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Changing Work, for Good, After COVID
As Canada enters the fifth wave of COVID contagion and restrictions, with new infections reaching the highest levels yet, we need to consider again how the pandemic must change our approach to valuing work, and protecting workers, on a permanent basis. In this keynote speech to the recent annual conference of the Parkland Institute in Alberta, Centre for Future Work Director Jim Stanford discusses the labour policy lessons learned during the first waves of the pandemic – and why it’s vital to make permanent changes to crucial aspects of our labour market (including sick pay, protections for workers in precarious jobs, and genuine improvements in workplace health and safety). The…
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Solid Wage Gains for Construction Workers Needed to Cement Productivity Gains
Paycheques for workers in Ontario’s booming construction industry are coming up short despite surging productivity and a sharp rise in building activity, a new report from the Centre for Future Work shows. Relative to consumer prices, the real purchasing power of construction wages has been stagnant in recent years even though real labour productivity in the sector has grown very strongly. Workers are generating more output and revenue for their employers, but not getting their fair share of the value they’re creating. Nominal wages in construction grew at an average rate of 1.9% over the last five years, considerably slower than broader wages in Ontario’s labour market (which grew at…