Wednesday, April 19, 2006
[IWS] CANADA: Weekly Work Report 17 April 2006
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 April 17, 2006
----------
COMPASSIONATE CARE LEGISLATION PASSED IN B.C.: Bill 8, the Employment Standards (Compassionate Care Leave) Amendment Act, 2006 passed quickly through the B.C. legislature from its introduction on March 9 to third reading on March 21 and Royal Assent on March 28th. As highlighted in the March 13 issue of WWR, the new legislation will allow employees to take up to 8 weeks' unpaid compassionate care leave to care for a family member, if a medical practitioner has certified that the family member is at significant risk of death within 26 weeks. With the passage of Bill 8, Alberta and the Northwest Territories are the only jurisdictions in Canada that do not provide compassionate care leave.
LINKS:
Text of Bill 8 at < http://www.legis.gov.bc.ca/38th2nd/3rd_read/gov08-3.htm>
----------
ARBITRATION AWARD FOR NOVA SCOTIA GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES : Almost 6,000 employees of the Nova Scotia provincial government welcomed the award of a three person arbitration board on April 6. The award provides wage increases of 2.9% annually over a three-year contract with an additional 2% increase on the base rate in the first year. The provisions of the award are retroactive to April 1, 2004 and will expire on March 31, 2007.
LINKS:
Highlights of Nova Scotia Government Employees award (5 pages, PDF) at < http://action.web.ca/home/nsgeu/attach/April 5_2006_Civil Service Arbitration Award Highlights.pdf>
Arbitrators award (81 pages, PDF) at < http://www.nsgeu.ns.ca/bargaining/CSApr506.pdf>
----------
CANADIAN LABOUR CONGRESS HONOURED ON ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY: On April 23rd, 1956, at a convention in Toronto, the Canadian Labour Congress was born from the union of the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada and the Canadian Congress of Labour. On April 20, Canada Post will issue a commemorative 51-cent stamp celebrating the 50th anniversary.
LINKS:
Canadian Labour Congress website at < http://canadianlabour.ca/index.php/home> and
CLC press release at < http://canadianlabour.ca/index.php/NewsRelease/890> and Canada Post press release at < http://www.news.gc.ca/cfmx/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=206959>
----------
PRIVACY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION, THE US PATRIOT ACT, AND CONTRACTING OUT: At the end of March, the federal government released a guidance document to provide advice to federal government institutions whenever they consider contracting out activities in which personal information about Canadians is handled or accessed by private sector agencies under contract , and explicitly states that it was developed in response to privacy risks associated with the potential exposure of Canadians personal information to U.S. authorities under the USA PATRIOT Act. While welcoming the Guidance Document, the federal Office of the Privacy Commissioner urges the government to review the Privacy Act to bring it up to date with the challenges that were not conceived of when it was enacted specifically, the growth of globalization and the extensive outsourcing of personal information processing and storage.
The concern for the implications of contracting out under the Patriot Act began in British Columbia in 2004, and led to a report from the Information and Privacy Commissioner of B.C. and a 2005 Supreme Court decision which is still under appeal. Another dispute is currently underway concerning B.C. Hydro employee records and Accenture, the contractor which processes BC Hydro personnel information. The B.C. Federation of Labour is calling for a full inquiry by the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
LINKS:
Guidance Document: Taking Privacy into Account Before Making Contracting Decisions (34 pages, PDF) at the Treasury Board website < http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/gospubs/TBM_128/gd-do/gd-do_e.pdf >
Privacy Matters: The Federal Strategy to Address Concerns About the USA PATRIOT Act and Transborder Data Flows (HTML) at the Treasury Board website at
< http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/gospubs/TBM_128/gd-do/gd-do_e.asp >
Press release from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at < http://www.privcom.gc.ca/media/nr-c/2006/nr-c_060406_e.asp>
Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia documents re the USA Patriot Act at < http://www.oipcbc.org/sector_public/usa_patriot_act/patriot_act_resources.htm >
----------
PIPA AND THE HIRING PROCESS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: Although the Information and Privacy Commissioner of B.C. had already provided a general guide to the requirements of the provinces privacy legislation, on April 10, the Office released guidance on some practical issues relating to the hiring process, answering such questions as how to handle unsolicited resumes and how do to handle reference checks. The Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) came into force in B.C. on January 1, 2004, and applies to all provincially regulated private sector organizations, including businesses and non-profit organizations such as labour unions, charities, foundations, trusts, clubs, religious institutions, associations and amateur sports organizations.
LINKS:
A Guide for Businesses and organizations to British Columbias Personal Information Protection Act (52 pages, PDF) at < http://www.oipc.bc.ca/pdfs/private/a_GUIDE_TO_PIPA(3rd_ed).pdf>
PIPA and the hiring process (8 pages, PDF) at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of B.C. at < http://www.oipcbc.org/pdfs/private/PIPAHiringFAQ(10APR06).pdf>
----------
THE TREND TO TRANSPARENCY CONTINUES: The government of Quebec has issued a policy paper proposing changes to the governance of Crown corporations to limit patronage appointments, increase transparency and improve performance. Included in the proposal is that there be an equal number of men and women on the boards of directors within five years. The new rules should come into effect some time in 2007 and will apply to such organizations as Hydro Quebec, the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and the Societe des alcohols du Quebec.
LINKS:
Quebec Ministry of Finance press release (in English) at < http://www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/en/ministre/discours/20060406a.pdf >
Modernizing the Governance of Government Corporations: Policy Statement (50 pages, PDF) at < http://www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/en/documents/publications/pdf/modernizing_Governance.pdf >
Quebec tightens controls on Crown corporations in the Montreal Gazette (April 8) at < http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=6d502d52-bae4-47f7-8e09-cf837326a78d&k=75612&p=1 >
----------
PERFORMANCE MEASURES FOR THE NEW HR ROLE: The U.S. office of Deloitte Consulting released a report on the emerging role of the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) on April 3. The framework describes the CHROs roles and responsibilities in terms of four major categories: strategy, organization and performance, HR service delivery , and compliance and governance - and provides process and performance measures for each of the categories.
LINKS:
Strategist & Steward: The Evolving Role of the Chief Human Resources Officer (28 pages, PDF) at < http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/US_HC_CHRO_brochure.final.7_05.pdf >
----------
THE WORKPLACE PARTNERS PANEL LAUNCHES AN ATLANTIC REGION TASK FORCE: The Workplace Partners Panel is a national initiative announced in the 2005 federal budget as part of the Workplace Skills Strategy, to develop strategies and solutions to Canadas workplace skills and labour market needs . Launched in October 2005, it is managed by the Canadian Labour and Business Centre (CLBC) with the objective to establish regionally structured task forces to discuss labour market issues at the local level. Like the CLBC itself, these task forces and discussions are co-chaired by senior business and labour leaders, and emphasize collaborative dialogue. On April 18, the first of such regional dialogue sessions will take place for the Atlantic Region, supported by a 32 page document: Skills shortage in the context of an aging workforce: Atlantic Provinces handbook. Also relevant to the issue are the proceedings from a July, 2005, tripartite forum sponsored by the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Labour and the CLBC, which considered labour market issues in the context of labour/management relations.
LINKS:
Workplace Partners Panel website at < http://www.wpp-clbc.ca/>
Skills shortage in the context of an aging workforce: Atlantic Provinces handbook (32 pages, PDF) at < http://www.wpp-clbc.ca/files/PDF/wpp_skills_shortage.pdf>
Nova Scotia Tri-Partite Forum, July 2005 (24 pages, PDF) at the CLBC website at < http://www.clbc.ca/files/Reports/Nova_Scotia_Tri-Partite_Forum_Proceedings.pdf >
----------
BUSINESS VIEWPOINTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CANADIAN PROSPERITY: The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association launched a new magazine with the March/April issue of 20/20. The CMEs guiding principle is to make Canadian business the most competitive in the world by the year 2020. The inaugural issue addresses the dirty and dangerous image of manufacturing and sets out to update that brand with a more modern one. It also outlines the associations view of critical success factors for the future, including leadership and workforce capabilities, which were identified in the Manufacturing 20/20 national consultation reports in 2005.
Continuing its tradition since 1996, the Canadian Labour and Business Centre surveyed 1,169 leaders from the business, labour and public sector in fall of 2005, to determine their perspectives on forty-two issues facing the economy and labour market. Results of the survey are online in an interactive data base which allows searching by issue, by region, by sector, and allows creation of charts to visualize the findings. Some of the issues surveyed include outsourcing of jobs, lack of jobs, immigration, and trade.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has published a new policy paper addressed to the Members of Parliament. Towards Canadas Prosperity: tackling the barriers to productivity growth makes recommendations in eight areas: fiscal policy, Canada-U.S. relations, trade, the regulatory environment, a skilled and qualified workforce, infrastructure, energy and the environment, and health care reform. Among the Chambers recommendations for a skilled and qualified workforce include a focus on more efficiency in the immigration system, including the work permit system, and a call to operate the Employment Insurance program as a true insurance program and gradually reduce the employer EI contribution premium rate to equal the employee premium rate.
LINKS:
20/20 Magazine Inaugural Issue (March/April 2006) at the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters website at < http://www.cme-mec.ca/national/magazine.asp>
Manufacturing 20/20 Reports from a link at < http://www.cme-mec.ca/national/template_na.asp?p=15>
2005 Viewpoints Survey Interactive version at < http://www.wpp-clbc.ca/Survey/default.aspx> and a PowerPoint summary presentation at < http://www.clbc.ca/files/Reports/Fitting_In/PPF_immigration_Lochhead.ppt#11 >
Towards Canadas Prosperity: tackling the barriers to productivity growth (17 pages, PDF) at < http://www.chamber.ca/cmslib/general/MPPaper032306.pdf>
----------
MINIMUM WAGE AND THE EFFECT ON YOUNGER WORKERS: A literature review released by the Canadian Policy Research Network on April 13 summarizes the theory of minimum wage floors and the traditional evidence of employment impact. The author, Olalekan Edagbami, concludes that increases in the minimum wage are generally harmful to teenage and youth employment, but have little or no negative employment effect on adults aged 25 and older.
LINKS:
The Employment Effects of the Minimum Wage: A Review of the Literature (43 pages, PDF) from the Canadian Policy Research Networks website at < http://www.cprn.org/en/doc.cfm?doc=1410>
----------
SCHOOL TO WORK TRANSITION: Statistics Canada recently released a study entitled Education Indicators in Canada: Report of the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program 2005. The report covers all levels of education and includes apprenticeship programs. A chapter on the transition from the education system to the workforce compares the unemployment rates and earnings of individuals with varying degrees of education.
LINKS:
Overview at the Statistics Canada website at < http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/81-582-XIE/81-582-XIE2006001.htm >
Education Indicators in Canada: Report of the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program 2005 (270 pages, PDF) at < http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/81-582-XIE/2006001/pdf/81-582-XIE2006001.pdf >
----------
Book of the Week: CEO-speak : the language of corporate leadership
by Joel Amernic and Russell Craig. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006. 243 p. ISBN0-7735-3037-1
In a world in which corporate accountability and ethical behaviour have become increasingly important, the authors of this book consider the implications of the corporate language of leadership. Through a rhetorical analysis of the speeches and letters of chief executive officers, annual reports to shareholders, press releases, and company newsletters and websites, they show that CEOs are elitist and exclusionary propagators of an often biased stream of discourse.
They find that CEO-speak evokes an ideology of neo-liberalism, extreme individualism, hyper-competition, and global capitalism. They also examine the Internet as a powerful new platform for CEO-speak and show that CEOs are frequently presented as heroes engaged in "the war of business". In contesting the notion that accounting is objective, CEO-Speak serves as an introduction to the fundamental controversies and ambiguities in corporate accountability. The authors argue that the language of CEOs should raise alarm bells regarding the ethos of corporate leadership and urge the business press, academia, and the accounting and auditing community to take a more critical approach.
About the Authors:
Joel Amernic is a professor at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
Russell Craig is a professor at the National Graduate School of Management, Australian National University.
----------
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.
----------
121 St. George Street, 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 April 17, 2006
----------
COMPASSIONATE CARE LEGISLATION PASSED IN B.C.: Bill 8, the Employment Standards (Compassionate Care Leave) Amendment Act, 2006 passed quickly through the B.C. legislature from its introduction on March 9 to third reading on March 21 and Royal Assent on March 28th. As highlighted in the March 13 issue of WWR, the new legislation will allow employees to take up to 8 weeks' unpaid compassionate care leave to care for a family member, if a medical practitioner has certified that the family member is at significant risk of death within 26 weeks. With the passage of Bill 8, Alberta and the Northwest Territories are the only jurisdictions in Canada that do not provide compassionate care leave.
LINKS:
Text of Bill 8 at < http://www.legis.gov.bc.ca/38th2nd/3rd_read/gov08-3.htm>
----------
ARBITRATION AWARD FOR NOVA SCOTIA GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES : Almost 6,000 employees of the Nova Scotia provincial government welcomed the award of a three person arbitration board on April 6. The award provides wage increases of 2.9% annually over a three-year contract with an additional 2% increase on the base rate in the first year. The provisions of the award are retroactive to April 1, 2004 and will expire on March 31, 2007.
LINKS:
Highlights of Nova Scotia Government Employees award (5 pages, PDF) at < http://action.web.ca/home/nsgeu/attach/April 5_2006_Civil Service Arbitration Award Highlights.pdf>
Arbitrators award (81 pages, PDF) at < http://www.nsgeu.ns.ca/bargaining/CSApr506.pdf>
----------
CANADIAN LABOUR CONGRESS HONOURED ON ITS 50TH ANNIVERSARY: On April 23rd, 1956, at a convention in Toronto, the Canadian Labour Congress was born from the union of the Trades and Labor Congress of Canada and the Canadian Congress of Labour. On April 20, Canada Post will issue a commemorative 51-cent stamp celebrating the 50th anniversary.
LINKS:
Canadian Labour Congress website at < http://canadianlabour.ca/index.php/home> and
CLC press release at < http://canadianlabour.ca/index.php/NewsRelease/890> and Canada Post press release at < http://www.news.gc.ca/cfmx/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=206959>
----------
PRIVACY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION, THE US PATRIOT ACT, AND CONTRACTING OUT: At the end of March, the federal government released a guidance document to provide advice to federal government institutions whenever they consider contracting out activities in which personal information about Canadians is handled or accessed by private sector agencies under contract , and explicitly states that it was developed in response to privacy risks associated with the potential exposure of Canadians personal information to U.S. authorities under the USA PATRIOT Act. While welcoming the Guidance Document, the federal Office of the Privacy Commissioner urges the government to review the Privacy Act to bring it up to date with the challenges that were not conceived of when it was enacted specifically, the growth of globalization and the extensive outsourcing of personal information processing and storage.
The concern for the implications of contracting out under the Patriot Act began in British Columbia in 2004, and led to a report from the Information and Privacy Commissioner of B.C. and a 2005 Supreme Court decision which is still under appeal. Another dispute is currently underway concerning B.C. Hydro employee records and Accenture, the contractor which processes BC Hydro personnel information. The B.C. Federation of Labour is calling for a full inquiry by the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
LINKS:
Guidance Document: Taking Privacy into Account Before Making Contracting Decisions (34 pages, PDF) at the Treasury Board website < http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/gospubs/TBM_128/gd-do/gd-do_e.pdf >
Privacy Matters: The Federal Strategy to Address Concerns About the USA PATRIOT Act and Transborder Data Flows (HTML) at the Treasury Board website at
< http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/gospubs/TBM_128/gd-do/gd-do_e.asp >
Press release from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at < http://www.privcom.gc.ca/media/nr-c/2006/nr-c_060406_e.asp>
Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia documents re the USA Patriot Act at < http://www.oipcbc.org/sector_public/usa_patriot_act/patriot_act_resources.htm >
----------
PIPA AND THE HIRING PROCESS IN BRITISH COLUMBIA: Although the Information and Privacy Commissioner of B.C. had already provided a general guide to the requirements of the provinces privacy legislation, on April 10, the Office released guidance on some practical issues relating to the hiring process, answering such questions as how to handle unsolicited resumes and how do to handle reference checks. The Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) came into force in B.C. on January 1, 2004, and applies to all provincially regulated private sector organizations, including businesses and non-profit organizations such as labour unions, charities, foundations, trusts, clubs, religious institutions, associations and amateur sports organizations.
LINKS:
A Guide for Businesses and organizations to British Columbias Personal Information Protection Act (52 pages, PDF) at < http://www.oipc.bc.ca/pdfs/private/a_GUIDE_TO_PIPA(3rd_ed).pdf>
PIPA and the hiring process (8 pages, PDF) at the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of B.C. at < http://www.oipcbc.org/pdfs/private/PIPAHiringFAQ(10APR06).pdf>
----------
THE TREND TO TRANSPARENCY CONTINUES: The government of Quebec has issued a policy paper proposing changes to the governance of Crown corporations to limit patronage appointments, increase transparency and improve performance. Included in the proposal is that there be an equal number of men and women on the boards of directors within five years. The new rules should come into effect some time in 2007 and will apply to such organizations as Hydro Quebec, the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and the Societe des alcohols du Quebec.
LINKS:
Quebec Ministry of Finance press release (in English) at < http://www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/en/ministre/discours/20060406a.pdf >
Modernizing the Governance of Government Corporations: Policy Statement (50 pages, PDF) at < http://www.finances.gouv.qc.ca/en/documents/publications/pdf/modernizing_Governance.pdf >
Quebec tightens controls on Crown corporations in the Montreal Gazette (April 8) at < http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=6d502d52-bae4-47f7-8e09-cf837326a78d&k=75612&p=1 >
----------
PERFORMANCE MEASURES FOR THE NEW HR ROLE: The U.S. office of Deloitte Consulting released a report on the emerging role of the Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) on April 3. The framework describes the CHROs roles and responsibilities in terms of four major categories: strategy, organization and performance, HR service delivery , and compliance and governance - and provides process and performance measures for each of the categories.
LINKS:
Strategist & Steward: The Evolving Role of the Chief Human Resources Officer (28 pages, PDF) at < http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/cda/doc/content/US_HC_CHRO_brochure.final.7_05.pdf >
----------
THE WORKPLACE PARTNERS PANEL LAUNCHES AN ATLANTIC REGION TASK FORCE: The Workplace Partners Panel is a national initiative announced in the 2005 federal budget as part of the Workplace Skills Strategy, to develop strategies and solutions to Canadas workplace skills and labour market needs . Launched in October 2005, it is managed by the Canadian Labour and Business Centre (CLBC) with the objective to establish regionally structured task forces to discuss labour market issues at the local level. Like the CLBC itself, these task forces and discussions are co-chaired by senior business and labour leaders, and emphasize collaborative dialogue. On April 18, the first of such regional dialogue sessions will take place for the Atlantic Region, supported by a 32 page document: Skills shortage in the context of an aging workforce: Atlantic Provinces handbook. Also relevant to the issue are the proceedings from a July, 2005, tripartite forum sponsored by the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Labour and the CLBC, which considered labour market issues in the context of labour/management relations.
LINKS:
Workplace Partners Panel website at < http://www.wpp-clbc.ca/>
Skills shortage in the context of an aging workforce: Atlantic Provinces handbook (32 pages, PDF) at < http://www.wpp-clbc.ca/files/PDF/wpp_skills_shortage.pdf>
Nova Scotia Tri-Partite Forum, July 2005 (24 pages, PDF) at the CLBC website at < http://www.clbc.ca/files/Reports/Nova_Scotia_Tri-Partite_Forum_Proceedings.pdf >
----------
BUSINESS VIEWPOINTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CANADIAN PROSPERITY: The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association launched a new magazine with the March/April issue of 20/20. The CMEs guiding principle is to make Canadian business the most competitive in the world by the year 2020. The inaugural issue addresses the dirty and dangerous image of manufacturing and sets out to update that brand with a more modern one. It also outlines the associations view of critical success factors for the future, including leadership and workforce capabilities, which were identified in the Manufacturing 20/20 national consultation reports in 2005.
Continuing its tradition since 1996, the Canadian Labour and Business Centre surveyed 1,169 leaders from the business, labour and public sector in fall of 2005, to determine their perspectives on forty-two issues facing the economy and labour market. Results of the survey are online in an interactive data base which allows searching by issue, by region, by sector, and allows creation of charts to visualize the findings. Some of the issues surveyed include outsourcing of jobs, lack of jobs, immigration, and trade.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has published a new policy paper addressed to the Members of Parliament. Towards Canadas Prosperity: tackling the barriers to productivity growth makes recommendations in eight areas: fiscal policy, Canada-U.S. relations, trade, the regulatory environment, a skilled and qualified workforce, infrastructure, energy and the environment, and health care reform. Among the Chambers recommendations for a skilled and qualified workforce include a focus on more efficiency in the immigration system, including the work permit system, and a call to operate the Employment Insurance program as a true insurance program and gradually reduce the employer EI contribution premium rate to equal the employee premium rate.
LINKS:
20/20 Magazine Inaugural Issue (March/April 2006) at the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters website at < http://www.cme-mec.ca/national/magazine.asp>
Manufacturing 20/20 Reports from a link at < http://www.cme-mec.ca/national/template_na.asp?p=15>
2005 Viewpoints Survey Interactive version at < http://www.wpp-clbc.ca/Survey/default.aspx> and a PowerPoint summary presentation at < http://www.clbc.ca/files/Reports/Fitting_In/PPF_immigration_Lochhead.ppt#11 >
Towards Canadas Prosperity: tackling the barriers to productivity growth (17 pages, PDF) at < http://www.chamber.ca/cmslib/general/MPPaper032306.pdf>
----------
MINIMUM WAGE AND THE EFFECT ON YOUNGER WORKERS: A literature review released by the Canadian Policy Research Network on April 13 summarizes the theory of minimum wage floors and the traditional evidence of employment impact. The author, Olalekan Edagbami, concludes that increases in the minimum wage are generally harmful to teenage and youth employment, but have little or no negative employment effect on adults aged 25 and older.
LINKS:
The Employment Effects of the Minimum Wage: A Review of the Literature (43 pages, PDF) from the Canadian Policy Research Networks website at < http://www.cprn.org/en/doc.cfm?doc=1410>
----------
SCHOOL TO WORK TRANSITION: Statistics Canada recently released a study entitled Education Indicators in Canada: Report of the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program 2005. The report covers all levels of education and includes apprenticeship programs. A chapter on the transition from the education system to the workforce compares the unemployment rates and earnings of individuals with varying degrees of education.
LINKS:
Overview at the Statistics Canada website at < http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/81-582-XIE/81-582-XIE2006001.htm >
Education Indicators in Canada: Report of the Pan-Canadian Education Indicators Program 2005 (270 pages, PDF) at < http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/81-582-XIE/2006001/pdf/81-582-XIE2006001.pdf >
----------
Book of the Week: CEO-speak : the language of corporate leadership
by Joel Amernic and Russell Craig. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 2006. 243 p. ISBN0-7735-3037-1
In a world in which corporate accountability and ethical behaviour have become increasingly important, the authors of this book consider the implications of the corporate language of leadership. Through a rhetorical analysis of the speeches and letters of chief executive officers, annual reports to shareholders, press releases, and company newsletters and websites, they show that CEOs are elitist and exclusionary propagators of an often biased stream of discourse.
They find that CEO-speak evokes an ideology of neo-liberalism, extreme individualism, hyper-competition, and global capitalism. They also examine the Internet as a powerful new platform for CEO-speak and show that CEOs are frequently presented as heroes engaged in "the war of business". In contesting the notion that accounting is objective, CEO-Speak serves as an introduction to the fundamental controversies and ambiguities in corporate accountability. The authors argue that the language of CEOs should raise alarm bells regarding the ethos of corporate leadership and urge the business press, academia, and the accounting and auditing community to take a more critical approach.
About the Authors:
Joel Amernic is a professor at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
Russell Craig is a professor at the National Graduate School of Management, Australian National University.
----------
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.
----------
121 St. George Street, 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 : 7:46 AM
