Perry Work Report for the week of October 04, 2012

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October 4, 2012

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Pattern Bargaining with the Big Three and the CAW/CEP Merger Report

“Pattern bargaining allows the CAW to concentrate its collective strength on one company at a time, and create a level playing field on compensation that extends throughout the auto industry. GM would never have agreed to this tentative contract without our pattern bargaining tradition. It’s a strategy that’s worked for decades, and it worked again in 2012.” [Ken Lewenza]

CAW-CANADA/Ford Production and Skilled Trades, September 24, 2012: Highlights of the Tentative Agreement: Looking Forward to the Future

CAW-CANDA/Chrysler Production and Skilled Trades, September 2012: Highlights of the Tentative Agreement: Winning the pattern (8 pages, PDF)

CAW-CANDA/General Motors Production and Skilled Trades, September 2012: Highlights of the Tentative Agreement: Pushing the pattern Forwards

2012 Auto Talks website
CAW CEP Merger Report

New Union Project, August 1, 2012: Towards a New Union Merger: CAW CEP Proposal Committee Final Report (45 pages, PDF)

The Globe and Mail, August 22, 2012: “CAW votes to merge with CEP union,”

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Voices at Work

The Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal has published a special issue on ‘Voices at Work’ containing a selection of papers from the Oxford Launch Conference.

  • Alan Bogg and Tonia Novitz, Investigating “Voice” at Work, p. 323.
  • Eric Tucker, Labor’s Many Constitutions (and Capital’s Too), p. 355.
  • Alan Bogg and Keith Ewing, A (Muted) Voice at Work? Collective Bargaining in the Supreme Court of Canada, p. 379.
  • Stuart White, Liberal Neutrality and Trade Unions, p. 417
  • Simon Deakin and Artistea Koukiadaki, Capability Theory, Employee Voice, and Corporate Restructuring: Evidence from U.K. Case Studies, p. 427
  • Wanjiru Njoya, Job Security in a Flexible Labor Market: Challenges and Possibilities for Worker Voice, p.459
  • Charlotte Villiers, Why Employee Protection Legislation Is Still Necessary, p.481.

For access to these articles see: The Comparative Labor Law & Policy Journal, Vol. 33, #3 (2012) Available online at UTLibraries to those with a UTORID: click here then select first link: “HeinOnline Core U.S./Most Cited Law Journals, 1976 to present,” and scroll down to issue #3 for full text of the above listed papers.

Voices at Work website

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Ontario PSE Organizations Respond to MTCU Discussion Paper

Several Post-Secondary Education (PSE) organizations have released their responses to the Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities discussion paper “Strengthening Ontario’s Centres of Creativity, Innovation and Knowledge” outlining a proposed transformation to PSE. The proposals put forward in the paper "will damage the quality of post-secondary education and increase government interference in higher education in Ontario," according to OPSEU, CUPE, OCUFA, and CFS-Ontario, which released their respective responses yesterday. In their responses, the organizations call on the government to work with the PSE sector to improve the quality of PSE institutions and ensure that all students can afford to attend. [Academica Group]

OCUFA, Oct. 3, 2012: Growing Ontario’s Universities for the Future (22 pages, PDF)

The University of Toronto, Oct. 1, 2012: The University of Toronto’s Response to the MTCU Discussion Paper by David Naylor on behalf of the University of Toronto (15 pages, PDF or HTML)

Acadmica Group, Oct. 4, 2012: More Ontario PSE stakeholders submit responses to MTCU discussion paper

Canadian Federation of Students, Sept. 2012: Students’ Vision: The Future of Ontario’s Post-Secondary Education System (64 pages, PDF) (News release)

OPSEU, Sept. 2012: OPSEU Submission to the Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities (8 pages, PDF)

Council of Ontario Universities, Oct. 2012: Transforming Ontario Universities (19 pages, PDF)

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Teachers in Ontario and Chicago

High School teachers across the province are giving their unions a strike mandate. In Chicago teachers recently went on strike and have now ratified their agreement. The contract issues and how they were resolved are available in chart format below. Researchers from Rutgers, Cornell and MIT have done research that looks at improving the school system though union management partnerships rather than targeting teachers through evaluation schemes and merit pay.

Tomorrow is World Teachers Day and in Ontario the President of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario (ETFO) has expressed the hope that, “Ontarians will join us in standing up for the fundamental rights of working people in this province." This is in reference to “Bill 115, passed by the Liberal government and supported by the Conservative Party last month, [which] strips teachers and education professionals of their right to bargain collectively. It also places the government beyond the reach of the Ontario Human Rights Code, Ontario Labour Relations Act, and the courts.”

Chicago Teachers Union, October 2012: Chart of Key Contract Issues with Board’s original position and the Eventual Tentative Agreement

LERA: Perspectives Online Companion, 2012: Summary: Collaborating on School Reform: Creating Union-Management Partnerships to Improve Public School Systems, by Saul Rubinstein and John McCarthy (link to downloadable full text of the study is provided on the site)

Canada NewsWire, October 4, 2012: Ontario Teachers Stand up for Democracy on World Teacher Day

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Higher Wages and Better Jobs for Registered Apprentices

“Of individuals registered in an apprenticeship program between 2002 and 2004, those who completed their program had hourly wages in 2007 that were 21% higher on average than those who did not. In addition, those who completed their apprenticeship program were more likely to work full time and to be employed in permanent jobs.”

Statistics Canada, October 3, 2012: "Certification, Completion, and the Wages of Canadian Registered Apprentices" by Christine Laporte and Richard E. Mueller, Analytical Studies Branch Research Paper Series (28 pages, PDF)

Statistics Canada: The Daily, Oct. 3, 2012: Certification, completion, and the wages of registered apprentices, 2007 (1 page, PDF)

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A Free Ivy League Education

“One goal of these online education consortiums is to democratize education to find the next Bill Gates or Mark Zuckerberg in rural India or sub-Saharan Africa. The other part of it is about money, and how to find a revenue stream for universities that can't possibly accommodate a million students at a brick-and-mortar campus.” [NPR]

NPR, October 3, 2012: Online Education Grows Up, And For Now, It's Free

Open Culture, June 15, 2012: A Master List of 500 Free Courses From Great Universities in Online Courses

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News Anchor's Response to Bully Goes Viral

Jennifer Livingstone, a news anchor for Wisconsin’s WKBT-TV, responded on air to an email from a man who said that she is not “a suitable example for this community's young people, girls in particular” because of her weight. Livingstone replied after considering the effects such a message could have on her own daughters, saying “you know nothing about me but what you see on the outside, and I am much more than a number on a scale.” Bill 168 Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act (Violence and Harassment in the Workplace) 2009 is Ontario’s anti-harassment legislation.

CBC News, Oct. 3, 2012: Overweight TV anchor rebuffs 'bully' on air (video included)

Ontario: Bill 168, Occupational Health and Safety Amendment Act (Violence and Harassment in the Workplace) 2009

The Globe and Mail, Oct. 3, 2012: “Bully messes with wrong newswoman as her response goes viral” by Zosia Bielski

The Toronto Star, Oct. 3, 2012: “TV anchor blasts viewer who criticizes her weight, calling him a bully on-air” by Carrie Antlfinger

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Engaged Companies

The company Achievers recently released its third annual survey of the most engaged companies across the country. A panel of five judges, which included Mr. Suleman, evaluated applicants and selected the winners based on the following eight elements of employee engagement: communication, leadership, culture, rewards and recognition, professional and personal growth, accountability and performance, vision and values and corporate and social responsibility.

The “most essential measure of whether a company is a great workplace is whether employees say it is.” Use the Great Place to Work survey if you think that an analysis of the employees' workplace experience is a better measure of a great workplace.

Achievers: 50 most engaged workplaces awards

The Globe and Mail, September 26, 2012: “Recognition: The 50 most engaged workplaces in Canada”

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Catalyst: Women and Business

Catalyst is a leading nonprofit membership organization expanding opportunities for women and business. Their work is rooted in research studying women and men across levels, functions, and geographies to learn about women's experiences in business, barriers to their career advancement, and individual and organizational strategies leading to success.

Catalyst, July 2012: Calling All White Men: Can Training Help Create Inclusive Workplaces? by Jeanine Prime, Heather Foust-Cummings, Elizabeth R. Salib, and Corinne Moss-Racusin (22 pages, PDF or HTML)

Catalyst, June 2012: High Potentials in the Pipeline: Leaders Pay it Forward by Sarah Dinolfo, Christine Silva, Nancy M. Carter (20 pages, PDF)

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Mental Health & Wellness Issues in the Labour Force

The Conference Board of Canada released a study stating that mental illness currently costs Canada $20.7 billion annually due to lost labour force participation stemming from the six most common conditions afflicting the working-age population. This cost will grow to $29.1 billion by 2030. The analysis examines how governments, employers, and communities are affected. The report concludes with several recommendations for much-needed action to mitigate lost labour force participation.

A second report presents the business case for investing in the health of youth and the communities in which they operate. This report demonstrates how investing in selected socio-economic determinants of health that affect youth can positively impact the reputation and bottom-line performance of businesses and organizations.

Conference Board of Canada, July 2012: Mental Health Issues in the Labour Force: Reducing the Economic Impact on Canada by (available to the University of Toronto community via access to the Conference Board of Canada e-library)

Conference Board of Canada, Aug. 2012: Healthy Youth: Why Employers Should Care and What They Can: The Case for Business Action by Zeina Sleiman (available to the University of Toronto community via access to the Conference Board of Canada e-library)

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Impact of High Workers Compensation Premiums

The Newfoundland & Labrador Employers’ Council (NLEC) has released findings of a study by University of Toronto economist Morley Gunderson, on the economic impact of high Worker’s Compensation employer insurance premiums. Newfoundland & Labrador has had the highest worker’s compensation employer insurance premiums of any province in the country for nearly two decades. A quote from the report: “Payroll taxes are “killers of jobs” or “killers of wages,” pick your poison”.

Full Report: The Impact of High Worker's Compensation Premiums on Newfoundland & Labrador: Economy, Jobs, Communities, by Morley Gunderson (44 pages, PDF)

Summary: The Impact of High Worker's Compensation Premiums on Newfoundland & Labrador: Economy, Jobs, Communities, by Morley Gunderson (2 pages, PDF)

CBC PodCast, October 1, 2012: Interview with Morley Gunderson on his study evaluating impact of employers insurance premiums paid in Newfoundland & Labrador

Newfoundland & Labrador Employers’ Council News, September 17, 2012: Excessive worker's compensation employer premiums hurting the NL economy - Morley Gunderson

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Canada's Energy Technology Future

“Canada and Ontario need to make energy technology policy a top priority and reform their approaches to supporting energy, research & development (ER&D). Becoming an energy technology leader should be a concrete policy commitment from both orders of government and spanning the whole energy system, from supply to end-use...The current suite of ER&D policies and programs is not designed to meet the needs of an emerging energy superpower. This report charts the path forward from our current approach to one where Canada builds on its natural endowments in order to meet political, economic, social, and environmental objectives domestically and abroad.”

The Mowat Centre for Policy Innovation, Sept. 6, 2012: Smarter and Stronger: Taking Charge of Canada's Energy Technology Future by Tatiana Khanberg & Robert Joshi (68 pages, PDF)

Summary of Smarter and Stronger: Taking Charge of Canada's Energy Technology Future

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World Development Report 2013: Jobs

The latest World Development Report on jobs stresses the role of strong private sector led growth in creating jobs and outlines how jobs that do the most for development can spur a virtuous cycle. The report finds that poverty falls as people work their way out of hardship and as jobs empower women to invest more in their children. Efficiency increases as workers get better at what they do, as more productive jobs appear, and as less productive ones disappear. Societies flourish as jobs foster diversity and provide alternatives to conflict.

World Bank Group, 2012: World Development Report 2013: Jobs (420 pages, PDF)

Table of Contents, HTML Download each chapter separately:

Part I: Jobs are transformational
Chapter 1: The jobs Challenge (26 pages, PDF)
Chapter 2: Jobs and living standards (22 pages, PDF)
Chapter 3: Jobs and productivity (28 pages, PDF)
Chapter 4: Jobs and social cohesion (22 pages, PDF)

Part II: What are good jobs for development?
 Chapter 5: Valuing jobs (36 pages, PDF)
 Chapter 6: Diverse job agendas (42 pages, PDF)
 Chapter 7: Connected job agendas (24 pages, PDF)

Part III: Policies through the jobs lens 
Chapter 8: Labor policies revisited (34 pages, PDF)
Chapter 9: Beyond labor policies (36 pages, PDF)

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Book of the Week

Changing Contours of Work: Jobs and Opportunities in the New Economy, by Stephen Sweet and Peter Meiksins. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, Calif. : Sage Publications, 2013. 280 p. ISBN 9781412990868 (pbk.). UTLibraries link to catalogue record: http://go.utlib.ca/cat/8444735

Through engaging vignettes and rich data, this text frames the development of jobs and employment opportunities in an international comparative perspective, revealing the historical transformations of work and identifying the profound effects that these changes have had on lives, jobs, and life chances. This text brings into focus the many complexities of race, class, and gender inequalities in the modern-day workplace, as well as details the consequences of job insecurity and work schedules mismatched to family needs. Throughout the text, strategic recommendations are offered to improve the new economy.

About the Authors:

Stephen Sweet is an assistant professor of sociology at Ithaca College and formerly the associate director of the Cornell Careers Institute: A Sloan Center for the Study of Working Families.

Peter Meiksins is a Professor of Sociology at Cleveland State University. He is the author of many articles on the sociology of work.

Visit the Recent Books at the CIRHR Library blog.

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Questions or comments: cirhr.library@utoronto.ca

Editor: Vicki Skelton and Melody Tacit

Designer: Nick Strupat

Copyright © 2012 Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, University of Toronto. All rights reserved.

Date posted