Poverty among injured workers

The journal Critical Public Health has released a new article out of Ontario entitled “Poverty status of worker compensation claimants with permanent impairments.” This article looked at injured workers with permanent impairments (about 6% of all WCB claimants) 52 months after the date of injury to assess their proximity to and depth of poverty.

The upshot is that injured workers has poverty rates between 17 and 26%, which is appreciably higher than the general population and approximately the same as poverty rates among working age adults with disabilities. The data does not allow the researchers to conclude that being inured causes poverty. But the data does show lower incomes and a higher rate of poverty after an injury (particularly for those workers with low incomes before the injury).

The discussion of return-to-work programming and the practice of reducing the compensation payments to those injured workers who have completed retraining (“deeming”) regardless of whether or not they have work is particularly interesting, as is the family effect of post-injury poverty.

-- Bob Barnetson

Friday Tunes: Assembly Line

This week’s installment of labour themes in popular culture is “Assembly Line” by Randy Montana. This was one of the song suggestions I crowd sourced from my facebook friends. 

One of my longer term research projects is a content analysis of songs about work and labour and this one sits squarely in the category I’m tentatively labeling “workin’ proud.” The interesting part of this song is that its simple lyrics provide a chronicle of blue-collar jobs from the perspective of a worker—identifying what is important and real to him or her.

Montana sings about tools (“Ratchet in my left and a flat head in my right’), the work process (“Just a hundred and thirty-two steps/Making machines out a steel and sweat”) and the working conditions (“Over and over again like a record that’s on repeat”). He also sings about workers’ place in the production process (“And I’m just one of a thousand parts”) and the repetition of this cycle, that stretches across workers’ lives (“Clocked out about 5 p.m./Wake up in the morning, do it all again”).



Punched in just about five
Ratchet in my left and a flat-head in my right
Hoping that I’ll hear about a raise by the end of the week
Just a hundred and thirty-two steps
Making machines out a steel and sweat
Over and over again like a record that’s on repeat

[Chorus]

And it’s all manufactured time
When you’re on the assembly line
Building products made to sell
Moving on a conveyer belt
And it’s a job for a diligent heart 

And I’m just one of a thousand parts
You might think I’ve got it rough but I don’t mind
Working on the assembly line

All day in steel-toed boots
Vacation days that I’ll never use
There’s a rumor going ‘round
that’s got nothing to do with me
Charlie swears he’s gonna quit
Put his two weeks in and that’s it
He’s been talkin’ that way since the summer of ‘93

[Chorus]

[Chorus]

It ain’t a job for everyone but it’s mine
Working on the assembly line
On the assembly line
Clocked out about 5 p.m.
Wake up in the morning, do it all again

-- Bob Barnetson

Research: Bias in newspaper report of injury

Last week, the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health published an article that Jason Foster and I wrote entitled “If it bleeds, it leads: The construction of workplace injury in Canadian newspapers, 2009–2014”. This article uses quantitative content analysis to examine how newspapers report workplace injuries across Canada and compares those reports to official injury statistics.

The upshot is that newspapers dramatically over-report fatalities, injuries to men, injuries in the construction and mining/quarrying/oil industries, injuries stemming from contact with objects/equipment and fires/explosions, and acute physical injuries such as burns, fractures, intracranial injuries, and traumatic injuries. 

Basically, newspapers construct injuries as things that violently kill blue-collar men. This results in a profoundly misleading picture of occupational injuries in Canada. To the degree that Canadians use (consciously or otherwise) media representations of workplace injuries to inform their views of workplace injuries, the biases in newspaper articles may be skewing public perceptions. Misunderstanding the nature of workplace injuries then leads to inappropriate prescriptions for injury prevention.

-- Bob Barnetson

Friday Tunes: Working Man's PhD

This week’s installment of labour themes in popular culture is Aaron Tippin’s “Working Man’s PhD”. This song is part of the “workin’ proud” genre of labour songs, fitting in nicely with similar efforts from the likes of Alabama. The basic message is that hard, physical work is laudable. There is also a subtle lyrical slam at those who don’t perform such jobs:

As a matter of fact I'd like to set things straight
A few more people should be pullin' their weight
If you wanna cram course in reality
You get yourself a working man's Ph.D.

What I most struck by was the gendered nature of the video. Obviously you can’t show the entire spectrum of work in one video. (As an aside, the 2001 book Gig: Americans Talk About Their Jobs offers this kind of broad snapshot). But most of the “workers” are men and the work they are glorifying is traditional blue-collar male work (e.g., carrying, lifting, pulling, building). The song was released in 1993 when issues of gender discrimination were both controversial and very topical. Perhaps this song represents a bit of cultural pushback on the then-eroding status of “men’s work”?



You get up every morning 'fore the sun comes up
Toss a lunchbox into a pickup truck
A long, hard day sure ain't much fun
But you've gotta get it started if you wanna get it done
You set your mind and roll up your sleeves
You're workin' on a working man's Ph.D.

With your heart in your hands and the sweat on your brow
You build the things that really make the world go around
If it works, if it runs, if it lasts for years
You bet your bottom dollar it was made right here
With pride, honor and dignity
From a man with a working man's Ph.D.

[Chorus]

Now there ain't no shame in a job well done
From driving a nail to driving a truck
As a matter of fact I'd like to set things straight
A few more people should be pullin' their weight
If you wanna cram course in reality
You get yourself a working man's Ph.D.

When the quittin' whistle blows and the dust settles down
There ain't no trophies or cheering crowds
You'll face yourself at the end of the day
And be damn proud of whatever you've made
Can't hang it on the wall for the world to see
But you've got yourself a working man's Ph.D.

[Chorus]

-- Bob Barnetson

More dawdling on farmworker rights in Alberta

Last week, I published a piece with Change Alberta about Alberta’s New Democratic government waffling on giving farmworkers basic workplace rights. For example, at present, farmworkers have no right to know if they are using carcinogenic chemicals and no right to refuse such work (unless they want to risk getting fired).

I was particularly concerned by remarks attributed to ND Minister of Agriculture Oneil Carlier in an interview with Real Agriculture:

He also indicates changes to farm unionization policy and labour standards are “not a focus for us at this time.” 

“Making sure we have market access, making sure we have transportation infrastructure in place to move product to the markets, those are continually challenges and things I’ll work on with stakeholders in both industries to make sure we continue growing agriculture and forestry,” says Carlier.

Basically, Carlier’s remarks suggest that helping farmers comes before protecting farmworkers. This sits uncomfortably with comments various ND luminaries made while in opposition about the importance of protecting the lives of farmworkers.

Subsequently, Carlier was interviewed (along with Wildrose Ag Critic Rick Starkman) by Alberta Farm Express. Carlier was more circumspect (he basically said nothing). Starkman, however, was (in the immortal words of Nickelback) “balls out”:

“If it creates a safety environment, I’m for that. But you cannot legislate intelligence.”

So basically the Wildrose line is that workers get injured because they are stupid. This view ignores the awkward fact that workers get injured because there are hazards in their workplace. And it is employers (i.e., farmers) who determine what the hazards are in the workplace and (for the most part) how farmworkers interact with them.

Still later last week, Carlier told the Calgary Herald that there will be Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) protections for farmworkers. But that the NDs are currently consulting with employers and farmworkers about the direction of those changes. Overall, this looks like an effort to walk back the comments attributed to Carlier in Real Agriculture.

Perhaps this is good news. Interestingly, even the Alberta Federation of Agriculture seems resigned to some sort of regulation/ That said, the former Tory government stalled the issue for years by consulting with stakeholders, only to come up with meaningless recommendations around education (which research suggests has no real effect on farmworker injury rates).

I suspect the NDs have a lot of fish to fry and don't want to needlessly alienate farm employers. But providing Alberta farmworkers with basic rights—so they are less likely to get injured and killed and so that farmworkers and their families aren’t made destitute by workplace injury—is a profound moral failing of the Tory regime that needs to be set right.

-- Bob Barnetson

Friday Tunes: Caught Up

This week’s instalment of labour themes in popular culture is John Legend’s “Caught Up”. I couldn’t really find a decent video (Legend’s live vocals are pretty nasty) so I went with this interesting a capella cover.

The storyline is the singer works hard at a job he hates and finds solace by doin’ it. Not exactly a deep critique of the structural dimensions of capitalist employment. Yet the idea of escaping the unpleasant realities of life via sex is a recurring theme in worker’s stories.

Back in January, I reviewed a book called “Hand to Mouth: Living in Bootstrap America”. The book is basically an insider’s view of what it is like to be a member of the working poor. The author directly engages the issue of sex as escapism, noting how sex is one of the few recreational pursuits available to the poor and how the poor are then demonized for engaging in it.

The book is an interesting read about classism and how one’s employment—one’s means—affect what behaviour is socially sanctioned. I doubt John Legend was thinking the when he wrote lyrical gems like “I finally got to take the night off/So we can make some love tax right offs” (oh, my ears! MY EARS!) but these kinds of songs are useful in reminding us of how profoundly alienating many people’s employment can be.



I'm so, excited
I'm home, been grindin'
Let's go, tonight
Just make some money you know
I've got it, if you want it
If you love it

I'm on it, I'm on it
So come on it
I need your loving tonight

I'm tired of my job
I'm tired of my boss
I'm taking you out
You taking it off
Only thing on my mind is how we bout to get it on

[chorus]
I wanna get caught up in your love tonight
You can help me just breathe, breathe
I'm tryin' get caught up in your love tonight
You can help me just breathe, breathe

Now we got time
Let's stay in
I'm sayin'
I'm a make her stay home from church

I'm prayin'
I finally got to take the night off
So we can make some love tax right offs
We'll light some candles with the lights off
So we can set the mood right off

[chorus]

I'm so, excited
I'm home, been grindin'
Let's go, tonight
Just make some money you know

I got it
If you want it
If you love it
I'm on it, I'm on it

So come on it
I need your loving tonight
I need your loving tonight
I need your loving tonight

[chorus]

I wanna get caught up in your love tonight
I'm tryin' get caught up in your love tonight
I wanna get caught up in your love tonight

--Bob Barnetson

Research: Precarious employment and gender in Banff

One of the presentations from a Canadian Political Science Association conference panel I organized last week was entitled “Gender, Work and Community Sustainability: Young Adult Mobile Tourism Workers in Banff National Park, Canada ” by Dr. Angèle Smith from the University of Northern British Columbia. Angèle’s findings were interesting. 

First, she found that workers in Banff’s hospitality industry were highly precarious, often struggling to feed themselves and living in rather difficult conditions. One audience member used to work in Banff and talked about folks living 10 to an apartment and under staircases and fondly recalled the “Aussie who lived in a closet”! (Wow, audience participation!)

There is some recognition of the issues of precarity in official documents. What is interesting is that Angèle found significant gender differences by occupation among these workers, something that is entirely missing from the official discourse. As you’d expect, women tend to work in lower wage positions (food service, retail, house keeping) while men are more likely to work in higher wage positions (e.g., guiding, ski instructing).

Angèle also talks about the transitory nature of Banff’s community (long-term residents are few) and considers how the economic structure of the tourism industry is, perhaps, premised upon high turn over among the precariat. The costs of the service industry are externalized onto workers in the form of low wages, which the workers accept (for awhile) in order to live in Banff. When the seasonal bust happens, hours are cut and a certain segment of the service population moves on.

Overall, a very interesting paper and an afternoon well spent.

-- Bob Barnetson

Friday Tunes: Coal, not dole

This week’s installment of labour themes in popular culture is an a capella version of (I can’t believe I’m saying this) Chumbawamba’s “Coal not Dole.” (Yes, the same Chumbawamba that brought you the arena ear-bleeder, Tub-Thumpin’). The lyrics come from a poem of the same name about the 1984/85 coal strike in the UK.

The strike saw the eventual closure of many pits, devastating the surrounding communities. The bitterness, loss of self-respect and hopelessness wrought by such changes is nicely captured in this lyric:

Empty trucks once filled with coal
Lined up like men on the dole
Will they ever be used again?
Or left for scrap just like the men?

While “Coal not dole” was written about a specific event, it is also the tale of any one-industry town (e.g., lumber, fish, bitumen) where a business decision has a spectacular ripple-on effect for the workers.

They stand so proud, the wheels so still

A ghost-like figure on the hill
It seems so strange there is no sound
Now there are no men underground

What will become of this pit yard?
Where men once trampled faces hard
So tired and weary their shift's done
Never having seen the sun

There'll always be a happy hour
For those with money, jobs and power
They'll never realise the hurt
They cause to men they treat like dirt

Will it become a sacred ground?
Foreign tourists gazing round
Asking if men once worked here
Way beneath this pit-head gear

Empty trucks once filled with coal
Lined up like men on the dole
Will they ever be used again?
Or left for scrap just like the men?

There'll always be a happy hour
For those with money, jobs and power
They'll never realise the hurt
They cause to men they treat like dirt

-- Bob Barnetson

Research: Impact of TFWs on gender equity in construction

Today, Jason Foster and I are presenting a paper at the Canadian Political Science Association conference in Ottawa entitled “The Impact of Temporary Foreign Workers on Gender Equity in Alberta’s Construction Occupations, 2003-2013.” This paper is part of a panel about gender and employment-related geographic mobility in Alberta with Sara Dorow (UAlberta) and Angele Smith (U Northern BC).

Alberta’s construction industry claimed a labour shortage in the mid 2000s. A labour shortage often makes employers antsie because wages rise and workers will put up with less bullshit (i.e., the labour market starts working for workers). Employers and the provincial government vowed to hire more under-represented groups to ease the shortage (this typically means women, youth, aboriginal and disabled workers--this is a pretty standard promise that never seems to actually play out). At the same time, the feds made it easier (i.e., cheaper) to hire temporary foreign workers (TFWs).

Our initial question was what effect did immigration policy changes have on female participation in the construction industry? Women are generally under-represented in construction (14%) and the trades (7%). You’d think, in a tight labour market, female participation would rise. After some really boring angst around the data, what we found was this:

1. Participation rates of Canadian women in the trades, transport and equipment operator occupations stayed static over time (about 7%) but the overall number rose.
2. Participation rates by Canadian men in these occupations fell as did the overall number.
3. Participation rates by TFWs (almost all men) in these occupations rose (as did overall numbers) and this change is correlated in a statistically significant way to the decline in Canadian men.

Basically, it looks like employers substituted TFWs for male Canadian workers. The cause of this shift (i.e., were Canadian men were unavailable, or do employers preferred TFWs) is not clear. Other research Jason has conducted suggests employers have come to prefer TFWs to Canadian workers because employers can drive TFWs harder.

It is also unclear what relationship TFWs have to female participation. An interesting thought experiment is what do you suppose would have happened to female participation had the feds not made it easier for employers to hire TFWs? We suspect that employers would have taken steps to increase female participation rates, perhaps by changing workplace practices to make the jobs more appealing to women. In this way, federal immigration policy may have retarded employment equity.

-- Bob Barnetson