distribution of wealth than the status quo.
Globe and Mail, October 4, 2010: Wealth gap won't be closing any time soon, by Barrie McKenna
Building a Better America – One Wealth Quintile at a Time, by Michael I. Norton, Harvard Business School and Dan Ariely, Duke University (13 pages, PDF)
2010 Vital Signs Report has been released
VitalSigns is an annual community check-up conducted by community foundations across Canada that measures the vitality of our cities, identifies significant trends, and assigns grades in at least ten areas critical to quality of life. The report looks at the unemployment rates of provinces, communities over time and of recent immigrants; the labour force in the arts & culture sector; the gap between rich and poor as well as local reports from Canadian communities.
2010 VitalSigns report, October 5, 2010: Access research findings here
Globe and Mail, October 5, 2010: Recession hit hard, recovery came slowly for immigrants Anna Mehler Paperny and Tavia Grant
Book of the Week
The Trouble with Billionaires, by Linda McQuaid and Neil Brooks. Toronto : Viking Canada, 2010. 272 p. ISBN 9780670064199
Excerpt: The Trouble with Billionaires by Linda McQuaig and Neil Brooks (Toronto Star, September 10, 2010)
About the Authors: Linda McQuaig is the author of seven bestselling books on Canadian politics, including Shooting the Hippo, shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for Non-Fiction. For the past seven years, she's written an op-ed column in the Toronto Star.
Neil Brooks is a professor of tax law at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, where he is director of the graduate program in taxation. He has been a consultant on tax policy for the Canadian government, served on advisory committees for the auditor general of Canada, and been editor of the Canadian Tax Journal.
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