Posted: Friday, 17 September 2010

CLC officers Ken Georgetti and Barbara Byers participated in the first meeting of the Roundtable on Workforce Skills held in Toronto on September 15.

Georgetti, CLC president, is co-chair of the Roundtable, which consists of senior representatives from business, organized labour, as well as the federal and provincial governments. It serves as a forum to exchange perspectives on key labour force development issues, emerging trends and future workforce requirements.

Georgetti, in his remarks to the group, said: “When it comes to skills issues, the common interests shared by labour, business and governments will outweigh our differences as long as we are committed to work together toward real results for Canadian workers and businesses.”

The meeting discussed several important issues including increased competition from emerging markets, an ageing national demographic and Canada’s record on productivity. Over the next two years, the Roundtable members will develop practical strategies to address these challenges and to recommend specific actions to governments, business and labour.