Malcolm's Blog

EMPR 200 – Current Event Blog Round 2

Employee safety and job security

One major issue arising amid COVID-19 is employee safety and job security. One employee at a medical diagnostic imaging clinic in Regina spoke out after her concerns about workplace safety were dismissed. Despite the fact that Employees in Saskatchewan “can refuse to do a job or task that they have reasonable grounds to believe is unusually dangerous”[1], many of them are having to choose to either continue working under unsafe conditions or risk losing their job. The pandemic is causing employees in Canada to have to work in dangerous environments while simultaneously revoking many of the rights they have as employees.

One of the biggest issues with this whole situation is the unprecedented nature of it. There was no plan in place to deal with an epidemic of this magnitude. One of the main directives from the government during this time has been to stay home. However, there are many jobs that simply cannot be done from home. Doug Ford recently commented on unsafe work environments at construction sites, stating: “You don’t feel safe? You don’t feel that you have the proper equipment? Or the company’s not keeping you safe? Leave the site. Leave the site and don’t come back”[2]. This comment is ignorant to the fact that the choice is not that easy for many Canadians working low income jobs. Ford also made an announcement ordering all non-essential stores and services to close beginning on March 24[3]. This led to another wave of employee layoffs as many businesses will not be operating in the near future. In response to the developing situation, the government has unveiled a new emergency employment benefit for those being laid off due to COVID-19[4]. The benefit provides $2000 every four weeks for up to four months to those who have lost their income due to the virus. The main problem with this benefit and others is that workers are not going to be able to support their families with that amount as their only source of income if this epidemic persists for months. Additionally, despite many layoffs being deemed temporary, there will likely be a hiring freeze once everything has settled down and businesses are allowed to re-open as they will not have the capital to hire new employees. As a result, many Canadians will be continuing to rely on employment insurance in foreseeable future. The Canadian government is going to need to extend more support to workers in unsafe environments and more benefits to Canadians dealing with job loss due to COVID-19 if they truly care about the well-being of their citizens.

[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/sask-employees-right-to-refuse-1.5508819

[2] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-coronavirus-ontario-monday-1.5506445

[3] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/covid-19-coronavirus-ontario-monday-1.5506445

[4] https://globalnews.ca/news/6735158/ei-for-covid-19-what-we-know-so-far-about-the-new-emergency-response-benefit/

EMPR 200 – Current Event Blog Round 1

Ontario Teachers’ Union Strikes

In January the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO) gave their notice that members will begin rotating strikes if a deal is not reached with the government. Discussions appear to be at a crossroads as the government states that they have made several concessions in negotiations with the unions, yet the unions argue that the government has acted in bad faith. The impending strikes will harm the compensation of teachers, the education of children in elementary schools across Ontario, and the ability of parents to work and take care of their children.

To update the situation as of February 7th, members of the teachers’ unions that have implemented these rotating strikes have lost between two and three days of pay[1]. However, the loss of compensation for teachers is not the only issue that has been impacted by the ongoing battle between the provincial government and Ontario’s teachers’ unions. On Thursday February 6^th approximately 945,000 elementary school students were forced to stay home from school due to the strikes[2]. As mentioned, this was not the first day of strikes and does not appear to be the last if an agreement is not reached soon. Although the strikes take away school days from students in the short run, teachers are fighting for certain conditions that will improve the education of students in the long run. These conditions include maintaining smaller class sizes and providing more support for students with special needs[3]. Another important aspect of the ongoing labour negotiations is the effect that it has on parents. The rotating strikes force the parents of these students to either stay home from work or pay for someone to look after their children for the day. As a response to this, the government has offered up to $60 a day per child, to parents whose children are affected by the closures[4]. This appears to be a short-term solution as they will likely not be able to continue to provide that level of compensation if strikes persist in the future. Additionally, the ETFO has argued that the offer of payment is a way for the government to bribe parents and earn their support in the disagreement.

In my own experience, there was a period spanning several months while I was in high school where schools did not run extra-curricular activities due to contract disagreements with the government. This period caused students to suffer greatly as many of us lost the ability to play sports or participate in clubs. This situation, however, did provide perspective on how much time and effort teachers commit to their jobs outside of the basic expectations of their contracts. It is clear that they are not receiving the support nor compensation that should be associated with the level of service and commitment that they provide.

[1] https://globalnews.ca/news/6517035/ontario-teachers-strikes-loss-of-pay/

[2] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-teacher-strike-etfo-analysis-osstf-oecta-1.5453447

[3] https://globalnews.ca/news/6485923/ontario-teachers-strikes-effects-experts/

[4] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/etfo-public-teachers-strike-1.5427368

My EMPR 200 Introduction Blog

Hi Everyone,

My name is Malcolm and I’m a fourth year student here at Queen’s from Oakville, Ontario.

My interest in the subject of employment relations was initially inspired by the relevance of topic as i am going to be graduating university and joining the workforce in September. I think it is going to be valuable to educate myself on all aspects of the relationship between employer and employee as i begin my career. The area that i am most excited to learn more about would probably be managing employees. I want to get a better perspective on the tactics that employers are able to use to motivate employees and increase overall efficiency.

Looking forward to the course and getting to interact with everyone on their blogs!

Malcolm