Worker Representation and Protection in the “New

Economy”

• This report was based on a consultation in December, 1996.

• The objective describes the reality of the changing labour market and changing workplace from the perspective of the working people and to explain some of the forces of change.

The Intensification and Casualization of Work

• While the new technology and the higher levels of education should have opened up more skills oriented, productive and rewarding jobs, this did not happen in the 1990’s.

• What has happened is that work has become more precarious and insecure but also more intense.

Legislated Employment Standards in a “New Economy

• Casualization and lean production are the two ways employers are trying to become more competitive through higher productivity.

Good Jobs

• Good jobs are full-time, full-year jobs at a rate of pay above the industrial average.

• Only a minority of Canadians, one in five working women and two in five working men, hold this type of job.

• Even the “good job” holders are threatened by downsizing and restructuring.

Increased Productivity

• Employers are seeking to increase productivity by reducing the level of the core employees and increasing the pace of production through a variety of lean production techniques.

• They are reducing the level of core employees through the use of “contracting out” and “outsourcing” of employment and services.

Increased Productivity

• They are also trying to increase the level of production by making the workers involved in intensifying production.

Longer Hours

• The “core workers” are now worker longer hours.

• Almost one in five workers (one in four men) are working more than 50 hours per week. On top of this some employers are moving to 24 hour per day, seven day per week operations.

• This is in a time when the expectation of a reduced work week.

The Only Thing Worse Than Being Laid Off ….

• About five years ago, at the beginning of 45,000 lay-offs from a work force of 285,000, a coworker once said, “The only thing worse than being laid off, will be being one of the fools left here.

• The ones left behind are the workers who are expected to take up the slack - no one ever expects less work to be done, just that there will be fewer people to do it.

The Only Thing Worse Than Being Laid Off ….

• This of course leads to long hours and low employee morale.

Contracting Out

• The employers are contracting out business on the grounds of the lowest bid, disclaiming any responsibility for the quality of work.

• The erosion of bargaining power has enabled the employer to bring in technology and changes without considering the issues important to workers.

Contracting Out

• The result is deskilled employment instead of the highly skilled, rewarding jobs which technology promised.

The Empowerment of Workers

• While there has been a great deal of rhetoric on this subject, in reality there is very little autonomy in the workplace.

• While there has been the replacement of some repetitive jobs, multi-tasking has just lead to the cycle of a few repetitive jobs.

Health Care

• Even in jobs like nursing in the health care industry, there has been a great deal of narrowing functions in the name of lean production.

• What counts is what can be counted.

• Patients are not being allowed the proper amount of time to recover.

Even the Fortunate…

• What is happening is that even the fortunate workers in the full-time full-year above average income employment do not realize how bad conditions are becoming.

• Jobs are becoming more stressful and insecure. High performance workplaces cannot offer any guarantee of employment.

What Can a Union Do?

• Unions have been able to make some workplaces more rewarding.

• In southern Ontario, a union has been able to get grocery stores to train cashiers to become meat cutters, a full time better paying job.

• Joint union-employer training councils have been able to deliver portable training to the workers.

Precarious Work

• Outside of the full-time, full-year employment work is becoming ever more precarious for the employee.

• Two-thirds of employees do not hold the full-time, full-year, above average income jobs.

• There are two problems - high unemployment and underemployment

Part Time Employment

• While there are some part time employees who are paid well and want to work on a part time basis, the majority of part time unemployment is involuntary and low paying.

• Employers want a labour force which is just in time or on call, waiting to do work only when the employer requires their services.

Contract Work

• One in six jobs and half of the new jobs in Canada are some form of self-employment.

• Much of this type of employment is used to evade the payment of EI, CPP and other benefits by the employer.

• These people are often paid very little and the trend is moving from the inner city to the suburbs.

Term or Casual Employment

• There are one in three nurses is employed on a casual basis, receiving relatively few benefits and protection from the casualness of their employment.

• About 15% of the Public Service is employed on a casual basis and one in three casual employees are employed with public administration or community services.

Home-based Work

• Home-based work and the other self-employment are closely linked.

• For the most part these workers are have relatively low pay and are not eligible for such benefits as EI and CPP.

• The growth of technology has lead to the spread of this type of employment to such things as phone orders for pizza delivery.

Small Firm Employment

• As has been published in the press over recent years the growth of new employment has been largely focused in the small businesses.

• This is disturbing because, ceterus paribus, employment in the larger firms will tend to be higher paying and more stable.

• This phenomenon is reaching the public sector as well.

Why the Change?

• These changes have in part been driven by the broad structural changes such as “globalization” and the higher levels of technology.

• While there is no doubt about the reality of these changes, the casualization of employment in Canada, the US and the UK are not happening in other development countries affected by these phenomenon.

Collective Bargaining

• Collective bargaining is important to limit the effects of these changes since it is shown that collective bargaining compresses the wage differential between high and low income workers by increasing the wages of low income workers.

• It also reduces the differential between men and women.

Unions and Job Creation

• Despite the opinions of some economists, there is little evidence that strong unions and job standards reduce the level of job creation.

• While the Canada-US performance is cited, the job creation performance was similar prior to 1980 but changed after Canada’s aggressive monetary policy.

The Cause of Inequality and Insecurity

• These are not so much caused by some exogenous structural change but rather because of public policy decisions.

• High interest rate policy and attacking the “wage rigidities” through EI and minimum wages while cutting program funds has resulted in lower levels and quality employment.

Labour Standards in a New Economy

• “Globalization” is not an important factor in many industries which depend on a local market.

• Employer strategies to make employees casual, contingent and insecure are inconsistent with higher productivity and higher quality.

• No empirical evidence to support the opposite view.

Social and Economic Costs

• There is growing support for the idea that poor working conditions create a great deal of social and economic distress.

• Workers have poorer mental and physical health, creating burdens.

• Poorer workers spend less on goods and services, reducing economic output.

The Future of Unions and Collective Bargaining

• A crucial issue facing unions and society is whether the current dominant model of union organization, representation and bargaining must evolve or even change dramatically in response to changes in the organization of production and work.

• Do we need multi-employer bargaining powers?

The Future of Unions and Collective Bargaining

• Unionizaton has remained relatively low in the retail trade, accommodation and food services, financial services, and business and personal services sectors.

• These are precisely the areas where the female dominated employment is occurring and where we need the representation of the unions most.

The Future of Unions and Collective Bargaining

• The problem is that employment growth is shifting from the large companies where unionization is easier to the smaller companies where it is more difficult.

• The challenge is to find a way to get adequate union representation in the smaller companies where it is harder to organize and the employer has more to lose.

The Future of Unions and Collective Bargaining

• The solution to this challenge will be to develop a broader based union system which enables the unionized workers to negotiate with a group of employers.

• This could result in wages being taken out of the competitive equation and higher wages to all employees in the secondary labour market.

Legislated Employment Standards in a “New Economy”

• Employment standards have been written for a labour market where the principal type of employment is full-time, full-year.

• What is needed is a set of labour standards designed to make the originator of work responsible for the employment standard, taking away the lowest bid mentality.

Legislated Employment Standards in a “New Economy”

• There should be a major increase to the minimum wage and regular increases to keep this up with the standard of living.

• This would do much to improve the standard of living for women and youth.

Legislated Employment Standards in a “New Economy”

• Home work standards should include:– adoption of home work standards– definition of a home worker– develop a national policy– laws preventing some types of home work– a system of inspections and remedies– detailed data for publication

Legislated Employment Standards in a “New Economy”

– written contracts– regulation and scrutiny (especially for first time

employers)– detailed employer records– minimum wage– rights to unionize– remuneration– occupational health and safety benefits

Legislated Employment Standards in a “New Economy”

– hours of work, rest periods– social security and maternity protection– protection in case of employment termination– resolutions– programs to assist home workers