Tuesday, September 20, 2005
[IWS] CANADA: Weekly Work Report,19 September 2005
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 19, 2005
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 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, elizabeth.perry@utoronto.ca.
----------
SODEXHO WORKERS STRIKE IN B.C. HOSPITALS : About 1,100 workers who provide cleaning, food service and other health support services at 28 hospitals and health care facilities in the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and the Fraser Health Authority have been on strike since September 15, although essential services are being maintained. Additional strike votes were held at 7 other facilities in the Fraser Health Authority on September 19. The workers are employees of multinational Sodexho, and are represented by the Hospital Employees Union (HEU) and the B.C. General Employees Union (BCGEU). The main issue in the dispute is wages, with the union stating that 90% of workers are paid "poverty-level wages" of $10.15 per hour. They propose an immediate increase to $12.90 per hour, rising to $14.90 per hour over 4 years.
In Alberta, 570 nursing assistants, cleaners and kitchen staff at a number of long term care facilities operated by Capital Care in Alberta ratified an agreement on September 19, providing 8.5% in wage increases and improved medical benefits. The workers are members of CUPE Local 1158.
LINKS:
Hospital Employees Union website at < http://www.heu.org/>http://www.heu.org/
Press release at CUPE Alberta website at < http://www.alberta.cupe.ca/03news/releases/20050920a.htm>
B.C. Labour Relations Board decision B249/2005 (Sept. 15) (7 pages, PDF) re essential services at < http://www.lrb.bc.ca/decisions/B249$2005.pdf>
----------
CAW REACHES TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH DAIMLER CHRYSLER, RATIFIES FORD AGREEMENT: The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and Daimler Chrysler announced a tentative agreement on September 20, ahead of a midnight strike deadline. The agreement, still to be ratified, matches the wage, benefit and pension provisions in the Ford agreement reached last week and ratified on September 19. Daimler Chrysler has pledged not to close the 450-worker casting plant in Etobicoke , not to outsource approximately 600 other jobs (mostly truck drivers, janitorial workers and security personnel in Windsor), and to continue to operate 3 shifts at the Brampton and Windsor plants. According to the CAW press release, "Significant changes in work practices were negotiated with the aim of enhancing productivity. However, through the provision of a $70,000 restructuring incentive to encourage early retirement, these initiatives should not result in any involuntary lay-offs."
LINKS:
"CAW settles with Chrysler" in the Toronto Star (Sept. 20) at
< http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1127211477664&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes >
"Ford workers accept low-raise contract" in the Globe and Mail (Sept. 19) at < http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050919/RFORD19/TPBusiness/?query=ford >
CAW press release at < http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2005/20/c1651.html >
----------
WAL-MART TIRE AND LUBE EXPRESS CERTIFIED IN B.C.; QUEBEC LABOUR RELATIONS COMMISSION RULES CLOSING OF JONQUIERE STORE ANTI-UNION: In Cranbrook B.C., workers at a Wal-Mart Tire and Lube Express voted in favour of joining the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 1518; the union website has posted the BC Labour Relations Board certificate, dated September 7th. According to the UFCW, two other Wal-Mart Tire and Lube Express stores in Surrey are awaiting certification decisions by the BCLRB.
A September 15 decision of the Labour Relations Commission of Quebec ruled that Wal-Mart failed to demonstrate that it had not closed in store in Jonquiere to avoid unionization. Wal-Mart had closed the store in April 2005 after the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 503 had been certified to represent the 190 employees and while negotiations for a first collective agreement were underway. The Board has not yet determined appropriate remedies, which may include compensation for the 79 employees who had filed complaints for illegal dismissal.
In a second ruling on September 15, the Quebec Labour Relations Commission refused Wal-Mart's request for the lists of names of people who had signed union cards at their stores. The board ruled that such names must be kept secret to prevent possible reprisals.
LINKS:
"Ex Wal-Mart workers win battle" in the Globe and Mail (Sept. 17) at < http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050917.wwalmart0917/BNStory/National/?query=wal-mart >
UFCW press release at < http://www.walmartworkerscanada.com/news.php?articleID=00114>
Quebec Labour Relations Commission decision concerning Jonquiere closing (12 pages, PDF) at < http://www.crt.gouv.qc.ca/decisions/2005/2005QCCRT0502.pdf> and concerning confidentiality of union certification lists (8 pages, PDF) at < http://www.crt.gouv.qc.ca/decisions/2005/2005QCCRT0503.pdf>
----------
NEW SERVICE CANADA DRAWS FIRE FROM PSAC: Service Canada, a new federal government initiative, was officially announced on September 14. Service Canada aims to provide "one-stop" service to Canadians by integrating services from a number of federal departments and providing those services by phone, Internet or in person. Features will be rolled out over the next three years, although some services have already been operating; for example, individuals have been able to apply and file all the necessary reports for Employment Insurance benefits online, and employers have been able to file Record of Employment Service forms online. To promote a positive service attitude, Service Standards and a Service Charter will be established, an Office of Client Satisfaction will take input from Canadians, and an annual Performance Scorecard will be made public.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents the front-line workers whose jobs are involved, has criticized the government for failing to consult citizens or union members in the development of Service Canada. The PSAC website states: "The federal government is about to further reduce the quality of services to Canadians by closing regional offices of the Public Service Commission. Hundreds of jobs will be lost and millions of Canadians will no longer have access to services that are available in larger urban centres". As a result, "PSAC will not promote nor participate in any initiative that will compromise the quality of services to Canadians or cut public sector jobs. "
LINKS:
"Service Canada open for business" at the Service Canada website at < http://servicecanada.gc.ca/en/whatsnew.html>l and < http://servicecanada.gc.ca/en/about/release.html>
Public Service Alliance of Canada statement on Service Canada at < http://www.psac-afpc.org/issues/service-e.shtml>
----------
PROCEDURES FOR YOUNGER WORKERS IN B.C. ARE IGNORED: The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has published an extensive report entitled Child and Youth Employment Standards: The Experience of Young Workers Under British Columbia's New Policy Regime. In 2003 British Columbia altered the regulations for the employment of children and youth. The study suggests that these new regulations are not being followed, putting children at risk. British Columbia, according to the report, provides less protection for child workers than other jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and the European Union.
LINK:
Child and Youth Employment Standards: The Experience of Young Workers Under British Columbia's New Policy Regime (41 pages, PDF) at < http://www.policyalternatives.ca/documents/BC_Office_Pubs/bc_2005/child_youth_employment.pdf >
----------
ONTARIO HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION REVIEW: As he approaches the end of his term as Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Keith Norton has initiated a consultation concerning the human rights system in the province to find ways to render the system more effective. The Commission has issued a discussion paper and collected responses to it. It will hold a series of focus group sessions, the results of which will be released as a consultation report. In releasing the 2004-2005 Annual Report of the OHRC in July 2005, Mr. Norton stated, "I am concerned by the lack of Government response to our repeated requests for procedural amendments to the Human Rights Code or additional resources to deal with the growing number of new complaints filed each year."
LINKS:
Overview of the consultation process at the OHRC website at < http://www.ohrc.on.ca/english/consultations/human-rights-review-discussion.shtml >
Discussion paper (40 pages, PDF) at the OHRC website at < http://www.ohrc.on.ca/english/consultations/human-rights-review-discussion-paper.pdf >
2004-2005 Annual Report of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (HTML or PDF) at < http://www.ohrc.on.ca/english/publications/2004-2005-annual-report.shtml >
----------
W.P. KELLY AWARD ESTABLISHED: On September 15, Canada's Minister of Labour and Housing announced the creation of the W.P. Kelly Award to honour William Patrick Kelly, an outstanding Canadian mediator, the founder of the Canadian Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and at the time of his retirement in 1989, an Associate Deputy Minister of Labour. According to the government press release, the award will be presented once every two years, to a mediator who embodies the qualities Mr. Kelly demonstrated during his long public service career as "Canada's chief mediator."
LINKS:
Government of Canada press release at < http://nouvelles.gc.ca/cfmx/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=169279 &>
----------
SUMMARY OF CANADIAN SALARY SURVEYS FOR 2006: The Canadian HR Reporter online has prepared a brief summary of the results of the 2006 salary surveys published by Canadian consulting firms. The firms included in the overview are Watson Wyatt, Mercer, WorldatWork, Morneau Sobeco, Hewitt and Hay Group. A more detailed summary is promised in the October 10, 2005 issue of Canadian HR Reporter.
LINKS:
"Salary survey season" in the online Canadian HR Reporter (Sept. 14) at < http://www.hrreporter.com/loginarea/members/viewing.asp?ArticleNo=3984 >
----------
BEST EMPLOYERS FOR OLDER WORKERS: Awards were made to The Best Employers for 50-Plus at the Summit on the Mature Workforce conference in Toronto on September 19th. The awards, sponsored by Canada's Association for the Fifty-Plus (CARP), and FGIworld, are awarded for excellence in the key areas of hiring, training, career development, health care, employee and family benefits, retirement policy, pensions, and pre- and post-retirement support systems. Awards were presented to 11 organizations, including Carrier Trucks Centers ( Brantford); Catholic Children's Aid Society (Toronto) ; City of Calgary; Direct Energy (Toronto); Excell Services (Penticton); Flexo Products (Niagara Falls); Home Instead (Toronto); Merck Frosst, (Montreal); Orkin/ PCO Services (Mississauga); Seven Oaks General Hospital, (Winnipeg), and Toronto Auto Auctions (Milton).
LINKS:
"Few firms adopt plans to retain aging staff" in the Globe and Mail (Sept. 20) at < http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050920/RWORKPLACE20/TPBusiness/Canadian >
Mature workforce summit website at < http://www.summitonthematureworkforce.ca/>
----------
FAMILY VIOLENCE AS A WORKPLACE ISSUE: The Family Violence Prevention Fund in the U.S. hosts a website urging employers to see domestic violence as a workplace issue, and provides tools and examples for employers and unions. Another website by the Safe at Work coalition also covers this issue.
LINKS:
Strategic employer responses to domestic violence: a crucial human resource challenge at the Family Violence Prevention website at < http://endabuse.org/workplace/>
Safe at work coalition at < http://www.safeatworkcoalition.org/>
----------
U.S. SURVEY MEASURES TRENDS IN HEALTH BENEFITS : The 2005 Annual Employer Health Benefits Survey was released by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust on September 14, providing a detailed examination of the trends in employer-based health coverage in the U.S. The survey shows that only 60% of firms offered health care coverage to workers in 2005, a significant decrease from 69% in 2000 and 66% in 2003. The decline is concentrated among small businesses; the survey finds that 98% of firms with 200 or more workers do offer health care coverage. Premiums increased by an average of 9.2% in 2005, with annual premiums for family coverage reaching $10,880 in 2005. The average worker paid $2,713 towards that total premium. The 2005 survey included 2,995 randomly selected public and private firms with three or more employees.
LINKS:
Employer Health Benefits Survey website at < http://www.kff.org/insurance/7315/index.cfm>
----------
CANADIAN SOCIAL PROGRAMS SUFFERING FROM REGIONALISM: On September 15, the international network Social Watch released its 2005 report on international social development and equality. Roars and Whispers: Gender and Poverty: Promises vs. Action includes thematic chapters and profiles of approximately 50 countries.
Armine Yalnizyan, a graduate of the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources and its Morley Gunderson Prize winner in 2005, has authored Canada's contribution to the report since 2000. In the Canadian chapter, Divided and distracted: regionalism as an obstacle to reducing poverty and inequality, she argues that federal reinvestment in social programs has failed to reduce poverty because there is no national unity of purpose and because governmental priorities have focused on tax cuts and debt reduction.
LINKS:
Social Watch 2005: Roars and Whispers: Gender and Poverty: Promises vs. Action at < http://www.socialwatch.org/en/informeImpreso/tablaDeContenidos2005.htm > (available in chapters or as a full report of 260 pages).
Divided and distracted: regionalism as an obstacle to reducing poverty and inequality (3 pages, PDF) < http://www.socialwatch.org/en/informeImpreso/pdfs/canada2005_eng.pdf >
----------
WOMEN'S POVERTY AND INEQUALITY: Another report released in September, by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), evaluates international progress in eliminating poverty and inequality for women. The report documents gender differences in working conditions in the formal and informal economics around the world, and concludes with 4 core priorities for government policy.
LINKS:
Overview (12 pages, PDF) at < http://www.unifem.org/attachments/products/PoWW2005_overview_eng.pdf >
Progress of the world's women 2005 (115 pages, PDF) at < http://www.unifem.org/attachments/products/PoWW2005_eng.pdf>
----------
Book of the Week: Working Across Cultures
Author: John Hooker
Publisher: Stanford Business Books
ISBN: 0-8647-4807-1
Cultural understanding is indispensable for people who live and work abroad or in multicultural settings, but few have appropriate knowledge and training in this area. This book begins by refuting the notion that professional life interacts with culture only at the level of etiquette. Distinguishing between rule-based and relationship-based cultures, the author examines the roles of authority, individualism, competition, security, negotiation, contracts, supervision, lifestyle, and even humor in different cultures. The book concludes with a comprehensive reading list for more than one hundred countries.
About the Author: John Hooker is the Holloran Professor of Business Ethics and Social Responsibility at Carnegie Mellon University.
----------
121 St. George Street, Toronto Canada 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 19, 2005
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 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, elizabeth.perry@utoronto.ca.
----------
SODEXHO WORKERS STRIKE IN B.C. HOSPITALS : About 1,100 workers who provide cleaning, food service and other health support services at 28 hospitals and health care facilities in the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and the Fraser Health Authority have been on strike since September 15, although essential services are being maintained. Additional strike votes were held at 7 other facilities in the Fraser Health Authority on September 19. The workers are employees of multinational Sodexho, and are represented by the Hospital Employees Union (HEU) and the B.C. General Employees Union (BCGEU). The main issue in the dispute is wages, with the union stating that 90% of workers are paid "poverty-level wages" of $10.15 per hour. They propose an immediate increase to $12.90 per hour, rising to $14.90 per hour over 4 years.
In Alberta, 570 nursing assistants, cleaners and kitchen staff at a number of long term care facilities operated by Capital Care in Alberta ratified an agreement on September 19, providing 8.5% in wage increases and improved medical benefits. The workers are members of CUPE Local 1158.
LINKS:
Hospital Employees Union website at < http://www.heu.org/>http://www.heu.org/
Press release at CUPE Alberta website at < http://www.alberta.cupe.ca/03news/releases/20050920a.htm>
B.C. Labour Relations Board decision B249/2005 (Sept. 15) (7 pages, PDF) re essential services at < http://www.lrb.bc.ca/decisions/B249$2005.pdf>
----------
CAW REACHES TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH DAIMLER CHRYSLER, RATIFIES FORD AGREEMENT: The Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) and Daimler Chrysler announced a tentative agreement on September 20, ahead of a midnight strike deadline. The agreement, still to be ratified, matches the wage, benefit and pension provisions in the Ford agreement reached last week and ratified on September 19. Daimler Chrysler has pledged not to close the 450-worker casting plant in Etobicoke , not to outsource approximately 600 other jobs (mostly truck drivers, janitorial workers and security personnel in Windsor), and to continue to operate 3 shifts at the Brampton and Windsor plants. According to the CAW press release, "Significant changes in work practices were negotiated with the aim of enhancing productivity. However, through the provision of a $70,000 restructuring incentive to encourage early retirement, these initiatives should not result in any involuntary lay-offs."
LINKS:
"CAW settles with Chrysler" in the Toronto Star (Sept. 20) at
< http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1127211477664&call_pageid=968332188492&col=968793972154&t=TS_Home&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes >
"Ford workers accept low-raise contract" in the Globe and Mail (Sept. 19) at < http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050919/RFORD19/TPBusiness/?query=ford >
CAW press release at < http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2005/20/c1651.html >
----------
WAL-MART TIRE AND LUBE EXPRESS CERTIFIED IN B.C.; QUEBEC LABOUR RELATIONS COMMISSION RULES CLOSING OF JONQUIERE STORE ANTI-UNION: In Cranbrook B.C., workers at a Wal-Mart Tire and Lube Express voted in favour of joining the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, Local 1518; the union website has posted the BC Labour Relations Board certificate, dated September 7th. According to the UFCW, two other Wal-Mart Tire and Lube Express stores in Surrey are awaiting certification decisions by the BCLRB.
A September 15 decision of the Labour Relations Commission of Quebec ruled that Wal-Mart failed to demonstrate that it had not closed in store in Jonquiere to avoid unionization. Wal-Mart had closed the store in April 2005 after the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 503 had been certified to represent the 190 employees and while negotiations for a first collective agreement were underway. The Board has not yet determined appropriate remedies, which may include compensation for the 79 employees who had filed complaints for illegal dismissal.
In a second ruling on September 15, the Quebec Labour Relations Commission refused Wal-Mart's request for the lists of names of people who had signed union cards at their stores. The board ruled that such names must be kept secret to prevent possible reprisals.
LINKS:
"Ex Wal-Mart workers win battle" in the Globe and Mail (Sept. 17) at < http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050917.wwalmart0917/BNStory/National/?query=wal-mart >
UFCW press release at < http://www.walmartworkerscanada.com/news.php?articleID=00114>
Quebec Labour Relations Commission decision concerning Jonquiere closing (12 pages, PDF) at < http://www.crt.gouv.qc.ca/decisions/2005/2005QCCRT0502.pdf> and concerning confidentiality of union certification lists (8 pages, PDF) at < http://www.crt.gouv.qc.ca/decisions/2005/2005QCCRT0503.pdf>
----------
NEW SERVICE CANADA DRAWS FIRE FROM PSAC: Service Canada, a new federal government initiative, was officially announced on September 14. Service Canada aims to provide "one-stop" service to Canadians by integrating services from a number of federal departments and providing those services by phone, Internet or in person. Features will be rolled out over the next three years, although some services have already been operating; for example, individuals have been able to apply and file all the necessary reports for Employment Insurance benefits online, and employers have been able to file Record of Employment Service forms online. To promote a positive service attitude, Service Standards and a Service Charter will be established, an Office of Client Satisfaction will take input from Canadians, and an annual Performance Scorecard will be made public.
The Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents the front-line workers whose jobs are involved, has criticized the government for failing to consult citizens or union members in the development of Service Canada. The PSAC website states: "The federal government is about to further reduce the quality of services to Canadians by closing regional offices of the Public Service Commission. Hundreds of jobs will be lost and millions of Canadians will no longer have access to services that are available in larger urban centres". As a result, "PSAC will not promote nor participate in any initiative that will compromise the quality of services to Canadians or cut public sector jobs. "
LINKS:
"Service Canada open for business" at the Service Canada website at < http://servicecanada.gc.ca/en/whatsnew.html>l and < http://servicecanada.gc.ca/en/about/release.html>
Public Service Alliance of Canada statement on Service Canada at < http://www.psac-afpc.org/issues/service-e.shtml>
----------
PROCEDURES FOR YOUNGER WORKERS IN B.C. ARE IGNORED: The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has published an extensive report entitled Child and Youth Employment Standards: The Experience of Young Workers Under British Columbia's New Policy Regime. In 2003 British Columbia altered the regulations for the employment of children and youth. The study suggests that these new regulations are not being followed, putting children at risk. British Columbia, according to the report, provides less protection for child workers than other jurisdictions in Canada, the United States and the European Union.
LINK:
Child and Youth Employment Standards: The Experience of Young Workers Under British Columbia's New Policy Regime (41 pages, PDF) at < http://www.policyalternatives.ca/documents/BC_Office_Pubs/bc_2005/child_youth_employment.pdf >
----------
ONTARIO HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION REVIEW: As he approaches the end of his term as Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Keith Norton has initiated a consultation concerning the human rights system in the province to find ways to render the system more effective. The Commission has issued a discussion paper and collected responses to it. It will hold a series of focus group sessions, the results of which will be released as a consultation report. In releasing the 2004-2005 Annual Report of the OHRC in July 2005, Mr. Norton stated, "I am concerned by the lack of Government response to our repeated requests for procedural amendments to the Human Rights Code or additional resources to deal with the growing number of new complaints filed each year."
LINKS:
Overview of the consultation process at the OHRC website at < http://www.ohrc.on.ca/english/consultations/human-rights-review-discussion.shtml >
Discussion paper (40 pages, PDF) at the OHRC website at < http://www.ohrc.on.ca/english/consultations/human-rights-review-discussion-paper.pdf >
2004-2005 Annual Report of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (HTML or PDF) at < http://www.ohrc.on.ca/english/publications/2004-2005-annual-report.shtml >
----------
W.P. KELLY AWARD ESTABLISHED: On September 15, Canada's Minister of Labour and Housing announced the creation of the W.P. Kelly Award to honour William Patrick Kelly, an outstanding Canadian mediator, the founder of the Canadian Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and at the time of his retirement in 1989, an Associate Deputy Minister of Labour. According to the government press release, the award will be presented once every two years, to a mediator who embodies the qualities Mr. Kelly demonstrated during his long public service career as "Canada's chief mediator."
LINKS:
Government of Canada press release at < http://nouvelles.gc.ca/cfmx/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=169279 &>
----------
SUMMARY OF CANADIAN SALARY SURVEYS FOR 2006: The Canadian HR Reporter online has prepared a brief summary of the results of the 2006 salary surveys published by Canadian consulting firms. The firms included in the overview are Watson Wyatt, Mercer, WorldatWork, Morneau Sobeco, Hewitt and Hay Group. A more detailed summary is promised in the October 10, 2005 issue of Canadian HR Reporter.
LINKS:
"Salary survey season" in the online Canadian HR Reporter (Sept. 14) at < http://www.hrreporter.com/loginarea/members/viewing.asp?ArticleNo=3984 >
----------
BEST EMPLOYERS FOR OLDER WORKERS: Awards were made to The Best Employers for 50-Plus at the Summit on the Mature Workforce conference in Toronto on September 19th. The awards, sponsored by Canada's Association for the Fifty-Plus (CARP), and FGIworld, are awarded for excellence in the key areas of hiring, training, career development, health care, employee and family benefits, retirement policy, pensions, and pre- and post-retirement support systems. Awards were presented to 11 organizations, including Carrier Trucks Centers ( Brantford); Catholic Children's Aid Society (Toronto) ; City of Calgary; Direct Energy (Toronto); Excell Services (Penticton); Flexo Products (Niagara Falls); Home Instead (Toronto); Merck Frosst, (Montreal); Orkin/ PCO Services (Mississauga); Seven Oaks General Hospital, (Winnipeg), and Toronto Auto Auctions (Milton).
LINKS:
"Few firms adopt plans to retain aging staff" in the Globe and Mail (Sept. 20) at < http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050920/RWORKPLACE20/TPBusiness/Canadian >
Mature workforce summit website at < http://www.summitonthematureworkforce.ca/>
----------
FAMILY VIOLENCE AS A WORKPLACE ISSUE: The Family Violence Prevention Fund in the U.S. hosts a website urging employers to see domestic violence as a workplace issue, and provides tools and examples for employers and unions. Another website by the Safe at Work coalition also covers this issue.
LINKS:
Strategic employer responses to domestic violence: a crucial human resource challenge at the Family Violence Prevention website at < http://endabuse.org/workplace/>
Safe at work coalition at < http://www.safeatworkcoalition.org/>
----------
U.S. SURVEY MEASURES TRENDS IN HEALTH BENEFITS : The 2005 Annual Employer Health Benefits Survey was released by the Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Research and Educational Trust on September 14, providing a detailed examination of the trends in employer-based health coverage in the U.S. The survey shows that only 60% of firms offered health care coverage to workers in 2005, a significant decrease from 69% in 2000 and 66% in 2003. The decline is concentrated among small businesses; the survey finds that 98% of firms with 200 or more workers do offer health care coverage. Premiums increased by an average of 9.2% in 2005, with annual premiums for family coverage reaching $10,880 in 2005. The average worker paid $2,713 towards that total premium. The 2005 survey included 2,995 randomly selected public and private firms with three or more employees.
LINKS:
Employer Health Benefits Survey website at < http://www.kff.org/insurance/7315/index.cfm>
----------
CANADIAN SOCIAL PROGRAMS SUFFERING FROM REGIONALISM: On September 15, the international network Social Watch released its 2005 report on international social development and equality. Roars and Whispers: Gender and Poverty: Promises vs. Action includes thematic chapters and profiles of approximately 50 countries.
Armine Yalnizyan, a graduate of the Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources and its Morley Gunderson Prize winner in 2005, has authored Canada's contribution to the report since 2000. In the Canadian chapter, Divided and distracted: regionalism as an obstacle to reducing poverty and inequality, she argues that federal reinvestment in social programs has failed to reduce poverty because there is no national unity of purpose and because governmental priorities have focused on tax cuts and debt reduction.
LINKS:
Social Watch 2005: Roars and Whispers: Gender and Poverty: Promises vs. Action at < http://www.socialwatch.org/en/informeImpreso/tablaDeContenidos2005.htm > (available in chapters or as a full report of 260 pages).
Divided and distracted: regionalism as an obstacle to reducing poverty and inequality (3 pages, PDF) < http://www.socialwatch.org/en/informeImpreso/pdfs/canada2005_eng.pdf >
----------
WOMEN'S POVERTY AND INEQUALITY: Another report released in September, by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), evaluates international progress in eliminating poverty and inequality for women. The report documents gender differences in working conditions in the formal and informal economics around the world, and concludes with 4 core priorities for government policy.
LINKS:
Overview (12 pages, PDF) at < http://www.unifem.org/attachments/products/PoWW2005_overview_eng.pdf >
Progress of the world's women 2005 (115 pages, PDF) at < http://www.unifem.org/attachments/products/PoWW2005_eng.pdf>
----------
Book of the Week: Working Across Cultures
Author: John Hooker
Publisher: Stanford Business Books
ISBN: 0-8647-4807-1
Cultural understanding is indispensable for people who live and work abroad or in multicultural settings, but few have appropriate knowledge and training in this area. This book begins by refuting the notion that professional life interacts with culture only at the level of etiquette. Distinguishing between rule-based and relationship-based cultures, the author examines the roles of authority, individualism, competition, security, negotiation, contracts, supervision, lifestyle, and even humor in different cultures. The book concludes with a comprehensive reading list for more than one hundred countries.
About the Author: John Hooker is the Holloran Professor of Business Ethics and Social Responsibility at Carnegie Mellon University.
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