Edmonton's Day of Mourning Ceremony

I took my daughter to the Edmonton Day of Mourning (for injured and killed workers) last night. It was a nice memorial in a lovely location. With the permission of the author, I have reprinted what I thought was the best speech (given by Jared Matsunaga-Turnbull, the executive director of the Alberta Workers' Health Centre).

Honoured guests, sisters, brothers, fellow workers, my fellow people:

I know a worker who is in the process of being laid off. It was announced in the fall that job cuts were coming, but that there was a three month trial period whereby it was possible that some people would keep their jobs. The caveat: the workloads would increase (still the same amount of work but less people to do it), and employees demonstrating their “dedication” to the job would be considered for being kept on in the restructuring. 

Desperate to keep her job, her livelihood, she worked hard, and managed to make the first cut. Then another round began. And she is now anxiously, nervously waiting to find out what is going to happen.

The economic downturn has made this a familiar story. It has left many tens of thousands of workers in Alberta without jobs, and scrambling to find work. And those of us who do have jobs, and especially those of us without the protection of a union, will do almost anything to hold onto our jobs.

In a recession, health and safety becomes less of a priority than before. But in a recession, people still get hurt, get sick, and get killed at work. And our challenge is to not lose sight of the importance of making workplaces safer for everyone. In a recession, we must continue to fight, and fight even harder, for healthy and safe workplaces.

Today is the Day of Mourning, the one day of the year where we gather to remember those whose lives have been lost or whose lives have been changed by workplace injuries and illnesses.

The Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board lists 125 people who died in Alberta last year from workplace incidents or exposures. Additionally, there are about 50,000 disabling injuries accepted by WCB every year. But research suggests that these numbers don’t tell the whole truth. That in fact the amount of injuries every year in Alberta is much higher, as much as 10 times higher. That’s 500,000 injuries every year. That’s 1 in 4 or 1 in 5 working people.

And a large part of that number is attributed to injuries that go unreported.

Major injuries tend to be reported at the same rate regardless of the unemployment rate, probably because they are harder to hide. But in times of recession, in times of higher unemployment, in times like these where we want to hold onto our jobs, minor injuries are less likely to be reported; exposures to hazards that take a long time to show up as occupational illnesses, are less likely to be reported.

This does a couple of things:

1. it paints a false picture of how many people are actually getting hurt.

2. non-reporting means the hazards responsible for the injury do not get identified, which means the workplace does not get fixed, and more people will get hurt or sick or die.

In a recession, workers tend to take whatever jobs we can get – temporary, multiple jobs – precarious work – to pay the bills and support our families either here or back home. Precarious work means less likelihood of reporting injuries or unsafe conditions. Under the table work means the same. Multiple jobs at multiple job sites present the possibility of exposure to certain hazards at levels much higher than the threshold limits established for a single job site. And as workers we become even more vulnerable to exploitation by bad employers looking to capitalize on our need to make a living.

Our Occupational Health and Safety system is complaint-driven; it relies largely on workers being confident enough to raise health and safety issues. And yet, research shows us that workers are more reluctant to report injuries when faced with possible job loss or retribution from bad employers. So in a recession, government enforcement becomes even more important.

I recently had the honour of meeting with some members of CIWAA – the Canadian Injured Workers Association of Alberta. There is a huge stigma attached to injured workers who are often blamed for their own injuries or, because chronic pain is largely invisible, are told it is “all in your head”. A workplace injury can last a lifetime, can turn lives inside out, ruin chances for meaningful employment, damage and destroy families and relationships. Add to this ongoing struggles with the compensation system, expensive pain medication that may or may not be covered, the health effects of the medication itself, and severe depression. As one injured worker told me, “We are not the people who were killed. We are the people who are suffering, who wish they would have died.”

And so the Day of Mourning must also be about recognizing the need for fair compensation and justice for people who have been injured, and who continue to suffer as a result of their injuries or illnesses.

This day, the National Day of Mourning, is filled with numbers. 125 fatalities, 50,000 injuries, 1 day of the year. So much in our world is about reducing things to numbers and statistics, under the guise of being able to better understand information. While there is a usefulness to this, we do so at the risk of forgetting what some of these numbers actually represent. For that matter, when we talk about workers – worker fatalities, worker injuries – we risk framing tragedy and loss as something that is confined to the workplace, something that does not reach out and touch the lives of the families and communities that the worker belonged to.

So, I am going to read the list of names of people who died last year as a result of workplace incident or exposure, to honour their memory and remind us to continue to fight for the living.

Afterwards, I believe we will be inviting people up to lay some wreaths at the base of the Broken Families Obelisk behind me.

When I read the names of the officially accepted fatalities for last year, please let us also remember those workers, those people who are not named: the farm and ranch workers who were not included; those workers who passed away from occupational diseases that were not reported to, or accepted by the WCB; those workers who continue to suffer from work-related injuries and diseases. And let us not forget that we are not just talking about workers, we are talking about family members, friends, coworkers, employees; we are talking about people.

And an injury to one is an injury to all.

Christian, 79, trauma — Colin, 56, motor vehicle accident — Robert, 71, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — Perry, 57, motor vehicle accident — Lorne, 60, trauma — Robert, 70, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — Berne, 72, air crash — Lesley, 53, trauma — Norm, 75, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — Jacob, 81, motor vehicle accident — Paul, 72, asbestosis — Bob, 63, trauma — Carl, 94, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — Norman, 78, cancer — Grant, 87, asbestosis — John, 67, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — David, 61, silicosis — Fred, 87, asbestosis — Gordon, 71, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — William, 82, asbestosis — Mark, 57, trauma — Vincent, 67, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — Kim, 45, trauma — Terence, 82, asbestosis — Dieter, 59, trauma — Steve, 84, asbestosis — David, 41, trauma — Sean, 42, trauma — Harry, 85, asbestosis — Paul, 69, silicosis — Brent, 49, trauma — Henry, 75, asbestosis — Verne, 77, asbestosis — Dawna, 55, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — Brian, 61, pneumoconiosis — Wayne, 53, cancer — Marcel, 75, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — Hayley, 27, trauma — Steve, 79, asbestosis — Larry, 65, cancer — Terry, 66, cancer — Edward, 71, cancer — Eugene, 85, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — Bruno, 87, mesothelioma — William, 78, asbestosis — Walter, 80, asbestosis — Jacob, 72, asbestosis — Robert, 69, mesothelioma — Domingo, 72, silicosis — Barry, 67, mesothelioma — Clarence, 78, mesothelioma — Walter, 72, asbestosis — George, 72, cancer — James, 54, mesothelioma — Donald, 71, mesothelioma — Sheldon, 67, mesothelioma — Stanley, 60, mesothelioma — Ronald, 71, mesothelioma — Dan, 72, cancer — Bogdan, 55, motor vehicle accident — Keith, 75, mesothelioma — Ken, 81, mesothelioma — Garry, 76, cancer — Edward, 61, cancer — Terrence, 48, cancer — Wayne, 59, motor vehicle accident — Belle, 89, mesothelioma — Frederick, 69, cancer — Paul, 40, motor vehicle accident — Rex, 65, mesothelioma — John, 87, cancer — Ryan, 29, motor vehicle accident — Mervin, 36, trauma — Gary, 35, motor vehicle accident — Romeo, 79, mesothelioma — John, 80, asbestosis — Dellis, 60, motor vehicle accident — James, 48, motor vehicle accident — James, 56, motor vehicle accident — Stanley, 65, heart disease — Medardo, 73, mesothelioma — Gerald, 63, trauma — Jordan, 21, motor vehicle accident — Arnold, 55, cancer — Zlatko, 79, cancer — Gerald, 79, trauma — Louis, 83, mesothelioma — Edward, 77, cancer — John, 70, mesothelioma — Abe, 29, motor vehicle accident — Stephen, 35, trauma — Fredrick, 55, trauma — David, 70, mesothelioma — Robert, 48, trauma — Kenneth, 86, motor vehicle accident — Bobby, 38, motor vehicle accident — Albert, 58, heart disease — Ian, 60, cancer — William, 38, air crash — Maryam, 35, trauma — Daniel, 35, trauma — Christopher, 31, motor vehicle accident — Dale, 65, motor vehicle accident — Nabeel, 33, air crash — Francois, 62, cancer — Hally, 50, trauma — David, 37, trauma — Donald, 80, trauma — Regan, 29, motor vehicle accident — John, 74, mesothelioma — Peter, 51, trauma — Kevin, 54, motor vehicle accident — Walter, 74, mesothelioma — Gary, 68, trauma — Fuad, 33, trauma — Stephen, 55, air crash — Wesley, 65, trauma — Manmeet, 35, trauma — Dean, 23, trauma — Walter, 55, trauma — Keith, 49, trauma — Edward, 59, trauma — Karanpal, 35, trauma — Ricky, 41, trauma — Marc, 44, trauma

I think Jared's speech as pretty moving and on point. Several times during the reading of the list of the fallen, Jessica turned to me and said "s/he was so young" or that's a "lot of dead workers". It is a bit of a shame that schools don't acknowledge fallen workers as part of their curriculum.

-- Bob Barnetson

Labour & Pop Culture: Hard Working Man

This week’s installment of Labour & Pop Culture is “Hard Working Hands” by Dave Gunning and Ron Hynes. The song is about the end of a working life, written from the perspective of shipbuilders who are mourning the loss of their identities now that they don’t work anymore.

We built those boats down at the shipyard for 40 years or more
Took a break for the time we served in the war
Another evening at the legion with the TV's evening news
Lookin' back is all we ever do

Retirement is often associated with various psychological effects, such as identity disruption and a search for meaningful engagement with society as well as a way to fill the days. Essentially, retirement can mean the loss of an important (and often long-term) source of identity for some workers. Some workers may attempt to reframe their identity, drawing upon personal characteristics that endure and were associated with their former jobs. For example:

An endless wire, that runs through these days
Deepens the lines that run across my face
But if you want to know the kind of man I am
Take a look at these hard workin' hands

In this way, this song is about a process (albeit not necessarily a successful or completed one) of workers making peace with end of their working lives.



We built those boats down at the shipyard for 40 years or more
We only laid our hammers down when left for the war
Now these days I watch the night fall across a tired floor
Far too old for working anymore

Wake the same hour every morning to join the morning crew
We line up at the coffee shop to get the morning news
We still wear the same clothes, wear the same old shoes
Lookin' back is all we ever do

An endless wire, that runs through these days
Deepens the lines that run across my face
But if you want to know the kind of man I am
Take a look at these hard workin' hands

There's a map that has hardened in my skin
Everywhere I go I take every place I've been
The lifeline is a highway through the towns of memories
Every scar has a story

An endless wire, that runs through these days
Deepens the lines that run down my face
But if you want to know the kind of man I am
Take a look at these hard workin' hands

We built those boats down at the shipyard for 40 years or more
Took a break for the time we served in the war
Another evening at the legion with the TV's evening news
Lookin' back is all we ever do

An endless wire, that runs through these days
Deepens the lines that run through my face
But if you want to know the kind of man I am
Take a look at these hard workin' hands
Take a look at these hard workin' hands

-- Bob Barnetson

Buried and Forgotten: Newspaper coverage of workplace injury

Today is the National Day of Mourning for workers who have been killed and injured on the job. There are events in both Calgary and Edmonton. As it happens, two more Alberta workers were killed yesterday.

To coincide with the Day of Mourning, the Parkland Institute has issued a report that I co-authored with my colleague Jason Foster entitled “Buried and Forgotten: Newspaper coverage of workplace injury and death in Alberta.”

The report notes that newspaper coverage of workplace injuries and fatalities is skewed in a number of way. Women’s injuries are almost never reported. Most newspaper reports are about fatalities, which represent only a small fraction of overall injuries.

The report also identifies three media frames (or story templates) that almost all newspaper reports of injury fit into: the injury is under investigation, is a human tragedy, or is before the courts. These templates create a meta-narrative, wherein injuries are isolated events that happen to “others,” and for which no one is responsible (except maybe the worker). This, in turn, suggests that the public need not be concerned about workplace safety.

Both the quantitative and qualitative analysis set out in the report are validated in the coverage of yesterday’s fatalities. The events are fatalities that happened to men and that are under investigation

What this report tells us is that, to the degree that we rely upon media reports to help shape our views of occupational injury, our views are likely skewed. This isn’t meant to be a condemnation of reporter—they are workers who face structural pressures to report certain news items in certain ways.

Instead, it suggests that there is a greater role for government in making workers aware of the extent and nature of workplace injury.

-- Bob Barnetson

Regional differences in EI benefits

Canadians workers who become unemployed through no fault of their own are usually eligible for Employment Insurance (EI) benefits of up to $537 per week. This is calculated based on 55% of your average insurable earnings (which are capped $50,800 per year).

In order to qualify for EI benefits, you need to have worked work a minimum number of hours in the last 52 weeks. This number of hours varies based upon the unemployment rate in your region. Your economic region (there are 62) also determines the number of weeks you can receive EI benefits.

Basically the higher the unemployment rate is, the easier it is to qualify and the longer benefits last. This results in variable access based upon place to residence. For example, when I wrote this post, the EI region chart (linked above) showed:

• unemployment in Calgary and southern Alberta was 8.6% and workers there needed 595 hours of employment to qualify and could receive up to 42 weeks of benefits.
• unemployment in Edmonton was 6.9% and workers there needed 665 hours to quality and could receive up to 38 weeks of benefits.
• unemployment in northern Alberta was 12.3% and workers there needed 455 hours to qualify and could receive up to 45 weeks of benefits.

EI is a federally operated program and, back in March, the feds announced they would extend benefit durations by 5 weeks (to a maximum of 50 weeks) in some regions along with other changes.  Workers in Edmonton were excluded from extended benefits because the rise in Edmonton’s unemployment rate was too slow.

A secondary issue is that unemployment is calculated based upon a worker’s place of residence, rather than location of work. So, a worker who loses her job in Fort McMurray but lives in Edmonton would be out of luck (versus a worker who lived in Fort McMurray). This led to some criticism of the regional system as well as a smaller number of calls for the abolishment of regional differences in EI eligibility and duration (a recurring theme in EI criticism).

The logic of regional differences is fairly compelling: in some regions of the country, it is harder to get and keep a job. Consequently, EI should be easier to qualify for and last longer in these economically depressed regions because an individual’s employment experiences reflect structural factors in the economy. The Prime Minister defended different regional access to enhanced benefits:

“I think that both people in Edmonton and Saskatchewan should be pleased that they are not hit as hard as other parts of the country and indeed the province have been,” Trudeau said in the Global Calgary interview… .

While this quote has been spun as a heartless dismissal in some media reports, the principles (i.e., data-driven decisions; regional equity) seem like good principles upon which to base this system of income support. An alternate approach might be a national guaranteed income for everyone.

-- Bob Barnetson

Labour & Pop Culture: Fancy

This week’s installment of Labour & Pop Culture is “Fancy” by Reba McEntire. Originally written in 1969, the song is sung from the perspective of a poor teen whose dying mother sends her out to be a sex worker. The video filmed by McEntire has the singer as a famous singer and actress who (perhaps) left of her own accord.

The crux of the song is that grinding poverty gives you no options. Fancy turns 18 and perhaps get cut off whatever state support she was receiving. Her options, outside of sex-work, are pretty limited—particularly given her mother’s illness and her young sibling (who is eventually taken into care).

Now in this world there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrites
That would call me bad
They criticize Mama for turning me out
No matter how little we had
But though I ain't had to worry 'bout nothin' for nigh on fifteen years
Well, I can still hear the desperation in my poor Mama's voice ringin' in my ears

Perhaps the most redemptive part of the song is Fancy's determination to do what is necessary for her  to survive and ignore the public scorn that this attracts. 

I remember it all very well lookin' back
It was the summer I turned eighteen
We lived in a one room, rundown shack
On the outskirts of New Orleans
We didn't have money for food or rent
To say the least we were hard pressed
Then Mama spent every last penny we had
To buy me a dancin' dress

Mama washed and combed and curled my hair
And she painted my eyes and lips
Then I stepped into a satin' dancin' dress
That had a split on the side clean up to my hip
It was red velvet trim and it fit me good
Standin' back from the lookin' glass
There stood a woman where a half grown kid had stood

She said, "Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.
Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down

Mama dabbled a little bit of perfume on my neck and then she kissed my cheek
And then I saw the tears wellin' up in her troubled eyes as she started to speak
She looked at a pitiful shack
And then she looked at me and took a ragged breath
She said, "Your Pa's runned off and I'm real sick,
And the baby's gonna starve to death."

She handed me a heart shaped locket that said,
"To thine own self be true."
And I shivered as I watched a roach crawl across
The toe of my high heeled shoe
It sounded like somebody else that was talkin'
Askin', "Mama, what do I do?"
She said, "Just be nice to the gentlemen, Fancy,
And they'll be nice to you."

She said, "Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.
Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down."
Lord, forgive me for what I do,
But if you want out, well, it's up to you
Now don't let me down
Now your mama's gonna move you uptown

Well, that was the last time I saw my Ma
The night I left that rickety shack
The welfare people came and took the baby
Mama died and I ain't been back

But the wheels of fate had started to turn
And for me there was no way out
And it wasn't very long 'til I knew exactly
What my Mama'd been talkin' about

I knew what I had to do and I made myself this solemn vow
That I's gonna be a lady someday
Though I didn't know when or how
But I couldn't see spending the rest of my life
With my head hung down in shame
You know I might have been born just plain white trash
But Fancy was my name

She said, "Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.
She said, "Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.

It wasn't long after that benevolent man took me off the street
And one week later I was pourin' his tea in a five room hotel suite
I charmed a king, a congressman and an occasional aristocrat
And then I got me a Georgia mansion and an elegant New York townhouse flat
And I ain't done bad

Now in this world there's a lot of self-righteous hypocrites
That would call me bad
They criticize Mama for turning me out
No matter how little we had

But though I ain't had to worry 'bout nothin' for nigh on fifteen years
Well, I can still hear the desperation in my poor Mama's voice ringin' in my ears

"Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down.
Here's your one chance, Fancy, don't let me down."
Lord, forgive me for what I do
But if you want out well it's up to you
Now don't let me down
Now your Mama's gonna move you uptown

Well, I guess she did

-- Bob Barnetson

CTV blames workers... for non-existent problem!

Earlier this week, CTV News ran this story about sick time among managers at Alberta Health Services (AHS). The basic narrative is that “workers are lazy” and are bilking the system by taking too many sick days. As the “reporter” opens the story, he says:

It’s a job perk that many would love: months off without pay. But for Alberta Health Service managers, that’s not vacation. That’s sick pay.

The establishing shot pans across an empty room. Putting this image together with the narration and a headline about "squandering sick days" suggests AHS is some kind of ghost ship due to sick leave abuse. Which, if you have ever been to an AHS site, is clearly untrue. This pejorative framing continues throughout the story, “bolstered” by embarrassingly terrible analysis by the reporter.

There are about 8000 managers in the AHS system (including unit managers, patient care managers, metal health clinic managers, food service supervisors). CTV found “hundreds and hundreds” of managers taking more than three weeks of sick time and “more than 50” took the full 16 weeks of leave.

Is that really awful?

It is hard to say. Let’s assume that “hundreds and hundreds” of managers means about 500 (a guess—if it was higher, the reporter likely would have said “nearly 1000”). In other words, about 6% (give or take) of managers took more than three weeks of sick leave and 0.6% took the full 16 weeks of leave.

There was no real information about whether these leaves were legitimate or not, but the tenor of the story suggests there is some sort of scandal involved (we’re promised in the set-up that we’ll be “shocked” and the headline proclaims sick leave is being "squandered").

And there is also no comparative data provided (except an interview with an electrician, whose knowledge of sick leave in AHS is basically zero) about whether AHS managers take more or less sick time than workers anywhere else.

I’m not normally prone to defending managers, but this story is basically a drive-by smearing. There is no evidence whatsoever that sick leaves among AHS managers are being abused.

Indeed, the evidence is just the opposite: an employer attendance management program resulted in only a 1% reduction in sick leave. This suggests that the small fraction of AHS managers with more than three weeks of sick leave are legitimately sick.

This isn’t surprising: most managers will be older and, with age, comes higher rates of illness (and possibly injury). But CTV didn’t let facts get in the way of attacking workers.

Update: So, apparently, when you look at meaningful data, there isn't actually any problem here:

[Alberta Health Minister Sarah] Hoffman says, on average, non-union employees at AHS report 6.5 sick days a year, and that number is on par or below rates in other western provinces, and lower than the national average for non-union employees.

I wonder if CTV will retract its baseless claims now?

-- Bob Barnetson

Bill 4 and replacement workers

On April 7, Alberta passed Bill 4 (An Act to Implement a Supreme Court Ruling Governing Essential Services). I provided a brief overview of the legislation when it was first introduced on the Parkland Institute’s blog. The crux of Bill 4 is:

Bill 4… provides public sector workers who are governed by these laws with the right to strike. This right, however, is limited by a need to ensure the life, safety, and health of the public. In these cases, unions and employers will be required to negotiate a protocol for the provision of minimal essential public services.

One of the things I didn’t notice when I first read through Bill 4 was section 95.41(3), which governs the content of an essential service agreement. This section read:

95.41(3) During a strike or lockout, the employer shall not use the services of a person, whether paid or not,

(a) who is hired by the employer for the purpose of, or
(b) who is supplied to the employer by another person for the purpose of,

performing the work of an employee in the bargaining unit that is on strike or lockout.

Essentially, public-sector employers that operate hospitals, are regional health authorities or are within the ambit of the Public Service Employee Relations Act are prohibited from hiring or using replacement workers during a strike or lockout.

Replacement workers (often called scabs) are an employer strategy to minimize the impact of a strike by replacing the lost labour of the striking workers. Scabs are relatively uncommon in public sector strikes and, in theory, should not be necessary because the essential services agreement should provide an adequate workforce.

That said, this provision sends an interesting signal to employers about the policy preferences of the NDs. This many be important as it is expected that the NDs will be reviewing the broader labour relations framework over the next year or two.

-- Bob Barnetson

Labour & Employment: Don't Give Up

This week’s installment of Labour & Pop Culture is “Don’t Give Up” by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. The song is about the stress unemployment causes within families. It was inspired by the Great Depression but written about Margaret Thatcher’s England.

The male voice sings about frustration, isolation and despair:

moved on to another town
tried hard to settle down
for every job, so many men
so many men no-one needs

The female voice sings the chorus, offering encouragement and support:

rest your head
you worry too much
it's going to be alright
when times get rough
you can fall back on us
don't give up
please don't give up

I’ve selected the Willie Nelson-Sinead O’Connor version as Peter Gabriel kind of leaves me cold (the song is really more of a country song than art-rock). You can see the original video here.



in this proud land we grew up strong
we were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail

no fight left or so it seems
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted
I've changed my face, I've changed my name
but no one wants you when you lose

don't give up
'cos you have friends
don't give up
you're not beaten yet
don't give up
I know you can make it good

though I saw it all around
never thought I could be affected
thought that we'd be the last to go
it is so strange the way things turn

drove the night toward my home
the place that I was born, on the lakeside
as daylight broke, I saw the earth
the trees had burned down to the ground

don't give up
you still have us
don't give up
we don't need much of anything
don't give up
'cause somewhere there's a place
where we belong

rest your head
you worry too much
it's going to be alright
when times get rough
you can fall back on us
don't give up
please don't give up

'got to walk out of here
I can't take anymore
going to stand on that bridge
keep my eyes down below
whatever may come
and whatever may go
that river's flowing
that river's flowing

moved on to another town
tried hard to settle down
for every job, so many men
so many men no-one needs

don't give up
'cause you have friends
don't give up
you're not the only one
don't give up
no reason to be ashamed
don't give up
you still have us

don't give up now
we're proud of who you are
don't give up
you know it's never been easy
don't give up
'cause I believe there's a place
there's a place where we belong

-- Bob Barnetson

Social policy mitigating the motherhood-wage penalty

Today is equal pay day. The most compelling story on pay equity recently is the suit filed by members of the US National Women’s Soccer Team alleging gender-based wage discrimination. You can read the story but this slide show (unfortunately embedded in Facebook) tells the tale better.

While straight-up old-school wage discrimination remains an important issue, new research suggests that social policy plays an important role in mitigating the wage penalty associated with having children.

“Work–Family Policy Trade-Offs for Mothers? Unpacking the Cross-National Variationin Motherhood Earnings Penalties” finds (among other things) that publicly funded child-care and job-protected leaves help minimize the motherhood wage penalty. The economically ideal leave length (from the perspective of minimizing the child wage penalty) appears to be two years, with shorter and longer leaves being associated with worse outcomes.

-- Bob Barnetson

Labour & Pop Culture: Company Store

This week’s installment of Labour & Pop Culture is “Company Store” by Driftwood. This is a different song from “16 Tonnes” by Tennessee Ernie Ford (which talks about coal miner’s being driven into debt by being forced to shop at a store run by the coal mine.

Driftwood is a bluegrass group. I couldn’t fine a lyrics sheet for the song but, if you listen, it pleasantly seems to shift back and forth between work and love.

There is a long history of folk music written about work; one of the best radio series I have heard was a multi-part Smithsonian (I think) series on the history of trade unions that used the Folkways archives. I couldn’t find this online but I did find one collection.



-- Bob Barnetson

Should faculty operate under the Labour Relations Code?

A few weeks ago, Alberta introduced amendments to its labour laws that extend the right to strike to almost all public sectors workers. University professors continue to have no statutory right to strike because faculty labour relations are governed by the Post-Secondary Learning Act.

Last fall, the government consulted the post-secondary education (PSE) sector about altering this unusual arrangement. The Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations (CAFA) took the position that faculty association collective bargaining should remain outside the ambit of mainstream labour law. Most, but not all, actors in the PSE sector agreed with this position.

Thorough reviews of Alberta’ Labour Relations Code (LRC) and the PSLA seem likely over the next year. Retaining a separate legal regime for faculty seems contrary to the government’s recent moves around both the right to strike and farm worker rights. While incorporating Alberta’s faculty into mainstream labour laws would raise a number of technical issues, the real question is whether this is a good idea.

The CAFA submission makes a number of arguments against inclusion under the broad heading of “academic labour relations is different”:

1. Faculty move in and out of “management” positions.
2. Faculty work unusual hours and globally.
3. Faculty members interests include matters such as academic freedom.
4. Faculty associations participate in and uphold collegial governance.

I could disassemble each argument in turn but, given that faculty in every other jurisdiction in Canada somehow manage under mainstream labour laws, the overall “uniqueness” argument is clearly without much merit.

CAFA then argues that the current system “has been successful in many ways” but cites only the resolution of contractual disputes (through mandatory arbitration) and associations defending the rights of their members (which is the basic purpose of any union). These outcomes happen everywhere and are not the product of the Alberta’s unique faculty labour relations system.

Indeed, CAFA then goes on to flag a number of changes it wants to the PSLA system: a duty to bargain in good faith, a duty of fair representation adjudicated by the Labour Board, access to member information, and collective agreement continuance during bargaining. All of these matters are dealt with by mainstream labour law…

Overall, the arguments CAFA advanced for retaining faculty association exceptionalism are surprisingly poor. But what of the arguments for inclusion? The key issues here centre on choice and accountability

Under the LRC, faculty members would (as a group) have a periodic opportunity to choose a different (or no) union to represent the to their employer. This basic choice is foreclosed under the PSLA.

The absence of choice means there is less pressure on unions to be responsive to members’ needs than under the LRC because there is no risk of losing the bargaining unit to another unit. So arguing against mainstream labour law is an argument in faculty associations’ own interests.

Similarly, while faculty members dissatisfied with how their union handles their grievance can sue their union under common law duty of fair representation (DFR) provisions, this process is out of reach of most faculty members. Under the LRC, DFR issues are resolved through a quick and low-cost process at the Labour Board.

Absent a compelling argument for faculty association exceptionalism, principles such as choice and accountability (which are codified in mainstream labour law) ought to drive the government’s policy making. While a transition to mainstream labour laws would entail a transition (which may require transitional provisions), it would provide faculty members with the same rights every other worker—including faculty members in other provinces—enjoy.

-- Bob Barnetson

Labour & Pop Culture: Downeaster Alexa

This week’s installment of Labour & Pop Culture is “Downeaster Alexa” by Billy Joel. Joel workers on an Oyster Boat at one time and has a history of protesting regulations that constrained fisheries workers.

Downeaster Alexa is sung from the perspective of a worker struggling to maintain ownership of his (?) boat in the face of declining fish stocks:

I've got bills to pay and children who need clothes
I know there's fish out there but where God only knows
They say these waters aren't what they used to be
But I've got people back on land who count on me

Joel also mentioned government regulation (“Since they told me I can’t sell no stripers”) and the gentrification of old fishing towns.

There ain't much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain't no island left for islanders like me

Overall, Downeaster Alexa is a moving tribute to the decline of a traditional industry and the impact that this decline has on those who (often for generations) worked in it. Joel’s voice is also amazingly rich and powerful in song.While searching for some info, I ran across this fascinating set of learning activities (about fisheries) based upon the Downeaster Alexa.



Well I'm on the Downeaster Alexa
And I'm cruising through Block Island Sound
I have charted a course to the Vineyard
But tonight I am Nantucket bound

We took on diesel back in Montauk yesterday
And left this morning from the bell in Gardiner's Bay
Like all the locals here I've had to sell my home
Too proud to leave I've worked my fingers to the bone

So I could own my Downeaster Alexa
And I go where the ocean is deep
There are giants out there in the canyons
And a good captain can't fall asleep

I've got bills to pay and children who need clothes
I know there's fish out there but where God only knows
They say these waters aren't what they used to be
But I've got people back on land who count on me

So if you see my Downeaster Alexa
And if you work with the rod and the reel
Tell my wife I am trawling Atlantis
And I still have my hands on the wheel

Yeah yo [x4]

Now I drive my Downeaster Alexa
More and more miles from shore every year
Since they tell me I can't sell no stripers
And there's no luck in swordfishing here

I was a bayman like my father was before
Can't make a living as a bayman anymore
There ain't much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain't no island left for islanders like me

Yea yea yea oh [x4]

-- Bob Barnetson