For the Week of September 22, 2003PRECEDENT-SETTING SUPREME COURT DECISION: On September 18, the Supreme Court of Canada released a precedent-setting decision in the case of The District of Parry Sound Social Services Administration Board v. Ontario Public Service Employees Union, Local 324. The case began in 1998 with a grievance on behalf of a probationary employee who was discharged shortly after returning from maternity leave; when the original arbitration board found the discharge was discriminatory, the employer appealed the arbitrator's jurisdiction to hear the matter because the collective agreement stated that a probationary employee could not grieve a discharge. By a 7-2 majority, the Supreme Court ruled that protection in employment legislation, in this case, the Ontario Human Rights Code, is implicit in all collective agreements and is properly subject to arbitration . Further, the decision states that unions and employers are not permitted to negotiate rights and obligations below those established in employment-related statutes. Read the 58-page Supreme Court decision online; or read the OPSEU account of the decision or the analysis at the Lancaster House website. ONTARIO UNIONS CHALLENGE HOSPITAL PRIVATIZATION IN THE COURT: On September 22, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and the Ontario Health Coalition (OHC), filed a Notice of application for Judicial Review in the Divisional Court of the Ontario Superior Court in an attempt to halt the privatization of hospitals in Ottawa, Brampton and Toronto. The union argues that privatization and public-private partnerships contravene the Public Hospitals Act and are seeking to freeze all asset sales and divestments until after the provincial election in Ontario on October 2. See the CUPE announcement which includes the Notice of application for Judicial Review in PDF format. JOB SATISFACTION AND THE EMERGING WORKFORCE: Despite a tough job market and an unstable economy more than half the workers polled in a recent U.S. survey wanted to leave their current jobs within the next 6 to 12 months. The 2003 Spherion Emerging Workforce Study found that more than three quarters of those surveyed consider a fulfilling job and work/life balance more important than moving up the job ladder. For more detailed analysis of the new “breed” of employee click here. A job satisfaction survey released by the Conference Board in the U.S. on September 18th reported similar attitudes: again, more than half were dissatisfied with their jobs. Promotion policies were the least satisfactory benefit of employment with only 20.0% satisfaction rate, down from 23.4% in 1995. Only 20.1% were satisfied with their company’s policies regarding bonus plans, and 29.3% were satisfied with education and job training programs. The survey is summarized at the Conference Board website. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION DISCLOSURE IN PUBLICLY TRADED COMPANIES: Board Games is a 5-part series on Canadian corporate governance which began in The Globe and Mail on September 22. In Tuesday’s issue, the ROB writers examined the compensation statements from the annual shareholder proxy circulars of 207 companies listed on the S&P/TSX index and found that only 6% of companies provided compensation statements that satisfied Ontario Securities Commission regulations regarding executive bonuses and stock ownership. CORPORATE GOVERNANCE SUBJECT OF NEW ISSUE OF IVEY BUSINESS JOURNAL: The September/October 2003 issue of the Ivey Business Journal, released on September 23, contains 6 articles related to corporate governance, including Individual director evaluations: the next step in boardroom effectiveness, by Jay Conger and Edward Lawlor. The IBJ also contains a 10-page interview with John Kenneth Galbraith, part of which deals with ideas in his forthcoming book, The Economics of Innocent Fraud. PUBLIC SERVICE INTEGRITY OFFICER CALLS FOR STRONGER WHISTLEBLOWING PROTECTION: The first-ever Annual Report of the Public Service Integrity Office (PSIO) was tabled in the House of Commons on September 15 and calls for legislation for improved protection from reprisal for whistleblowers in the federal public service. Bill C-25, the Public Service Modernization Act, (currently before a Senate committee) does not go far enough in the opinion of Dr. Edward Keyserlingk, head of the PSIO. See the press release from the PSIO or the full text of the 2002-2003 Annual Report in PDF format. EDUCATIONAL SURVEY DOCUMENTS GENDER DIFFERENCES IN ACHIEVEMENT, OCCUPATIONAL EXPECTATIONS, AND EARNINGS: In an OECD survey in 2001, 77.1% of 15-year old girls in Canada aspired to a high-skilled, white collar occupation while only 64.6% of 15-year old boys had similarly high aspirations . The 2003 edition of Education at a Glance: OECD indicators, released on September 17, provides survey results from OECD countries about student performance in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy; students' attitudes, engagement and learning strategies; and educational outcomes and returns on education. Downloadable Tables are online in Excel format: from Chapter A: 15-year-olds’ occupational expectations by age 30, by gender and Performance of 15-year-old students and gender (2000), and Differences in earnings between females and males. Chapter C examines educational and work status of young people, including Table C5.1. Percentage of 20 to 24-year-olds not in education, by level of educational attainment, gender and work status (2001). Chapter D of the survey examines the salaries and working conditions of teachers and the costs incurred by individuals to become teachers, compared with salaries and costs in other occupations. It also warns of potential teacher shortages in many OECD countries. For a list of available tables online, go to the OECD website. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING IN U.S. AUTO INDUSTRY COMPLETE: The United Auto Workers have settled with the Big Three U.S. automakers. The settlements with General Motors and Delphi Corporation on September 18th were the last agreements to be reached. In all cases the agreements, all for four years, appear to have traded off large wage increases for near cost-free health care. For a summary of the negotiations see an article on the Globe and Mail’s website. For press releases by the union go to the UAW’s website. OECD PROVIDES LONG-RANGE EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK: The OECD estimates that unless action is taken to encourage more people into employment and remove existing barriers to job creation, the annual growth of the workforce in the 30 OECD member countries will slow from an average 1.3% since 1973 to 0.3% over the next 30 years. Based on current trends, the ratio of the over 65-year-olds to the total workforce will rise from 27% in 2000 to 47% in 2030. The OECD Employment Outlook was released on September 17. See chapter summaries and some related tables online for more details. INTERNET GROWTH LEVELS OFF FOR TELECOMMUTING AND SELF-EMPLOYMENT: Statistics Canada released the results of the Household Internet Use Survey on September 18, revealing that the growth in Internet use among Canadian households advanced by only 4% from 2001 to 2002. Among the 7.5 million households that used the internet at home in 2002, work-related use was reported in nearly 1.6 million households, up from fewer than 1.5 million in 2001. Use for self-employment remained unchanged from 2001 at about 1 million households. The Household Internet Use Survey (HIUS) was conducted as a sub-sample of the Labour Force Survey. RATE OF U.S. FATALITIES IN THE WORKPLACE RECORDED AT 4.0 PER 100,000 WORKERS: Results from the 2002 U.S. Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries were released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on September 17, revealing the lowest number and the lowest rate ever recorded since the annual census was begun in1992. Highway incidents account for almost 25% of all fatal work injuries and are the single most frequent type of fatal workplace event. Workplace homicides decreased by about 5%, from 643 in 2001 to 609 in 2002 – also the lowest number ever recorded since 1992. See the 15-page report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/cfoi.pdf ARCHITECT OF CAW’S PAID EDUCATIONAL LEAVE PROGRAM PASSES AWAY: Dan Benedict, a retired staff officer of the Canadian Auto Workers union, died in Ottawa on September 16. In a detailed tribute, the CAW website describes his life-long career in the union and social justice movements, highlighting his role in the establishment of paid educational leave in Canada and his international activities, including activities as a Canadian labour representative at the International Labour Organization (ILO). In 1998, Mr. Benedict was awarded the Order of Canada. 12 MONTH INCREASE IN COST OF LIVING IS THE LOWEST SINCE JULY 2002: Statistics Canada released the Consumer Price Index figures for August 2003 on September 23, showing a rise of 2.0% in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) over the last 12-months. Many items have been responsible for the increase: notably, car insurance premiums have risen 21.8% from August 2002 to August 2003 and the natural gas index has risen 51.4%. See more details at Statistics Canada website or read the commentary by the TD Bank or the CIBC. |
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