September 27, 2011
- CIRHR Tweets
- Comparing Public and Private Sector Employment and Settlement Trends
- Right to Strike?
- To Build or not to Build the Keystone XL Pipeline
- Stop Playing Games
- You too can be Replaced
- Corporate Knights releases its 2011 Knight Schools Survey
- Income Inequality
- Unhappy Canadians
- Too Much Work
- Work and Family Researchers Network
- A PIPEDA “How to Guide” for Lawyers
- Local Labor Market Effects of US Trade with China
- Government at a Glance 2011
- Book of the Week
CIRHR Tweets
Don’t forget that we check the news to bring you the latest in IR/HR stories. Just go to our Twitter page at http://twitter.com/#!/cirhrlibrary to get the latest stories.
Comparing Public and Private Sector Employment and Settlement Trends
“Governments across Canada have recently attempted to freeze the wages of government employees, or they have insisted that new collective agreements not result in increased costs to government. These measures were adopted, in part, to address perceived disparity in benefits and wage increases between the public and private sectors. But, is this disparity real or imaginary? Lancaster's Bargaining in the Broader Public Sector Conference will tackle this question head-on with input from seasoned negotiators and economists explaining and debating the differences between public sector and private sector employment. For full program details on the Bargaining in the Broader Public Sector Conference, please visit our website.”
Lancaster's 2011 Bargaining in the Broader Public Sector & Labour Arbitration Conferences Toronto - December 7 and 8, 2011 Register and save $200 off each regular conference or workshop price! Offer expires Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Right to Strike?
The Canadian government gave notice last week that it would introduce back-to-work legislation if Air Canada flight attendants went on strike. The government’s actions have triggered debates regarding the role of strikes in a free market economy and Canadians’ right to strike. For a more in-depth look at labour and labour law, see Brian Langille and Guy Davidov’s book, The Idea of Labour for a discussion on the evolution and future of labour law and subsequently, the labour movement.
CBC radio. September 25, 2011: “Labour Movement Without Strikes?” Michael Enright interviews Brian Langille, professor of labour law from the University of Toronto, and Canadian labour activist Nancy Rich, (podcast, starts at 5 min. and ends at 32 min.)
Law Times, September 26, 2011: “Have we lost our tolerance for strikes?”, editorial by Glenn Kauth.
Understanding Labour Law: A Timeless Idea, a Timed-Out Idea, or an Idea Whose Time Has Now Come?, 2011: In The Idea of Labour Law, by Guy Davidov and Brian A. Langille, follow link for PDF (10 pages) of this article.
To Build or not to Build the Keystone XL Pipeline
On September 26th members of the Communications, Energy and Paperworks (CEP) Union of Canada were arrested for protesting the Keystone XL pipeline. The envisioned pipeline would see Canadian oil be directly transported to refineries in the United States from Alberta’s oil sands. While environmentalists and natives protest the environmental and health impact of expanding Canada’s oil industry, the Union is concerned that the pipeline will take both Canada’s oil as well and Canadians’ refinery jobs “down the pipe to the U.S.” Reiterating the CEP’s stance, Brian Topp asks the question “Why are we exporting raw bitumen when we could be exporting the hundreds of products that are derived from our own petrochemicals?”
Communications, Energy and Paperworks Union of Canada, September 26, 2011: “Union leader arrested over Keystone XL,” press release.
TransCanada May, 2011: “Keystone Pipeline System”, (PDF, 4 pages)
Environment Impact Statement (FEIS) for the Proposed Keystone XL Project”
Globe and Mail, September 26, 2011: “Environmentalists, natives and unions denounce ‘biocidal’ oil-sands policy”, by Gloria Galloway.
Globe and Mail, September 21, 2011: “Keystone XL: A pipeline that should not be built”, by Brian Topp.
Stop Playing Games
A video game depicting the “troubling supply chain behind smartphones” has been removed from Apple’s App Store. Phone Story consists of four games with each depicting a different step in a smartphones’ journey—a Congolese mine, a Chinese factory, the process of planned obsolescence, i.e. making sure the phone becomes unfashionable or obsolete and, lastly, a depiction of the environmental impact of cellphones, referred to as eWaste. Apple came under fire earlier this year after a Wired article wrote an in-depth piece on the high rate of suicide at the Chinese factory Foxconn. Foxconn, a major manufacturer of electronic devices, including Apple products, and Apple defended the factory’s labour practices.
Wired, September 14, 2011: “Apple Bans Phone Story Game That Exposes Seedy Side of Smartphone Creation”, by Mark Brown.
Phone Story: the game’s website
Apple, 2011: “Supplier Responsibility” website
Wired, February 28, 2011: “1 Million Workers. 90 Million iPhones. 17 Suicides. Who’s to Blame?”, By Joel Johnson.
Blood in the Mobile, 2010: website for the documentary Blood in the Mobile which looks at the way in which the minerals used to make cell phones are fueling conflict in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
You too can be Replaced
“We’ve seen robots take over many jobs that require routine activities and manual labor, but what impact will they have on high-skilled workers, including medical professionals, lawyers, scientists, and journalists? Which jobs are most vulnerable to the “robot invasion,” and which jobs will the robots be unable to touch? (Hint: not many.) Should we be happy about the robots – after all, they'll probably make our jobs easier – or should we be worried? And if the robots are coming, should we try to stop them?” [from the New America Foundation: Will Robots Steel your Job, Sept. 29, 2011]
Slate, September 26, 2011: Will Robots Steal Your Job? You're highly educated. You make a lot of money. You should still be afraid. By Farhad Manjoo.
Join Farhad Manjoo in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, Sept. 29, for a Future Tense event on robots and the workforce. Manjoo will be joined by Tyler Cowen, author of The Great Stagnation and blogger at Marginal Revolution; Robbie Allen, whose company StatSheet could put sportswriters on unemployment lines; and others.
English.news.cn, July 30, 2011: Foxconn to replace workers with 1 million robots in 3 years
Economist, August 4, 2011: Robots don’t complain: Or demand higher wages, or kill themselves
Corporate Knights releases its 2011 Knight Schools Survey
Corporate Knights Magazine unveils the eighth-annual Knight Schools ranking. The ranking analyzes how Canadian universities fare in integrating sustainability into the school experience. Results are for Business Programs – undergraduate and MBA; Law programs; and teacher education. Best practices from the top performing schools are included.
MBA Program Scores 2011:
York University: Schulich School of Business: score 94.6 – 1st place
University of Toronto: Rotman School of Management: score 58.4 – 7th place
Law Program Scores 2011:
University of Toronto: score 88.9 – 1st place
York University, Osgoode Hall: score 79.8 – 2nd place
Teacher Education Scores 2011:
OISE/University of Toronto: score 91.3 – 1st place
York University: score 56.5 – 5th place
Corporate Knights, 8th Annual Knight Schools Results, 27 September, 2011
The Corporate Knights 8th, Annual Knight Schools Survey, September 27, 2011: Are we there yet? Getting antsy on the educational journey to greener pastures, Research led by Erin Marchington with support from Julia Barnes, Mérédyth Bowcott and Azra Fazal Commentary by Jon-Erik Lappano and Erin Marchington (22 pages, PDF)
Globe and Mail, September 23, 2011: Green b-school tops ranking by Jennifer Lewington
Business Knight Schools Survey, September 26, 2011
Income Inequality
“As nations steel themselves to provide more taxpayer-funded cash to stave off a new round of defaults while cutting supports for taxpayers, policy makers are pointing to rising income inequality as cause for concern in a climate of growing instability. Notably, it’s not the usual voices of the left sounding the alarms, but pro-market heavyweights like the Conference Board of Canada and the International Monetary Fund.” [Armine Yalnizyan]
Globe and Mail Blog, September 27, 2011: When business talks about inequality, it’s time to worry Armine Yalnizyan
Armine Yalnizyan is a MIR graduate (1985) and winner of the Morley Gunderson Prize, 2003 and currently one of three participants in the The Keith Davey Forum on Public Affairs: Inequality: A Threat to Democracy? sponsored by Victoria University, the Department of Political Science and the Association of Political Science Students, September 26, 2011.
Conference Board of Canada, September 2011: Hot Topic: World Income Inequality Is the world becoming more unequal?
Unhappy Canadians
“When Canadians are asked, “How satisfied are you with your life in general?” more than 90 per cent respond “satisfied” or “very satisfied”. Yet one group has a significant satisfaction deficit: immigrant children and their parents…Immigrants’ lower satisfaction comes down, in part, to economics. The immigrant families Burton and Phipps studied had incomes approximately one third lower than those of comparable Canadian families.”
Globe and Mail Blog, September 26, 2011: Satisfaction gap’ hinders the immigrant experience Frances Woolley
The Well-Being of Immigrant Children and Parents in Canada, by Peter Burton and Shelley Phipps Dalhousie University, November 2010 (45 pages, PDF)
Too Much Work
“Every decade I conduct a pulse check of Canada’s work force with Chris Higgins of the Richard Ivey School of Business – this is our third look over a 20-year period at how Canada is faring. Each study has a different focus. In 1991, when the boomers were younger, we looked at things like day care arrangements. In 2001, we dug into how individuals coped and how employers helped them cope. Now we are moving into the concept of intensification, the idea that there is too much to handle – too much at work, too much at home, too much total.”
Globe and Mail, September 22, 2011: How corporate anorexia is hurting our work force, Harvey Schachter interviews Lynda Duxbury
If your organization wishes to be a part of Linda Duxbury’s research, please contact her atlinda_duxbury@carleton.ca
Work and Family Researchers Network
The new Work and Family Researchers Network (formerly the Sloan Network) is an international membership organization of interdisciplinary work and family researchers. The WFRN also welcomes the participation of policy makers and practitioners as it seeks to promote knowledge and understanding of work and family issues among the community of global stakeholders.
Work and Family Researchers Network new website
A PIPEDA “How to Guide” for Lawyers
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada has prepared a guide to help lawyers understand and apply Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). The Commissioner’s Self-Assessment Tool is meant to help lawyers “evaluate their information protection readiness.”
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, 2011: “PIPEDA and Your Practice: A privacy handbook for lawyers” (PDF, 26 pages)
Online version
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, 2011: “Securing Personal Information: A Self-Assessment Tool for
Organizations” online self-assessment
Local Labor Market Effects of US Trade with China
“For years, economists have told Americans worried that cheap Chinese imports will kill jobs that the benefits of trade with China far outweigh its costs. New research suggests the damage to the U.S. has been deeper than these economists have supposed.”
Wall Street Journal, September 27, 2011: Tallying the Toll of U.S.-China Trade: Study Sees Americans Bearing High Economic Cost of Imports as Labor Market Struggles to Adapt
August 2011: The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States. David H. Autor MIT and NBER; David Dorn CEMFI and IZA; Gordon H. Hanson UCSD and NBER (54 pages, PDF)
Government at a Glance 2011
Restoring public finances in the OECD has led many governments to pursue budget cuts, freeze public sector wages or reduce the size of the government workforce in 2010. Findings fromGovernment at a Glance 2011 have important implications for the policy questions and issues raised by the austerity measures currently being undertaken in the majority of OECD countries.
This second edition of Government at a Glance almost doubles the number of available indicators of OECD governments’ performance, to nearly 60.
The indicators compare the political and institutional frameworks of government across OECD countries as well as government revenues and expenditures, employment, and compensation.”
- Public employment and HRM data are featured prominently in Government at a Glance 2011, with three chapters being dedicated to such issues.
- Newly collected data on compensation for key positions in central government have been published- comparing the salaries and social contributions received by executive and middle managers, policy analysts, statisticians and administrative assistants in 20 countries.
Government at a Glance 2011 website
Government at a Glance 2011: Summary (4 pages, PDF)
Book of the Week
One Day Longer: a Memoir, by Lynn Williams. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, 2011. 320 p. ISBN 9781442644120
Lynn Williams remains one of the most influential North American (Canadian) union leaders of the twentieth century. His two terms as president of the United Steelworkers of America, from 1983 until 1994, capped off a career in labor relations spanning nearly five decades. Among his many notable achievements, Williams developed new bargaining techniques to face challenges from antiunion politicians such as Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher. He also played a major role in the structural readjustment of the North American steel industry during its most turbulent period, the 1980s and 1990s.
About the Author: In his memoir, Williams vividly recounts his life in labor, with all its triumphs, challenges, hopes, and dreams. While telling his own story, Williams also traces the rise and transformation of the labor movement from World War II to today. Providing an insider's perspective on union developments and issues, One Day Longer is a profound reflection of Williams's impressive career.
Visit the Recent Books at the CIRHR Library blog.
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: Yasmin Hartung and Vicki Skelton
Designer: Nick Strupat
Copyright © 2010 Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources, University of Toronto. All rights reserved.