By Sara Mojtehedzadeh and Brendan Kennedy

Employers who use temporary employment agencies will no longer be able to evade liability for workplace accidents, the Star has learned, as new legislation promises to hold them responsible when temps are injured or killed on the job.

Last year a Star investigation showed how companies use temp agencies to cut costs and limit liability for accidents because temp agencies were considered workers’ so-called employer of record at the provincial compensation board. As a result, the agency took the financial hit if a temp got hurt, not the place where they were actually injured.

By Matt Galloway

The province's proposed bill aimed at closing the wage gap does it by ending the secrecy around wages. Among other changes, the proposed bill would require job postings to include salary ranges. Navi Aujla, who's worked a lot of factory jobs and encountered the culture of secrecy around wages, speaks about her experience. We also hear from labour lawyer Fay Faraday.

Listen to CBC Story

By Kate McGillivray

Equal Pay Coalition co-chair says new legislation only covers ‘tiny proportion’ of the labour market

Women who have spent years advocating to close the pay gap between male and female workers say that a new piece of legislation unveiled by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne on Tuesday doesn't go far enough.

If passed, the legislation would eventually require all employers with 250 workers or more to come clean with their employees and with the province about how much they pay, along with a number of other measures designed to close the wage gap between women and men. 

But Fay Faraday, a lawyer who co-chairs the Equal Pay Coalition, says the bill will only apply to a "tiny proportion of the labour market" and leave the rest of female workers in the dark about how much their male counterparts are earning.

"Here in Ontario, the government's own statistics show that as of December 2015, 98 per cent of employers in Ontario have 49 or less employees," she told CBC Toronto, calling the bill a "timid approach" to a thorny issue.

She said she wants to see all employers with 10 or more employees included in the new rules

Compounded by the number of women who work part-time and in traditionally "female" fields that are poorly remunerated, women earn about 30 per cent less than men, according to the province — a gap that has remained stagnant for the last decade.

'It feels very unfair'

As a temp who did general labour in smaller factories and warehouses in the GTA, Navi Aujla spent years in workplaces that wouldn't be required to follow the new transparency rules.

She said during that time, she never knew if she was earning anything close to what her male co-workers were.

"Not knowing is very disheartening and it feels very unfair," she said. "It was a common practice not to talk about [wages]. People were getting paid all sorts of different rates."

At present, non-unionized workers can be "disciplined or even terminated" for talking about their pay, said Faraday —something the new bill would prohibit.

Aujla, who now works as an organizer at the Worker's Action Centre, called the bill a "step in the right direction" but said she would like to see the legislation extend to "all workplaces."

Leaving out marginalized women?

Beyond the sheer number of women who are employed at smaller workplaces, including smaller workplaces also matters because of the kind of women who work there, said Colette Prevost, director of advocacy and communications at YWCA Toronto.

Women who are Indigenous, racialized, or new to Canada tend to work in smaller businesses, as do women in smaller communities with less employment options, she said.

"They're working in retail, they're working in restaurants, they're working in the social service sector," said Prevost.

Faraday also points out that Indigenous, racialized, and disabled women face even steeper wage gaps with men. In the case of Indigenous women, the pay gap is 57 per cent, she said. 

"[The pay gap] is something that's compounded by all other forms of systemic discrimination in our society," said Faraday. 

Employers are already legally required to deliver non-discriminatory pay and have been for decades, she pointed out, arguing that any employer of any size should be able to prove that they pay based on experience and ability, not gender. 

"Time's up, employers. You've had five decades to get your house in order. Prove that you're compliant with the law," she said. 

Read the CBC Story

By Sara Mojtehedzadeh

Calls to the Ministry of Labour’s employment standards hotline have soared following sweeping updates to the province’s workplace laws that took effect Jan. 1.

The provincial information centre fielded 26,704 calls from workers with queries about their rights or potential abuses in January of this year, up 60 per cent from 16,742 the previous month, the Star has learned. The volume of enquiries is almost 30 per cent higher than January 2017.

Opinion

Regardless of what you think about Wynne, the minimum wage increase was long overdue and the tactics used by Tim Hortons are inexcusable forms of bullying.

Flora writes, “That’s what businesses need to do to stay in business,” but that’s a lie.

Most businesses that are employing minimum wage workers in Ontario are big businesses. Many of them, like Tim Hortons, are raking in billions of dollars in profits. The CEO of Tim Hortons’ parent company, RBI, made $8,183,504 last year and Tim Hortons generated $3 billion US in revenue for RBI.

To own a Tim Hortons, any potential franchise owner needs a net worth of at least $1.5 million. Meanwhile, when minimum wage workers were working full-time last year, they were still living below the poverty line.

Flora also writes, “she increases the minimum wage just so people can pay more for their bread?”

In case Flora hasn’t noticed, prices have been going up ridiculously even when the minimum wage was frozen for 12 of the last 20 years. Workers in Ontario haven’t been able to keep up and they are the engines of this economy.

So I say Tim Hortons is a bully.

Navi Aujla

Read the Brampton Guardian Story 

By Daniel Tencer

"They have a brand that is in trouble."

Every year, Tim Hortons' Roll up the Rim contest results in some happy winners, and a whole bunch of disappointed customers holding "please play again" cups.

This year is no different, but with the coffee-and-doughnut chain embroiled in controversy over its response to minimum wage hikes, some customers are taking the chance to criticize Timmies over its treatment of employees.

Tim Hortons' announcement of this year's Roll Up The Rim — which started on Feb. 7 — was met with some pointed questions online.

"Have you ensured Ontario workers in your franchises aren't stripped of benefits yet?" one Twitter user asked.

Many others have taken the opportunity to criticize the popular brand.

The controversy began last month, when news reports began to emerge that some Tim Hortons franchisees — including the children of the chain's co-founders — were rolling back paid breaks and dental and medical benefits for their employees.

The move came in the wake of Ontario's minimum wage rising to $14 per hour at the beginning of January, a move broadly opposed by the restaurant industry. The province's minimum wage is set to rise again, to $15 an hour, next year.

Head office sought to distance itself from the controversy, publicly criticizing franchisees who rolled back paid breaks and benefits. But labour activists say the company has not taken further action to prevent franchisees from making those moves.

It's too early to tell whether the controversy will harm Tim Hortons' bottom line. But what is clear is that the brand was already facing headwinds even before the minimum wage hikes.

Parent company Restaurant Brands International reported this week that sales have flatlined at comparable Tim Hortons outlets (meaning those that have been open for more than a year). Sales fell 0.1 per cent in 2017, and have been flat or falling for five consecutive quarters.

"They have a brand that is in trouble," Mark Satov, strategy advisor at Satov Consultants told BNN last week. "They have a lot of negative press."

Some analysts take a more optimistic view. Peter Sklar of BMO Capital Markets predicted in a client note last month that the "negative publicity should die down in the coming weeks."

But so far, the public pressure remains on Tim Hortons. This week, labour activists, including the Ontario Federation of Labour and the Fight For $15 and Fairness campaign, sent Valentine's cards to workers at more than 200 locations, to show that the public "values and supports" them.

Read the Huffington Post Story

By David Shum

Tim Hortons employees at over 200 locations across Ontario received special Valentine’s Day cards and chocolates from workers’ rights advocates on Tuesday in a show of support for improved working conditions.

The action comes after several franchises slashed workers’ benefits and breaks after the province raised its minimum wage on Jan. 1.

“I think it’s shameful that the corporation has responded to the minimum wage increase by cutting meal breaks, by making workers start to pay for uniforms, by cutting hours and by taking away tips,” Deena Ladd of the Workers’ Action Centre told Global News at a Tim Hortons location in downtown Toronto Tuesday morning.

Over the past month and a half, protests have been held across the province in response to some Tim Hortons locations that have clawed back workers benefits, paid breaks and other perks as a result of the minimum wage increase in Ontario to $14 an hour from $11.60.

“Whether the workers belong to a union or not, they deserve to have respect and dignity in their workplace,” said Chris Buckley, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour.

“We’re going to caution these bad bosses to get their hands out of the workers’ pockets, pay them accordingly, treat them with respect and dignity or we’re coming after them as well.”

The protests began after Jeri Horton-Joyce and Ron Joyce Jr., the children of the brand’s billionaire co-founder Ron Joyce, rolled out the controversial measures at two Cobourg, Ont., locations they own.

By Nikki Jhutti

Tim Hortons locations were the focus of more rallies in Kingston on Tuesday. Tim Hortons locations were the focus of more rallies in Kingston on Tuesday, while other local employers were honoured for paying their workers a living wage.

Kingston and District Labour Council hosted a pre-Valentine’s protest and handed out valentines for Tim Hortons’ workers.

The rally was held in response to the chain’s recent cuts to employee’s hours and benefits.

“To let them know that we support them in spite of the cuts that a lot of Tim Hortons workers have been seeing,” said Lesley Jamieson with the Kingston and District Labour Council. “You know, one of the largest public sector employers in Kingston has been cutting paid breaks, has been reducing full-time hours from 40 to 32 hours.”

Across town, it was a different story. Living Wage Kingston honoured four local employers for their commitments to pay their employees a living wage or higher. The organization says according to their calculations, the living wage in Kingston is $16.58 an hour — that’s based on a family of four with two working parents.

“On Jan. 1, you know the minimum wage went up enough to get people to the poverty line and you know certain employers have unfortunately taken steps to put people back below it again,” said Cam Jay, co-chair of Living Wage Kingston. “Forty per cent of the working people in this town make less than $30,000 a year.”

The organization honoured Kingston Community Health Centres, Loving Spoonful, Open Door Media and Kingston Municipal Non-Profit Housing Corporation with living-wage certificates.

Open Door Media has only been around for three-and-a-half years but CEO Ben Bowen knew right away he needed to pay more to attract the right employees.

“You either manage your expenses to the bottom which is paying your people as low as possible, minimum wage would obviously be that basement, or you go out and get the best people and the best people are not cheap,” said Bowen.

Loving Spoonful has been paying a living wage for the last three years and executive director Mara Shaw says staff are sticking around because of it.

“I can tell you that no one has quit since we’ve done that, you know people aren’t leaving so we have no staff turnover, we’ve got really highly-engaged staff that are sticking around,” said Shaw.

Kingston Community Health Centre employs about 175 people. Three months ago, officials there decided to bump staff to a living wage. CEO Mike Bell says it makes business sense to think about employees.

“It is a movement and I think it’s gaining energy and other organizations are starting to note that it’s just the right thing to do. We acknowledge that it’s not as easy for every business to do something like this but for those who can and are putting more thought toward it, it’s just wonderful for Kingston,” said Bell.

And while Living Wage Kingston honours those employers who go above and beyond for their staff, the Kingston and District Labour Council says it will continue to fight for better wages and working conditions for all.

Read the Global News Story

安省劳工团体在全省 30 个市镇，组织了向 Tim Hortons 咖啡连锁店员工献爱心卡和巧克力的活动，同时也抗议部分雇主, 因为安省提高最低工资，而削减员工工作时间及福利的做法。杨捷的报道。

Watch the OMNI Story

By Sara Mojtehedzadeh

More than half of all campus jobs have at least one indicator of precarity, a new report says, with temporary roles steadily on the rise over the past two decades and more employees juggling multiple jobs.

The study released Thursday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives found that while temporary workers accounted for 26 per cent of the college and university workforce in 1998, they made up 38 per cent in 2016. The proportion of temporary employees holding more than one job also increased from 2 per cent to almost 6 per cent over the same time period.

Nadine Sookermany has been part-time faculty at George Brown College for almost 12 years, juggling it with a job in the not-for-profit sector.  (EDUARDO LIMA / METRO FILE PHOTO)

“The data demonstrates that there are shifts happening,” said Erika Shaker, the CCPA’s director of education and outreach.

“There was a lot of concerns raised about the impact it’s actually having on students too. We’re looking at working conditions, but those working conditions are also learning conditions.”

Using data from the Labour Force Survey, the report assessed what it called three indicators of precarity in campus roles: temporary workers, multiple job holders, and unpaid work. Around 53 per cent of post-secondary employees now experience at least one of those indicators, the study said.

The proportion of those who experience none of those indicators has dropped from a high of 58 per cent in 1999 to 47 per cent in 2016. While the share of workers with just one element of job insecurity has remained stable at around 40 per cent, the share experiencing two of the indicators has almost tripled from 5 per cent to 14 per cent.

The report also solicited input from campus staff, some of whom described being unable to raise their students’ concerns or safety issues with their employer for fear of losing work, financial insecurity, and mental health issues.

Nadine Sookermany has been part-time faculty at George Brown College for almost 12 years, juggling it with a job in the not-for-profit sector and as a single mother.

“Teaching was my bread and butter. It was good pay. It made a big difference in terms of whether I could pay rent or not,” she said. “So the obvious choice was to try and secure full-time employment.”

But those opportunities, she found, are increasingly rare. Instead, she is left wondering anew each semester how many courses she will get to teach and what contracts will be available. Ultimately, she decided to take a full-time role as the head of a small non-profit — a role that could also evaporate if the organization does not get core funding.

“It reflects the systemic issues that exist in our society that people … are sometimes afraid to talk about as well for fear of being targeted or excluded,” she said, adding groups like women and people of colour are disproportionally impacted.

The issue provided significant impetus for last year’s five-week long strike by Ontario college faculty, which was ultimately ended by back-to-work legislation passed by the provincial government.

The CCPA study looked at all job categories on campus, from academic instructors to student services and plant operations. It found that full-time university professors as a proportion of the campus workforce crept down from a high of around 20 per cent in 1999 to 15 per cent in 2016. Overall, according to the study, traditionally stable jobs like librarian roles have dwindled while research and teaching assistant positions, which are more likely to be temporary or part-time by design, are on the rise.

The growth in research and teaching assistants outpaced university enrolment, indicating that “perhaps work that might have been performed by another category of employee is being shifted to a job category that is already inherently less stable,” the study said.

Temporary workers are increasingly likely to work part-time and to work unpaid overtime, which Shaker said may be partly driven by the increase in more precarious job categories like TAs.

“There’s sort of a stacking effect, or compounding effect,” she said.

“I think it does raise issues of how we ensure that we are not reproducing vulnerabilities and we’re not creating a workforce that is literally contingent on people who can’t afford to say no,” she added.

Not all job categories on campus are experiencing a rise in precarity: the majority of student service, administrative, and plant operations workers are still full time and have remained a stable proportion of the workforce. Overall, the report says, job insecurity on campus is “on the rise, though not equally and not for everyone.”

The report notes that student fees, rather than public sources, make up an increasingly large part of funding for post-secondary institutions.

“Public funding has not kept pace with enrolment,” Shaker said. “And we are looking at institutions that are to some extent pursuing a low-wage business model. What that doesn’t factor in is the human cost and ultimately the cost on the education that these institutions are providing.”

“These public institutions are in a very influential position to actually take a leadership role and push for the change we need,” she added. “Because we know that precarity is not a healthy way to build communities.”

Read the Toronto Star Story.