Part Time Work not attributable to failing economy

**My letter, following, appeared as the "lead" letter to the editor in the Star on April 15, 2009. The same letter was submitted to all newspapers across the country



Toronto Star,
Letter To The Editor**


The Headline of Friday, April 10’s Toronto Star blares “Failing economy creates a nation of part-timers.” This headline and feature story is both misleading and ill-informed.

In point of fact, those full time jobs redefined as part-time will never come back even with an economic turnaround without government action.

The nature of work in Canada is changing. The incidence of part-time work has been a growing trend even in boom times and has been adapted by even the largest employers like Microsoft, IBM, and General Motors, not to mention employers like McDonalds, grocery chains, and retailers and is endemic in professions like nursing and university teaching. Recent Stats-Can figures, compiled before the present downslide, identifies 23% of the Nation’s (and Ontario’s) workers as part-time, contract, or casual non-permanent employees.

This short-sighted employer greed to enhance their bottom lines on the backs of workers, and lack of social consciousness, has produced two classes of workers--permanent employees with their benefits packages and those classified as part-time, contract, or casual employees who may be working side by side with their full time peers doing exactly the same work but with different compensation packages. This, in itself, is discriminatory and the different treatments would not at all be allowed if the differences were defined as racial, religious, or gender. In fact, this “classification” discrimination has led to giant compensatory settlements in America.

An equally serious national problem, though, is the heightened insecurity of part time, contract, and casual work which effectively blocks 23% of the workforce from the purchase of "big ticket" items thus reducing this 23% of the workforce from consumption beyond their basic needs, thereby hurting the national economy.

In the past, when governments found serious and unfair inequities in the workplace, they introduced "equal opportunity" and "pay equity" legislation to correct the inequities. It is time for governments to act once again to correct this problem to stem the changing nature of work in Canada before all employment becomes part time, casual, or contract employment with its resulting devastating impact on the Canadian economy.



Bill Longworth,
www.fairjobs.ca

Suggestion for Upcoming Budget

From: bill_longworth@hotmail.com
To: ignatieff.m@parl.gc.ca; brison.s@parl.gc.ca; mccallum.j@parl.gc.ca
Subject: Suggestion for upcoming budget
Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:24:31 -0500

Hon. Michael Ignatieff,
Leader of the Opposition

Hon. Scott Brison
Opposition Finance Critic

Hon. John McCallum
Chair, Liberal Economic Committee

Dear Sirs:

Re Permatemp Employment

I want to propose a serious budgetary matter that I encourage you to bring up with Finance Minister Flaherty as he seeks your input on the upcoming Conservative Budget.

A most important factor in getting the economy back on track is getting money and security in the hands of Canada's workforce.

At the present time in Ontario, 23% of Ontario workers are employed in part time, contract, and casual employment without the benefits and security provided to their fellow full time workers often doing exactly the same job in the same workplace. Stats Canada would indicate that the same pattern is demonstrated across the country. It is discriminatory to have two classes of workers working side by side with different compensation packages. A more serious problem though, is the hightened insecurity of part time, contract, and casual work which effectively blocks 23% of the workforce from the purchase of "big ticket" items thus reducing this 23% of the workforce from consumption beyond their basic needs, and thereby hurting the national economy.

When governments found serious inequities in the workplace in the past, they introduced "equal opportunity" and "pay equity" legislation to correct the inequity.

In order to provide fairness in the workplace and to increase job security to stimulate consumption by the 23% of the workforce employed in part time, contract, and casual employment, might I suggest that the government introduce a "Fairness and Ethics in Employment Practices Commission” which would act as an oversight body with authority to monitor employment trends for large employers and in the extreme implement measures to ensure compliance with the stated objectives to:

(a)Revert long-term part time and contract workers to full time status after 3 years with the exception of part time work necessitated by school/college/university attendance,

(b) Insure that an ethical percentage of a company’s work force is indeed classified as permanent with equal salary and benefits to peers with the same employer,

(c)Insure that part time and contract workers could not be discharged because they were approaching full time status by virtue of reaching the 3 year term,

(d)Ensure that any staff reductions of part time, contract, and casual employees were terminated for just cause or if terminated by reason of overstaffing were not replaced for a reasonable time to insure legitimacy for the dismissal,

(e) Insure that government hiring set a model of permanence for private business to duplicate,

(f) Insure that contract workers were formally offered positions as permanent employees once they had successfully served a three year tenure and insure that they could not be released because they were reaching that period of permanence,

(g)Monitor part time/contract employees for large employers (over 300) to insure that the proportion of non-permanent employees continued to shrink over subsequent reporting periods.

(h)Insure that all part time and contract workers in Canada were provided benefits equivalent to those offered full time employees with the same employer.

As stated in point 5 above, I also believe that governments should be a role model for enlightened employment practices and inform all departments that part time, contract, casual, or permatemp positions are no longer to be offered and should be replaced with permanent positions effective after a pre-defined and reasonable probationary period.

I believe that the above policy initiative areas would resonate with Canadians both as socially responsible to improve our "Canadian Way of Life" and would provide significant stimulous to the Canadian Economy.

I am continuing to monitor and report on this problem on my site www.fairjobs.ca.

Sincerely,

William Longworth,
contact details removed

December 15, 2008

Suggestion to Opposition Party Leadership as they Draft their Common Plan forEconomic Recovery Possibly Led by aNew Coalition Government

To

Liberal, NDP, and Bloc Québécois Leadership and Selected MP's
Selected National Press

Let me commend the opposition parties for working to form a coalition government to get Canada's economy back on track.

As you work toward a common platform, let me make a suggestion which I believe is one key to Canada’s long term economic health. Any effective plan must 1) retain and produce jobs, 2) increase consumer spending to drive production, and, 3) increase worker’s confidence in their job security which would work to increase their consumption. My suggestions following work to improve all three fronts.

The nature of work is changing so that the bulk of new employment is temporary, part time, contract, permatemp or casual employment. According to recent Stats Can reports, 23% of Ontario workers were employed in positions defined as part time in October, 2008, while the figure stood at 21.9% nationally. The insecurity inherent in part time work, contract, and casual employment undermines our economy by effectively blocking over 20% of the workforce from the purchase of big ticket items like houses, automobiles, and appliances, and all of the spinoff jobs associated with increased consumption of these items.

The growing trend to casual employment will exacerbate the problem in the future as more and more employers hire part time and contract workers to improve their bottom line by denying workers the salary, benefits packages and security provided to their full time peers. The Federal and Provincial Governments are as guilty of this abuse as private employers.

On another level, this trend toward part time, contract, and casual employment works against our national ideal of eliminating discrimination in our society. It sets up a system of workforce discrimination whereby different workers doing the same job in the same workplace are benefiting inequitably from their efforts. Courts in America have increasingly found this illegal costing governments and companies like IBM and Microsoft exorbitant court settlements. I believe the Federal Government has a moral responsibility to pass legislation to eliminate this workplace discrimination. The suggestions I give below also accomplish this goal.

Some may believe that it is not the government’s role to regulate or interfere in the workplace but in fact government did intervene in the workplace with Employment Equity and Equal Opportunity Legislation to correct serious inequities and I believe it is in the national economic and social interest for governments to intervene once again.

The European Union has recently adopted some such protections and reports indicate the Obama Administration will implement harsh penalties on employers who would “misclassify” employees.

As part of your economic recovery program, I urge that your coalition develop a legislative framework for a "Fairness and Ethics in Employment Practices Commission” which would be an important long term stimulus to the economy by adding job security to the 23% of the Canadian workforce presently in some form of casual employment. This would stimulate our National Economy with their increased “big ticket” consumption.

Such a Commission would have authority to monitor employment trends for employers of over 300 workers and in the extreme implement measures to ensure compliance with the stated objectives to:

a) Revert long-term part time and contract workers to full time status after 3 years with the exception of part time work necessitated by school/college/university attendance,

b) Insure that an ethical percentage of a company’s work force is indeed classified as permanent with equal salary and benefits to peers with the same employer,

c) Insure that part time and contract workers could not be discharged because they were approaching full time status by virtue of reaching the 3 year term,

d) Ensure that any staff reductions of part time, contract, and casual employees were terminated for just cause or if terminated by reason of overstaffing were not replaced for a reasonable time to insure legitimacy for the dismissal,

e) Insure that government hiring set a model of permanence for private business to duplicate,

f) Insure that contract workers were formally offered positions as permanent employees once they had successfully served a three year tenure and insure that they could not be released because they were reaching that period of permanence,

g) Monitor part time/contract employees for large employers (over 300) to insure that the proportion of non-permanent employees continued to shrink over subsequent reporting periods.

h) Insure that all part time and contract workers in Canada were provided benefits equivalent to those offered full time employees with the same employer.

As stated in point (e) above, I also believe that governments should be a role model for enlightened employment practices and inform all departments that part time, contract, casual, or permatemp positions are no longer to be offered and should be replaced with permanent positions effective after a pre-defined probationary period.

I believe that the above policy initiative areas would resonate with Canadians both as socially responsible to improve our "Canadian Way of Life" and to make a positive growth impact on the Canadian Economy.

I am continuing to monitor and report on this problem on my site www.fairjobs.ca.

Sincerely,

William Longworth,
Contact Details Removed

December 1, 2008

THE PROBLEM...as communicated to Liberal Leadership

PLEASE NOTE THAT SIMILAR EXPLANATORY LETTERS WERE SENT TO ALL PARLIAMENTARY LEADERS, ALL LARGE CANADIAN UNION LEADERSHIP, AND ALL MAJOR NEWSPAPERS/MEDIA BROADCASTERS IN THE COUNTRY...IN THE INTERESTS OF AVOIDING DUPLICATIONS IN INFORMATION FOR READERS OF THIS BLOG, I HAVE NOT INCLUDED SIMILAR LETTERS SENT WITH THIS MAILING



The Right Honorable Stephane Dion,
Leader of the Liberal Party of Canada,
Office of Leader of the Loyal Opposition,
House of Commons,
Ottawa, Ontario

cc: Liberal Leadership Candidates

Dear Sir:

Re: A Suggested Liberal Platform area to address a serious workplace inequity and put a concrete face on your “Liberal Pillar” of Social Justice and Equality

Let me congratulate you on your recent victory as the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

I was the Federal Progressive Conservative Candidate in the Oshawa by-election of 1990 but feel that party has now abandoned me with its move to the extreme right. I believe that your platform on social justice, environmental sustainability, and the economy as well as your views on Canadian Nationalism will resonate with Canadians and thus I believe your party should form the next Government of Canada.

In the interests of “Social Justice”, I want to bring to your attention a serious workplace inequity that has arisen in Canada over the last number of years which is a form of discrimination as defined under the Canadian Human Rights Act and an infringement of worker rights as defined under the Canadian Employment Standards Act, 2000.

In the past, governments have taken measures to eliminate workplace inequities. Witness “Pay Equity” and “Equal Opportunity” Legislation which corrected serious workplace inequities. Now is the time to address the growing workplace inequity of Part Time and Contract Employment (Permatemps).

Employers, including governments, are increasingly hiring workers on a contract or part time basis to save money on benefits packages. The benefits of this practice to industry have undermined the security of the Canadian work force and in the long run will jeopardize the growth of the Canadian Economy. Without permanence in employment, how can Canadians assume long term debt such as mortgage and automobile or appliance payments? This kind of employment also deprives a growing percentage of workers benefits such as health and drug plans, disability plans, sick leave plans, child care benefits and company pension plans. It seems that we have two classes of workers--those lucky enough to be on permanent employment and thus earning benefits, and that increasing class of worker who is on contract or part time work who is devoid of benefits.

I am aware, for example, of Ontario workers who are getting 40 hours of steady and regular weekly employment but who are still classified temporary/part time without benefits after 10 years of employment, and despite the perception of a nursing shortage in Ontario, a minority of Ontario nurses have full time positions, most fitting in a number of part time “non-benefit” positions to provide a full work week.

Under the Canadian Employment Standards Act, workers doing similar work are required to earn equal pay which would include benefits and under The Canadian Human Rights Act, it is illegal to discriminate against any class of employee. Rights guaranteed by both of these pieces of legislation are being eroded by the growing part time/contract hiring practice in the Canadian work environment.

I urge the Liberal Party of Canada to develop a legislative framework for a ”Fairness and Ethics in Employment Practices Commission” which would become a formal part of their program in the next Federal Election.

Such a Commission would have authority to

a) Revert long-term part time workers to full time workers,

b) Insure that an ethical percentage of a company’s work force is indeed classified permanent,

c) Insure that part time workers could not be discharged because they were approaching full time status,

d) Insure that government hiring set a model of permanence for private business to duplicate,

e) insure that contract workers were formally offered positions as permanent employees once they had successfully served a stated tenure and insure that they could not be released because they were reaching that period of permanence,

f) Monitor part time/contract employees for all employers over a stated size (say 200 employees) and insure that the proportion of non-permanent employees continued to shrink.

g) Insure that all part time and contract workers in Canada were provided benefits equivalent to those offered their full time employees.

I believe that the above policy initiative areas would resonate with Canadians both as socially responsible to improve our "Canadian Way of Life" and to make a positive growth impact on the Canadian Economy.

Sincerely,

William Longworth,
Contact details removed


December 6, 2006