What is a good job? In most people’s minds I assume that would be something that pays well and provides good benefits, steady employment and satisfying work. In the post-war period that described manufacturing jobs. They weren’t good because of the benevolence of the free market. Quite the contrary. They
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Views from the Beltline: The brilliance of the Sustainable Jobs Act
Last week the feds tabled Bill C-50, the Canadian Sustainable Jobs Act, in the House of Commons. The bill would create a Sustainable Jobs Partnership Council to advise the government on clean energy jobs, require that Ottawa come up with a sustainable jobs plan every five years, and establish a Sustainable Jobs Secretariat. The
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Time to work less?
In times of economic crisis, an old but good idea to maintain employment is revived. COVID has brought just such a revival. With unemployment in the UK expected to rise rapidly in the coming months as the British furlough scheme winds down, a think tank has reported that a four-day
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Why The Left Is Once Again Wrong
Also happening now, and further showing the continued failure of the left: the left is shouting in defence of payroll taxes – which kill jobs, as they are a tax on hiring and employment, as well as a regressive tax that hurts small and medium business the hardest. The
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Is Kenney Costing Alberta Investment and Jobs?
Calgary Economic Development CEO Mary Moran reported recently that a tech company that had considered setting up its head office in Calgary had changed it mind. The reason? Talk of separation. “We as an organization just lost a 1,000-person company that didn’t come to Calgary, selected another city, because they’re
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Will automation steal all our jobs?
Yet another report predicts we are all going to be replaced by machines. Well, maybe not us, but our jobs at least. The report, issued for Wells Fargo clients, predicts that over the next ten years technology will replace ten per cent of banking jobs. The report’s author, banking analyst
Continue readingThings Are Good: May Day: When Rules Don’t Apply
Unions have got a bad reputation in North America for reasons I don’t understand. Counterintuitively, large corporations have convinced millions of workers that their jobs are negatively impacted by workers helping each other. It’s been proven that when CEOs talk about how much they make their average wage goes up;
Continue readingThe Political Road Map: Adult Assembly Required: Justin Trudeau & SNC – Lavalin
If anyone can take anything from the past few weeks regarding Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the resignation of Jody Wilson-Raybould, it should be that sometimes even though you try something different, you get the same old turnout. That smile you give when the boss wants you to skirt the
Continue readingThings Are Good: Need a Job? Let’s Give Jobs to Everybody!
Underemployment runs rampant in too many sectors of our economy; and this contributes to a long-term unsustainable economic system. For example, people born in the 1980s are now the brokest generation since the Depression (for reasons why see this post). With these problems in mind, some thinkers are calling for
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Evening Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Andre Picard notes that contrary to our self-image, Canada actually lags behind international peers in health and social spending. And PressProgress points out the same conclusion in new OECD research. – Andrew Mitrovica writes that Doug Ford’s ascendancy in Ontario politics suggests that
Continue readingThings Are Good: As Oil Industry Declines, Workers Turn to Solar
The tar sands in Alberta is killing a Canadian climate-friendly future and the people who work there have also realized that jobs in the tar sands isn’t their future. A new not-for profit, Iron and Earth, is building a sustainable future for the climate and for workers. The worker led
Continue readingThings Are Good: Germany’s Transition Away From Coal Helped Jobs and Culture
For years Germany’s transition from coal to sustainable energy has impacted communities. Many feared that jobs would be lost during this transition so plans were put in place to help workers and communities transition too. Throughout the Rhine valley coal plants have been closed down and their place new sustainable
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Friday Morning Links
Assorted content to end your week. – Noah Smith offers a reminder that market principles don’t work for everything. And Amelie Quesnel-Vallee and Miles Taylor note that in the health sector in particular, the use of private providers to supplement an underfunded public system is leading to inequitable disparities in
Continue readingThings Are Good: American Startup Creates Job Board for People with Criminal Records
Americans like to think of themselves living in the land of the free, ironically the country has the highest incarceration rate on the planet (and the greatest number of people behind bars). The laws in the USA are quite strict with zero tolerance and minimum jail time for offenders, this
Continue readingThe Political Road Map: The Middle Class Illusion
Are you middle class? Do you know where the middle class falls within society? Is it someone who earns up to $120,000 or someone averaging around $50,000 annually? Surprisingly, many people do not really know, they believe they fall within the middle class, when in reality they may either be
Continue readingThings Are Good: More Americans Working in Solar Than in Coal
The coal industry is failing and sustainable alternatives are on the rise. No matter what politicians do to try and “save” coal it’s clear that the dirty source of electricity is on its way out. A recent report revealed that in the USA more people are employed by the solar
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Repeating history—the new need for unionization
For all Donald Trump’s failings, and they are profound and many, he deserves credit for one thing. He acknowledged the anger and despair of those Americans in the Rust Belt states and elsewhere who have seen stable, well-paid manufacturing jobs disappear in the millions. In their place are often low-paid,
Continue readingViews from the Beltline: Repeating history—the new need for unionization
For all Donald Trump’s failings, and they are profound and many, he deserves credit for one thing. He acknowledged the anger and despair of those Americans in the Rust Belt states and elsewhere who have seen stable, well-paid manufacturing jobs disappear in the millions. In their place are often low-paid,
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Into the dark
Apparently provincial finances have joined monthly job reports as areas where if there’s nothing to be spun in the Saskatchewan Party’s favour, Brad Wall is making a concerted effort to hide what’s going on from the public. (Go on, just try to find the government’s monthly jobs release containing this
Continue readingThings Are Good: Kickstarter CEO Wants You to Have a New Job
Yancey Strickler is the CEO and cofounder of Kickstarter he sees the future of work and the economy different than most CEOs. Strickler sees a future with people working jobs that actually matter for causes that make the world a better a place. Instead of profit over people, we can
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