Tuesday, September 14, 2004
[IWS] CANADA: Weekly Work Report, 13 September 2004
IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016 Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________
(The following is courtesy of the Centre for Industrial Relations, University of Toronto).
Weekly Work Report for the Week of September 13, 2004
These highlights of the week's HR/IR news are prepared by the Librarians at the Centre for Industrial Relations for our subscribers, alumni, faculty and students, and are intended for their individual use only. Please visit the <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/cir/library/wwreport/weeklyworkreport.html>CIR website for terms of use and information about organizational subscriptions. This message is composed in MS Outlook Express and contains hyperlinks that require an HTML-enabled email program.
The WWR is protected by Canadian copyright law and should not be reproduced or forwarded without permission. For inquiries or comments, please contact the Editor, <mailto:elizabeth.perry@utoronto.ca>.
----------
QUEBEC LABOUR RELATIONS COMMISSION DECISION GOES AGAINST WALMART: On September 9, the Quebec Labour Relations Commission ruled against a Wal-Mart application that had challenged the certification of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 503 at its Jonquiere Quebec store. Wal-mart argued that membership evidence in the July 2004 certification was invalid because it included employees who had signed membership cards during the previous certification drive in April. The Commission found that the cards were valid because the employees had not withdrawn their support. The Commission also accepted the unionÂs proposed bargaining unit as the appropriate one, contrary to Wal-MartÂs proposal to include supervisors, administrative staff and security guards in the unit.
LINKS:
ÂQuebec labour board rejects Wal-Mart challenge in the Globe and Mail (Sept. 10) at <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040910.wwalm10/BNStory/National/?query=walmart>
Quebec Labour Relations Commission ruling (7 pages, PDF) In French only at <http://www.crt.gouv.qc.ca/decisions/2004/2004QCCRT0482.pdf>
Archive of UFCW Canada press releases at the Walmart Workers Canada website <http://www.walmartworkerscanada.com/news.php>
----------
IMPROVED WORKING CONDITIONS PART OF NEW AGREEMENT FOR COFFEE INDUSTRY: On September 9, four multinational coffee companies announced their voluntary participation in the Common Code for the Coffee Community. The Code excludes the worst forms of social, environmental and economic practices in the production, post-harvest processing and trading of coffee. Among the unacceptable practices defined in the agreement: the use of child labour, slavery or forced labour; failure to provide adequate housing and potable water for workers; prohibition of membership in a trade union; destruction of primary forest lands; and the use of dangerous pesticides. The Code was initiated by the German Coffee Association; participants include multinationals Nestlé, Tchibo, Sara Lee Corp. and Kraft Foods as well as producer countries Brazil, Vietnam, Kenya, Colombia, Indonesia, and Central America.
LINKS:
ÂCoffee giants agree to code in the Toronto Star (Sept. 11) at <http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1094855107846>
Common Code for the Coffee Industry (28 pages, PDF) at the European Coffee Federation website at <http://www.ecf-coffee.org/files/4C_Common_CodeCoffeeCommunity090904.pdf>
Global Exchange Fair Trade: Coffee website at <http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/>
----------
SMALL BUSINESSES OFFERS FLEXIBILITY FOR WORK AND FAMILY BALANCE: The Canadian Federation of Independent Business released a survey of its members on September 8. The survey reports that the most common flexible workplace practice in small and mid-sized firms is flexibility in scheduling vacations (79%). Allowing staff to take time off to deal with personal issues is allowed at 74% of firms; 57% offer flexible work schedules, and 46% offer flexibility to accommodate childcare issues. The report is based on over 10,000 responses to the CFIB Work and Family survey conducted between December 2003 and February 2004.
LINKS:
Canadian Federation of Independent Business press release at <http://www.cfib.ca/mcentre/mwire/releases/nat090804_e.asp>
Fostering flexibility: work and family (11 pages, PDF) at <http://www.cfib.ca/research/reports/pdf/WFB_e.pdf>
----------
HOW TO MANAGE VISIBLE MINORITY PROFESSIONALS: A recent report by the Conference Board of Canada titled The Voices of Visible Minorities: Speaking Out on Breaking Down Barriers describes a study of how visible minority professionals and managers deal with barriers in the workplace. The study used focus groups of minorities to discover how they overcame barriers and to elicit their suggestions on how organizations can reduce the problems that minorities face.
LINK:
The Voices of Visible Minorities: Speaking Out on Breaking Down Barriers (12 pages; PDF) at the Conference Board e-library at <http://www.conferenceboard.ca/>(free; registration required).
----------
ROUND-UP OF 2005 SALARY SURVEYS: The Canadian HR Reporter website contains an article summarizing the results of the recent salary surveys of seven organizations: Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Aon Consulting, WorldatWork, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Hay Group, Hewitt Associates and Morneau Sobeco.
LINKS:
ÂSalary surveys 101Â in the Canadian HR Reporter online September 9 at <http://www.hrreporter.com/loginarea/members/viewing.asp?ArticleNo=3367>
----------
NATIONAL QUALITY INSTITUTE AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE AS HEALTHY WORKPLACES: The Canadian Awards for Excellence program of the National Quality Institute began in 1984 to recognize private and public sector organizations with outstanding programs to achieve healthy workplaces. The 2004 Gold Trophy recipients are DaimlerChrysler Canada and the Canadian Auto Workers, and Delta Hotels.
LINKS:
National Quality Institute press release at <http://www.nqi.ca/newsevents/details.aspx?ID=465>
----------
HRPAO LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE: The new, re-designed website of the Human Resource Professionals Association of Ontario is not only better organized but also much richer in content. Even for non-members of HRPAO, certain areas of their Knowledge Centre are now open, and there is fuller and more current access to the Association flagship magazine, the HR Professional.
LINKS:
HRPAO website at <http://www.hrpao.org/hrpao>
Current issue of HR Professional magazine at <http://www.hrpao.org/HRPAO/KnowledgeCentre/HRProfessional/>
----------
SEPTEMBER 30 DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS RE ONTARIOÂS OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE POLICY: The Draft Report of the Chair of the Occupational Disease Advisory Panel makes recommendations regarding the use of scientific and legal principles in determining occupational disease under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act; development of policies for compensating occupational diseases, and the decision-making process in occupational disease claims. Public comments and submissions may be submitted until September 30, via mail or email. Public meetings are being held across Ontario, beginning in Sudbury on September 13 and ending in Toronto on September 27 and 28.
LINKS:
Occupational Disease Consultation information at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board website at <http://www.wsib.on.ca/wsib/wsibsite.nsf/public/PolicyOccupationalDiseaseConsultation>
Draft Report of the Chair of the Occupational Disease Advisory Panel (May 2004) (38 pages, PDF) at <http://www.wsib.on.ca/wsib/wsibsite.nsf/LookupFiles/ODAPODAPDraftChairsReport/$File/ODAPDraftChairsReport.pdf>
Summary and Guide to the Draft (10 pages, PDF) at <http://www.wsib.on.ca/wsib/wsibsite.nsf/LookupFiles/ODAPSummaryandGuidetoODAPReport/$File/ODAPSummaryReport.pdf>
----------
HOSPITAL WORKERS PAID TOO MUCH AND DOCTORS PAID TOO LITTLE ACCORDING TO THE FRASER INSTITUTE: As Canadians watch the First Ministers Conference on Health Care unfold on television between September 13 to 15, the Fraser Institute has released a report on the wage structure in OntarioÂs hospitals. Where Does the Money Go? A Study of Worker Pay in OntarioÂs Hospitals suggests that hospitals pay most workers too much compared to the private sector or other provinces, but that physicians are not paid enough. ÂFor example, cooks and cleaners are paid between 30 percent and 60 percent more than in the private sector and nurses earn at least 14 percent more than in other provinces. The number of hospital workers earning over $100,000 per year has tripled since 1996, with average pay for these high earners rising 60 percent. The report examines the pay situation for physicians in detail, finding that average income for all Ontario physicians has declined for over three decades.
LINKS:
Where Does the Money Go? A Study of Worker Pay in OntarioÂs Hospitals (10 page, PDF) at the Fraser InstituteÂs website at <http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/shared/readmore.asp?sNav=nr&id=621>
CBC In depth website on Health Care at <http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/healthcare/>http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/healthcare/
----------
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE CONTINUES AT 7.2%: CanadaÂs unemployment rate remained unchanged in August at 7.2%, according to the Statistics CanadaÂs information released on September 10. The unemployment rate for adult men was 5.8%, the lowest rate since December 2000, but the unemployment rate for younger workers increased marginally to 13.7%. With 7,000 net jobs lost in August, commentators labeled the results disappointing, but not enough to turn the Bank of Canada from its priority concern with inflation .
LINK:
Latest release from the Labour Force Survey at the Statistics Canada website at <http://www.statcan.ca/english/Subjects/Labour/LFS/lfs-en.htm>
Commentary from the Bank of Montreal Economics Department at <http://www.bmo.com/economic/headlines/csep10a.html>
Commentary from the TD Bank at <http://www.td.com/economics/comment/ca091004.jsp>
Bank of Canada website at <http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/index.htm>
----------
Centre for Industrial Relations 121 St. George St. Toronto Canada M5S 2E8 <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/cir>
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky *
Director, IWS News Bureau *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor *
New York, NY 10016 *
*
Telephone: (607) 255-2703 *
Fax: (607) 255-9641 *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu *
****************************************
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies
School of Industrial & Labor Relations
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor
New York, NY 10016
________________________________________________________________________
(The following is courtesy of the Centre for Industrial Relations, University of Toronto).
Weekly Work Report for the Week of September 13, 2004
These highlights of the week's HR/IR news are prepared by the Librarians at the Centre for Industrial Relations for our subscribers, alumni, faculty and students, and are intended for their individual use only. Please visit the <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/cir/library/wwreport/weeklyworkreport.html>CIR website for terms of use and information about organizational subscriptions. This message is composed in MS Outlook Express and contains hyperlinks that require an HTML-enabled email program.
The WWR is protected by Canadian copyright law and should not be reproduced or forwarded without permission. For inquiries or comments, please contact the Editor, <mailto:elizabeth.perry@utoronto.ca>.
----------
QUEBEC LABOUR RELATIONS COMMISSION DECISION GOES AGAINST WALMART: On September 9, the Quebec Labour Relations Commission ruled against a Wal-Mart application that had challenged the certification of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 503 at its Jonquiere Quebec store. Wal-mart argued that membership evidence in the July 2004 certification was invalid because it included employees who had signed membership cards during the previous certification drive in April. The Commission found that the cards were valid because the employees had not withdrawn their support. The Commission also accepted the unionÂs proposed bargaining unit as the appropriate one, contrary to Wal-MartÂs proposal to include supervisors, administrative staff and security guards in the unit.
LINKS:
ÂQuebec labour board rejects Wal-Mart challenge in the Globe and Mail (Sept. 10) at <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040910.wwalm10/BNStory/National/?query=walmart>
Quebec Labour Relations Commission ruling (7 pages, PDF) In French only at <http://www.crt.gouv.qc.ca/decisions/2004/2004QCCRT0482.pdf>
Archive of UFCW Canada press releases at the Walmart Workers Canada website <http://www.walmartworkerscanada.com/news.php>
----------
IMPROVED WORKING CONDITIONS PART OF NEW AGREEMENT FOR COFFEE INDUSTRY: On September 9, four multinational coffee companies announced their voluntary participation in the Common Code for the Coffee Community. The Code excludes the worst forms of social, environmental and economic practices in the production, post-harvest processing and trading of coffee. Among the unacceptable practices defined in the agreement: the use of child labour, slavery or forced labour; failure to provide adequate housing and potable water for workers; prohibition of membership in a trade union; destruction of primary forest lands; and the use of dangerous pesticides. The Code was initiated by the German Coffee Association; participants include multinationals Nestlé, Tchibo, Sara Lee Corp. and Kraft Foods as well as producer countries Brazil, Vietnam, Kenya, Colombia, Indonesia, and Central America.
LINKS:
ÂCoffee giants agree to code in the Toronto Star (Sept. 11) at <http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1094855107846>
Common Code for the Coffee Industry (28 pages, PDF) at the European Coffee Federation website at <http://www.ecf-coffee.org/files/4C_Common_CodeCoffeeCommunity090904.pdf>
Global Exchange Fair Trade: Coffee website at <http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/coffee/>
----------
SMALL BUSINESSES OFFERS FLEXIBILITY FOR WORK AND FAMILY BALANCE: The Canadian Federation of Independent Business released a survey of its members on September 8. The survey reports that the most common flexible workplace practice in small and mid-sized firms is flexibility in scheduling vacations (79%). Allowing staff to take time off to deal with personal issues is allowed at 74% of firms; 57% offer flexible work schedules, and 46% offer flexibility to accommodate childcare issues. The report is based on over 10,000 responses to the CFIB Work and Family survey conducted between December 2003 and February 2004.
LINKS:
Canadian Federation of Independent Business press release at <http://www.cfib.ca/mcentre/mwire/releases/nat090804_e.asp>
Fostering flexibility: work and family (11 pages, PDF) at <http://www.cfib.ca/research/reports/pdf/WFB_e.pdf>
----------
HOW TO MANAGE VISIBLE MINORITY PROFESSIONALS: A recent report by the Conference Board of Canada titled The Voices of Visible Minorities: Speaking Out on Breaking Down Barriers describes a study of how visible minority professionals and managers deal with barriers in the workplace. The study used focus groups of minorities to discover how they overcame barriers and to elicit their suggestions on how organizations can reduce the problems that minorities face.
LINK:
The Voices of Visible Minorities: Speaking Out on Breaking Down Barriers (12 pages; PDF) at the Conference Board e-library at <http://www.conferenceboard.ca/>(free; registration required).
----------
ROUND-UP OF 2005 SALARY SURVEYS: The Canadian HR Reporter website contains an article summarizing the results of the recent salary surveys of seven organizations: Watson Wyatt Worldwide, Aon Consulting, WorldatWork, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, Hay Group, Hewitt Associates and Morneau Sobeco.
LINKS:
ÂSalary surveys 101Â in the Canadian HR Reporter online September 9 at <http://www.hrreporter.com/loginarea/members/viewing.asp?ArticleNo=3367>
----------
NATIONAL QUALITY INSTITUTE AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE AS HEALTHY WORKPLACES: The Canadian Awards for Excellence program of the National Quality Institute began in 1984 to recognize private and public sector organizations with outstanding programs to achieve healthy workplaces. The 2004 Gold Trophy recipients are DaimlerChrysler Canada and the Canadian Auto Workers, and Delta Hotels.
LINKS:
National Quality Institute press release at <http://www.nqi.ca/newsevents/details.aspx?ID=465>
----------
HRPAO LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE: The new, re-designed website of the Human Resource Professionals Association of Ontario is not only better organized but also much richer in content. Even for non-members of HRPAO, certain areas of their Knowledge Centre are now open, and there is fuller and more current access to the Association flagship magazine, the HR Professional.
LINKS:
HRPAO website at <http://www.hrpao.org/hrpao>
Current issue of HR Professional magazine at <http://www.hrpao.org/HRPAO/KnowledgeCentre/HRProfessional/>
----------
SEPTEMBER 30 DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS RE ONTARIOÂS OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE POLICY: The Draft Report of the Chair of the Occupational Disease Advisory Panel makes recommendations regarding the use of scientific and legal principles in determining occupational disease under the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act; development of policies for compensating occupational diseases, and the decision-making process in occupational disease claims. Public comments and submissions may be submitted until September 30, via mail or email. Public meetings are being held across Ontario, beginning in Sudbury on September 13 and ending in Toronto on September 27 and 28.
LINKS:
Occupational Disease Consultation information at the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board website at <http://www.wsib.on.ca/wsib/wsibsite.nsf/public/PolicyOccupationalDiseaseConsultation>
Draft Report of the Chair of the Occupational Disease Advisory Panel (May 2004) (38 pages, PDF) at <http://www.wsib.on.ca/wsib/wsibsite.nsf/LookupFiles/ODAPODAPDraftChairsReport/$File/ODAPDraftChairsReport.pdf>
Summary and Guide to the Draft (10 pages, PDF) at <http://www.wsib.on.ca/wsib/wsibsite.nsf/LookupFiles/ODAPSummaryandGuidetoODAPReport/$File/ODAPSummaryReport.pdf>
----------
HOSPITAL WORKERS PAID TOO MUCH AND DOCTORS PAID TOO LITTLE ACCORDING TO THE FRASER INSTITUTE: As Canadians watch the First Ministers Conference on Health Care unfold on television between September 13 to 15, the Fraser Institute has released a report on the wage structure in OntarioÂs hospitals. Where Does the Money Go? A Study of Worker Pay in OntarioÂs Hospitals suggests that hospitals pay most workers too much compared to the private sector or other provinces, but that physicians are not paid enough. ÂFor example, cooks and cleaners are paid between 30 percent and 60 percent more than in the private sector and nurses earn at least 14 percent more than in other provinces. The number of hospital workers earning over $100,000 per year has tripled since 1996, with average pay for these high earners rising 60 percent. The report examines the pay situation for physicians in detail, finding that average income for all Ontario physicians has declined for over three decades.
LINKS:
Where Does the Money Go? A Study of Worker Pay in OntarioÂs Hospitals (10 page, PDF) at the Fraser InstituteÂs website at <http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/shared/readmore.asp?sNav=nr&id=621>
CBC In depth website on Health Care at <http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/healthcare/>http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/healthcare/
----------
UNEMPLOYMENT RATE CONTINUES AT 7.2%: CanadaÂs unemployment rate remained unchanged in August at 7.2%, according to the Statistics CanadaÂs information released on September 10. The unemployment rate for adult men was 5.8%, the lowest rate since December 2000, but the unemployment rate for younger workers increased marginally to 13.7%. With 7,000 net jobs lost in August, commentators labeled the results disappointing, but not enough to turn the Bank of Canada from its priority concern with inflation .
LINK:
Latest release from the Labour Force Survey at the Statistics Canada website at <http://www.statcan.ca/english/Subjects/Labour/LFS/lfs-en.htm>
Commentary from the Bank of Montreal Economics Department at <http://www.bmo.com/economic/headlines/csep10a.html>
Commentary from the TD Bank at <http://www.td.com/economics/comment/ca091004.jsp>
Bank of Canada website at <http://www.bankofcanada.ca/en/index.htm>
----------
Centre for Industrial Relations 121 St. George St. Toronto Canada M5S 2E8 <http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/cir>
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.
Stuart Basefsky
Director, IWS News Bureau
Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell/ILR School
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Telephone: (607) 255-2703
Fax: (607) 255-9641
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu
****************************************
# posted by SBasefsky : 2:08 PM
