comment:
same ole same ole same ole.... Poor Canada.... not a star among the lot of leaders to choose -if they win minority THEY ALL PROMISE NOT TO PLAY NICE.... oh yes ..... and when UNITED NATIONS AND USA - HAVE A CLEAR AND TRANSPARENT FREEDOM OF INFORMATION HIGHWAY- (Edward Snowden)- ya all come and call on Canada OK.... and Europe u ain't no shining star.... at least Russia and China -we know they don't give a f**k about freedom of information highway.... but at least they don't lie about it......
ABSURDITY OF THIS ARTICLE.... seriously world.... seriously???? u can swallow United Nations and USA f**k ups and lies and IMF banking stealing the world's $$$$$ from 7 billion innocents.... seriously... netizens and citizens of the world.... the pretend....versus ...the real..... something's gotta give folks..imho- CANADA'S 59TH???? HELL YEAH!... at least we're f**king honest about it...... pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
Canada slides to 59th of 102 nations on information freedom
TOBY MENDEL
Editor's Note
Toby Mendel is executive director of the Centre for Law and Democracy in Halifax.
As International Right to Know Day on Sept. 28 approaches, it is worth reflecting on the state of access to information across Canada. The Centre for Law and Democracy, a Halifax-based human rights non-governmental organization, has developed the RTI Rating, a methodology for measuring the strength of access to information laws. We have applied the RTI Rating around the world to support transparency efforts and it is recognized globally and used by, among others, the World Bank and UNESCO.
According to the RTI Rating, Canada's Access to Information Act ranks a very poor 59 th place globally from among 102 countries with right to information (RTI) laws, just behind Rwanda and Mongolia, and far behind leading countries such as India, Slovenia and Mexico. This is down from 51 st place just three years ago and is likely to decline further as other countries improve their laws while our 30-year old act continues to languish.
The federal legislation is at the very bottom of the pack in Canada, alongside that of New Brunswick and Alberta. But other Canadian jurisdictions do not fare much better.
At least that was the situation until June 1, when a new and vastly improved law came into force in Newfoundland. That law stands head and shoulders above its Canadian counterparts with a score of 111 points out of a possible maximum of 150 on the RTI Rating, putting it in 15 th place globally, closer to where most Canadians would expect to see us.
Campaigning for access to information law reform in Canada has been a challenge, with officials constantly comparing their laws against the other weak laws in Canada. Hopefully the breakthrough in Newfoundland will spur change across the country. When I made a presentation to the Committee on Institutions of the Quebec National Assembly a few weeks ago, they certainly pricked up their ears when I mentioned that Newfoundland was a clear 30 points ahead of Quebec on the RTI Rating.
At the federal level, practically every serious observer has noted grave problems with the Canadian system. In Striking the Right Balance for Transparency , published in March 2015, the Information Commissioner of Canada stated: ‟(My) predecessors and I have documented multiple challenges and deficiencies with the (Access to Information Act). The Act is applied to encourage a culture of delay. The Act is applied to deny disclosure. It acts as a shield against transparency. The interests of the government trump the interests of the public." This assessment lines up perfectly with the findings of our RTI Rating assessment.
CLD, along with other Canadian NGOs, has written to the leaders of the main political parties, asking them to commit to amending the Access to Information Act and to four specific reforms: expanding the act to cover all public bodies, limiting the scope of the exceptions, giving the Information Commissioner stronger oversight powers and requiring officials to document their decisions. We are still waiting for responses.
In the fall of 2013, CLD used the same tactic in the Nova Scotian elections. In a letter to CLD on Oct. 4, 2013, Stephen McNeil promised to make Nova Scotia ‟the most open and transparent province in Canada." He also promised to implement all three of the suggested commitments that CLD had put forward, namely to give the Information and Privacy Commissioner binding decision-making powers, to introduce fixed maximum time limits for processing requests and to limit the use of the solicitorclient privilege exception. Unfortunately, after being elected, Premier McNeil appears to have forgotten those promises, stating in July 2014 that the system was working well.
In 1983, when Canada first adopted its Access to Information Act, it was a global leader. Today, it has fallen sadly behind. Indeed, our act is weak, outdated and badly in need of reform.
Join us, Steve Kent, Deputy Premier of Newfoundland, the Nova Scotian Information and Privacy Commissioner and others for a discussion about these issues from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Halifax City Hall on Sept. 28. For more information see: www.lawdemocracy.org/live/cld-eventin-halifax-september-28/.
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COMMENT: Suzuki says he has never spoken to Thomas Mulcair or Stephen Harper about their plans, but he doesn’t think any of the three major parties are dealing with climate change in a serious way. “My feeling is that none of the parties except for the Greens is really taking it seriously,” Suzuki said.
Trudeau dismisses Suzuki’s climate views a “sanctimonious crap” and Suzuki calls Trudeau a “twerp”- sept.26/2015
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COMMENT: Well yes..... we oldies are tired.... so get off your arses and work hard like we did and we know u'll make us all proud..... Afghan women sacrificed their lives and their babies, mommas and grandmas and marched on April 5, 2014 in the face of the ugliest and most vicious cruelty in the sleeting freezing rain and voted - they shamed UN, USA and humbled the women of this world.... declaring that the wanted the world to know that the foreign troops DID...NOT...DIE...IN...VAIN... so surely u can get your few little papers in order in civilized and developed and progressive Canada.... and VOTE..... our flag bleeds of all those who keep our Canada glorious and young and beautiful and brilliant and God's last place of nature on this world.... please vote.... honour yourself.... u matter to us and we love u..... very much.... old momma nova .
O CANADA- The people’s prayer
From endless orations
Opponent damnations,
From tax-relief raving
And pompous flag-waving
From promises, bribes
And all pundits and scribes,
From polls and from tipsters,
Political quipsters,
The threats and the pleas
And pretentious decrees
From handbills and posters,
Grandiloquent boasters,
The bark and the bray
And the worn-out cliché,
From the orange and green
And the specious smokescreen
And the red and the blue
And the vows that fall through,
From the bull without let-up,
The photo-op set-up
The rigged town-hall meeting,
The balance-sheet cheating,
And other such things
That election-time brings,
Good Lord, deliver us.
Jim Bennet, Halifax
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Chronicle Herald- Grits, NDP vie for public sector union support
KRISTY KIRKUP THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA -Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has penned an open letter to public servants as his party and the New Democrats fight to woo federal government workers in target ridings such as Ottawa Centre.
The Grits are trying to capitalize on the public, and often nasty, battle between the bureaucracy and the federal Conservatives.
The strained relationship has been the focus of attacks launched by public sector unions during the course of the campaign.
In July alone, the Public Service Alliance of Canada announced it would spend $2.7 million on a pre-election ad blitz to take aim at what it called ‟reckless Conservative cuts" to government departments.
The union also launched aCharter challenge against Bill C-59. It claims the legislation gives the government power to amend provisions in federal government employee contracts without negotiations.
In his letter made public on Friday, Trudeau vowed to bargain in good faith with public sector unions and work in partnership.
‟Respect and trust for our public servants by the federal government has never been so low," the letter states. ‟I want to take this opportunity to assure you that I have a fundamentally different view than Stephen Harper of our public service." The Liberals are dialing up their message to public servants as part of an aggressive campaign in ridings such as Ottawa Centre, held by the NDP's Paul Dewar since 2006.
Candidate Catherine McKenna claims she and her team have knocked on more than 70,000doors in the lead-up to the vote.
‟I see my role as meeting as many residents of Ottawa Centre, listening to their concerns and then advocating for their concerns in Parliament," she said at a Friday news conference, Dewar said the public service is the dominant issue in his riding, which is saturated with federal employees.
‟They want to make sure that we have an employer, in the government, that's actually going to value the work of the public service and restore the relationship of trust," Dewar said.
‟We knew that this had been something that has been . . . percolating over the years, the way in which the Conservatives really put public servants in a very distressing position. Sometimes they're not consulted, sometimes their advice is being absolutely ignored." Dewar said he is concernedabout how the Liberals will approach the bureaucracy, due to the party's move to slash the number of public service employees in the late 1990s.
He also highlighted how the Grits have indicated they will reduce the size of administration within the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Armed Forces during this campaign.
‟When you see that in their proposals in an election . . . I worry greatly," Dewar said.
The Liberals have yet to indicate what this measure will mean in terms of job losses. Requests for clarification were not answered on Friday.
The Conservatives, meantime, have championed their plan to implement ‟savings measures" for the public service. It claims the federal government has saved the taxpayer more than $19 billion in 2015-2016 and beyond.I want to take this opportunity to assure you that I have a fundamentally different view than Stephen Harper of our public service.
Justin Trudeau Liberal leader
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O CANADA- History and betrayal of all political parties
Unemployment Insurance (Series E152-171)
General note
A federal unemployment insurance scheme went into effect in July 1941. Since that time there have been extensive changes in coverage and in the provisions governing the payment of unemployment insurance benefits.In assessing the statistics relating to coverage, claimants, beneficiaries and benefit paid presented in series E152-165 and E166-171, it must be kept in mind that these are byproducts of administrative operations. As such, while some series, for example benefit data, are influenced to a considerable extent by economic conditions, changes in the Unemployment Insurance Act, regulations and operational practices may also introduce sudden and often sharp discontinuities in the series presented.
The main changes in coverage were those related to changes in the wage ceiling as applied to salaried workers (wage earners from the inception of the act were insured regardless of earnings level), and extension of coverage to additional industries. Thus the wage ceiling was raised through successive increases from an initial level of $2,000 to $7,800 in 1968 and in the revision of the act in 1971, coverage became virtually universal regardless of earnings. Major extensions of coverage took place with the inclusion of lumbering and logging in 1950, fishing in 1957 and as noted, coverage was extended to all industries in 1971.
Some of the more important changes relating to qualifying for benefit and amount of benefit paid included reduction of the waiting period in 1952, easing conditions for re-qualifying for a second benefit period in 1955, elimination of restrictions on eligibility of married women to obtain benefit in 1957; benefit rates substantially increased in 1955 and duration of benefit increased in 1957 and 1971.
Table E152-165Number of persons insured with unemployment insurance commission, by industry, at book renewal periods, 1942 to 1974
As noted above, there have been sharp changes in the data due to extensions of industry coverage and upward adjustments in the wage ceiling. These are described in the annual issues of Benefit Periods Established and Terminated Under the Unemployment Insurance Act.
The estimates of insured persons by industry are based on a 10 per cent sample of unemployment insurance book renewals. No industry breakdown is available for 1972 to 1974.
Table E166-171Unemployment insurance, insured population and beneficiary and claimant data, 1942 to 1976
As noted at the beginning of this section the series in this table must be interpreted with extreme caution because they reflect changes in administrative procedures, as well as economic conditions. The estimates of the insured population in series E152-165 do not equal estimates of the insured population in series E166-171. The former relates to a point of time and the latter to an annual average.
Employment Service (Series E172-174)
General note
Various provinces had employment services prior to 1919. These provided facilities, through local offices, for the listing of vacancies by employers and for applications for work by persons seeking jobs. The Employment Offices Coordination Act of 1918 made provision for federal government participation in the employment service with the Department of Labour being charged with the responsibility. The employment service was a joint dominion-provincial operation from 1919 until July 1941, with the federal government acting largely as a co-ordinating agency. With the establishment of national unemployment insurance, the employment service became mainly a national responsibility and has been operated nationally since 1 August 1941.Until 1940, measures concerning unemployment, involving as they did civil rights, were the responsibility of the provinces. An amendment to the British North America Act in 1940 permitted the federal government to undertake an unemployment insurance operation. A federal unemployment insurance scheme went into effect on 1 July 1941 under the Unemployment Insurance Act of 1940.
The National Employment Service was separated from the unemployment insurance commission in 1965 and became an operating part of the Department of Labour. In 1966, both the unemployment insurance commission and the National Employment Service were transferred from the Department of Labour to the new Department of Manpower and Immigration and the National Employment Service offices were changed to become Canada Manpower Centres. In 1977, the department was renamed the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission and the centres became Canada Employment Centres.
Table E172-174Monthly averages of applications, vacancies and placements by federal employment offices in regular and casual work, 1919 to 1975
These series should be interpreted with extreme caution, for they are a byproduct of administrative procedures and may reflect changes in those procedures as well as in underlying conditions. In particular it should be borne in mind that the applications and vacancy statistics are probably affected by prevailing employment conditions. With persistent and widespread unemployment, employers have ample applicants for jobs and may not register their vacancies with an employment agency. Similarly, under these conditions workers who are not entitled to unemployment benefits may not apply for jobs with the employment agency after repeated disappointments. The revisions in the Unemployment Insurance Act in 1971 which greatly extended the coverage has considerably reduced the number of persons who are not entitled to unemployment benefits.
Vacancies include the vacancies for casual placements except for the period 1 January 1968 to 31 May 1974. Placements also include casual as well as regular placements except for the period 1 January 1968 to 31 May 1974 when casual placements are excluded. The annual reports of the Department of Manpower and Immigration for 1970-71 to 1973-74 indicate a monthly average of casual placements of over 23,000. When this figure is added to those of both columns 173 and 174, the sharp reduction after 1968 in both vacancies notified and placements is moderated and is consistent in the general direction of change with information from other sources on vacancies, particularly Statistics Canada's Quarterly Report on Job Vacancies, (second Quarter 1977, pp. 20-21). For a discussion of the differences between Statistics Canada's Job Vacancy Survey and the figures from the Department of Manpower and Immigration see: Noah M. Meltz, 'Information Requirements for Government Programs Directed toward the Labour Market', a study prepared for the Economic Council of Canada, 1975. For earlier historical series see F. T. Denton, C. H. Feaver and A. L. Robb, 'Patterns of Unemployment Behaviour in Canada', a study prepared for the Economic Council of Canada, Discussion Paper No. 36, 1975.
From April 1943 to 27 March 1952 placements included 'transfers in' only. The definition of a placement was changed on 28 March 1952. Subsequent to that date placements included 'transfers out' (confirmed transfers between local Canada Manpower Centres in which one centre refers an applicant to a vacancy registered at another centre).
The substantial increases in the series in 1942 arose because of compulsory registrations of workers and vacancies during the war. See The Labour Gazette, May 1942, p. 551, June 1942, p. 675 and September 1942, p. 1018.
Labour Unions and Strikes and Lockouts (Series E175-197)
General note
The statistics of union membership and strikes and lockouts have been collected by the federal Department of Labour established in 1900 under the Conciliation Act, 1900. Included in its chief duties were the administration of certain provisions of the Conciliation Act 'designed to aid in prevention and settlement of labour disputes' and 'the collection and classification of statistical and other information relative to the conditions of labour' (Canada Year Book, 1920, p. 525). The department collected data on strikes and lockouts from the beginning; it was only in 1911 that the information it gathered on union membership was sufficiently complete to permit publication of a total.For the long-term patterns in the development of the labour movement in Canada see: Economics and Research Branch, Canada Department of Labour, Union Growth in Canada, 1921-1967, Ottawa, Information Canada, 1970; and J. K. Eaton, Union Growth in Canada in the Sixties, Economics and Research Branch, Department of Labour, Ottawa, Information Canada, 1976.
An alternative source of data on union organization is contained in the Statistics Canada publication Corporations and Labour Unions Returns Act, report for 1974, Part II Labour Unions, (Catalogue 71-202). This report includes the following in its forward:
The Corporations and Labour Unions Returns Act, Chapter 26, 10-11 Elizabeth II, was passed by Parliament in April, 1962 and is administered by the Chief Statistician of Canada under the authority of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce. The purpose of the Act is to collect financial and other information on the affairs of certain corporations and labour unions carrying on activities in Canada. Such information was considered necessary to evaluate the extent and effects of non-resident ownership and control of corporations in Canada and the extent and effects of the association of Canadians with international labour unions. The legislation applies to every labour union in Canada having a local in Canada and 100 or more members resident in Canada.
The first report was released in July 1965 covering fiscal periods of corporations and labour unions ending in 1962. The union data in this and later reports differ from that published by Labour Canada in its Labour Organizations in Canada for two reasons. First, there are differences in the coverage of unions under the act and second, the reporting under the Corporations and Labour Unions Returns Act varies according to the fiscal periods of individual unions. Table E175-177Union membership in Canada, in total and as a percentage of non-agricultural paid workers and union members with international affiliation, 1911 to 1975
Until 1959 no specific definition of a trade union had been adopted by the department for statistical purposes so that the coverage probably was not entirely consistent from year to year. However, because the vast majority of union members belonged to trade organizations which posed no definitional problems, the marginal cases were not of great numerical importance and probably do not affect the trend significantly.
A substantial part of the increase in union membership from the mid-1960s was due to the inclusion of public sector employee groups, particularly government employee associations and teachers' associations. The large increase in 1967 resulted from the formation of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. The detailed footnotes to series E178-189 show when the major groups were included in the union statistics.
Table E178-189Union membership by congress affiliation, 1942 to 1975
The international affiliations of Canadian unions in the period covered were with either the American Federation of Labor (AFL) or with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), both having their membership mainly in the United States.
From 1942 to 1947 inclusive, the split in membership between 'other' unaffiliated international unions, series E187, and 'unaffiliated national, regional and local unions', series E189, was not given in the reports. In each of these years the total membership of the 'other' unaffiliated membership was determined from the data given in the table entitled 'International Unions; Number of Branches and Membership' in the annual reports, Labour Organization in Canada. This total was then subtracted from the item 'Unaffiliated National and International Unions'. This residual, together with the items giving the membership in national, regional or local unions, is given in the table as 'Unaffiliated National, Regional and Local Unions'.
Similarly, from 1942 to 1947, inclusive, the splits in membership between TLC only, series E179, and TLC/AFL, series E180, or CCL only, series E182, and CCL/CIO, series E183, were not given in the annual reports cited above. The membership of TLC only was determined by summing the membership of: international unions affiliated with TLC in Canada but unaffiliated in the United States; TLC national union affiliate; TLC local and federal unions. The same procedure was used to determine the membership of unions affiliated with CCL only.
This table could possibly be pushed back to earlier years using the data available in the annual reports, but the changing forms of the report make this procedure much more precarious for the years prior to 1942.
See the note to series E175-177 for a discussion of the basic data problem. The definitional problem is largely confined to the data included in series E189.
Since 1968 there has been over a fourfold growth in the category 'Other congresses and unaffiliated national, regional and local unions'. The main source of this increase has been the unaffiliated national and regional unions which grew from 77,489 persons in 1968 to 471,909 in 1977. This category largely comprises public sector employees, teachers, civil servants and nurses. The major changes are indicated in the footnotes to the table. Independent local organizations have actually decreased from 50,927 in 1968 to 40,239 in 1975. In 1975 there were a total of 60,633 in the two other congresses. These were the 20,352 member CCU (Confederation of Canadian Unions) founded in 1969 and the 40,275 member CSD (Centrale des syndicats d‚mocratiques) founded in 1972 by breakaway units of the CNTU.
Table E190-197Number of strikes and lockouts, employers and workers involved and time loss, Canada, 1901 to 1975
Since 1964 data are based on strikes or lockouts which amount to 10 or more man-days as long as the duration was at least half a man-day. From 1958 to 1963 the data were based on strikes or lockouts involving six or more workers and lasting at least one working day, and strikes and lockouts lasting less than one day or involving fewer than six workers but exceeding a total of nine man-days. The basis for inclusion in the series prior to 1958 was unspecified. The figures from 1961 were provided by Mr. Ed Walker of Labour Canada.
The total number of workers involved includes the reported total number on strike or locked out, even if those on strike did not belong to the union. Workers laid off as the result of a work stoppage are not included. Where the number of workers involved varied in the course of the stoppage, the maximum number is used in tabulating annual totals. The total number of workers shown may include the same workers more than once, if they were involved in more than one work stoppage during the year.
Since 1956 the number of employees (series E192) has been deleted because in some cases, for example, the 'employer' is a builders' exchange that comprises a multitude of individual contractors. Series E195 and E196 have also been dropped because the former was unreliable and the latter was difficult to interpret.
Political strikes are included where the objective is to influence government policies affecting pay, working conditions or other labour related matters.
See the 'Explanatory Notes', pp. 91-93 of Strikes and Lockouts in Canada, 1976, for additional details and concepts.
Index Numbers of Wage Rates, Wage Rates and Salaries (Series D198-375)
General note
All the published data in the tables contained in this division were taken from annual wage reports of the Department of Labour. While the Department of Labour collected some data on wages and hours beginning in 1900, parts of which were published from time to time in The Labour Gazette, it was only in 1921 that publication of a series of regular annual reports on wages and hours began. Prior to 1950 these reports were published as supplements to The Labour Gazette; beginning with 1950 they have been published as separate documents. These reports are entitled Wage Rates, Salaries and Hours of Work. Until 1973 a single report was issued. From 1974 there was a series of separate reports for a number of major communities across Canada. From 1975, a separate report presenting information on a national basis was added to the series.The early wage reports were based on information obtained from trade unions, collective agreements, departmental field representatives and The Labour Gazette field representatives throughout Canada as well as from an annual mail survey of employers. With the expansion of the survey of employers over the years the information obtained from employers has supplanted information obtained from other sources.
The following summary of the technical notes of the present survey is taken from Wage Rates, Salaries and Hours of Labour, Canada, October 1976.
The survey, covering all establishments in Canada with 20 or more employees, is conducted by means of a reporting form which is mailed to employers. The form includes, for each occupation surveyed, a short description of the work characteristically performed.
These occupational descriptions are based on the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations, commonly referred to as the CCDO, which was developed and published by the Canada Department of Manpower and Immigration in collaboration with Statistics Canada in 1971.
The occupational descriptions included in the reporting schedules are designed to help employers identify the specific jobs for which wage information is requested. The descriptions are not to be construed as 'standards' for jobs in any particular establishment or industry, as the specific duties and work loads involved in some occupations may vary slightly from plant to plant, as well as from industry to industry.
The most important criteria used in selecting the occupations to be surveyed are the following: numerical importance, prevalence throughout the industry or community, importance in the production process, and capability of clear definition.
Employers are asked to submit returns on the basis of 'establishment' rather than for 'company' or 'enterprise', as many companies are of a multiple-unit type having one or more branches in different localities. Moreover, because of the variety of products made by some companies, all branches of the company may not come under the same industrial classification, as defined by Statistics Canada's Standard Industrial Classification Manual.
All major industrial areas are covered by this survey with the exception of agriculture, fishing, hunting, trapping and construction. Only the logging industry is covered in the forestry division.
The wage statistics generally apply to the last normal pay period preceding 1 October in the survey year. The term 'normal pay period' means a pay period in which there were no strikes, unusual layoffs or other abnormal conditions. Wage changes occurring on or after 1 October are not included, even where such changes are made retroactive.
For an average to be published for an occupation, the rates must apply to at least five employees in three establishments, or to 10 or more employees in two establishments, provided that more than 20 per cent of the total number of employees is reported by both establishments. Further to these criteria, the median, deciles and quartiles are not published unless the rates apply to at least 10 employees or more.
These criteria are applied for two reasons: to avoid revealing the rates paid by any one establishment; and to ensure a reasonable degree of representativeness of the data.
Some important features of the wage data are described below:
- The most common type of time rate for non-office employees is an hourly rate under which the employee is paid a fixed amount for each hour worked. Consequently, in cases where hourly rates are requested on the survey forms, and daily, weekly or monthly rates are reported, the reported rates are converted to an hourly basis. However, daily, weekly or monthly rates are sometimes shown for occupations in industries in which such methods of wage payment are common. When monthly rates are converted to weekly rates, or vice versa, a conversion factor of 4 weeks per month is used. When weekly rates are converted to hourly rates, the weekly rate (exclusive of overtime or other premiums) is divided by the standard weekly hours of work as reported. All rates include cost-of-living bonus payments where applicable.
- The most common types of straight-time earnings are those based on piece-work or various production or incentive bonus systems; other types are based on commission or mileage.
The rates published in this report are those applying to fully qualified employees in the occupations surveyed. Rates for beginners, learners, apprentices, improvers, foremen and lead hands are not included, although rates for helpers, which are sometimes requested on the reporting forms, are shown separately.
Rates for part-time employees working less than half the standard hours are not included.
Data for this section since 1960 were provided by Mr. Wayne Baxter of Labour Canada.
Table E198-208Index numbers of average wage rates for selected main industries, 1901 to 1965
For a description of the construction of the indexes and their coverage see especially Reports Nos. 1, 3, 19, 24, 26, 36, 42, 43 and 48.
The method of constructing the indexes had one common element throughout the period. The first step was always to obtain a measure of the change in a rate for an occupation within an industry for each region. The occupational rate was in each case specific to the industry and the occupations were selected to be representative of all occupations in the industry. These measures of change of rate for an occupation within an industry were then averaged for all localities to give a countrywide average. The countrywide averages for all the occupations within an industry were then averaged to give a measure of the change for the industry as a whole on a countrywide basis.
A detailed discussion of the basis used to calculate the averages is contained in the 1960 edition of Historical Statistics of Canada, pp. 69-70 as well as in the notes to the reports cited above.
The series ends in 1965 since the use of the Standard Industrial Classification of 1960 prevented linking the particular industry groups beyond this point; see notes to series E209-219. Series E198-208 are based on 1949 = 100 while series E209-219 are based on 1961 = 100.
Table E209-219Index numbers of average wage rates, for selected main industries, 1961 to 1972
Four major changes were introduced in the 1966 survey:
- The classification of industries was changed from the 1948 to the 1960 Standard Industrial Classification. Complete details on this classification appear in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, (Catalogue 12-501.) The changes in the industrial presentation of the information caused by the introduction of the 1960 Standard Industrial Classification are summarized in the 'Technical Notes' of Wage Rates, Salaries and Hours of Labour, Report No. 49, October 1966. The allocation of reporting units or establishments to individual classifications was also reviewed.
- A revised basis of geographic classification was introduced. As a result, the number of communities for which information is published was increased from 52 to 58.
- The index number series was revised to include the use of 1961 as base year and the selection of new occupational and geographical weights.
The series of index numbers for selected main industries was discontinued after 1972. This is due mainly to technical difficulties brought about by the conversion of the occupational titles and the duties of each occupation covered in the survey from the American Dictionary of Occupational Titles to the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations.
Table E220-247aIndex numbers of average wage rates for industry groups and selected components in manufacturing, Canada, 1939 to 1972
Table E220-247bIndex numbers of average wage rates for industry groups and selected components in manufacturing, Canada, 1939 to 1972 CONCLUDED
See the discussion of series E198-208. From 1939 on indexes for a much larger number of industry groups were published. The 1949-based series end in 1965 since the use of the Standard Industrial Classification of 1960 prevented linking the particular industry group beyond this point.
Table E248-267aHourly wage rates in selected building trades, by city, 1901 to 1974
Table E248-267bHourly wage rates in selected building trades, by city, 1901 to 1974 CONCLUDED
Rates are given here for four occupations in five major Canadian cities. Comparable data for other occupations and cities also have been published. It is believed that these series for the building trades are among the most consistent series which have been published in the annual wage reports. In 1973 the survey introduced new titles and definitions of occupations based on the CCDO. The department believes that for traditional occupations such as those in this series and for occupations which cut across industries, the change in definitions has not significantly altered the comparability of the results. It should be noted, however, that there is a possibility that in some cases the data for 1973 and subsequent years may not be entirely comparable.
The published wage rates for each occupation represent the 'prevailing' rates in the particular city. Up to 1965 these data were obtained from a field survey conducted by the Industrial Relations Branch of the Department of Labour for the administration of the Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act. Since 1966 the data on the construction industry, with the exception of Quebec, have been based on rates of pay and hours of work specified in collective agreements in effect at 1 October of each year. The figures shown are, with the exception of those for the province of Quebec, rates of pay and hours of work specified in collective agreements in effect at 1 October 1966. The figures for the communities in the province of Quebec are those established under the Collective Agreement Decrees Act, administered by the Building Trades Parity Committees in the province. The data were made available to the Canada Department of Labour by the various provincial labour departments or other provincial government agencies. The rates are 'deemed to be generally accepted as current for competent workmen in each trade or classification employed in the location indicated', and in nearly all cases are union rates.
The rates published for this and all other industries in the annual wage reports do not include overtime earnings, shift differentials, non-production bonuses (except cost-of-living bonus payments), shares in company profits and the monetary value of such fringe benefits as group insurance, sick benefits, uniforms, etc. The rates are derived from the employee's wage before deductions are made for taxes, unemployment insurance contributions, pension payments, etc. The rates are intended to apply to fully qualified workers in their occupations. Unless otherwise stated, the rates apply to male workers only. Where women and men are reported in an occupation, separate rates are shown for them. Rates for beginners, learners, apprentices, foremen and lead hands, are not included, although rates for helpers are sometimes shown separately. The rates for part-time employees working less than half the standard hours are not included.
Table E268-279Hourly wage rates in selected occupations in the pulp and paper industry, for Canada and by region, 1911 to 1920 and 1943 to 1974
Wage rates were published for the years 1920 to 1941 but they are not included here because of difficulties in deriving a consistent time series.
Table E280-295Hourly wage rates for selected occupations in the motor-vehicle industry, 1943 to 1974
The wage rates are weighted average rates prepared by the Department of Labour. Until 1958 all of the reporting establishments were located in Ontario. Prior to 1945 the industry was called the automobile industry. It is now defined to include 'establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing or assembling complete motor vehicles such as passenger automobiles, commercial cars and buses, trucks, and special purpose motor vehicles' (see Report No. 55, p. 163). Consistent data are not available prior to 1943.
Table E296-325Average hourly wage rates for selected maintenance and service occupations, by city, 1956 to 1975
The wage and salary data published on a community basis are derived from survey returns for establishments having 15 or more employees in the community up to 1965 and 20 or more employees from 1966 onward. Where no information is published for an occupation, insufficient data are available to meet the criteria for publishing an average or range of wage rates for an occupation (see Report No. 47, Technical Notes, for description of the publication criteria applied to the results of the survey).
Table E326-375Average weekly salaries for selected office occupations, by city, 1956 to 1975
See the note to series E296-325.
Workmen's Compensation (Series E376-389)
General note
Workmen's compensation is under provincial jurisdiction. The data, therefore, are obtained from reports of the various provincial workmen's compensation boards. Data since 1960 were provided by Mr. Jim Wong of Labour Canada. Table E376-386Industrial accidents, fatal and nonfatal, reported by provincial workmen's compensation boards, by province, 1928 to 1974
The principal limitation of these series is that they do not include accidents of workers not covered by workmen's compensation. For a number of provinces accidents which required 'medical aid only' were not reported in the early years; only accidents which required compensation were included. The source document provides details on the number of fatal accidents and the number that involved permanent disabilities.
Table E387-389Provincial expenditures for workmen's compensation, 1921 to 1975
The data give totals for all provinces. Prior to 1947 only the 'total' expenditures, and then only for some years, were available.
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Section E: Wages and Working Conditions
Archived Content
Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please contact us to request a format other than those available.Noah M. Meltz, University of Toronto
Labour Income (Series E1-40)
Employment, Earnings and Hours of Work (Series E41-135)
Employer Labour Cost (Series E136-151)
Unemployment Insurance (Series E152-171)
Employment Service (Series E172-174)
Labour Unions and Strikes and Lockouts (Series E175-197)
Index Numbers of Wage Rates, Wage Rates and Salaries (Series D198-375)
Workmen's Compensation (Series E376-389)
The statistics of this section are in eight parts as follows: labour income (series E1-40); employment, earnings and hours of work (series E41-135); employer labour cost (series E136-151); unemployment insurance (series E152-171); employment service (series E172-174); labour unions and strikes and lockouts (series E175-197); index numbers of wage rates, wage rates and salaries (series E198-375); workmen's compensation (series E376-389).
The following notes for series El-171 were prepared by Mr. Don Bailey of Statistics Canada while those for series E172-389 were prepared by the author. The latter notes combined new material with an updating of the notes prepared for the first edition of Historical Statistics of Canada by Professor Douglas C. Hartle.
While a few new series have been added, several series have been dropped either because the particular surveys were discontinued or because the series had been developed by Professor Hartle for the first edition and those series could not be extended.
The main sources of data for this section are the following federal government publications: Department of Labour, Wage Rates, Salaries and Hours of Labour, an annual publication since 1920 which has appeared under a variety of titles beginning with Wages and Hours of Labour in Canada, 1920, Report No. 1. Other publications of the Department of Labour are: Labour Organizations in Canada, annual from 1911 to 1973 then biennial for 1974-1975 and 1975-1976; The Labour Gazette, monthly since September 1900; Strikes and Lockouts in Canada, reviewed annually in The Labour Gazette until 1946, as a supplement to The Labour Gazette, 1947 to 1951, and as a separate document since 1952.
The following publications of Statistics Canada (until 1972 known as the Dominion Bureau of Statistics) were used: Labour Income, 1926-1958, 1960; Estimates of Labour Income, (Catalogue 72-005); General Review of the Manufacturing Industries of Canada, (Catalogue 31-201), years 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960 and 1961; Manufacturing Industries of Canada; National and Provincial Areas, (Catalogue 31-203), 1962 to 1975; Review of Employment and Payrolls, annual, 1939 to 1970; Employment, Earnings and Hours, (Catalogue 72-002); Review of Man-hours and Hourly Earnings, (Catalogue 72-202), annual, 1939 to 1970; Labour Costs in Canada, (Catalogue 72-610 to 72-618), selected years; The Labour Force, (Catalogue 71-001); Benefit Periods Established and Terminated Under the Unemployment Insurance Act, (Catalogue 73-201), annual 1942 to 1971; Statistical Report on the Operation of the Unemployment Insurance Act, (Catalogue 73-001); Earnings and Hours of Work in Manufacturing, annual reports, 1946 to 1969.
Other publications used are: Department of Health and Welfare, Government Expenditures and Related Data on Health and Social Welfare, 1947 to 1953, 2nd edition, and 1947 to 1959, 3rd edition (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1955 and 1961); Economics and Research Branch, Canada Department of Labour: Union Growth in Canada 1921-1967, 1970; and Union Growth in Canada in the Sixties, 1976 (by J.K. Eaton).
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Labour Income (Series E1-40)
General note
The labour income estimates are industrial and geographic breakdowns of wages, salaries and supplementary labour income which form part of the gross national product estimates. The estimates for most industries are based on the data obtained in the census of industry annual surveys and other Statistics Canada surveys. As would be expected the estimates are probably less reliable for such sectors as service, agriculture and trade, and more recent estimates are probably more reliable than estimates for pre-war years. Sources and methods are discussed in the source document and in National Income and Expenditure Accounts, 1926-1974, Vol. 3, (Catalogue 13-549E), pp. 120-130.Supplementary labour income includes expenditures by employers on labour account that can be regarded as payment for labour services. It includes employers' contributions to pension funds, employee welfare funds, unemployment insurance and workmen's compensation. Employer contributions to medical aid and hospitalization are excluded.
Table E1-13Wages, salaries and supplementary labour income, by province, 1926 to 1975
Table E14-29Wages, salaries and supplementary labour income, by industry, 1926 to 1975
Table E30-40Annual wages and salaries in manufacturing, by province, 1926 to 1975
This table supplements series El-13 and E14-29 by providing a provincial breakdown, excluding supplementary labour income.
Employment, Earnings and Hours of Work (Series E41-135)
General note
Statistics Canada produces, on a continuing basis, a large number of establishment derived series on employment, earnings and hours of work. This basic information is classified in a wide range of ways including industrial, regional, provincial and city breakdowns. The more important series from a variety of sources are presented here but many series have been omitted because of space limitations.There are three basic surveys conducted by Statistics Canada from which the following series are derived: first, the census of industry surveys which have been conducted annually since 1917 and which, as the title implies, collect data from all establishments in the industry regardless of size. One of the more important of these surveys is the census of manufacturers which is the responsibility of the Manufacturing and Primary Industries Division.
Results of the census of manufacturers were published up to 1961, in the General Review of Manufacturing Industries. Since 1962, data from this survey have been published annually in Manufacturing Industries of Canada, National and Provincial Areas.
Prior to 1925, the number of production workers was computed as the sum of the numbers recorded each month divided by 12, whether or not the establishment was operating 12 months. Beginning with the statistics for 1925, in seasonal industries the average was computed by dividing the sum of the production workers on the 15th of each month by the number of months in operation. This change in method increased the apparent number of employees in groups containing seasonal industries and in the overall total. In 1931 the old method of computing the average number of production workers was again adopted.
Second, the survey of employment, payrolls and man-hours, which covers business establishments having 20 or more employees, has collected employment data from business establishments since 1921; payroll data since 1941 and man-hours data since 1945. The conduct of the survey is the responsibility of the Employment, Payrolls and Labour Income Section of the Labour Division.
Up to December 1970, data on employment and average weekly wages and salaries were published in the monthly publication Employment and Payrolls, and man-hours and hourly earnings were published in the monthly publication Man-hours and Hourly Earnings. Commencing with January 1971, these were consolidated in a single monthly publication entitled Employment, Earnings and Hours.
A basic limitation of this survey is the somewhat restricted industrial and establishment coverage. Some industries such as agriculture and fishing and trapping are not covered at all. Others such as services are only partially covered (government and health services for example are surveyed by other divisions of Statistics Canada).
The coverage within the industries that come within the purview of the survey is uneven. The monthly survey as noted covers larger firms only, that is, firms having 20 or more employees in any month of the year (prior to January 1971, firms with 15 or more employees were covered). However all establishments of a multi-unit company are included if the company had 20 or more employees in total. Because of this limitation, in industries where a large proportion of total employment is in a large number of small establishments (such as trade and service), coverage is substantially less than in highly concentrated industries such as mining.
Third, for many years, an annual survey of hours and earnings in manufacturing was conducted as a supplement to the monthly survey of employment, payrolls and man-hours. This annual survey was discontinued in 1969.
Table E41-48Annual earnings in manufacturing industries, production and other workers, by sex, Canada, 1905, 1910 and 1917 to 1975
Beginning in 1961, statistics of the manufacturing industries cover their total activity, including non-manufacturing activity. Data for employees other than manufacturing production and related workers of both sexes reflect this change and accordingly from 1961 on are not strictly comparable with data for earlier years.
Table E49-59Average weekly wages and salaries, industrial composite, by province, 1939 to 1975
Table E60-68Average annual, weekly and hourly earnings, male and female wage earners, manufacturing industries, Canada, 1934 to 1969
Data are not available after 1969 since the annual survey of earnings and hours of men and women working in manufacturing establishments was discontinued.
From 1934 to 1945 inclusive, all data refer to one week in the month of highest employment of all establishments covered by the annual census of manufacturers. In 1946 and 1947 the weekly and hourly data apply to the last week in the month of November; since 1947 they refer to the last week in October.
In 1969 the survey included all manufacturing establishments employing 20 or more persons in any month of the year representing approximately 90 per cent of the total number of employees working in the manufacturing industries of Canada.
Wage earners are defined as production and ancillary workers, including working foremen, route-drivers, shipping, delivery and maintenance staffs and related employees. Earnings comprise gross pay for the week, before deductions for taxes, unemployment insurance contributions and so forth. Gross pay includes salaries, straight-time wages, piecework and commission earnings, regularly-paid incentive, cost-of-living and other bonuses, overtime earnings and payments to persons absent with pay in the survey week. Supplementary labour costs are not included (see descriptive notes in Earnings and Hours of Work in Manufacturing, 1969, p. 40).
The annual earnings data was calculated separately from the census of manufacturers and was discontinued in 1959. For a description of the method of calculating annual earnings for males and females separately, see pages 84 and 85 of General Review of Manufacturing Industries of Canada, 1957.
Table E69-77Average annual, weekly and hourly earnings, male and female salaried employees, manufacturing industries, Canada, 1946 to 1969
See notes to series E60-68.
Salaried employees comprise executive, administrative, supervisory and professional personnel and travelling salesmen directly responsible to the administration as well as general office and clerical workers in the office and plant, for whom statistics are segregated.
Table E78-85Averages of weekly wages of hourly rated wage earners, selected industry groups, Canada, 1945 to 1970
From 1945 to 1970, separate earnings data were collected and published for hourly paid workers in respect of whom records of hours were maintained. Commencing in 1971 earnings were published only for all wage earners including those for whom hours were not collected.
Weekly wage data are averages of wages paid for the last pay period in each month. Wages are gross earnings and include payments for overtime work, incentive bonuses and cost-of-living bonuses (if paid on a regular basis). They do not include payments made by employers to pension plans or social insurance schemes, such as unemployment insurance, on behalf of employees.
Table E86-103Annual averages of weekly wages and salaries, selected industry groups and composite, Canada, 1939 to 1975
Table E104-119Average weekly wages and salaries, by major groups of manufacturing, 1939 to 1975
Table E120-127Annual averages of hourly earnings of hourly rated wage earners, selected industry groups, Canada, 1945 to 1970
Table E128-135Average weekly hours of hourly rated wage earners, selected industry groups, Canada, 1945 to 1970
Employer Labour Cost (Series E136-151)
General note
A survey program to measure the cost to employers of the total compensation package was initiated by Statistics Canada in co-operation with the federal Department of Labour in 1967 (the Department of Labour dropped out of the program following the 1972 survey).The initial survey was restricted to manufacturing. In subsequent years coverage was rotated on an individual industry basis to mines, quarries and oil wells in 1969 (and 1972), finance, insurance and real estate in 1970, trade in 1972, education in 1974, and services to business management in 1975. In 1976 the first all industry survey was carried out.
The Survey of Employer Labour Costs of 1977 obtained information from a sample of employers concerning the following items: pay for time worked (regular work and overtime, shift work, etc.); paid absence (vacation, paid holidays, sick leave, etc.); miscellaneous direct payments (severance pay, etc.); employer contributions or payments to social insurance, welfare and benefit plans (Unemployment Insurance, Workmen's Compensation, private pension plans, group life and health plans, etc.). The most recent survey covers reporting units with 20 or more employees in all industries except agriculture, fishing and trapping. Results of this survey are published in Labour Costs in Canada, All Industries, 1976, (Catalogue 72-618). Additional detailed information is contained in the technical notes found at the end of this publication.
Table E136-151Estimated labour costs, selected industries, selected years, 1968 to 1976
The following detailed comments relate to the handling of certain items in series E136-151. Prior to 1976 commission and incentive bonuses were not identified as separate items in manufacturing; transportation and communication; finance, insurance and real estate; trade and education or in the case of mines, quarries and oil wells and services to business management were included in 'other pay for time worked'. Part-time casual wage earners were excluded from trade and part-time and casual teaching staff were excluded from education; employment agencies and security services were excluded from services to business management; provincial medicare was included in taxable benefits in manufacturing (1976), in mines, quarries and oil wells (1972, 1976), in transportation, communication and other utilities (1976), in finance, insurance and real estate (1976), in trade (1972, 1976), in education (1974, 1976), and in services to business management (1975, 1976); provincial medicare was also included in life and health plans in all the industries specified up to and including 1971.
As noted above the first all industry sample survey was taken in 1976. Data are based on the calendar year, thus the survey of manufacturing published in 1977 related to the calendar year 1976.
Unemployment Insurance (Series E152-171)
General note
A federal unemployment insurance scheme went into effect in July 1941. Since that time there have been extensive changes in coverage and in the provisions governing the payment of unemployment insurance benefits.In assessing the statistics relating to coverage, claimants, beneficiaries and benefit paid presented in series E152-165 and E166-171, it must be kept in mind that these are byproducts of administrative operations. As such, while some series, for example benefit data, are influenced to a considerable extent by economic conditions, changes in the Unemployment Insurance Act, regulations and operational practices may also introduce sudden and often sharp discontinuities in the series presented.
The main changes in coverage were those related to changes in the wage ceiling as applied to salaried workers (wage earners from the inception of the act were insured regardless of earnings level), and extension of coverage to additional industries. Thus the wage ceiling was raised through successive increases from an initial level of $2,000 to $7,800 in 1968 and in the revision of the act in 1971, coverage became virtually universal regardless of earnings. Major extensions of coverage took place with the inclusion of lumbering and logging in 1950, fishing in 1957 and as noted, coverage was extended to all industries in 1971.
Some of the more important changes relating to qualifying for benefit and amount of benefit paid included reduction of the waiting period in 1952, easing conditions for re-qualifying for a second benefit period in 1955, elimination of restrictions on eligibility of married women to obtain benefit in 1957; benefit rates substantially increased in 1955 and duration of benefit increased in 1957 and 1971.
Table E152-165Number of persons insured with unemployment insurance commission, by industry, at book renewal periods, 1942 to 1974
As noted above, there have been sharp changes in the data due to extensions of industry coverage and upward adjustments in the wage ceiling. These are described in the annual issues of Benefit Periods Established and Terminated Under the Unemployment Insurance Act.
The estimates of insured persons by industry are based on a 10 per cent sample of unemployment insurance book renewals. No industry breakdown is available for 1972 to 1974.
Table E166-171Unemployment insurance, insured population and beneficiary and claimant data, 1942 to 1976
As noted at the beginning of this section the series in this table must be interpreted with extreme caution because they reflect changes in administrative procedures, as well as economic conditions. The estimates of the insured population in series E152-165 do not equal estimates of the insured population in series E166-171. The former relates to a point of time and the latter to an annual average.
Employment Service (Series E172-174)
General note
Various provinces had employment services prior to 1919. These provided facilities, through local offices, for the listing of vacancies by employers and for applications for work by persons seeking jobs. The Employment Offices Coordination Act of 1918 made provision for federal government participation in the employment service with the Department of Labour being charged with the responsibility. The employment service was a joint dominion-provincial operation from 1919 until July 1941, with the federal government acting largely as a co-ordinating agency. With the establishment of national unemployment insurance, the employment service became mainly a national responsibility and has been operated nationally since 1 August 1941.Until 1940, measures concerning unemployment, involving as they did civil rights, were the responsibility of the provinces. An amendment to the British North America Act in 1940 permitted the federal government to undertake an unemployment insurance operation. A federal unemployment insurance scheme went into effect on 1 July 1941 under the Unemployment Insurance Act of 1940.
The National Employment Service was separated from the unemployment insurance commission in 1965 and became an operating part of the Department of Labour. In 1966, both the unemployment insurance commission and the National Employment Service were transferred from the Department of Labour to the new Department of Manpower and Immigration and the National Employment Service offices were changed to become Canada Manpower Centres. In 1977, the department was renamed the Canada Employment and Immigration Commission and the centres became Canada Employment Centres.
Table E172-174Monthly averages of applications, vacancies and placements by federal employment offices in regular and casual work, 1919 to 1975
These series should be interpreted with extreme caution, for they are a byproduct of administrative procedures and may reflect changes in those procedures as well as in underlying conditions. In particular it should be borne in mind that the applications and vacancy statistics are probably affected by prevailing employment conditions. With persistent and widespread unemployment, employers have ample applicants for jobs and may not register their vacancies with an employment agency. Similarly, under these conditions workers who are not entitled to unemployment benefits may not apply for jobs with the employment agency after repeated disappointments. The revisions in the Unemployment Insurance Act in 1971 which greatly extended the coverage has considerably reduced the number of persons who are not entitled to unemployment benefits.
Vacancies include the vacancies for casual placements except for the period 1 January 1968 to 31 May 1974. Placements also include casual as well as regular placements except for the period 1 January 1968 to 31 May 1974 when casual placements are excluded. The annual reports of the Department of Manpower and Immigration for 1970-71 to 1973-74 indicate a monthly average of casual placements of over 23,000. When this figure is added to those of both columns 173 and 174, the sharp reduction after 1968 in both vacancies notified and placements is moderated and is consistent in the general direction of change with information from other sources on vacancies, particularly Statistics Canada's Quarterly Report on Job Vacancies, (second Quarter 1977, pp. 20-21). For a discussion of the differences between Statistics Canada's Job Vacancy Survey and the figures from the Department of Manpower and Immigration see: Noah M. Meltz, 'Information Requirements for Government Programs Directed toward the Labour Market', a study prepared for the Economic Council of Canada, 1975. For earlier historical series see F. T. Denton, C. H. Feaver and A. L. Robb, 'Patterns of Unemployment Behaviour in Canada', a study prepared for the Economic Council of Canada, Discussion Paper No. 36, 1975.
From April 1943 to 27 March 1952 placements included 'transfers in' only. The definition of a placement was changed on 28 March 1952. Subsequent to that date placements included 'transfers out' (confirmed transfers between local Canada Manpower Centres in which one centre refers an applicant to a vacancy registered at another centre).
The substantial increases in the series in 1942 arose because of compulsory registrations of workers and vacancies during the war. See The Labour Gazette, May 1942, p. 551, June 1942, p. 675 and September 1942, p. 1018.
Labour Unions and Strikes and Lockouts (Series E175-197)
General note
The statistics of union membership and strikes and lockouts have been collected by the federal Department of Labour established in 1900 under the Conciliation Act, 1900. Included in its chief duties were the administration of certain provisions of the Conciliation Act 'designed to aid in prevention and settlement of labour disputes' and 'the collection and classification of statistical and other information relative to the conditions of labour' (Canada Year Book, 1920, p. 525). The department collected data on strikes and lockouts from the beginning; it was only in 1911 that the information it gathered on union membership was sufficiently complete to permit publication of a total.For the long-term patterns in the development of the labour movement in Canada see: Economics and Research Branch, Canada Department of Labour, Union Growth in Canada, 1921-1967, Ottawa, Information Canada, 1970; and J. K. Eaton, Union Growth in Canada in the Sixties, Economics and Research Branch, Department of Labour, Ottawa, Information Canada, 1976.
An alternative source of data on union organization is contained in the Statistics Canada publication Corporations and Labour Unions Returns Act, report for 1974, Part II Labour Unions, (Catalogue 71-202). This report includes the following in its forward:
The Corporations and Labour Unions Returns Act, Chapter 26, 10-11 Elizabeth II, was passed by Parliament in April, 1962 and is administered by the Chief Statistician of Canada under the authority of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Commerce. The purpose of the Act is to collect financial and other information on the affairs of certain corporations and labour unions carrying on activities in Canada. Such information was considered necessary to evaluate the extent and effects of non-resident ownership and control of corporations in Canada and the extent and effects of the association of Canadians with international labour unions. The legislation applies to every labour union in Canada having a local in Canada and 100 or more members resident in Canada.
The first report was released in July 1965 covering fiscal periods of corporations and labour unions ending in 1962. The union data in this and later reports differ from that published by Labour Canada in its Labour Organizations in Canada for two reasons. First, there are differences in the coverage of unions under the act and second, the reporting under the Corporations and Labour Unions Returns Act varies according to the fiscal periods of individual unions. Table E175-177Union membership in Canada, in total and as a percentage of non-agricultural paid workers and union members with international affiliation, 1911 to 1975
Until 1959 no specific definition of a trade union had been adopted by the department for statistical purposes so that the coverage probably was not entirely consistent from year to year. However, because the vast majority of union members belonged to trade organizations which posed no definitional problems, the marginal cases were not of great numerical importance and probably do not affect the trend significantly.
A substantial part of the increase in union membership from the mid-1960s was due to the inclusion of public sector employee groups, particularly government employee associations and teachers' associations. The large increase in 1967 resulted from the formation of the Public Service Alliance of Canada. The detailed footnotes to series E178-189 show when the major groups were included in the union statistics.
Table E178-189Union membership by congress affiliation, 1942 to 1975
The international affiliations of Canadian unions in the period covered were with either the American Federation of Labor (AFL) or with the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), both having their membership mainly in the United States.
From 1942 to 1947 inclusive, the split in membership between 'other' unaffiliated international unions, series E187, and 'unaffiliated national, regional and local unions', series E189, was not given in the reports. In each of these years the total membership of the 'other' unaffiliated membership was determined from the data given in the table entitled 'International Unions; Number of Branches and Membership' in the annual reports, Labour Organization in Canada. This total was then subtracted from the item 'Unaffiliated National and International Unions'. This residual, together with the items giving the membership in national, regional or local unions, is given in the table as 'Unaffiliated National, Regional and Local Unions'.
Similarly, from 1942 to 1947, inclusive, the splits in membership between TLC only, series E179, and TLC/AFL, series E180, or CCL only, series E182, and CCL/CIO, series E183, were not given in the annual reports cited above. The membership of TLC only was determined by summing the membership of: international unions affiliated with TLC in Canada but unaffiliated in the United States; TLC national union affiliate; TLC local and federal unions. The same procedure was used to determine the membership of unions affiliated with CCL only.
This table could possibly be pushed back to earlier years using the data available in the annual reports, but the changing forms of the report make this procedure much more precarious for the years prior to 1942.
See the note to series E175-177 for a discussion of the basic data problem. The definitional problem is largely confined to the data included in series E189.
Since 1968 there has been over a fourfold growth in the category 'Other congresses and unaffiliated national, regional and local unions'. The main source of this increase has been the unaffiliated national and regional unions which grew from 77,489 persons in 1968 to 471,909 in 1977. This category largely comprises public sector employees, teachers, civil servants and nurses. The major changes are indicated in the footnotes to the table. Independent local organizations have actually decreased from 50,927 in 1968 to 40,239 in 1975. In 1975 there were a total of 60,633 in the two other congresses. These were the 20,352 member CCU (Confederation of Canadian Unions) founded in 1969 and the 40,275 member CSD (Centrale des syndicats d‚mocratiques) founded in 1972 by breakaway units of the CNTU.
Table E190-197Number of strikes and lockouts, employers and workers involved and time loss, Canada, 1901 to 1975
Since 1964 data are based on strikes or lockouts which amount to 10 or more man-days as long as the duration was at least half a man-day. From 1958 to 1963 the data were based on strikes or lockouts involving six or more workers and lasting at least one working day, and strikes and lockouts lasting less than one day or involving fewer than six workers but exceeding a total of nine man-days. The basis for inclusion in the series prior to 1958 was unspecified. The figures from 1961 were provided by Mr. Ed Walker of Labour Canada.
The total number of workers involved includes the reported total number on strike or locked out, even if those on strike did not belong to the union. Workers laid off as the result of a work stoppage are not included. Where the number of workers involved varied in the course of the stoppage, the maximum number is used in tabulating annual totals. The total number of workers shown may include the same workers more than once, if they were involved in more than one work stoppage during the year.
Since 1956 the number of employees (series E192) has been deleted because in some cases, for example, the 'employer' is a builders' exchange that comprises a multitude of individual contractors. Series E195 and E196 have also been dropped because the former was unreliable and the latter was difficult to interpret.
Political strikes are included where the objective is to influence government policies affecting pay, working conditions or other labour related matters.
See the 'Explanatory Notes', pp. 91-93 of Strikes and Lockouts in Canada, 1976, for additional details and concepts.
Index Numbers of Wage Rates, Wage Rates and Salaries (Series D198-375)
General note
All the published data in the tables contained in this division were taken from annual wage reports of the Department of Labour. While the Department of Labour collected some data on wages and hours beginning in 1900, parts of which were published from time to time in The Labour Gazette, it was only in 1921 that publication of a series of regular annual reports on wages and hours began. Prior to 1950 these reports were published as supplements to The Labour Gazette; beginning with 1950 they have been published as separate documents. These reports are entitled Wage Rates, Salaries and Hours of Work. Until 1973 a single report was issued. From 1974 there was a series of separate reports for a number of major communities across Canada. From 1975, a separate report presenting information on a national basis was added to the series.The early wage reports were based on information obtained from trade unions, collective agreements, departmental field representatives and The Labour Gazette field representatives throughout Canada as well as from an annual mail survey of employers. With the expansion of the survey of employers over the years the information obtained from employers has supplanted information obtained from other sources.
The following summary of the technical notes of the present survey is taken from Wage Rates, Salaries and Hours of Labour, Canada, October 1976.
The survey, covering all establishments in Canada with 20 or more employees, is conducted by means of a reporting form which is mailed to employers. The form includes, for each occupation surveyed, a short description of the work characteristically performed.
These occupational descriptions are based on the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations, commonly referred to as the CCDO, which was developed and published by the Canada Department of Manpower and Immigration in collaboration with Statistics Canada in 1971.
The occupational descriptions included in the reporting schedules are designed to help employers identify the specific jobs for which wage information is requested. The descriptions are not to be construed as 'standards' for jobs in any particular establishment or industry, as the specific duties and work loads involved in some occupations may vary slightly from plant to plant, as well as from industry to industry.
The most important criteria used in selecting the occupations to be surveyed are the following: numerical importance, prevalence throughout the industry or community, importance in the production process, and capability of clear definition.
Employers are asked to submit returns on the basis of 'establishment' rather than for 'company' or 'enterprise', as many companies are of a multiple-unit type having one or more branches in different localities. Moreover, because of the variety of products made by some companies, all branches of the company may not come under the same industrial classification, as defined by Statistics Canada's Standard Industrial Classification Manual.
All major industrial areas are covered by this survey with the exception of agriculture, fishing, hunting, trapping and construction. Only the logging industry is covered in the forestry division.
The wage statistics generally apply to the last normal pay period preceding 1 October in the survey year. The term 'normal pay period' means a pay period in which there were no strikes, unusual layoffs or other abnormal conditions. Wage changes occurring on or after 1 October are not included, even where such changes are made retroactive.
For an average to be published for an occupation, the rates must apply to at least five employees in three establishments, or to 10 or more employees in two establishments, provided that more than 20 per cent of the total number of employees is reported by both establishments. Further to these criteria, the median, deciles and quartiles are not published unless the rates apply to at least 10 employees or more.
These criteria are applied for two reasons: to avoid revealing the rates paid by any one establishment; and to ensure a reasonable degree of representativeness of the data.
Some important features of the wage data are described below:
- The most common type of time rate for non-office employees is an hourly rate under which the employee is paid a fixed amount for each hour worked. Consequently, in cases where hourly rates are requested on the survey forms, and daily, weekly or monthly rates are reported, the reported rates are converted to an hourly basis. However, daily, weekly or monthly rates are sometimes shown for occupations in industries in which such methods of wage payment are common. When monthly rates are converted to weekly rates, or vice versa, a conversion factor of 4 weeks per month is used. When weekly rates are converted to hourly rates, the weekly rate (exclusive of overtime or other premiums) is divided by the standard weekly hours of work as reported. All rates include cost-of-living bonus payments where applicable.
- The most common types of straight-time earnings are those based on piece-work or various production or incentive bonus systems; other types are based on commission or mileage.
The rates published in this report are those applying to fully qualified employees in the occupations surveyed. Rates for beginners, learners, apprentices, improvers, foremen and lead hands are not included, although rates for helpers, which are sometimes requested on the reporting forms, are shown separately.
Rates for part-time employees working less than half the standard hours are not included.
Data for this section since 1960 were provided by Mr. Wayne Baxter of Labour Canada.
Table E198-208Index numbers of average wage rates for selected main industries, 1901 to 1965
For a description of the construction of the indexes and their coverage see especially Reports Nos. 1, 3, 19, 24, 26, 36, 42, 43 and 48.
The method of constructing the indexes had one common element throughout the period. The first step was always to obtain a measure of the change in a rate for an occupation within an industry for each region. The occupational rate was in each case specific to the industry and the occupations were selected to be representative of all occupations in the industry. These measures of change of rate for an occupation within an industry were then averaged for all localities to give a countrywide average. The countrywide averages for all the occupations within an industry were then averaged to give a measure of the change for the industry as a whole on a countrywide basis.
A detailed discussion of the basis used to calculate the averages is contained in the 1960 edition of Historical Statistics of Canada, pp. 69-70 as well as in the notes to the reports cited above.
The series ends in 1965 since the use of the Standard Industrial Classification of 1960 prevented linking the particular industry groups beyond this point; see notes to series E209-219. Series E198-208 are based on 1949 = 100 while series E209-219 are based on 1961 = 100.
Table E209-219Index numbers of average wage rates, for selected main industries, 1961 to 1972
Four major changes were introduced in the 1966 survey:
- The classification of industries was changed from the 1948 to the 1960 Standard Industrial Classification. Complete details on this classification appear in the Standard Industrial Classification Manual, (Catalogue 12-501.) The changes in the industrial presentation of the information caused by the introduction of the 1960 Standard Industrial Classification are summarized in the 'Technical Notes' of Wage Rates, Salaries and Hours of Labour, Report No. 49, October 1966. The allocation of reporting units or establishments to individual classifications was also reviewed.
- A revised basis of geographic classification was introduced. As a result, the number of communities for which information is published was increased from 52 to 58.
- The index number series was revised to include the use of 1961 as base year and the selection of new occupational and geographical weights.
The series of index numbers for selected main industries was discontinued after 1972. This is due mainly to technical difficulties brought about by the conversion of the occupational titles and the duties of each occupation covered in the survey from the American Dictionary of Occupational Titles to the Canadian Classification and Dictionary of Occupations.
Table E220-247aIndex numbers of average wage rates for industry groups and selected components in manufacturing, Canada, 1939 to 1972
Table E220-247bIndex numbers of average wage rates for industry groups and selected components in manufacturing, Canada, 1939 to 1972 CONCLUDED
See the discussion of series E198-208. From 1939 on indexes for a much larger number of industry groups were published. The 1949-based series end in 1965 since the use of the Standard Industrial Classification of 1960 prevented linking the particular industry group beyond this point.
Table E248-267aHourly wage rates in selected building trades, by city, 1901 to 1974
Table E248-267bHourly wage rates in selected building trades, by city, 1901 to 1974 CONCLUDED
Rates are given here for four occupations in five major Canadian cities. Comparable data for other occupations and cities also have been published. It is believed that these series for the building trades are among the most consistent series which have been published in the annual wage reports. In 1973 the survey introduced new titles and definitions of occupations based on the CCDO. The department believes that for traditional occupations such as those in this series and for occupations which cut across industries, the change in definitions has not significantly altered the comparability of the results. It should be noted, however, that there is a possibility that in some cases the data for 1973 and subsequent years may not be entirely comparable.
The published wage rates for each occupation represent the 'prevailing' rates in the particular city. Up to 1965 these data were obtained from a field survey conducted by the Industrial Relations Branch of the Department of Labour for the administration of the Fair Wages and Hours of Labour Act. Since 1966 the data on the construction industry, with the exception of Quebec, have been based on rates of pay and hours of work specified in collective agreements in effect at 1 October of each year. The figures shown are, with the exception of those for the province of Quebec, rates of pay and hours of work specified in collective agreements in effect at 1 October 1966. The figures for the communities in the province of Quebec are those established under the Collective Agreement Decrees Act, administered by the Building Trades Parity Committees in the province. The data were made available to the Canada Department of Labour by the various provincial labour departments or other provincial government agencies. The rates are 'deemed to be generally accepted as current for competent workmen in each trade or classification employed in the location indicated', and in nearly all cases are union rates.
The rates published for this and all other industries in the annual wage reports do not include overtime earnings, shift differentials, non-production bonuses (except cost-of-living bonus payments), shares in company profits and the monetary value of such fringe benefits as group insurance, sick benefits, uniforms, etc. The rates are derived from the employee's wage before deductions are made for taxes, unemployment insurance contributions, pension payments, etc. The rates are intended to apply to fully qualified workers in their occupations. Unless otherwise stated, the rates apply to male workers only. Where women and men are reported in an occupation, separate rates are shown for them. Rates for beginners, learners, apprentices, foremen and lead hands, are not included, although rates for helpers are sometimes shown separately. The rates for part-time employees working less than half the standard hours are not included.
Table E268-279Hourly wage rates in selected occupations in the pulp and paper industry, for Canada and by region, 1911 to 1920 and 1943 to 1974
Wage rates were published for the years 1920 to 1941 but they are not included here because of difficulties in deriving a consistent time series.
Table E280-295Hourly wage rates for selected occupations in the motor-vehicle industry, 1943 to 1974
The wage rates are weighted average rates prepared by the Department of Labour. Until 1958 all of the reporting establishments were located in Ontario. Prior to 1945 the industry was called the automobile industry. It is now defined to include 'establishments primarily engaged in manufacturing or assembling complete motor vehicles such as passenger automobiles, commercial cars and buses, trucks, and special purpose motor vehicles' (see Report No. 55, p. 163). Consistent data are not available prior to 1943.
Table E296-325Average hourly wage rates for selected maintenance and service occupations, by city, 1956 to 1975
The wage and salary data published on a community basis are derived from survey returns for establishments having 15 or more employees in the community up to 1965 and 20 or more employees from 1966 onward. Where no information is published for an occupation, insufficient data are available to meet the criteria for publishing an average or range of wage rates for an occupation (see Report No. 47, Technical Notes, for description of the publication criteria applied to the results of the survey).
Table E326-375Average weekly salaries for selected office occupations, by city, 1956 to 1975
See the note to series E296-325.
Workmen's Compensation (Series E376-389)
General note
Workmen's compensation is under provincial jurisdiction. The data, therefore, are obtained from reports of the various provincial workmen's compensation boards. Data since 1960 were provided by Mr. Jim Wong of Labour Canada. Table E376-386Industrial accidents, fatal and nonfatal, reported by provincial workmen's compensation boards, by province, 1928 to 1974
The principal limitation of these series is that they do not include accidents of workers not covered by workmen's compensation. For a number of provinces accidents which required 'medical aid only' were not reported in the early years; only accidents which required compensation were included. The source document provides details on the number of fatal accidents and the number that involved permanent disabilities.
Table E387-389Provincial expenditures for workmen's compensation, 1921 to 1975
The data give totals for all provinces. Prior to 1947 only the 'total' expenditures, and then only for some years, were available.
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http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/11-516-x/sectione/4147438-eng.htm
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Daryl Bean
Daryl’s union activism began in the 1960s as a shop steward and chairperson of his Local’s grievance committee. He was elected Local President in 1965, National Vice-President of the Union of Public Works Employees (UPWE) in 1972 and UPWE (now Government Services Union) National President in 1975. He continued working in the federal public service as a maintenance superintendent in Ottawa until his election as PSAC’s Second Executive Vice-President in 1982.
As President, Daryl filed the pay equity complaint against the federal government that led to a $3.2 billion settlement. In 1991, he led the largest national strike in Canada’s history against the federal government.
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- ... the Canadian Labour Union, ... from the CLC in the early 1980's. The history of unionism is a triumph for working ... Canadian history, ...
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BLOGGED:
CANADA MILITARY NEWS: Labour Day- Happy Labour Day Canada and our USA- History of our proud traditions- CANADA PSAC AND GOV SETTLE PAY EQUITY 2013/God bless our Labour Movement which thrives in ALL political parties - Canada Troops and Wars 4 Freedom- Please don't take my life 4 granted-ur free because of me- my hero Lech Walesa : Poland/HONOUR CANADA TROOPS AND VOTE IN 2015- R TROOPS DIE SO U CAN- Afghans did - CANADA UNIONS RE-DEFINING ROLE/Sept 7, 2015 (94 Million Americans unemployed???) Sept 1 2014-and Sept 2, 2013-
http://nova0000scotia.blogspot.ca/2013/09/canada-military-news-sept-3-happy.html
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CANADA
History
| The Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) can trace its history back to 1906 when employees of the Department of National Revenue (Customs & Excise) decided to organize local Branches at the port level. These Branches affiliated themselves, on an individual basis, to the Civil Service Federation of Canada when it was established in 1909.In 1919, representatives from each of the local Branches met in Ottawa to form the Customs and Excise Officers’ Association (CEOA). At that time, the daily concerns of the Association were handled by a National Secretary-Treasurer who worked, on a voluntary basis, from his home in Ottawa. By 1948, CEOA had grown to such an extent that the decision was made to establish a full-time National Secretary-Treasurer. The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) was formed in November 1966 as a result of the merger between the Civil Service Federation and the Civil Service Association. CEOA, with 6,900 members, changed its name to the Customs Excise Union Douanes Accise (CEUDA) and became one of the seventeen (17) PSAC Components. In 1970, the position of National President was made full-time and a resolution adopted at the 1972 National Convention required the National President to work out of the National Office in Ottawa. In 2008, after the integration of certain Agriculture services and the totality of the Immigration inland enforcement services, the delegates of the 15th National Convention of CEUDA voted that from now on, this organization will use the name of Customs and Immigration Union – Syndicat des Douanes et de l’Immigration (CIU-SDI). This new name concisely and inclusively reflect, with an internationally-recognized wording, the work and the services offered by our members, who are the pride of our Union and the Canadian population. | 1919 – Customs & Excise Officers’ Association (CEOA) 
1968 – Customs Excise Union Douanes Accise (CEUDA)
2008 – Customs and Immigration Union (CIU)
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http://www.ciu-sdi.ca/about-us/history/
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The following is an excerpt from Chapter 14, “The Future of public service in Canada”.-Kevin Page
After all, Canadians are paying big money for the services that are provided – it takes somewhere around $43 billion per year to sustain the public service. Just as our politicians must be held accountable for their roles in leading the country, so must our public servants be held accountable as well. It’s only fair and right.
Assessing and reinventing the public service is important and complex, and I bring different experiences, conflicted thoughts, and varying emotions to bear on the topic. If you truly desire change in a meaningful way within any organization, you first need to ask basic questions of “why” and “what” and “how.” Why is change within the public service necessary, and how can that change be achieved? I found myself at different times during my career as a civil servant asking, “What values do we hold as public servants?” If you can accurately answer that question, then it inevitably leads to the next: “Am I true to those values?” I think of my old boss, Munir Sheikh, the former chief of Statistics Canada who resigned over the loss of the long-form census, and admire the fact that he obviously knew what he valued, and no paycheque could dissuade him from being true to those values. Unfortunately, that kind of honour is uncommon. Civil servants collectively have struggled to keep true to those values of public service.
There are some fundamental concepts that members of the public service must, as a profession, attend to. For example, what are the ideals that public servants should aspire to? Do public servants even get to have those ideals? Are they prepared to reexamine and reshape ideas associated with public service? These are not easily answered queries. Noam Chomsky, the great political commentator and activist, writes in his book, Necessary Illusion, that: “While recognizing that there is rarely anything strictly new under the sun, still we can identify some moments when traditional ideas are reshaped, a new consciousness crystallizes and the opportunities that lie ahead appear in new light.”
The former clerk of the PCO, my colleague Wayne Wouters, tried to address renewal in a practical manner in his document entitled “Blueprint 2020.” For instance, it calls for a bottom-up or grass roots approach to renewal which, to my way of thinking, exacerbates the dilemma of subpar leadership. Sorry, but I have real doubts as to whether the current set of public service leaders in this country are prepared to lead a true renewal exercise in a shortened time frame. If there is to be meaningful renewal from within the public service, it must come from a new generation of public servants. The four guiding principles of Blueprint 2020 do not seem to spark, call for, or inspire any meaningful renewal.
The principles are:
- An open and networked environment that engages citizens and partners for the public good;
- A whole-of-government approach that enhances service delivery and value for money;
- A modern workplace that makes smart use of new technologies to improve networking, access to data and customer service; and
- A capable, confident and high-performing workforce that embraces new ways of working and mobilizing the diversity of talent to serve the country’s evolving needs.
Its capacity to fulfill its duties has been so severely eroded as to make the public service virtually impotent. Its ability to examine issues that will impact future generations of Canadians is in doubt. For instance, how are public servants going to fulfill their responsibilities to Aboriginal peoples in the future? How will they deal with gas emissions and the environment? And how will they deliver health care in a timely and cost efficient way? Civil servants and legislators need to work together to envision imaginative and practical solutions. Only then can we look at how these policies will be funded.
That is fiscal capacity, which is another area to consider. For example, will Canada have the financial capacity to ensure that our national finances are in sound order for the long term? The answer to that question will impact our ability to cost and procure in areas such as the F35 or ships or future military operations in general. Where is the fiscal sustainability analysis of the public service for the country? How do we know when files are being appropriately costed, if we never see the analysis from public servants? Does it bother the public service that our appropriations system is broken or that omnibus bills have become the norm in order to push legislation through Parliament with limited debate? Do civil servants not see themselves as caretakers of these institutions anymore? What will happen to our service capacity after direct program spending and operational spending is frozen for five years, as is the stated objective of the current government? In real and practical terms, will the freezing of such operation expenditures hinder our ability to pull someone out of the water off the Grand Banks in a rescue effort? Will that policy impact our ability to provide meat in the marketplace that all Canadians will know is safe to consume?
Those things take money. We need planning in that regard and numbers to show what government policies will cost – in dollars and cents and, most importantly, in human terms. These aren’t economic models – these are real-life applications of how policy can impact everyone in the nation in their daily lives. We do not currently possess viable answers for these kinds of questions because the deputy ministers will not show their plans to Parliament. They still refuse even after the budget officer went to federal court over the lack of transparency.
Is there a rock bottom? Will we need some kind of crisis in order to turn these attitudes around? George Orwell said that “to see what is in front of one’s nose is a constant struggle.” I believe that the public service was not ready for a government that emphasized ideology and not evidence-based decision-making. Previous renewal exercises did not ask the question of how the public service would remain true to its values with a government that focused on ideology.
We did not – perhaps, could not – see what was ahead. I hope that the current public service renewal exercise can spark an ethically informed public conversation. I truly believe that many in the rank and file membership are ready for renewal. I suppose that if the leadership in this regard will not come from the top, then it must by necessity originate from the base. Blueprint 2020 is good as far as it goes – a number of inoffensive principles.
However, I do not think there is coherence in the public service as it currently exists or looks to exist moving forward.
The context for renewal can begin with the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector, which came into effect as of April 2012. Under the code, the democratic values of a public servant outline the responsibility to help ministers, under law, to serve the public interest. The code says that public servants shall support both individual and collective ministerial accountability and provide Parliament and Canadians with information on the results of their work. In this respect, we have not lived up to our values in recent times. When Parliament asked the government and public service for information on the F35 or crime bills or the departmental spending plans consistent with Budget 2012, it was not forthcoming. That is not acceptable.
Additionally, under the code, the professional values of a public servant are to serve with competence, excellence, efficiency, objectivity, and impartiality. It says that how ends are achieved in the public service should be as important as the achievements themselves. It also notes that public servants should strive to ensure that the value of transparency in government is upheld while respecting their duties of confidentiality under the law. In this regard, the public service has again fallen short. The public service has allowed the executive branch of government to make omnibus budget bills a standard practice. In doing so, the government and public service have allowed parliamentary debate and scrutiny to suffer. We are complicit in the facilitation of speedy passage of complicated laws. Was the public service not complicit when Parliament found the government in contempt for lack of transparency in 2011? That’s not good enough for a profession that aspires to higher ethics and values.
The ethical values section of the code speaks to a public service reflecting the need to act at all times in such a way as to uphold the public trust. It says that public servants shall act at all times in a manner that will bear the closest public scrutiny, an obligation that is not fully discharged by simply acting within the law.
This does not happen when deputy ministers refuse to provide spending plans to Parliament and the PBO that outline where Budget 2012 cuts will take place, along with an explanation of how those cuts will affect services to the public. Shame on all of us for sticking our collective heads in the sand.
Finally, under the code, the people values stipulate that public servants should demonstrate respect, fairness, and courtesy in their dealings with both citizens and fellow public servants. It says that appointment decisions in the public service shall be based on merit and that public service values should play a key role in recruitment, evaluation, and promotion. This did not happen with the recruitment of the new PBO.
What I learned from my PBO experience is that our public service has become good at avoiding accountability and transparency. The result is that public trust in the public service declines. Jane Jacobs, the famous American-Canadian urban activist, said “the absence of trust is inimical to a well-run society.” If only we could institutionalize trust, but alas, that is impossible.
Our public service leaders are going to have to step up and earn trust! To my friends and colleagues in the public service, I say this: Blueprint 2020, more than anything else it espouses, must be about restoring trust to the public service in Canada.
Excerpted from Unaccountable, by Kevin Page. Copyright 2015 Kevin Page. Published by Penguin Canada, a divison of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the publisher. All rights reserved.
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/politics/kevin-page-delivers-a-warning-to-the-public-service
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Canada Encyclopedia
Labour Relations
Labour Relations refers to the relations between employers and
employees. They are affected by a number of factors, including labour
organizations, COLLECTIVE BARGAINING, LABOUR MARKET, government policy, the
structure of the economy, LABOUR LAW and technological change.
Knights of Labor
Hamilton's Knights of Labor parading down King Street during the 1880s (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/PA-103086).Labour Relations
Labour Relations refers to the relations between employers and employees. They are affected by a number of factors, including labour organizations, COLLECTIVE BARGAINING, LABOUR MARKET, government policy, the structure of the economy, LABOUR LAW and technological change. Because labour relations are commonly associated with unions, it is significant that in Canada, until the 1970s, a majority of unions and union members belonged to American-based craft and industrial unions.American employers are also influential - more than 4000 branch plants and subsidiaries of American corporations exist in Canada. In December 1987, Statistics Canada estimated that US-based unions acquired $56.5 million more from their members in Canada than they spent in Canada in 1985. During this century, labour relations in Canada and the US have been remarkably similar; a 1959 survey of 15 countries over more than 15 years described them as "a single system."
The outstanding feature of North American industrial relations, according to some observers, has been the unusually high incidence of STRIKES. Studies have also disclosed that the incidence of violence and illegality arising out of labour disputes has been much higher in the US and Canada than in other comparably industrialized countries - characteristics attributed to a few political and institutional factors that Canada, until the 1960s, shared with the US.
They included the relatively recent development of large-scale "mass unionization," a considerable residue of tension and mutual hostility arising from the widespread, protracted and frequently violent opposition of employers to unions; intense organizational and leadership rivalries among unions; the highly decentralized structure of labour organization and collective bargaining in most industries; and the absence of a strong or dominant labour party capable of gaining power at the national level.
Despite these broad similarities, however, labour relations in Canada have differed from those in the US in some important respects, which appear to have widened in recent years. For example, until the late 1950s the incidence of strikes in Canada was well below that of the US. Canada was less industrialized, with a smaller proportion of unionized workers. It underwent rapid industrialization and union growth during and after WWII and by the mid-1950s had reached virtual parity with the US in percentage of nonagricultural workers unionized. There was another dramatic upsurge in the later 1960s and the 1970s with the growth of public-sector unions. By 1987, 37.6% of nonagricultural workers in Canada were unionized, as compared to less than 20% in the US.
The relative strength of organized labour in Canada was also affected by cultural and ethnic divisions among workers, particularly the formidable gap between Francophones and Anglophones, which was exemplified by the formation of the separate francophone CONFEDERATION OF NATIONAL TRADE UNIONS in Québec. Pronounced geographic and political divisions also precluded effective unionization and often set the interests of the workers in one region against those in another. For example, the interests of packing-house workers in the food-processing industry in eastern Canada have often conflicted with those of their western counterparts, particularly regarding transportation, international trade and government subsidies.
Politically, the labour movement had been divided since the turn of the century, when the TRADES AND LABOR CONGRESS, backed by the American Federation of Labor, evicted the militant KNIGHTS OF LABOR. Conflicts over opposing ideologies, programs and organizational objectives became less intense with the formation of the CANADIAN LABOUR CONGRESS in 1956. Since then numerous unions have broken away from traditional American-controlled organizations in a drive for national autonomy. Some are in the CLC and some in the Confederation of Canadian Unions. Government intervention is another factor increasingly influencing labour relations.
Since W.L. Mackenzie KING, as federal deputy minister, introduced the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act of 1907 to curb western Canada's militant coal-mine workers, governments in Canada have acted to maintain "law and order" and to protect employers' property and latitude of action rather than to protect the rights of employees to organize and bargain collectively. This tendency is evident in a history of expeditious resort to compulsory intervention, such as back-to-work legislation and binding arbitration, to settle disputes.
As far as employers are concerned, the Canadian situation differs from the American in that employers in most major industries in Canada have been relatively larger and more concentrated in their respective labour and product markets, and in earlier decades enjoyed relatively stronger bargaining power vis-à-vis organized labour. Where they have operated as subsidiaries or "branch plants," their strength has increased because their freedom to invest selectively and to relocate physically have provided them with an advantage in dealing with unions.
Labour relations changed dramatically during and after WWII, and Canadian and American positions were, in some respects, reversed. Union organization and membership grew more rapidly in Canada, and for the past several years union members have comprised a considerably larger percentage of the labour force. Since the 1950s the incidence of industrial conflict has also risen far more rapidly in Canada, and has remained at a considerably higher level for more than 20 years. Rapidly growing but highly erratic and irregular waves of industrial disputes developed in Canada from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, reaching record peaks in the numbers of strikes, workers involved and person-days lost in 1965, 1966, 1968, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976 (the all-time high), 1980 and 1981.
During this period Canada shared with Italy the rather dubious distinction of having the world's highest annual average time loss per 1000 workers, with the US a distant third. Illegality and violence arising from labour disputes also increased in Canada during this period, particularly in Ontario and Québec, in a pattern reminiscent of the 1930s and earlier. As a result, and in response as well to the emergence of powerful public-sector unions, governments in Canada severely restricted organized labour. Strikes were banned in essential services, and in 1975 the federal government imposed a mandatory incomes policy administered by an ANTI-INFLATION BOARD. "Six and five" legislation followed in the early 1980s, and various provincial governments imposed wage-guideline policies.
Labour relations have also been affected by the structure of the Canadian economy. During the 1960s and 1970s Canada's LABOUR FORCE grew more rapidly than that of any other industrial country and was accompanied by and dependent upon an unusually high rate of capital investment, particularly by American corporations. Postwar economic expansion, however, produced an economy heavily reliant upon primary-resource extraction and export, susceptible to "boom-and-bust" cycles.
Canadian governments, owing partly to the inability of a highly decentralized federal system of government to do so and partly to tradition, have not generally introduced measures to promote long-term stability or planning in the economy. Instability, inflation and unemployment have all generated corresponding instability in labour relations. The concentration of strikes in cyclically sensitive industries seems to indicate a close relationship between economic instability and industrial conflict.
Over the past 2 decades, only 6 industries, employing less than 15% of the labour force, accounted for more than 50% of all person-days lost and for more than 66% of the unusually large and protracted strikes. In order of percentage of time loss from strikes, they were construction, mining and smelting (particularly nickel), and (in manufacturing) transportation equipment (mainly automobiles), primary metals (mainly iron and steel) and wood products (mainly lumber and pulp and paper).
A by-product of Canada's rapid but unstable pattern of economic growth and one particularly provocative of industrial conflict has been the problem of wage disparities. During periods of rapid expansion, greater disparities have tended to develop within the general wage structure of Canada than within that of other industrial countries, primarily because of widely unequal rates of growth and profitability among different industries and regions and because of wide differences in bargaining power among unions.
In Canada's very decentralized labour movement, collective bargaining is highly localized and competitive. Three-quarters or more of all collective agreements are negotiated with individual employers, and multi-employer bargaining is usually local or district wide. The resulting differences in wages and fringe benefits have made it difficult for unions to achieve their general goal of parity among workers and have tended to provoke widespread conflict.
The problem of unequal growth during the 1960s and early 1970s particularly affected the public sector, partly because of growing intervention of government at all levels in disputes and strike-settlement procedures in other industries under the aegis of postwar labour legislation. The (implied) responsibility of governments for the gains in wages and benefits in the private sector and the wage lag in various public and publicly controlled sectors has resulted in the formation of militant unions, the enactment of new legislation providing for union certification and collective bargaining, and numerous large and protracted strikes among public-service workers.
The onset of a severe recession and serious unemployment in the 1980s greatly weakened the bargaining power of unions. On the other hand, new demands and policies by various public and private employers were viewed as serious threats to job and union security and, in the mid-to-late 1980s, provoked numerous incidents of picket line violence, injuries and arrests in labour disputes.
An even more serious recession developed in Canada during the early 1990s. During the ensuing recovery there has been a combination of stronger competition to Canadian industry on a global scale, growing labour displacement from technological change or "computerization" and widespread "downsizing" by federal and provincial governments, as well as by major employers in the private sector. These trends have kept the unemployment rate in Canada at double digit levels and greatly weakened the trade union movement generally in this country. The level of strike action has been far below previous decades. Indeed, unions in both the public and private sector have been forced to make substantial concessions in wages, hours and job security provisions.
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/labour-relations/-
Labor Unions in Canada
I Introduction
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| 1919 Strike (above) and 1949 Strike (below) |
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II Types of Unions
Unionized workers in Canada include industrial and office workers and public employees in government administration, school systems, and hospitals. They also include engineers, professors, nurses, teachers, and other professional employees. Employees are less likely to be unionized in private service-sector firms such as retail stores, restaurants, banks, and insurance companies, because employers in those areas have aggressively opposed unions.Unions have traditionally been divided into craft unions and industrial unions. Craft unions, which were the earliest form of union, are formed by skilled workers in a trade such as printing or carpentry, but they typically exclude unskilled workers. Industrial unions, by contrast, include all workers, skilled as well as unskilled, in a single industry such as automobile or steel manufacturing.
In the late 20th century other types of unions arose in Canada. Public-sector unions emerged in the 1960s after the government passed laws allowing government workers to organize (to form groups to protect their rights and interests) and bargain collectively. In the 1980s and 1990s general unions, which represent workers from widely varying industries or occupations, became more common as unions broadened their membership to include people working in jobs outside the union’s original industry. For example, the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) expanded to represent workers in the fishing and airline industries, among other areas. In the private service sector, the CAW organized employees at the first unionized McDonald's restaurant in North America.
III The Role of Unions
Unions help workers negotiate the terms and conditions of their work with their employers. Before unions existed, workers often labored for low wages and long hours in unsafe or unhealthy workplaces. They could be fired without cause at the whim of an employer and thus had no job security. In unionized jobs, employees work under conditions negotiated through the process of collective bargaining, in which the union negotiates with the employers on behalf of the employees. The collective agreements they negotiate include clauses that outline job classifications, rates of pay, workday length, overtime rates, workers’ health and safety measures, and work distribution. Such agreements also include grievance and arbitration procedures that are designed to settle conflicts that arise during the term of a contract.Unions also negotiate with employers to determine the level of union security (the extent to which workers are required to join or fund the union once it is established). Types of union security arrangements include the closed-shop agreement, in which union membership is a condition of employment in a workplace, and the union-shop agreement, in which a person does not have to be a union member to be hired but must join the union after becoming employed. A third form is known as the Rand Formula, named after Canadian Supreme Court justice Ivan Rand, who created it when he arbitrated a strike against the Ford Motor Company in Windsor, Ontario, in 1945. The Rand Formula does not require all workers to join the union, but it requires them to pay union dues because they receive the benefit of the union’s collective bargaining. The formula also allows the employer to deduct automatically the union dues from workers’ paychecks.
Collective agreements last for a set period of time, after which they are renegotiated. If the employers and unions cannot reach a collective agreement, either party can apply pressure to the other through a work stoppage. A work stoppage by workers is called a strike, while a stoppage created by an employer is known as a lockout. Lockouts are less common than strikes. Often just the threat of a work stoppage is enough to push the two sides to an agreement. However, before a legal work stoppage can occur in Canada, the parties must apply for conciliation. Under conciliation, a government-appointed mediator tries to help the two sides reach an agreement. If they do not, a cooling-off period of about ten days follows, in which employees remain at work and the parties may continue to negotiate. Only after the cooling-off period ends can the employers or employees begin a legal work stoppage.
In around 90 percent of negotiations, the parties reach collective agreements without a work stoppage. Between 1986 and 1993, only 11.4 percent of collective agreements in the private sector and 2.7 percent in the public sector were signed following a work stoppage. Most workers in Canada have the right to strike, except firefighters, police, some hospital workers, and others who perform essential services. Those employees normally have another recourse to settle disputes such as binding arbitration. In binding arbitration, an outside arbitrator hears the arguments of the parties involved and issues a decision that the parties must accept.
Unions in Canada have also taken an active role in politics. Much of this political work is done by central labor bodies, organizations formed by groups of unions to represent the general concerns of unions and workers. Central labor bodies, the most prominent of which is the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), lobby for legislation that is in the interest of their members and other workers. They have supported legislation setting workers' compensation and minimum standards for working conditions. Unions have also pushed for social welfare measures, including universal medical coverage, unemployment insurance, and health and safety legislation. In addition, unions have supported broader community issues, including human rights, pay equity for women, and environmental standards.
Historically the labor movement has affiliated itself with socialist and social-democratic political parties outside the Liberal Party and the Progressive Conservative Party, the two mainstream parties. In 1961 the CLC was instrumental in founding the NDP, which has remained an influential party in Canadian national and provincial politics. A substantial minority of union members follows organized labor's lead in supporting the NDP, but the majority of members more often supports the mainstream parties.
IV Union Organization
Labor organizations exist on a variety of levels, from local workplaces to international organizations. Most local unions belong to national or international unions that are organized around an industry or an occupation—for example, the United Steelworkers of America and the Canadian Union of Public Employees. Unions also belong to central labor bodies such as the CLC. Central labor bodies are not unions themselves because they do not directly represent workers in negotiations with employers. Rather, they represent the general interests of workers and unions, particularly in the area of public policy.At the local level, workers in a particular workplace can join a local union. Before a union can represent a group of employees at a workplace, it must apply to the provincial labor board, a government agency, to be certified as the bargaining representative. To determine whether the union should be certified, the labor board either counts union membership cards or holds a representation vote to determine if the union has the support of the majority of workers at the workplace. If a majority supports the union, the board determines the appropriate bargaining unit (the group of workers that is represented in a specific collective agreement) at the workplace and certifies the union. Once certified, a local union seeks to negotiate a collective agreement with the employer to determine the terms and conditions of employment.
Workers in local unions elect local executives to supervise the work of the union. They also elect officials known as shop stewards to handle grievances that arise on the job. Before collective bargaining begins, workers elect a bargaining committee. The bargaining committee determines the workers’ demands and strategy in negotiations with the employer.
Local unions usually are part of national or international unions. These national and international unions employ a staff for organizing workers at the local level, doing research, educating union members about labor and political matters, and working with local union leaders. Unions hold regular conventions of delegates elected from local unions to discuss policies and hold elections for union leadership positions. Unions are governed by constitutions developed and voted on by the membership.
Unions are democratic organizations. Unionized workers elect their local officials in secret ballot elections. They elect their national and international union officials in different ways depending on a union’s constitution. Some unions, such as the United Steelworkers of America, which has a large number of Canadian members, hold referendum votes of the membership to elect district directors and national and international union officers. Other unions elect delegates from each local union to attend an annual convention, where the delegates elect district and national or international union officials by secret ballot.
Most Canadian unions are affiliated with central labor bodies. Central labor bodies include national congresses, local labor councils, and provincial federations of labor that represent workers’ interests at the municipal and provincial levels. These organizations lobby governments for legislation that benefits both organized and unorganized workers. They represent the labor movement in government or societal institutions and in international labor organizations. The largest central labor body in Canada is the CLC, a national congress that represents 2.3 million workers. The largest central labor body outside of the CLC is the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (Confederation of National Trade Unions), an organization that includes a significant number of unions in Québec.
V Labor Law
Labor law establishes the rules that govern labor relations between employers and employees. In the 19th century, most labor law in Canada restricted, and even outlawed, worker organization and strikes. The government often considered organizations of employees to be illegal conspiracies that restrained trade. By the end of the 19th century, however, the government no longer legally restricted most trade union activity. In 1900 the federal Conciliation Act established voluntary dispute-settlement mechanisms for employees and employers. The Industrial Disputes Investigation Act (1907) included compulsory conciliation, in which workers and employers were required to meet with a mediator prior to a legal work stoppage. Compulsory conciliation became a distinctive feature of the Canadian industrial relations system.During World War II (1939-1945) the federal government, after much pressure from labor and the public, passed an emergency wartime measure, known as PC 1003 (1944), that established Canada’s first wide-ranging national labor code. This code was replaced after World War II with similar, more permanent legislation: the federal Industrial Relations and Disputes Investigation Act (1948) and equivalent laws in the provinces. These acts created Canada’s modern industrial relations system. As PC 1003 had done during the war, these acts supported collective bargaining and provided for the certification of unions with majority support in a workplace. The acts also outlawed unfair labor practices, including employer discrimination against employees for union activity, and established labor boards to administer the legislation.
This legal structure, which remains the basis for labor relations in Canada, was modeled on the National Labor Relations Act (1935) in the United States, but the Canadian law is significantly different. Canadian law emphasizes compulsory conciliation as a means of settling labor disputes and outlaws strikes during the term of a collective agreement. Canadian legislation provides a certification process for local unions that is faster than the process in the United States. Canadian law also goes further in recognizing the legitimacy of union security arrangements that require all workers in a unionized workplace to join the union or at least to pay union dues. In many areas of the United States, right-to-work laws prohibit such union security arrangements (see Trade Unions in the United States).
In the 1960s legislation extended and adapted collective bargaining rights to include public-sector employees. In 1967 the Public Service Staff Relations Act created a new collective bargaining structure for federal employees. Provinces passed similar legislation concerning their employees. By the mid-1970s the country had firmly established public-sector collective bargaining and the right for public-sector employees either to strike or to seek binding arbitration. Some provinces recognized the right of their government employees to bargain collectively but not to strike. Others merely limited the right to strike for employees engaged in essential services, although which services are essential is sometimes debated. In rare instances governments have passed back-to-work legislation in public-sector disputes. Back-to-work legislation temporarily suspends the right of certain government workers to strike.
The jobs of striking workers are protected by law, and normally they must be reinstated at the end of a dispute. There are regulations that govern conduct during a strike, such as prohibitions in Québec and British Columbia on the use of replacement workers to break strikes. Some provinces outlaw the use of professional strikebreaking agencies, which help employers undermine strikes with tactics such as hiring replacement workers, intimidating strikers, and bringing charges against picketers. Such laws and regulations can protect workers. They also protect the public interest by contributing to a relatively high level of industrial peace. They encourage employers and workers in Canada to settle issues through legal processes rather than through confrontation.
VI History
A Unions in the 19th Century
The first workers to unionize in Canada were skilled artisans, such as printers and carpenters, whose skills were in demand. Their skills gave them bargaining power, and beginning in the mid-19th century they were able to establish craft unions to protect their jobs and the standards of their work. At the same time, the introduction of mechanized processes into these trades threatened the position of skilled workers. Mechanized systems broke down production into specialized tasks, which could be performed by less skilled and lower paid workers, including women and children. In response, the craft unions continued to try to control the labor supply in their trades. If they could not prevent technological change, at least they could regulate who would work on the new machines by limiting access and advancement in their trades. The craft unions introduced training processes, systems of apprenticeship, and work rules. In 1886 the American Federation of Labor (AFL), an international alliance of craft unions, was founded and stimulated organization among skilled tradespeople in the United States and Canada (see American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations).At the same time, the first industrial unions formed in Canada. The most significant of these unions was the Knights of Labor, which originated in 1869 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and spread into Canada beginning in 1881. The Knights focused on organizing the unskilled workers who were excluded by the craft unions. The Knights organized all workers in an industry, regardless of their training or position. The Knights also tended to include more women and black workers than other unions at the time, although they were not open to immigrant Chinese workers and fought against their use by employers.
Employers and craft unions opposed the Knights of Labor, and the Knights declined in power after the 1880s. The Knights helped establish the Trades and Labour Congress of Canada (TLC) in 1886, the first central labor body to represent Canadian workers by advocating legislative and political reform. The TLC existed until 1956 when it helped form the Canadian Labour Congress.
Around the turn of the century, the federal and provincial governments passed legislation that set labor standards to prevent employers from exploiting workers. This legislation limited work hours and established minimum wages for women and eventually limited child labor. It also instituted factory inspections and workers' compensation for accidents on the job.
B Radicalism and World War I
In 1905 the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), an international industrial union, was founded in Chicago, Illinois. The IWW espoused one union of all workers and organized among itinerant unskilled laborers, who were often poor immigrants working in resource industries such as logging and mining. In Canada the IWW organized primarily in the West. Its philosophy was revolutionary syndicalism, a belief that after workers became organized, they would initiate a general strike, defeating capitalism and replacing it with a society run by workers. The Wobblies (as the members of the IWW were called) opposed the limited "bread and butter unionism" of the AFL, which was more concerned with wages than with revolution. The IWW sarcastically dubbed the AFL the "American Separation of Labor" because it excluded unskilled workers.In 1918 the Canadian government banned the IWW because political leaders feared it was too radical. The one-union idea was then taken up in 1919 by some western Canadian workers who formed an organization called the One Big Union (OBU). The OBU advocated industrial unionism, socialism, and more attention to the needs of western workers and their leaders.
During World War I (1914-1918), union membership grew and industrial conflict increased. Many labor leaders became disenchanted with the federal government when it ordered conscription into the armed forces in 1917. The labor leaders feared that conscription would require a greater sacrifice by the working class, while wartime industries accumulated large profits. In the following year the government instituted war measures that recognized the right to bargain collectively but not the right to strike. The measures also banned many labor newspapers and immigrant workers' organizations. The government’s actions, along with high inflation that eroded the spending power of workers’ wages, contributed to labor unrest.
The unrest climaxed in the Winnipeg General Strike of 1919, which began when local metal workers in Winnipeg, Manitoba, went on strike. Winnipeg’s other labor organizations shut down the city’s factories, stores, and government services in support of the strike. Government leaders feared the paralyzing tactics of the general strike. They also feared the radical labor movement, which they associated with the Russian Revolution of 1917. The OBU, which was formed in Calgary, Alberta, during the strike, exemplified that radicalism—some of its leaders called for socialist revolution. The government sided with the Winnipeg employers to defeat the strike forcibly and arrest its leaders. The result was a setback for labor, and the OBU rapidly declined, but many workers became more politically active after the general strike failed. Following the strike, they began to elect socialist, prolabor representatives at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels of government, particularly in the western provinces.
In Québec in the early part of the 20th century, most unionized workers joined the national and international unions in Canada. However, unions affiliated with the Catholic Church began to attract a significant minority of Québec workers during World War I. In 1921 a group of these unions formed the Canadian Catholic Confederation of Labour (CCCL). In their early years the Catholic unions reflected the conservatism of Church doctrines that opposed socialism and materialism in unions and argued for greater cooperation between workers and management.
C Great Depression and World War II
Union membership increased during the Great Depression. The Communist Party of Canada established the Workers' Unity League (WUL) in 1929 to organize workers, in competition with the established unions. The WUL had significant success, particularly among miners and lumber workers. In 1935 the party disbanded the WUL because the international Communist movement had turned toward more cooperation with other labor movements. In the United States industrial unions associated with the new Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), which was founded as the Committee for Industrial Organization in 1935, won vast job improvements in collective agreements in major industries, such as steel and automobiles. Their success led Canadian workers to join the CIO. In 1932 the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) was founded. The CCF was a political party that aimed to represent farmers and workers, and by the 1940s it had union affiliates.The labor movement increased its organizing in Canada during World War II (1939-1945). During the war, the national economy had full employment, which raised labor’s bargaining power. By the end of the war, Canadians had organized extensive portions of the economy's industrial sector and created the Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL) for industrial unions. The CCL was a central labor body that rivaled the TLC, the older craft union congress. In 1943 the CCL endorsed the CCF as "the political arm of labor." In 1944 the CCF was elected as the provincial government in Saskatchewan.
During and after the war, the federal and provincial governments passed labor laws that created the modern industrial relations system in Canada. The wartime measure PC 1003 and its postwar replacement, the Industrial Relations and Disputes Investigation Act, created a system based on union recognition and collective bargaining.
As the Cold War began in the late 1940s, the TLC and the CCL actively purged themselves of unions and union leaders that had ties to the Communist Party. The two congresses began to unite, and their differences over political involvement and the issue of craft versus industrial unionism faded. In 1956 the TLC and the CCL merged to form the Canadian Labour Congress. In the era of postwar prosperity, the labor movement continued to grow, and unions won wage increases and extensive benefits packages for their members. The CLC and the CCF helped to found the New Democratic Party (NDP) in 1961.
D Postwar Union Movement in Québec
The Catholic union movement in Québec had been hurt by the Great Depression and its competition with the industrial unions during the war. However, during the 1949 Asbestos Strike in the Eastern Townships of Québec, workers at asbestos mines clashed with police, and the Catholic unions represented by the CCCL became more aggressive in their confrontations with employers and the government. In the 1950s the CCCL distanced itself from the Catholic Church, and in 1960 the group transformed itself into the secular Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN).In the 1960s and 1970s the CSN embraced French Canadian nationalism. In the early 1970s workers in Québec agitated for more labor rights, and the major Québec unions joined in an alliance known as the Common Front for strikes and negotiations. In 1972 the Common Front led a general strike by public employees that defied court injunctions against strikes by hospital and hydroelectric workers and led to the jailing of many union leaders.
E The 1960s to the Present
During the 1960s, public-sector employees were given the right to organize, and they embraced collective bargaining. In Québec, during the reforms of the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, the CSN organized public employees, assisted by a new Québec Labour Code (1964). The code granted public employees collective bargaining rights and the right to strike. The rest of Canada soon followed. After a strike in 1965 by postal workers across the country, the government passed new federal legislation that permitted collective bargaining and strikes for most public employees. Public workers formed unions, which included the Public Service Alliance of Canada and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). Both were affiliated with the CLC. Public employees quickly became the most heavily unionized workers in Canada as they attempted to bring their wages, working conditions, and benefits to the level of unionized private sector workers. By 1992, 79 percent of workers in public administration were members of unions, and CUPE was Canada’s largest union.Alongside this shift in union membership, women became increasingly involved in unions. As more women began to participate in the labor force in the 1960s, they joined unions at a faster rate than men. Women influenced union bargaining issues with their desires for equal pay, child care, and maternity leave, and they assumed union leadership positions. In 1985 Shirley Carr, a former municipal employee in Niagara Falls, Ontario, became the first woman president of the CLC. By 1992 women made up about 47 percent of total union members, compared to 16 percent in the mid-1960s.
The 1960s and 1970s also saw a shift of Canadian workers from international unions based in the United States to national, Canadian-based unions. Before that time the national unions that had arisen in Canada were often small, short-lived (except in Québec), and short of resources. Canadian union members previously found that the benefits of belonging to a large international union with substantial resources outweighed their nationalistic tendencies, particularly as the American and Canadian economies became highly integrated. However, in the 1960s the rise of public-sector unions, which were all national unions, started the shift away from international unions. Beginning in the 1970s, Canadian districts within international unions sought and mostly won greater autonomy within the international unions in order to accommodate the differences between the two countries. By 1997 six of the ten largest unions in Canada were national unions, and only four were international. Membership in Canadian national unions was 2.7 million persons, with 1.2 million in international unions.
During the economic recession of the 1980s, some Canadian unionists refused to follow the lead of American unions and adopt bargaining that granted wage cuts and other concessions to employers. In the automobile industry, this conflict resulted in the Canadian section of the United Automobile Workers of America, an international union based in the United States, breaking away to form the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW). The separation allowed the CAW to devote itself to more aggressive organizing and political activism.
In the 1980s and 1990s rates of union membership remained relatively high in Canada, while rates in the United States declined. Unions in both countries faced many of the same conditions, including conservative governments, hostile employers, plant shutdowns, and free trade agreements. Unions in Canada, though, were more aggressive about organizing and faced a more tolerant legal environment than unions in the United States. Canadian unions actively supported the independent politics of the NDP, stronger labor legislation, and social reform measures.
Canadian unions, like U.S. unions, opposed the Canadian-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (1989) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA, 1994), which removed barriers to trade between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. In the unions’ view, the new trade arrangements did not take account of workers' needs and rights, potentially weakened Canadian social welfare measures and cultural institutions, and made no provision for environmental standards. Since the adoption of NAFTA, labor has faced plant shutdowns, employee layoffs through corporate downsizing, and the contracting of work out to foreign and nonunion employers. In response, labor unions have negotiated severance packages and job retraining for laid-off employees and aided the employee purchase of companies in industries such as timber processing and steel.
The Canadian economic environment was not friendly to labor in the 1990s, particularly as provincial and federal governments introduced budget cuts that threatened public-sector workers. Nevertheless, the labor movement, with difficulty, held its own and sought to grow. In the 1990s labor organized aggressively in the less-unionized private service sector, including restaurants, retail stores, and banks, and continued to be politically active.
Contributed By:
Laurel Sefton MacDowell, B.A., M.S., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History, University of Toronto. Author of “Remember Kirkland Lake”: The Gold Miners’ Strike 1941–42. Coeditor of Canadian Working Class History: Selected Readings.
http://autocww.colorado.edu/~toldy2/E64ContentFiles/HistoryOfTheAmericas/LaborUnionCanada060130.html
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BLOGSPOT: (aug 2015
CANADA MILITARY NEWS: Federal Election- WATCH CANADA SURPRISE THE WORLD - Brison, Morse will go head to head in repeat performance in Kings-Hants AND TWO FANTASTIC NEW STARS- GREEN PARTY AND NDP - oh yes Canada's getting interesting - LET'S GET MORE CANADIANS WITH DISABILITIES (visible and invisible) IN OFFICE- there are over 18 Million of us.... come on!!!/my family used 2 say the homeless was Jesus in disguise -God bless our troops and our Canada /A CANADIAN VET HERO'S ELECTION RANT...LOL ... God bless Nova Scotia and our Canada... /some old new and hilarious takes - Canada walks Canada's path folks- always has always will/ #1BRising Canadian hero Flora MacDonald remembered and honoured /IDLE NO MORE /August 6 2015...O Canada, The Peoples Prayer- Election 2015
http://nova0000scotia.blogspot.ca/2015/08/canada-military-news-federal-election_2.html
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Blogged:
CANADA MILITARY NEWS: who are u to change history?- Hey Canada , USA, Europe- and world – all history matters- STOP SCRUBBING FIRST PEOPLES HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE IN AMERICAS and latino and Immigrant history off the pages 2 suit the ‘MOMENT’ ... shame on the lot of ya- USA u going all black and Californ...i...a... movie stars and such /Canada Immigration History matters as much as First Nations- Canadians get that/QUOTES..imho/updates
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BLOGGED:
CANADA MILITARY NEWS: Ant n Grasshopper CANADA POLITICAL STYLE- politics included –biting hilarious stories jokes and cartoons from waaaaay back and great site- GETCHA CANADA ON/political science made eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeasy- come on u know u’ll love it
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Canada Centennial Song
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When greedy gets 2 greedy.... check who are the big owners ofUBER- come on all these electronic generators who own the plastic world of netizens...... STOP BEING SO GREEDY.... real citizens – of the world need to make a living.... SUPPORT YOUR TAXI DRIVERS FOLKS!!!
WHAT IS THE INSURANCE PROTECTION for canadians using/driving uber service?
Using your car as a taxi? Don’t lie about your insurance
When it comes to working with hire-a-drive services like Uber, you can't afford to ignore the insurance implications
By Lorraine Sommerfeld
Originally published: July 6, 2015
This article started out six months ago as a stunt piece: I was going to simply become an Uber driver for a day and report back. A call to my insurance broker simply seeking background information ground that idea to a halt, and fast. Even hinting what I was considering would cost me my private car insurance policy, a risk I can’t afford to take. A quick pivot sent me to Twitter looking for an existing Uber driver who would let me ride along; after an initial encouraging phone call and a few email exchanges, he went to ground, never to be heard from. Guess having his name in the paper was too much of a risk.
News organizations aren’t fans of pseudonyms, but it didn’t matter. I couldn’t even get someone to play along with a black bar across their eyes and a voice scrambler. Uber advertises itself as an excellent way to make easy money if you own a car. You must be 21 with a full licence, own a four-door car less than 10 years old, pass a background check they pay for, and have valid car insurance.
Therein lies the rub for prospective Uber drivers here in Canada. “Will any of the described automobiles be rented or leased to others, or used to carry passengers for compensation or hire, or haul a trailer, or carry explosives or radioactive material?” Every insurance company in Canada uses forms that carry some version of this sentence, and if you check “no” and then sign off on the application and then start accepting fees for ferrying people (or pizzas) around, you could be committing fraud.
It’s not that you can’t be an Uber driver and also have insurance; it’s that you can’t lie about it. A recent Forbes survey published in the U.S. found “…while the vast majority of respondents – almost 70% – say they plan to purchase a policy in the future, a disturbing 84% say they do not tell their insurer or their agent/broker about their ridesharing activities.”
Uber outlines how their end of the deal functions: your responsibility is riding on your personal insurance, and if damages reach past your limits, their own insurance will kick in. Uber knows you’re driving for Uber; there’s a good chance your insurance company does not, unless you notified them. And notifying your insurance company of your Uber intentions can work out one of two ways:
• You call your company and ask innocently if considering being an Uber driver could affect personal insurance. They could cancel your insurance or at the very least start investigating it because now they know what you’re doing or;
• They can offer to sell you the proper product for what you’re considering, which is commercial coverage. This will be – and I’m ballparking here – maybe three times your current rate.
So, there’s a chance some individuals won’t call their insurance company, and if that Forbes survey is even close to accurate, the chance is most won’t. Who can remember ticking that box so many years ago? Besides, if I start delivering pizzas, I’m hardly going to have to call my insurance company, right? Actually, you are. Your insurer does need to know that you’re delivering pizzas. They want to know if anyone in your household with access to your car is delivering pizzas. Or flowers. Or Uber clients.
It’s not that they’re going to jack your rates similarly for pizzas and passengers. As Pete Karageorgos of the Insurance Bureau of Canada is quick to point out, “Insurers know pizzas aren’t passengers. Our job is to match policy to risk; it’s critical that you inform your provider of any material change to that risk, and be transparent about it.”
If you’re not, you’re swimming in a fraud pond. In the event of a crash, insurers can opt to deny the claim, leaving you at the mercy of someone like Uber’s Internet promises. They could also decide to cover the claim, but then back charge you the premium you should have been paying had you notified them in the first place. I like to complain about usurious insurance rates, especially here in Ontario, but I would be angrier if payouts to drivers using their vehicles commercially are pooled with my non-commercial activities.
A call to police services reveals that cops consider this a matter of licensing unless a driver is breaking the Highway Traffic Act. Constable Clint Stibbe raises an interesting thought, however, as we wind up the call.
“Right now, police cars, rentals cars and taxis that are decommissioned have to be registered with the Ministry so as to be readily and honestly identified to buyers. Where’s the protection for buyers buying a car that hasn’t been flagged but has been used commercially?”
Uber may indeed end up being too big to fail as riders vote with their wallets, and their phones. But until licensing commissions and politicians sort out the fine print, your biggest concern if you plan on driving for Uber in Canada isn’t whether you can use the HOV lanes – it’s whether your insurance will kick you to the curb.
www.lorraineonline.ca
@TweeetLorraine
http://driving.ca/auto-news/news/using-your-car-as-a-taxi-dont-lie-about-your-insurance
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UBER AND CANADA- and it’s your life and your families? Do u want to risk your life and the rest of your life’s health on a ‘no comprehensive insurance risk like taxi’s of Canada have?”
1. Does Uber have you covered? | Shanoff | Columnists...
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/06/29/does-uber-have-you-covered
o
Cached
Jun 29, 2015 ... That doesn't mean Uber passengers have no protection;
they do, but it's limited. ... If the liable party has no insurance, go and try,
you unlikely win much. If they are ... Uber does't want to pay taxes in CANADA?
... I would like to compare crime rates by drivers - taxi vs UberX in
SanFrancisco, per 1000 rides.
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UberX insurance controversy in T.O.
JEREMY APPEL Toronto Sun“Every ride on the UberX platform in Canada is insured by $5 million in contingent auto liability insurance covering bodily injury and property damage,” said Uber Canada spokesman Susie Heath in an e-mailed statement.
UberX is a freelance cab company which operates without the stringent regulations imposed on cab firms. UberX is separate from its parent company, Uber — which operates in a similar manner to a cab firm.
Joel Barr, a cab driver with the Toronto Taxi Alliance, complained UberX can offer passangers low prices because drivers don’t pay for the commercial insurance that is mandatory for cabbies.
They’re using private insurance for actions that are commercial in nature, Barr claimed.
The price difference between private and commercial insurance is thousands of dollars annually, he said.
Barr wants to see a more level playing field between traditional taxi and UberX drivers.
“We welcome competition, but go by the same rules we’ve been regulated by for years,” said Barr.
“You can’t have us going by one set of rules and another company from the United States, taking all the profits back to the U.S., playing by another set of rules,” said Barr. “It’s a shame.”
Insurance broker Philomena Comerford, CEO of Baird-MacGregor insurance company, said carrying paying passengers is a commercial — not a personal — activity.
“There are certain activities that are excluded in the standard Ontario automobile policy and one of (them) is carrying paying passengers,” she said. “The cure for that is to put an endorsement on the policy that permits that,”
Comerford said while cabbies have to obtain commercial insurance, Uber does not impose the same requirement on its freelance drivers.
“It could end up being really ugly,” she said, referring to potential lawsuits arising from accidents.
“Most (UberX drivers) probably don’t understand the limitations of their policies, which is unfortunate,” she added.
A driver with a Canadian Automobile Association personal auto insurance policy is not covered to transport passengers for payment, added CAA spokesperson Silvana Aceto.
“The standard auto policy, used by all insurers, excludes coverage for vehicles transporting passengers for compensation,” she said.
http://www.torontosun.com/2015/06/28/uberx-insurance-controversy-in-to
COMMENT:
RISKS FOR UBER DRIVERS
The biggest risk for drivers is that your auto
insurance does not cover using your vehicle to carry passengers. This means
that if you get in an accident while transporting a passenger, you could face
serious liability and vehicle replacement costs. If you want to be an Uber
driver, you have to add the Permission to Carry Paying Passengers endorsement
to your insurance, and this can be costly.
Additionally, if you are using the vehicle to carry
paying passengers, and don’t have the requisite municipal license, the
endorsement will not be enough to get you out of hot water with the law as you
are operating as a taxi in contravention of local bylaws. Cities such as Ottawa
and Toronto are cracking down on Uber drivers, in some cases having bylaw
officers book rides on the app and hand out fines to drivers who don’t have
taxi licenses.
The worst case scenario for an Uber driver is that
the vehicle policy is invalidated by undisclosed use to carry passengers,
leaving you without auto insurance, making you liable for any legal or medical
costs and making it harder – and more expensive – for you to get auto insurance
in the future.
If you do choose to register your vehicle as a taxi,
it must be properly licensed and insured commercially as a taxi – the
Permission to Carry Paying Passengers endorsement is not enough.
Comment:
RISKS FOR UBER PASSENGERS
While the risks associated with being an Uber driver
are great, risks for passengers are greater. First of all, you may be getting
into a vehicle that is not insured properly, which could leave you with the
burden of going after the driver in court to reclaim legal and medical costs.
If an insurer voids an auto policy or denies a claim due to material
misrepresentation, then the vehicle owner and driver would be personally liable
for damages they cause in a accident including property damage and bodily injury.
Additionally, to sue for injuries in Ontario, you must meet a certain threshold
of injury before you can do so.
The next – and greatest – risk is that the background
checks that Uber drivers are put through are spotty at best. A taxi driver must
have a clean criminal and driving record to maintain their taxi license.
According to a NBC news report, Uber used drivers in the San Francisco area who
had various criminal charges on their records including domestic assault, drug
trafficking and burglary. While the service states that it runs background
checks, these weren’t enough to catch the records uncovered by NBC’s
investigative report.
If you are a driver that has been using the service,
contact your broker to get the proper insurance policy for your vehicle use, as
well as your local municipal licensing office to inquire about a taxi license
to protect yourself and your passengers. If you are an Uber passenger, ask to
see proof that your driver holds both a taxi license and the proper insurance
before your ride begins. Or do the smart thing and just get a taxi – a little
extra wait for a taxi isn’t worth the potential hassle.
BEST COMMENT:
Let me break it down for you.
Out of some 5000 taxis in GTA best case scenario perhaps 1000 are driven by the people who OWN the plate and the CAR. They pay insurance of about 500 bucks a month if they drive alone and perhaps 800 if there is secondary driver they hired. They rest ( some 4000 ) are driven by shift drivers who RENT a car from a garage. You see a clean taxi with professional looking driver - most likely he isn't driving 'fleet' or 'garage' car. It's his own. Most cases you will see is Garage car. What is garage car? Let me tell you about this animal. Lets say Abdulah Bought a taxi plate some xxx yers ago. he paid few pathetic dollars for it when he bought it from the City of Toronto. Now Abdulah doesn't feel like working. WHY SHOULD HE? he is already collecting welfare. His wife is collecting welfare and poppin kids every 1 or 2 for more welfare. Now he will take the plate and LEASE IT to a GARAGE for lets say 1500 a month on average. Pocket the money and live the life of a parasite. Now what happens to the plate you ask? HOW is it possible that a diploma of sorts...a certificate to perform a job of a TAXI drive can be LEASED to another ? You don't see DOCTORS renting/leasing their work permits/diploma for money when they don't feel like working. Or cops..or..well EVERYONE OUT THERE> Here you CAN..SO..the plate..now in hands of a GARAGE with lots of cars puts the PLATE they just leased from the owner on a CAR which they 'register' under the name of the PLATE owner. I used " " because its not really registered. Its phony registration. The plate owner is only owner of the car on paper. The garage owns it in reality and wants to make money. Now they take the plate add car...add insurance and they get discounts since they do volume and put a meter in it and RENT THE PACKAGE NOW to drivers who want to work. The package costs them some 2000 bucks a month ( LEASE of plate 1500 PLUS 500 insurance for 2 drivers ) ...now they CHARGE those 2 drivers who drive 12 hours a day 600 bucks per shift..that is 1200 .00 DOLLARS a week which is 4800 bucks a month...Yes you are reading it right. they 'invest' 2000 and make pure profit of 2800 per car DOING JACK SHT. now multiply it by lets say 50 cars...and you get how much?? NOW YOU SEE WHY NOTHING CHANGES>>>because the MONEY INVOLVED HERE is so huge that politicians will get appropriate 'donations' to make sure that no laws will be passed to change the gravy train. Now the driver who actually DOES THE WORK has to make at least 600 bucks during his shift a week PLUS at least 200 for fuel so its 800 before he makes even ONE DOLLAR for himself.So every day of the week the guy has to make at least 120 bucks a day on average ( 12 hours ) before he earns a dollar. that's 10 bucks an hour. no MATTER WHAT!. he will pay pay pay ...if there is NO WORK he still will pay ..GARAGE will make sure he pays them or they take his keys and he is out of a 'JOB" ... Those drivers are paying garages 800 PER WEEK for the privilege to WORK!!!!!!! WHAT THE HELL??? Drivers are squeezed like lemons from every dollar they make by garages and fleet owners who don't give a sht about condition of the car but about their bottom line. And drivers who barely make the RENT PAYMENTS on the car will try cut expenses to make a living. Washing car..detailing it..taking showers etc. becomes luxury. That's why you see piss stained dirty cabs with drivers who look like rapists.. Some just don't give a sht about anything and anybody and are miserable ...some can't afford it..some are actually HOMELESS living inside the car they rent. It's simple. As long as the city permits and profits from legalized slavery which is what we have now nothing is going to change. Only way to change it is this - THEY GUY who drives the taxi is the guy who OWNS THE PLATE ..who OWNS the car . NOONE should be permitted to RENT OUT their taxi plates. Make drivers the OWNERS . remove m idle men..garages..fleet owners..basically all the parasitic bloodsuckers and then you will attract professional drivers and make the business customer focused. Till then...well ..good luck to ya all...:) ...
And one more thing. Till the city of Toronto will start actually terminating permits for taxi to sick disturbing sexual predators driving taxis and abusing women at night.., kicking out drivers who say to women that their 'god' is offended by a female without burka and refusing service.. towing on the spot taxis which aren't safe ( don't even say the word inspection because its a JOKE...its just hand greasing ) ..NOTHING WILL CHANGE>..
it will get only worse. Next time you in a cab..just look at the Drivers ID ( if you can find it ) and compare it to the driver. I bet you ( especially at night ) the driver is different then the ID..why? because he is most likely a joe blow who knows the owner and gives him few bucks to make beer money and drive illegally ....
Next time you get in a cab and drivers blabbers on phone tell him to hangup ...he refuses...CALL COPS...you a woman ..drivers says you are a hoe...I don't drive you ..CALL COPS...he offers you 'favours' in the back of his cab..CALL COPS>...he stalks your house ? CALL COPS....makes vulgar sexual jokes..CALL POLICE and REPORT THOSE MOFOS>...till then NOTHING WILL CHANGE>>>NOTHING!!!!
and UBER...well..uber will become SAME joke...since they are using same jokers and are even MORE greedy then the garages :) lol..
Out of some 5000 taxis in GTA best case scenario perhaps 1000 are driven by the people who OWN the plate and the CAR. They pay insurance of about 500 bucks a month if they drive alone and perhaps 800 if there is secondary driver they hired. They rest ( some 4000 ) are driven by shift drivers who RENT a car from a garage. You see a clean taxi with professional looking driver - most likely he isn't driving 'fleet' or 'garage' car. It's his own. Most cases you will see is Garage car. What is garage car? Let me tell you about this animal. Lets say Abdulah Bought a taxi plate some xxx yers ago. he paid few pathetic dollars for it when he bought it from the City of Toronto. Now Abdulah doesn't feel like working. WHY SHOULD HE? he is already collecting welfare. His wife is collecting welfare and poppin kids every 1 or 2 for more welfare. Now he will take the plate and LEASE IT to a GARAGE for lets say 1500 a month on average. Pocket the money and live the life of a parasite. Now what happens to the plate you ask? HOW is it possible that a diploma of sorts...a certificate to perform a job of a TAXI drive can be LEASED to another ? You don't see DOCTORS renting/leasing their work permits/diploma for money when they don't feel like working. Or cops..or..well EVERYONE OUT THERE> Here you CAN..SO..the plate..now in hands of a GARAGE with lots of cars puts the PLATE they just leased from the owner on a CAR which they 'register' under the name of the PLATE owner. I used " " because its not really registered. Its phony registration. The plate owner is only owner of the car on paper. The garage owns it in reality and wants to make money. Now they take the plate add car...add insurance and they get discounts since they do volume and put a meter in it and RENT THE PACKAGE NOW to drivers who want to work. The package costs them some 2000 bucks a month ( LEASE of plate 1500 PLUS 500 insurance for 2 drivers ) ...now they CHARGE those 2 drivers who drive 12 hours a day 600 bucks per shift..that is 1200 .00 DOLLARS a week which is 4800 bucks a month...Yes you are reading it right. they 'invest' 2000 and make pure profit of 2800 per car DOING JACK SHT. now multiply it by lets say 50 cars...and you get how much?? NOW YOU SEE WHY NOTHING CHANGES>>>because the MONEY INVOLVED HERE is so huge that politicians will get appropriate 'donations' to make sure that no laws will be passed to change the gravy train. Now the driver who actually DOES THE WORK has to make at least 600 bucks during his shift a week PLUS at least 200 for fuel so its 800 before he makes even ONE DOLLAR for himself.So every day of the week the guy has to make at least 120 bucks a day on average ( 12 hours ) before he earns a dollar. that's 10 bucks an hour. no MATTER WHAT!. he will pay pay pay ...if there is NO WORK he still will pay ..GARAGE will make sure he pays them or they take his keys and he is out of a 'JOB" ... Those drivers are paying garages 800 PER WEEK for the privilege to WORK!!!!!!! WHAT THE HELL??? Drivers are squeezed like lemons from every dollar they make by garages and fleet owners who don't give a sht about condition of the car but about their bottom line. And drivers who barely make the RENT PAYMENTS on the car will try cut expenses to make a living. Washing car..detailing it..taking showers etc. becomes luxury. That's why you see piss stained dirty cabs with drivers who look like rapists.. Some just don't give a sht about anything and anybody and are miserable ...some can't afford it..some are actually HOMELESS living inside the car they rent. It's simple. As long as the city permits and profits from legalized slavery which is what we have now nothing is going to change. Only way to change it is this - THEY GUY who drives the taxi is the guy who OWNS THE PLATE ..who OWNS the car . NOONE should be permitted to RENT OUT their taxi plates. Make drivers the OWNERS . remove m idle men..garages..fleet owners..basically all the parasitic bloodsuckers and then you will attract professional drivers and make the business customer focused. Till then...well ..good luck to ya all...:) ...
And one more thing. Till the city of Toronto will start actually terminating permits for taxi to sick disturbing sexual predators driving taxis and abusing women at night.., kicking out drivers who say to women that their 'god' is offended by a female without burka and refusing service.. towing on the spot taxis which aren't safe ( don't even say the word inspection because its a JOKE...its just hand greasing ) ..NOTHING WILL CHANGE>..
it will get only worse. Next time you in a cab..just look at the Drivers ID ( if you can find it ) and compare it to the driver. I bet you ( especially at night ) the driver is different then the ID..why? because he is most likely a joe blow who knows the owner and gives him few bucks to make beer money and drive illegally ....
Next time you get in a cab and drivers blabbers on phone tell him to hangup ...he refuses...CALL COPS...you a woman ..drivers says you are a hoe...I don't drive you ..CALL COPS...he offers you 'favours' in the back of his cab..CALL COPS>...he stalks your house ? CALL COPS....makes vulgar sexual jokes..CALL POLICE and REPORT THOSE MOFOS>...till then NOTHING WILL CHANGE>>>NOTHING!!!!
and UBER...well..uber will become SAME joke...since they are using same jokers and are even MORE greedy then the garages :) lol..
Reevely: Taxi drivers so angry about Uber 'it’s going to be out of control,' union leader warns
Published on: July 6, 2015 | Last Updated: July 6, 2015 5:39
PM EDT
Ottawa’s cabbies are so furious over the city’s slack treatment of car-hiring company Uber that they’re practically out of control, the leader of the union at Capital Taxi said Monday.
Georges Chamoun had just come from a meeting with Mayor Jim Watson and other city officials. He and the leaders of union units at Ottawa’s other taxi companies want more charges laid against drivers who use Uber to find paying passengers without having taxi-driving licences or the city-issued plates that are deliberately kept scarce to make sure driving cabs pays decently.
“We’re looking for more enforcement to the bylaw at the municipality level,” Chamoun said, standing in a semicircle of about eight taxi-union leaders in the atrium at City Hall. Uber began operating in Ottawa last fall and the bylaw department has laid dozens of charges against its drivers since, but it’s not enough, he said.
“We are doing all the steps before the drivers, before we will lose control (of) what the drivers are going to do in the future,” Chamoun said. “They’re not listening to us anymore, the drivers. They don’t believe that we are doing enough and we are not fast enough to get out of this crisis, because the past nine months they’ve been suffering. They’ve been losing money. They can’t any more keep up with their bills, with their mortgages. They all have families and I can see it, that in the near future, is there is not any more control. We cannot control them any more. They’re going to go on the street. They’re going to, I don’t know. I don’t know. We heard it a lot from many drivers, they’re going to go out on the street and it’s going to be out of control.”
Licensed, plate-holding cabbies have usually made big investments in their occupations: the plates that let them drive taxis legally can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The city issues them but lets them be bought and sold rather than returned when a cabbie leaves the industry. Drivers who own their own plates or pay steep monthly rents to drive have a lot at stake if they can be undercut by plateless Uber drivers.
The cabbies want more bylaw enforcement and more involvement by the police (whose enforcement of the separate Highway Traffic Act can lead to stiffer punishments). Coun. Eli El-Chantiry, who chairs the police-services board, said the bylaw and police departments have worked together on blitzes and stings and will continue to. He’ll talk to Chief Charles Bordeleau about other ways they can co-operate, he said.
“I feel for them, I really do,” he said of the taxi drivers. He’s regularly “swarmed” at church by drivers who want to know what the city’s doing about bandit cabs, Uber and not.
The cabbies also want louder support from the city for legislation at Queen’s Park to toughen the system, Chamoun and the others with him said.
Two private-member’s bills that would do that are stalled in the provincial legislature because it doesn’t sit in the summer. They’re both from Ottawa MPPs, the Liberals’ John Fraser and the Progressive Conservatives’ Lisa MacLeod. Among other things, they would let bylaw officers give tickets that include demerit points, which now only police officers can.
As it stands, the city’s bylaw regulating the taxi industry clearly forbids private drivers’ picking up passengers and driving them for money. The city’s secured guilty pleas under it from drivers who’ve used Uber to find those paying passengers. But the legal status of Uber as a company isn’t as clear. It insists it’s a technology company, not a taxi brokerage, and not covered by any city rules.
A court ruling last week, interpreting Toronto’s similar bylaw, agreed with that. Uber is more like a phone company that relays messages back and forth, not a taxi company that takes calls and dispatches drivers, Judge Sean Dunphy ruled.
“Our mayor took a strong position against Uber,” said Amrik Singh, the leader of the union covering all of Ottawa’s cabbies, standing next to Chamoun. “He told us he’s going to say in the open that Uber is operating illegally and he will do anything to stop Uber from operating in the City of Ottawa.”
Well, sort of.
“Mayor Watson was very clear in today’s meeting that Uber is operating in violation of the city’s bylaw,” his spokesman Brook Simpson said. “Representatives from the taxi industry were reassured that the city’s bylaw officers will continue to enforce the laws as they are written. Mayor Watson also told those present today that he is urging the provincial government to pass John Fraser’s bill and that the city will do what it can, within its given powers, to enforce its bylaws.”
The city’s just about to embark on a review of its taxi bylaw.
“My instinct is to approach this in the role of the regulator,” said Coun. Diane Deans, who chairs the city council committee that regulates the taxi industry. “It’s not primarily to protect the way the taxi industry is currently operating. It’s to ensure that the safety of the public and consumer protection are paramount,” she said. Nobody inspects Uber drivers’ cars or makes sure they’re insured, for instance.
“Beyond that, I think the public will drive this industry and the changes that will go forward. So to a certain extent the industry has to recognize this is a disruptive technology and it’s not going away any time soon and there are going to have to be some changes,” Deans said.
dreevely@ottawacitizen.com
twitter.com/davidreevely
http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/reevely-taxi-drivers-so-angry-about-uber-its-going-to-be-out-of-control-union-leader-warns
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