Labour Showdown Expected this Fall as Wage Earners Demand Catch-Up: York U. Labour Specialists Provide Historical Perspective and Analysis

TORONTO, September 2, 1999 -- As the labour movement gears up for annual Labour Day parades across the country, union organizers are busy making placards to draw the public's attention to their call for a share in the economy's growth. Slow growth in wages over the last decade, the threat to jobs posed by economic globalization and restructuring, and the rise in part-time, precarious forms of employment are leading to calls for catch-up in wages and job security and instilling a new militancy in the labour movement.

Labour analysts from a broad range of disciplines at York University are predicting a major showdown this fall on a number of fronts:

Auto workers have granted their union a strike mandate should negotiations with the Big Three auto makers fail to win sufficient income gains this fall.

Job losses associated with the proposed restructuring of Canada's two major airlines is shaping up into a potential conflict with organized labour.

Outside municipal workers in Toronto are poised to strike, and many other municipal and other public sector union contracts are coming up for renewal.

The backlash against government health and education reforms in Ontario is renewing militancy among teachers and nurses.

In Quebec, teachers are working to rule and have formed a common front with public sector unions there that is expected to result in an unprecedented showdown with the Bouchard government later this year.

The following scholars at York University can provide historical context and analysis of the current climate as we approach the Labour Day holiday weekend:

Vijay Agnew is a social scientist at York whose labour focus is on immigrant women in the work force: their access to English language and other training programs for entry-level jobs; their ghettoization in lower-end jobs; the impact of reduced provincial funding for training; and the experience of immigrant women who have set up their own services in the community. She can be reached at (416) 736-5054, or at home, (416) 924-7847.

Greg Albo is a political scientist at York with expertise on labour relations and public policy. Current focus includes: ongoing auto sector negotiations; teachers' demands; the coming wage pressures on municipalities as contracts come up for renewal across Ontario; renewed public sector negotiations across Canada; and emerging bargaining patterns. He can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 22552, or at home, (416) 516-4875.

Harry Arthurs is a professor of law and political science at York's Osgoode Hall Law School who specializes in labour law. He has published extensively on international law and globalization and its effects on the labour market. He is currently looking at changes in the structure of Canadian corporations and Canadian subsidiaries of foreign-based multinationals -- how they organize production and make decisions in the new global environment -- and these corporations' use of codes of conduct to regulate their own labour management in various countries. He can be reached at (416) 736-5407.

Daniel Drache is a political scientist and director of York's Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies. He has written extensively on trade liberalization and is the author of States Against Martkets: the Limits of Globalization. His labour research focus is on employment practices and labour standards, new types of work such as part-time and casual, and flexible production modes. He can be reached at (416) 736-5414 or at home, (416) 921-3332.

Craig Heron, a York professor cross-appointed in the departments of history and social sciences, has just completed the manuscript for a book on the history of Labour Day. He says the celebration of Labour Day as a special day for workers fluctuates with the strength of the labour movement, but the annual Labour Day parade in Toronto has remained a strong tradition. Heron describes the carefully crafted parades and pageants of the past, designed to show the respectability of the working man and his place in society. He has conducted extensive research on workers and workers organizations in Canada, Canadian social history, and class relations. He can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 77812, or at home, (416) 588-4453.

Pablo Idahosa, a professor in the Faculty of Arts and co-ordinator of York's African Studies Program, can address labour issues in West Africa, particularly Nigeria. He notes that labour union activity there is central to issues such as the redistribution of wealth, the accountability of governments, and the relationship between development and human rights. He can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 66939, or at home, (416) 658-7265.

Jan Kainer is on the council of York's Centre for Research on Work in Society and is a part-time professor in the School of Women's Studies. A recent PhD graduate, she has conducted extensive research on the issue of pay equity in the food retail sector and has also worked as a policy analyst in the health care sector. She can be reached at home at (416) 760-7024.

James Laxer, a political scientist at York University's Atkinson College, is a leading expert on political economy in Ontario and on Canada's labour movement and social democracy in Canada. He notes that Canadian workers are determined to "catch up" for lost wage increases, with all eyes on the airline industry shake-up and the Big Three auto negotiations to see how they set the tone for other union negotiations. He says Canadian salary and wage earners are experiencing a personal debt crisis, quoting recent figures showing they now have the highest rate of personal debt among the G-7 industrialized countries. Laxer can be reached at home at (416) 544-9941.

Carla Lipsig-MummÈ is director of York's Centre for Research on Work and Society. An expert on labour unions and movements in Canada and internationally, her research areas include labour rights and globalization and internationally co-ordinated labour action, women and work, precarious employment, the underground economy, young workers and trade unions, new organizing strategies, and Quebec labour issues. She can discuss the changes that have occurred in wage earners' status and working conditions over the past decade and observes a renewed militancy among workers across the public and private sectors. She can be reached at (416)736-5612 or at home: (416) 539-8177.

Norene Pupo, chair of York's department of Sociology, is conducting research on service sector work, part-time and marginal forms of work, labour unions and their response to economic restructuring, and women in the workplace. "I would say we have a much harsher working environment today compared to 15 years ago. The working person's experience today is coloured by insecurities related to economic restructuring and new technologies changing or eliminating their jobs, cutbacks in government social programs that increase their personal expenses, and the rise in marginal, part-time employment that often means holding down two jobs at once." She can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 77998, or at home, (905) 648-9687.

Harry Smaller, a professor in the Faculty of Education, has published extensively on the subject of historical and contemporary teachers unions. He is now examining teacher testing, teaching workload and curriculum, and the privatization trend in education. He can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 88807 or at home, (416) 536-0414.

Eric Tucker, a professor of law at Osgoode Hall Law School, has published widely on the subject of occupational health and safety regulations, and is the author of Administering Danger in the Workplace. He can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 55578.

Steven Tufts is a research officer with York's Centre for Research on Work and Society, and a PhD candidate in geography. Tufts' expertise is in the hotel sector where he is looking at the movement of industrial unions into the service sector, the impact of hotel unions on tourism development in Toronto, and their role on tourism development boards. He can be reached at (416) 736-5612, or at home, (416) 203-2850.

Bernie Wolf, a professor of economics and international business at York's Schulich School of Business, has written extensively on the auto pact, trade liberalization and economic globalization. He says labour union participation is on the decline in Canada, North America and worldwide. Wolf can comment on the current auto sector negotiations and the implications for labour of economic restructuring. He can be reached at (416) 736-2100, ext. 77933, or at home, (416) 223-2794.

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For more information, please contact:

Susan Bigelow
Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22091
sbigelow@yorku.ca

Sine MacKinnon
Senior Advisor, Media Relations
York University
(416) 736-2100, ext. 22087
email: sinem@yorku.ca
YU/085/99