Russian lobster workers brought into P.E.I.; Ontario urged to keep promise on nurses; U.S.-based employers more likely to use drug testing; No relief in sight for pensions; The dark side of Alberta’s boom; HRDC reunited as HRSD
Russian lobster workers brought into P.E.I.
Souris, P.E.I. —A lobster processing plan has had to look to Russia and the Ukraine to find about 40 people willing to work. With union backing, the company is paying for flights and arranging for housing for the Russian and Ukrainian workers, who will be paid the same as others at the plant. Though unemployment stands at 15.4 per cent in the province, few people in Charlottetown are willing to travel three hours a day to Souris, a town of 1,200 located 80 kilometres away.
Ontario urged to keep promise on nurses
Toronto — Quality of care will deteriorate if the government fails to keep its pledge to hire 8,000 new full-time nurses, said the Ontario Nurses’ Association. Association president Linda Haslam-Stroud said as many as 20,000 nurses are expected to leave the profession in the next four years, and 12,000 nurse are needed to replace them. Health Minister George Smitherman said the government has hired 4,000 to date, and starting next year, each of the 4,000 nursing graduates in the province will be offered a full-time job.
U.S.-based employers more likely to use drug testing
Victoria — One in 10 Canadian employers surveyed had a drug testing program, according to a study by the University of Victoria’s Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia. It also found that companies with headquarters in the United States are twice as likely as other Canadian companies to have a drug testing program. The study, published in the March/April 2006 edition of the Canadian Journal of Public Health, looked at the prevalence of health and wellness programs in workplaces, including employee assistance and wellness promotion programs. Drug testing is most prevalent in Alberta, used by 25 per cent of employers surveyed followed by British Columbia (17.9 per cent). It is least common in Ontario (4.6 per cent).
No relief in sight for pensions
Toronto — Pension troubles will likely spread and persist in the next few years as pension plans struggle with funding deficits, say a majority of chief financial officers and vice-presidents of HR (61 per cent and 67 per cent, respectively) in the third annual Watson Wyatt and Conference Board of Canada Pension Risk Survey. Of respondents with defined benefit pension plans, 41 per cent have taken action in the past two years or intend to in the next year. Measures pondered include increasing employee contribution (50 per cent), reducing other benefits (39 per cent), reducing early retirement benefits (27 per cent) and reducing the normal retirement benefit accrual rate (26 per cent).
The dark side of Alberta’s boom
Edmonton — In what it calls “the dark side of the boom,” the Alberta Federation of Labour is calling for action against employers that cut corners in health and safety to keep up with work demands. Alberta’s per capita fatality rate in 2004 was the third highest in Canada, behind Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The number of workplace accidents in 2005 went up by 9.3 per cent from the year before to almost 170,000, and the total disabling injury rate went up by 5.4 per cent from 2004, to 4.28 per 100 workers. In the meantime, the province’s department of Human Resources and Employment announced it’s hiring nine additional officers to inspect work sites, bringing the total number to 87. It is also increasing the Work Safe budget to $14 million, a $2-million increase. Additional staff will also be hired to help employers develop and implement health and safety systems.
HRDC reunited as HRSD
Ottawa — The federal department Human Resources and Skills Development Canada have been merged back with Social Development Canada by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s new government. The new department is now known as Human Resources and Social Development. The two departments were formerly one, under the name of Human Resources Development Canada, before former Prime Minister’s Paul Martin’s Liberal government split them into two in December 2003.
Souris, P.E.I. —A lobster processing plan has had to look to Russia and the Ukraine to find about 40 people willing to work. With union backing, the company is paying for flights and arranging for housing for the Russian and Ukrainian workers, who will be paid the same as others at the plant. Though unemployment stands at 15.4 per cent in the province, few people in Charlottetown are willing to travel three hours a day to Souris, a town of 1,200 located 80 kilometres away.
Ontario urged to keep promise on nurses
Toronto — Quality of care will deteriorate if the government fails to keep its pledge to hire 8,000 new full-time nurses, said the Ontario Nurses’ Association. Association president Linda Haslam-Stroud said as many as 20,000 nurses are expected to leave the profession in the next four years, and 12,000 nurse are needed to replace them. Health Minister George Smitherman said the government has hired 4,000 to date, and starting next year, each of the 4,000 nursing graduates in the province will be offered a full-time job.
U.S.-based employers more likely to use drug testing
Victoria — One in 10 Canadian employers surveyed had a drug testing program, according to a study by the University of Victoria’s Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia. It also found that companies with headquarters in the United States are twice as likely as other Canadian companies to have a drug testing program. The study, published in the March/April 2006 edition of the Canadian Journal of Public Health, looked at the prevalence of health and wellness programs in workplaces, including employee assistance and wellness promotion programs. Drug testing is most prevalent in Alberta, used by 25 per cent of employers surveyed followed by British Columbia (17.9 per cent). It is least common in Ontario (4.6 per cent).
No relief in sight for pensions
Toronto — Pension troubles will likely spread and persist in the next few years as pension plans struggle with funding deficits, say a majority of chief financial officers and vice-presidents of HR (61 per cent and 67 per cent, respectively) in the third annual Watson Wyatt and Conference Board of Canada Pension Risk Survey. Of respondents with defined benefit pension plans, 41 per cent have taken action in the past two years or intend to in the next year. Measures pondered include increasing employee contribution (50 per cent), reducing other benefits (39 per cent), reducing early retirement benefits (27 per cent) and reducing the normal retirement benefit accrual rate (26 per cent).
The dark side of Alberta’s boom
Edmonton — In what it calls “the dark side of the boom,” the Alberta Federation of Labour is calling for action against employers that cut corners in health and safety to keep up with work demands. Alberta’s per capita fatality rate in 2004 was the third highest in Canada, behind Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The number of workplace accidents in 2005 went up by 9.3 per cent from the year before to almost 170,000, and the total disabling injury rate went up by 5.4 per cent from 2004, to 4.28 per 100 workers. In the meantime, the province’s department of Human Resources and Employment announced it’s hiring nine additional officers to inspect work sites, bringing the total number to 87. It is also increasing the Work Safe budget to $14 million, a $2-million increase. Additional staff will also be hired to help employers develop and implement health and safety systems.
HRDC reunited as HRSD
Ottawa — The federal department Human Resources and Skills Development Canada have been merged back with Social Development Canada by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s new government. The new department is now known as Human Resources and Social Development. The two departments were formerly one, under the name of Human Resources Development Canada, before former Prime Minister’s Paul Martin’s Liberal government split them into two in December 2003.
