Posted: Monday, 20 April 2009
Submissions to Parliament and Government of Canada
Statement by the CLC to the House of Commons Standing Committee Regarding the Status of Women Study on Consequences and Effects the Current Employment Insurance (EI) Programs Have on Women in Canada.
As Monica Townson and Kevin Hayes documented in a study originally conducted for the Status of Women Canada, only 32% of unemployed women qualified for regular EI benefits in recent years compared to 40% of men who were unemployed. Over 70% of women and 80% of men qualified for benefits before the cuts were imposed in the early 1990s. The gender gap in terms of the proportion of unemployed women and men collecting regular benefits has closed a bit, but was still two percentage points in November 2008 (40% vs. 38%). The gap is much bigger when it comes to average benefits. In 2006-07, the average benefit for women was $298 per week compared to $360 for men. Women also qualify for shorter periods on average and, in 2005-06, 30% of women exhausted regular benefits compared to 26% of men. Only about one-third of the total dollar amount of regular EI (unemployment) benefits is paid to women, even though women now participate in the paid workforce at almost the same rate as men. Read more...
Statement to the Standing Committee on Finance Hearing on Bill C-10 Regarding the EI Provisions of the 2009 Budget
EI is a critically important program for Canadian workers, especially in tough times like we face today. Laid off workers obviously need adequate benefits to support themselves and their families while they search for a new job. Unemployment benefits are spent on necessities, not saved, or spent on imports. They are an effective form of economic stimulus and help maintain hard hit community economies. Compared to when we hit previous recessions, our EI program leaves far too many Canadians, especially women and lower wage, insecure workers, out in the cold. In November 2008, just four in 10 unemployed workers qualified for benefits. The maximum weekly benefit of $447 today is more than 25% less than in 1996, and the average benefit now is just $335. Read more here...
Statement to the Standing Committee on Finance Hearing on Bill C-10 Regarding the "Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act"
The Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act was introduced by the Conservative minority government on February 6, 2009 as part of Bill C-10, the Budget Implementation Bill. We see a number of very serious problems with this legislation. The legislation redefines the terms under which "value" of work is assessed. The Act maintains the traditional criteria which looks at "the composite of the skill, effort and responsibility required in the performance of the work and the conditions under which the work is performed." This new legislation, however, introduces the notion that the women's work in the public sector should be valued to prevailing market conditions in the private sector. Read more...
Submission to the Canada Employment Insurance Commission re: 2009 Employment Insurance (EI) Premium Rate Setting
The Report of the Chief Actuary recommends no change to the EI premium rate of $1.73 per $100 of insurable earnings. The CLC does not agree with the now dated economic projections underlying this recommendation, which indicate only a very modest increase in the national unemployment rate in 2009 compared to 2008. The prospect is for unemployment to increase much more dramatically than the forecast increases from 6.1% to 6.5% as the U.S. and the global economy tip into a recession which may well be deep and prolonged. However, we are strongly opposed to increasing premiums in a time of recession, as would be required under the current financing rules unless the government directs otherwise. Facing a recession, we call for no change in premiums, and also for improvements to inadequate benefits. We also urge the government to announce that it will use its power to freeze the premium rate in the event of a recession. Read more...
Submission to the Canada Post Corporation Strategic Review Advisory Panel by the Canadian Labour Congress
The CLC and its postal unions have had a longstanding interest in Canada's postal service. About 66,000 of our members are employees of the Canada Post Group. Most of the employees working for the Canada Post Corporation are represented by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Associations (CPAA) and the Public Service Alliance of Canada/Union of Postal Communications of Canada (PSAC/UPCE).
Our interest in the strategic direction of the Canada Post Corporation goes back many decades. For example, in the period leading up to the creation of Canada Post as a crown corporation in 1981, the CLC was heavily involved in the drafting and finalization of Bill C-42 the Canada Post Corporation Act. We have submitted our comments and views about the mission, the structure and the evolution of the CPC on several occasions. Throughout the years, our basic approach to Canada Post has remained consistent. From its inception we have argued for an improved and expanded public postal service that provides universal, accessible and affordable service to Canadians-wherever they live. Read more...
Research Papers:
Pay Inequity: Canadian Labour Congress Analysis of the "Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act" (Research Paper #47)
The Public Sector Equitable Compensation Act was introduced by the Conservative minority government on February 6, 2009 as part of Bill C-10, the Budget Implementation Bill.
The legislation redefines the terms under which "value" of work is assessed. The Act maintains the traditional criteria which looks at "the composite of the skill, effort, and responsibility required in the performance of the work and the conditions under which the work is performed." This new legislation, however, introduces the notion that women's work in the public sector should be valued by prevailing market conditions in the non-union private sector.
Real pay equity legislation aims at eliminating systemic discrimination in wages resulting from unchecked market forces. By introducing market forces as a comparator, no redress will ever be possible.
We are in favour of public policy that leads to upward harmonization of wages and working conditions. This legislation, however, appears designed to push federal public sector wages downward to meet the lower standards of the private sector. Read more...
Others:
CLC Summary and Analysis of CFIB's Research Report: Wage Watch: A Comparison of Public-sector and Private-sector Wages CFIB Does it Again: Comparing Apples to Fruit Salad
On December 2, 2008, the CFIB released a detailed analysis of the 2006 census findings on full-time earnings by sector and occupation that shows that government and public-sector employees are paid roughly 8 to 17% more than similar employed individuals in the private-sector, and up to 42% (for Federal Public-sector employees) when hours of work and benefits are factored in.
Using median adjusted wages of a selected group of occupations present in both private and public sector, and using multiple assumptions that can be questioned, the CFIB study attempts to demonstrate that public-sector employees are overpaid, mainly because of unions, and this overpayment unfairly increases taxes and unbalances local labour markets. In fact, this study overestimates the wage gap and union premium and it does not demonstrate some of their affirmations, such as the impact of public-sector wages on the local labour market. In its study, the CFIB does not take into consideration factors that explain wage disparities that are known contributers to wage gaps. Such as the level of education of employees, size of employers and presence of a union, job tenure and previous work experience of employees, real working hours and the impact of pay equity, and it excludes a significant part of the labour force of its analysis. Read more...
The 2008 Economic and Fiscal Statement and the Conservative Plan to "Modernize" Pay Equity
The Conservative government of Stephen Harper, in its highly controversial Economic and Fiscal Statement of November 2008, indicated it intended to "modernize" the pay equity law. This initiative raised more questions than it answered: To what extent would this new legislation, in effect, shift responsibility and accountability from employers to unions to make the case for adequate compensation? What are the implications of abandoning an appeals process? Is this the kind of "pro-active" legislation women workers need, or is this ultimately a coercive measure? What does this mean in the context of a federal government which intends to strip away the right to strike of federal employees. Will unions be put in the position of bargaining away a fundamental right? Read more...
CLC Response to the Economic Crisis - Full Version
Global capitalism: on the edge of the abyss
Dramatic recent events have thrown into sharp relief some chronic and long-standing problems of our global and national economic system: an over-developed financial sector which has fuelled rampant speculation rather than productive, job-creating investments in the real economy; huge returns for senior executives and corporate insiders while the wages and the incomes of working families have stagnated; rising household debt instead of a fair sharing of productivity gains with workers; over-reliance on the export of raw resources; a deep crisis in our manufacturing and forest industries; and massive global financial imbalances driven by unbalanced and unfair trade. Read more...
Focused Study on the Causes and Impact of Work Stoppages in the Federal Private Sector-Submission to Peter Annis, LL.B., by the Canadian Labour Congress
The right to strike is a fundamental right related to our members freedom of association and freedom of expression as protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In our view, any amendments to the labour relations system in the federal private sector that would limit or eliminate the right to strike cannot be justified by the current trend in work stoppages in Canada.
If the federal government wants to help prevent strikes and lockouts and reduce the duration of work stoppages in the free collective bargaining process in Canada, it should maintain a balanced labour relations system and re-invest time, energy and resources into conflict prevention.
The labour relations system in the federal private sector cannot be balanced if employers continue to test the limits of loose federal rules, especially around the use of temporary replacement workers. If the federal government wants to prevent work stoppages through a balanced labour relations system, it should adopt a complete ban of replacement workers. This would reduce the incidence and the duration of strikes as well as the risk of violence on the picket line.
The Canada Labour Code also has a preventive measure that assists the parties in reaching collective agreements: the Conciliation Procedure. But access to that process is normally available to the parties only when an impasse is reached. An important service such as the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) should be readily accessible, on request, to the parties for assistance long before an impasse is reached. Read more...
CLC Presentation to International Trade Committee
We have three major concerns with the Canada-Korea negotiations.
- We are concerned that the model of trade negotiations under consideration will solidify Canada's role as a resource-producing region within North America and in the world economy at the expense of Canada's manufacturing base, communities and public services.
- We are concerned that the deal is wrong for workers in both countries. It puts corporate profits ahead of the needs and interests of working people in both Canada and Korea.
- We are concerned that Canada is playing an unfortunate role at the level of world order. Instead of understanding why there is such deeply held and widespread opposition to neo-liberal trade and investment policies around the world, Canada is unfortunately reinforcing U.S. unilateralism to the detriment of the multilateral system. Read more...
Link Research Publication - April 2009