News briefs

Canada enjoying job creation boom • Contingent work creating class without benefits • Jobseekers rate priorities • “McJob” added to dictionary • B.C. teachers could lose credentials in battle with province • Doctor shortage but no spots for student MDS • Striking union may target firm’s clients • Overworked nurses

Canada enjoying job creation boom

Toronto
— Canada is in the midst of a stellar period of job creation with an annual growth rate of 2.4 per cent over the last five years, a Scotiabank economic report states. Leading the sectoral pack are business services which have seen a boost due to changing technologies and a shift towards outsourcing. Construction and arts and entertainment have also seen strong growth, while hiring in the broader public sector is in a downturn.

Contingent work creating class without benefits

Ottawa
— Canada needs to update policies designed in an era when every family had a full-time wage earner who provided for all financial needs, a report by the Canadian Policy Research Networks states. With 37 per cent of working Canadians self-employed or working part-time or temporary jobs, millions of people are unprotected by labour standards and without benefits like health care, sick leave, disability insurance, employer-sponsored and public pensions and Employment Insurance coverage. The report recommends higher minimum wages and tax relief for the working poor among measures it states will improve job quality and Canada’s productivity, as well address societal inequity.

Jobseekers rate priorities

Toronto
— About one-third of Canadian job searchers polled by online job board Workopolis say their first priority is salary. Next come opportunities for advancement, rated at the top by 22 per cent of the 1,800 respondents, corporate culture (17 per cent) and learning opportunities (16 per cent).

“McJob” added to dictionary

Springfield, Mass
— Merriam-Webster has a new word to describe a low-paying, dead-end occupation: McJob. The 11th edition of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines a “McJob” as “a low-paying job that requires little skill and provides little opportunity for advancement.” Fast-food giant McDonald’s is not impressed and wants something more flattering put in the dictionary.

B.C. teachers could lose credentials in battle with province

Vancouver
— The B.C. Teachers’ Federation is urging its union membership to withhold professional fees owed to the B.C. College of Teachers to protest government restructuring that takes away the union’s ability to control the licensing college. A government-appointed interim board is in place until a new 20-person board with 12 appointees and eight elected teachers takes over. Previously, 15 members were elected by teachers and influenced by the union. Teachers who fail to pay college fees can be expelled, losing teaching status.

Doctor shortage but no spots for student MDS

Ottawa
— The agency that matches medical students with residency positions reports that for the first time in 33 years, graduating medical students have filled all openings with no space for foreign-trained doctors, returning students or doctors switching specialities. Medical groups are upset people will be forced to the United States to pursue careers, while Canada’s physician shortage worsens.

Striking union may target firm’s clients

Edmonton
— An Alberta judge has denied broadcaster A-Channel an injunction against striking employees’ “harassing” the station’s advertising clientele. Strikers are trying to get advertising pulled. A-Channel has filed a $5-million lawsuit against a Communication, Energy and Paperworkers Union local, alleging harassment and intimidation of advertisers.

Overworked nurses

New York
— America’s National Academy of Sciences says too many fatigued nurses are endangering patients by pulling shifts in excess of 12 hours a day and putting in more than 60 hours a week. More than a quarter of U.S. nurses report working shifts of 13 or more hours at least once a week. In addition to risking patient health, tired nurses have low productivity, the academy says. Canadian nurses have long been complaining about similar workload issues.

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