The government of Saskatchewan is currently undertaking a controversial overhaul of the province’s labour legislation into the mammoth omnibus Bill 85. But those that might be concerned about the rather rash decision to overturn 107 years of labour legislation in the period of a few months need not worry, because what the Saskatchewan government is actually doing is modernizing our labour laws. That’s a relief, “modernizing” has such a new shiny ring to it! Who could be against “modernizing” anything? This legislation must really be cutting edge stuff, thinking outside-the-box, labour legislation 2.0 and all that! So what innovative and pioneering changes are in this legal basket of advanced modernity?
Entries Tagged as 'Employment and Labour'
On the Abuse of Language: “Modernizing” Labour Relations
May 13th, 2013 · Simon Enoch · Employment and Labour, Saskatchewan
Dude, where’s my job?
May 10th, 2013 · Angella MacEwen · Employment and Labour, Youth
The real unemployment rate for Canadians over 25 was 8.8% in April. Not great, for sure, but slightly better than it was in 2009.
For youth 15-24, it was up from last April – to 20.9% – so more than 1 in 5 youth are looking for work and can’t find it. In Ontario, it’s closer to 1 in 4, and in PEI it’s 1 in 3.
If we look at the participation rate of youth aged 20 to 24, we see that it’s actually fallen by 2 percentage points since the trough of the recession in July 2009. During the recovery, young people have been leaving the labour force.
No CommentsTags:
Polozogistics: Nine Thoughts About the Choice of the New Bank of Canada Governor
May 3rd, 2013 · Armine Yalnizyan · Economy & Economic Indicators, Employment and Labour, Household Debt, Income Inequality, International Trade and Investment
1. He’s Number Two: Stephen Poloz was widely acknowledged in economic and political circles as the second-best choice for the top job at the Bank of Canada. So the surprise was not that he was chosen. The surprise was, Why Not Tiff Macklem? Will someone please find out and tell the rest of us?
2. Doctrinaire [or not?] on Inflation Targeting: He thinks it’s “sacrosanct.” Having studied with monetary policy guru David Laidler at the University of Western Ontario, and been part of the Bank of Canada team that brought inflation targeting to a neighbourhood near you, he got the religion all right. Believers are more inclined to see a “rising inflation” problem that isn’t there. The hazard: Pulling the rising-interest-rate trigger too soon and choking off recovery.
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National Day of Mourning: Past Sacrifice, Present Struggle
April 26th, 2013 · Erika Shaker · Employment and Labour
Weekends aside, there’s still a lot to thank unions for.
Maternity leave top-up. Employment Insurance. Child labour laws.
Numerous studies—past, and more recent—have identified the degree to which unions have contributed to more equitable, safer societies, and jobs where the normally stubbornly persistent gender pay gap has been virtually eliminated.
But on the eve of the National Day of Mourning for persons killed or injured in the workplace, it’s important to address in very concrete terms why unions are so important.
Because they save lives.
Crowley’s Red Hot Labour Market
April 22nd, 2013 · Angella MacEwen · Employment and Labour
Brian Lee Crowley’s latest column shows he’s a glass-half-full kinda guy. We shouldn’t be worried about unemployment because a) it’s old-fashioned, b) Boomers had it worse (and now they’re getting old) c) we’re doing better than the U.S., and d) it’s really only young people and immigrants that are unemployed.
This is a relief.
So I shouldn’t worry that Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey indicates that real average hourly wages have risen by only twenty cents between 2009 and 2012 (an annualized growth rate of 0.3%). Or, that at the same time, real median hourly wages have actually fallen, indicating that any wage growth is limited to a few at the top end.
Canadians Aren’t Buying the Banksplaining
April 15th, 2013 · Erika Shaker · Economy & Economic Indicators, Employment and Labour, Income Inequality, Satire
So, am I the only parent of small children struck by the familiar tone of RBC’s Temporary Foreign Worker damage control message fiasco? In a CBC interview that was basically a clinic for how not to do PR, Chief Human Resources Officer Zabeen Hirji’s attempt at banksplaining sounded suspiciously like a Sharon, Lois and Bram singalong: “Who, me? Yes, you. Couldn’t be! Then who? iGate hired temporary foreign workers from the global labour market cookie jar!”
(Although kudos to CBC for reminding those of us who haven’t seen one in a while what a tough interview—of a Corporate Canada spokesperson, anyway—actually looks like.)
3 CommentsTags: Economy & Economic Indicators·Income Inequality·Poverty and Income Inequality·satire
Climate justice and BC’s political moment
April 5th, 2013 · Marc Lee · British Columbia, Employment and Labour, Environment
The following is based on a talk at the Bring Your Boomers election forum on April 3 at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver, the fourth in a series of intergenerational dialogues from Gen Why Media, and was co-sponsored by the CCPA, Get Your Vote On, LeadNow and Vancity credit union. I was asked to set the stage for a conversation on climate justice between three youth and five politicians seeking office in the coming election.
BC’s 2013 election comes at an important moment in history. Worldwide, extreme weather events from drought to floods to powerful storms and record-breaking temperatures are making a powerful statement that climate change can no longer be denied.
Build a Better Nova Scotia: the Alternative Provincial Budget shows the way
March 25th, 2013 · CCPA-NS · Economy & Economic Indicators, Employment and Labour, Gender Equality, Household Debt, Housing, Maritime Provinces, Nova Scotia, Poverty and Income Inequality
The Nova Scotia provincial government is set to introduce its promised balanced budget this year. The Nova Scotia Alternative Budget, released today, proposes some concrete choices rooted in Nova Scotia communities. Rather than pay down debt, the NS-APB prioritizes balancing the social debt threatening Nova Scotia.
Can a budget really be considered balanced when unemployment is 9.3%, and 47,000 Nova Scotians are ready, willing, and actively looking for work that isn’t there?
No CommentsTags: Economy & Economic Indicators·Employment and Labour·Gender Equality·Government Finance·Nova Scotia·Unemployment·Women
New Shoes and a Haircut: Budget 2013 not so pretty for women in Canada
March 21st, 2013 · Kate McInturff · Child Care, Employment and Labour, Federal Budget, Gender Equality
The Finance Minister got a new pair of shoes. Canadians got a new federal budget. And women in Canada got another haircut.
Budget 2013 is all about Jobs! Jobs! Jobs! And who wouldn’t like a job. Maybe some training. Maybe even a full-time job. With benefits. And a pension plan. Oh go crazy, let’s throw in equal pay.
Not so fast girls! NO JOB FOR YOU!
Why not?
1. Women and the Extractive Industry
2 CommentsTags: Child Care·Employment and Labour·Gender Equality·Women
Budget 2013: Time for a real action plan, not another ad campaign
March 19th, 2013 · Marc Lee · Economy & Economic Indicators, Employment and Labour, Federal Budget
It’s hard to get excited about Thursday’s federal budget. All signs point to an “austerity” budget, even though that approach has failed so spectacularly wherever it has been tried. Austerity is one of those zombie ideas that cannot be killed, roaming rampantly across the pages and screens of the mainstream media. The 2012 federal budget already took a big step down the path of austerity with major public sector cuts, largely focused on direct federal program spending with cuts around 7% (transfers to provinces and individuals, a large part of the federal budget, have largely been spared). About 19,000 federal public service jobs were cut in the 2012 budget, bringing the total to over 35,000 going back to previous rounds of cuts.
No CommentsTags: Austerity·Federal Budget·Government Finance
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