IWS Documented News DAILY POSTINGS

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                   Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations           Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                    Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                        Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

Hay Group

Companies Risk Productivity and Profits by Paying for Dead Weight
http://haygroup.com/press_room/press_releases/09_27_2005.asp

New Hay Insight Research Shows Public Sector, Manufacturing, Telecom, Healthcare, and High Tech Workers Don’t Believe Their Organizations Have Systems in Place for Dealing with Poor Performers.

PHILADELPHIA, September 27, 2005: New research by Hay Group, a global organizational and human resources consulting firm, shows that less than half of employees in the manufacturing, telecom, healthcare, and high tech industries as well as the public sector believe their organizations adequately address poor performance.

This compares to more favorable ratings in the pharmaceutical, retail, and insurance industries where more than 50 percent of employees believe their companies have adequate systems in place for dealing with poor performers.

Asking whether employees believe that their company has a fair system for evaluating individual performance, the study found that less than 4 in 10 public sector employees (38%) agreed with the statement. Other notable sectors were financial services and manufacturing (both 42%) as well as telecom (44%).

This research comes from Hay Insight, Hay Group’s employee survey group, which maintains a database of approximately 1.2 million employees in over 400 organizations worldwide.

“When companies don’t address issues with poor performers and continue to provide them with pay increases, companies send mixed messages to employees at all levels and risk turnover of their top performers,” said Tom Agnew, a senior consultant with Hay Insight. “Companies need to consider how much compensation dollars they are tying up in dead weight at the bottom of the performance scale. And if top performers don’t receive the recognition they deserve, don’t be surprised if they look elsewhere.”

Top performing companies believe that well-differentiated rewards ­ even forced ranking of employees - leads to better execution. Yet, at year-end, rather than confront poor performers with the bad news, many managers choose the path of least resistance, speeding through performance reviews and spreading merit pay out almost evenly ­ like “peanut butter.”

Reward Programs

Even with tight budget constraints, many leading companies give above-average pay increases to top performers and provide nominal or no increases to those who do not perform adequately. When combined with a sound performance management program, reward programs can be effective in attracting and retaining the staff in a way that best supports organizations to grow their businesses.

Performance Management

More than ever, businesses need the tools and processes to identify the under-achievers. Rigorous performance planning, coaching, assessment, and reward programs help ensure that a company’s top people are motivated and engaged in the organization.

During the fourth quarter, many companies will look at year-end bonuses and pay increases for their employees. As managers discuss with their staff the past year’s performance, goals for the coming year, and pay increases, these should be just one of several conversations during the year discussing performance.

“Ideally, supervisors are having performance-related discussions throughout the year,” said Agnew. This should be an ongoing dialogue so that there should be no surprises regarding the employees evaluation and bonus.
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   *
Director, IWS News Bureau                *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                        *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             *
New York, NY 10016                        *
                                            *
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  *
****************************************

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                   Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations           Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                    Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                        Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts -- UPDATED 26 September 2005


Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts ­ Health and Welfare
< http://www.towersperrin.com/hrservices/webcache/towers/jsp/publications_search/../../United_States/publications/Periodicals/Leg_Tracking_Charts/2005_09_26/LTC_HW_2005_09_26.pdf >
[full-text, 24 pages]

Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts ­ Human Resources
< http://www.towersperrin.com/hrservices/webcache/towers/jsp/publications_search/../../United_States/publications/Periodicals/Leg_Tracking_Charts/2005_09_26/LTC_HR_2005_09_26.pdf >
[full-text, 8 pages]

Towers Perrin U.S. Legislative Tracking Charts ­ Retirement
< http://www.towersperrin.com/hrservices/webcache/towers/jsp/publications_search/../../United_States/publications/Periodicals/Leg_Tracking_Charts/2005_09_26/LTC_RET_2005_09_26.pdf >
[full-text, 15 pages]
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   *
Director, IWS News Bureau                *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                        *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             *
New York, NY 10016                        *
                                            *
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  *
****************************************

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                   Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations           Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                    Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                        Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

Towers Perrin Projects An 8% Increase In Employer-Sponsored Health Care Costs For 2006 As Annual Cost per Employee Reaches $8,424
After Five Years of Double-Digit Increases, The Crisis Turns Chronic for U.S. Businesses
Some Employers Take Action to Control Costs and Minimize Cost Shift to Employees
http://www.towersperrin.com/hrservices/webcache/towers/United_States/press_releases/2005_09_28/2005_09_28.htm

STAMFORD, CT, SEPTEMBER 28, 2005 -- According to the 2006 Towers Perrin Health Care Cost Survey, U.S. employers are facing an 8% increase in their 2006 health care costs. Moreover, the cumulative effect of years of double-digit increases has produced a record high for employer-sponsored health care costs in America. In flat dollar terms, next year's gross health care expenditure is expected to rise by an average of $597 per employee, to an average total cost of $8,424 -- representing a 140% increase over the last 10 years.

Employers continue to shoulder the majority of the burden. Employees on average will pay $155 more in 2006, representing a 10% increase from the year before. Employers, on the other hand, will see an increase of $442 per employee, absorbing 74% of the total cost increase. Overall, employers will pay 80% of premium costs and employees will pay 20%.

Notably, while the average cost of health care coverage will increase by $597 per employee in 2006, this figure would have been close to $750 were it not for employer efforts to aggressively manage program performance through vendor selection and performance management, prescription drug expenditures, care management, employee engagement and other initiatives.

These observations are drawn from top-line results of the annual survey, now in its 17th year, conducted by Towers Perrin's HR Services Business. This year's survey includes data on the health benefit programs provided by more than 200 of the nation's largest employers, covering over five million U.S. employees, retirees and dependents.

AND MORE...


_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   *
Director, IWS News Bureau                *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                        *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             *
New York, NY 10016                        *
                                            *
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  *
****************************************

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                   Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations           Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                    Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                        Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

Mercer

2005 China Corporate Benchmark Monitor (CBM)
China
Beijing, 19 September 2005
http://www.mercerhr.com/pressrelease/details.jhtml/dynamic/idContent/1194985

As human resource (HR) is increasingly becoming strategic business partners, it is important for HR professionals to rely on hard, quantifiable evidence to not only justify human capital investment but also seek to optimize the returns of various human capital investments.

According to a newly-released study on the effectiveness of HR function by Mercer Human Resource Consulting ­ 2005 China Corporate Benchmark Monitor, higher performing companies are investing more in human capital programs and HR functions than lower performing companies.

The study finds that the median human capital costs per employee for high performing companies ­  defined as the top one third of companies with profit margin higher than 14% is RMB 138,956 a year, more than twice as much as RMB 58,790 a year for low performing companies ­ defined as the bottom third companies with profit margin below 8%. Also, the HR staff ratio for the high performing companies is 1.4%, higher than the 1.2% of the low performing ones.

The new 2005 study was conducted to examine HR performance and HR’s impact on business outcomes among organizations in China for the period from January 1, 2004 to December 31, 2004. It is based on a survey of 101 companies in China spanning a variety of industries such as Hi-Tech, Pharmaceutical, Automobile, Chemicals, Consumer Goods, and Other Manufacturing (mainly Multinationals’ China Operations).

The data presented in the CBM provides a detailed snapshot of where participating organizations in China are positioned with regard to 45 key indicators of corporate performance in labor cost ratios, HR budgets, staffing ratios, recruitment, training, and employee turnover. CBM was launched in China from 2002 and has been conducted once a year since then.

The CBM is a diagnostic tool that enables organizations to:

   * Identify areas covered by the survey where the performance of your organization is significantly different from that of relevant comparator organizations in China and outside China, and

   * Monitor performance, on an ongoing basis, in those areas that have already been identified as worthy of present and future attention.

Staffing ratios

Staffing ratios remained relatively stable, compared to 2004 results. It is noticeable that sales staff as a percentage of total staff rose from 19.2% in 2004 to 22.1% in 2005. It has been observed that companies hire more sales to explore or develop market.

In companies with over 1,000 employees, the HR staff ratio ­ the HR staff as a proportion of all employees ­ is 1.11% at the median, suggesting that one HR staff can support 90 non-HR staff. However, in companies with under 200 employees, the ratio is 2.39%, suggesting that one HR staff can only support 40 non-HR staff.

This difference implies that large companies, measured in terms of workforce size, tend to have scale-of-economy advantages over small companies in providing HR services.  This evidence is also supported by the finding that HR expenses measured by HR budget per employee at median are lower in large companies ­  RMB3,772 was budgeted for each employee ­ than in small companies where each employee had a HR budget of RMB 5,890.

The supporting staff ratio was also observed to decrease with an increase in company size by workforce. The average supporting staff as a percentage of total staff (including finance, HR, IT and administration staff) is 9.5%.

Training

The average of training expenditure for all industries stands at RMB 3,205 a year and an average of 33 training hours per year for each employee. It has also been observed that turnover and training expenditure has a negative correlation.

Staff turnover

The average overall voluntary staff turnover increased from 10.0% last year to 13.2% this year, reflecting most likely a tightening of the labor market conditions. Consumer and pharmaceutical companies experienced higher voluntary turnover among employees than other companies.  Consumer goods companies have an average voluntary turnover rate of 19.01% while the pharmaceutical ones have an average turnover rate of 17.46%.

About the study

A customized CBM report was sent to each and every one of the participants on July 15, 2005.  If you are interested, a soft copy of the 67-page generic study report can be obtained at a cost for non-participants by contacting Ms. Laurel Qin at 10-6505-9355 ext 15.
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   *
Director, IWS News Bureau                *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                        *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             *
New York, NY 10016                        *
                                            *
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  *
****************************************

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                   Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations           Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                    Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                        Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

Important news for researchers --

Issues of the Industrial & Labor Relations Review  that are not within 18 months of the most current release are available free of charge on the Internet. Only subscribers can retrieve the current issues. Free issues date from APRIL 2003 (earlier issues will soon be added to this database).


PLEASE NOTE: In order to retrieve the free issues, one must go to the ARCHIVES Pull-Down Menu in the left margin and pick the date(s) of interest. Then click on GO.

See
INDUSTRIAL & LABOR RELATIONS REVIEW
http://digitalcommons.ilr.cornell.edu/ilrreview/

Welcome! Issued quarterly since October 1947, the Industrial & Labor Relations Review is a leading interdisciplinary journal publishing original research on all aspects of the employment relationship. We also publish reviews of some 50 books per year.

This site contains the full text of articles and book reviews dating from April 2003 (Vol. 56, No. 3). All visitors can view and download (a) any book review archived in this site and (b) any archived article that is 1-1/2 years old or older. Subscribers can, in addition, view and download recent and current articles.

Subscribers: To gain access to recent and current articles, e-mail us at ILRR@Cornell.edu and provide us with your e-mail address(es) if you are an individual subscriber or your IP address(es) if you are an institutional subscriber. Also provide enough scraps of other information (name or postal address, for example) so that we can find you in our database. Once we have confirmed your status as a subscriber and have registered your e-mail or IP addresses with Digital Commons, you will be able to view and download recent and current articles.

Institutions: If you do not know your IP address, find it at http://www.whatsmyip.org.

This registration process is human-powered, not automatic. During work hours on weekdays, authentication is usually provided quickly. There may be a longer wait if your request is sent on weekends or holidays.


_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   *
Director, IWS News Bureau                *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                        *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             *
New York, NY 10016                        *
                                            *
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  *
****************************************

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                   Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations           Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                    Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                        Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

Please note: an excellent site for more information on this topic is the EMPLOYMENT and DISABILITY INSTITUTE  (EDI) at http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi/


October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month
SHRM Showcases Disability Mentoring Day, October 19th
http://www.shrm.org/press_published/TOC.asp
[This press release will appear shortly at the above URL]

(Alexandria, Va., September 29, 2005)­There are 33 million people in the United States with disabilities and the unemployment rate for this population is 44 percent.  As discussions about the potential skills and labor shortage in the near future gain momentum, National Disability Employment Awareness Month in October has pronounced importance as employers look to broaden their pool of potential applicants.

“Employers are constantly looking to recruit the best and brightest candidates for their workforce, especially as we face a potential skills shortage in the years ahead,” said Susan Meisinger, SPHR, president and CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM.)  “The pool of available applicants of persons with disabilities is a source of talent for employers now and will be in the future.”

Although many employers fear high costs associated with making accommodations for workers with disabilities, 38 percent of employers have not had to spend any money on accommodations and an additional 17 percent have spent less than $500, according to SHRM research.

Disability Mentoring Day was developed to illustrate how employers can create opportunities for individuals with disabilities through internships and on-the-job training.  The program was designed by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) in connection with the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) in the U.S. Department of Labor.  This year’s Disability Mentoring Day takes place on October 19, 2005.  With assistance from AAPD, the program matches employers with job-seekers and students with disabilities.

Disability Mentoring Day began in 1999 and last year more than 4,000 students and job seekers were connected with 1,500 private, non-profit, governmental and educational employers nationwide.

SHRM will participate in Disability Mentoring Day at its headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia and encourages all HR professionals and employers to participate on Wednesday, October 19th, at their own organizations.  Organizations interested in participating in Disability Mentoring Day should contact the AAPD website at www.aapd.com.

###

_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   *
Director, IWS News Bureau                *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                        *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             *
New York, NY 10016                        *
                                            *
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  *
****************************************

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                   Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations           Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                    Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                        Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

2004 State and Local Government Employee-Retirement Systems [28 September 2005]
http://www.census.gov/govs/www/retire.html
or
MARCH 2004 Data at
http://www.census.gov/govs/www/retire04.html

Annual data on revenues, expenditures, financial assets and membership for public employee-retirement systems. Data are shown for individual retirement systems as well as aggregately at the national, state and local levels.

Includes the following
The 2004 State and Local Government Public Employee Retirement System survey covers fiscal years that ended between July 1, 2003 and June 30, 2004.  The 2004 survey covered 2,659 public employee retirement systems.

 Available Data tables provided in viewable html, text, and spreadsheet formats
< http://www.census.gov/govs/www/#SKIP>
Skip these Viewable Table links

Tables Description File Formats
1 National Summary of Public Retirement Systems
2a Revenues by State & Local Government
2b Coefficient of Variation for Revenues by State & Local Government
3a Expenditures by State & Local Government
3b Coefficient of Variation for Expenditures by State & Local Government
4a Cash and Investments by State & Local Government
4b Coefficient of Variation for Cash & Investments by State & Local Government
5a Membership by State & Local Government
5b Coefficient of Variation for Membership by State & Local Government

_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   *
Director, IWS News Bureau                *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                        *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             *
New York, NY 10016                        *
                                            *
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  *
****************************************

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                   Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations           Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                    Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                        Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

State Personal Income: Second Quarter 2005 [28 September 2005]
http://www.bea.gov/bea/newsrel/sqpinewsrelease.htm
or
http://www.bea.gov/bea/newsrelarchive/2005/spi0905.pdf
[full-text, 9 pages]
or
http://www.bea.gov/bea/newsrelarchive/2005/spi0905.xls
[spreadsheet]
or
Highlights
http://www.bea.gov/bea/newsrelarchive/2005/spi0905_fax.pdf

Personal income for the nation grew 1.5 percent in the second quarter of 2005, an acceleration from the 0.6 percent growth of the first quarter and a return to the average pace of the last six quarters. Almost all states participated in the acceleration, although in three states (Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina) the growth rate equaled the first quarter's and in four states (Idaho, New Mexico, Arkansas, and South Dakota) growth slowed from the first quarter. Even so, personal income growth in all states exceeded the second quarter's 0.8 percent inflation rate (as measured by the national price index for personal consumption expenditure).

AND MUCH MORE...including TABLES, CHARTS.....
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   *
Director, IWS News Bureau                *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                        *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             *
New York, NY 10016                        *
                                            *
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  *
****************************************

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                   Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations           Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                    Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                        Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

European Monitoring Centre on Change (EMCC)


EMCC dossier on the European construction sector [28 September 2005]
< http://www.emcc.eurofound.eu.int/content/source/eu05017a.html>

Construction is one of Europe's biggest industries, including the building, civil engineering, demolition and maintenance industries. The sector has an annual turnover in excess of 900 billion and more than 12 million employees in the EU15 alone. This EMCC dossier provides an in-depth analysis of the trends and forces driving change in the sector, using a compilation of relevant reports, company case studies and scenarios to give a comprehensive insight into a sector facing important challenges today.



The knowledge-intensive business services sector: Towards visions for the future and policy implications [28 September 2005]
< http://www.emcc.eurofound.eu.int/content/source/eu05016a.html>
or
http://www.emcc.eurofound.eu.int/publications/2005/ef0559en.pdf (1 Mb) [full text, 28 pages]

The second article in the Sector Futures series on the KIBS sector explores, in greater depth, the reasons for the sector's growth and draws up three alternative scenarios for its future development. The third and last article in this series goes on to review a range of policy issues that are raised by the three scenarios and outlines major policy responses to these issues.

_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   *
Director, IWS News Bureau                *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                        *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             *
New York, NY 10016                        *
                                            *
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  *
****************************************

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                   Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations           Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                    Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                        Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

(The following is courtesy of the Centre for Industrial Relations, University of Toronto).

Weekly Work Report for the Week of September 26, 2005

These highlights of the week's HR/IR news are prepared by the Librarians at the Centre for Industrial Relations for our subscribers, alumni, faculty and students, and are intended for their individual use only.  Please visit the CIR website for terms of use and information about organizational subscriptions.  This message is composed in MS Outlook Express and contains hyperlinks that require an HTML-enabled email program.

The WWR is protected by Canadian copyright law and should not be reproduced or forwarded without permission.   For inquiries or comments,  please contact the Editor,  elizabeth.perry@utoronto.ca.

----------
STELCO CREDITOR PROTECTION EXTENDED, STEELWORKERS VOTE LAST ON RESTRUCTURING PLAN:  Late on September 23, Stelco concluded an agreement  with Tricap Management for $450 million  in new financing, and reached tentative collective agreements  with United Steelworkers’ Local 5220 in Edmonton and Local 8782 at the  Lake Erie plant .  With these arrangements in place, Stelco will qualify for a $100 million loan from the government of Ontario, and can move ahead to a vote by creditors on its restructuring plan.  Company bondholders oppose the restructuring plan, which proposes to make a $400 million payment on the company’s $1.3 billion pension deficit.

The president of USW Local 8782 has stated that the agreements involve no concessions, but the union will not conduct formal ratification votes until all other parties have voted on the restructuring plan.   The Court has extended Stelco’s creditor protection for the tenth time, until October 4.

LINKS:

Archive of court documents re Stelco restructuring at the website of McCarthy Tetrault at < http://www.mccarthy.ca/en/ccaa/ccaa_detailed.asp?company_id=1>

Archive of Stelco documents at the United Steelworkers’ website at < http://www.steelworkers-metallos.ca/program/content/overview_sub.php?modules_ID=491&modules2_ID=283 >

Stelco faces more hurdles as it presses ahead with its restructuring plan at < http://www.canada.com/businesscentre/story.html?id=5ab0c5ed-44bc-4ffd-b033-74d6bd7a27e4&rfp=dta >

----------
B.C. TEACHERS BEGIN JOB ACTION:    Teachers in British Columbia’s schools will begin the first phase of job action on September 28, following decision by the BC Labour Relations Board on September 23 which allows them to refuse supervision, meetings and paperwork.   A second phase of rotating strikes around the province is planned for October 11 to 20,   with a full-scale withdrawal of all services in the province starting October 24 if progress has not been made in negotiations.  On September 15,  Rick Connolly,  the Associate Deputy Minister of Labour was appointed as a fact-finder in the dispute, with a deadline of September 30th to report to the Minister.

The B.C. Teachers Federation (BCTF) states that its top bargaining goals are to improve learning conditions, restore bargaining rights, and achieve a fair salary increase. It seeks annual wage increases of 4, 5 and 6 % over three years (including 2% COLA each year), arguing that B.C. wages are inferior to those of teachers in Ontario and Alberta. The British Columbia Public School Employers Association (BCPSEA), whose CEO calls the dispute “intractable”, maintains that they are limited by the “net zero compensation mandate” established by the provincial government.

In 2002, Bill 27, the Education Services Collective Agreement Act and Bill 28, The Public Education Flexibility and Choice Act, imposed a collective agreement allowing only a 2.5% wage increase per year for 3 years and amended the School Act to remove class size and composition as a permissible subject of bargaining.

LINKS:

Why are B.C. teachers taking a strike vote? at the BC Teachers Federation website at < http://www.bctf.bc.ca/Bargain/negotiations2004/TeachersTakeAStand/WhyStrikeVote.html >

BCPSEA news archive at < http://www.bcpsea.bc.ca/public/aboutus/news.html>

“BC Teachers poised to strike” in the Globe and Mail (Sept. 19) at < http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050924/BCTEACHERS24/TPEducation/ >

BCLRB decision B255/2005 re essential services (4 pages, PDF) at < http://www.lrb.bc.ca/decisions/B255$2005.pdf>

----------
FIRST CONTRACT RECOMMENDED FOR ALBERTA’S LAKESIDE PACKERS:   On September 19, the government of Alberta made public the report of the Disputes Inquiry Board into the negotiations at Lakeside Packers, the largest meat packing facility in western Canada. Led by John Moreau, the Board wrote a report that details   “a fair and reasonable proposal for a first collective agreement”, effective until March 2009.

The recommended terms were accepted by the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 401 on September 26 but must also be accepted by Lakeside, owned by U.S.-based multinational Tyson Foods, by September 29.  Failing acceptance by both parties, they will have the right to strike or lockout.

LINKS:

Report of the Disputes Inquiry Board (23 pages, PDF) at < http://www3.gov.ab.ca/hre/pdf/DIB_report.pdf>

Lakeside workers vote to accept DIB conciliator’s report at < http://www.prdirect.ca/en/view_release.aspx?TrafficID=4202>

UFCW Local 401 website at < http://www.gounion.ca/lakesidebargain.cfm>

----------
ALBERTA WAGE SURVEY RELEASED:  The 2005 Alberta Wage and Salary Survey was released on September 26, providing detailed wage and salary information  for approximately 480 occupations and 8 economic regions, including Calgary, Edmonton, and Fort McMurray.   Results show an overall average wage increase of 8.67 % from 2003 to 2005 (from $19.68 per hour to $21.39 per hour). 56% of employers reported difficulties in finding workers (compared to a 2003 rate of 52 %). The Alberta Wage and Salary Survey is conducted every two to three years. In 2005, Alberta Human Resources and Employment led the survey, in partnership with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, Economic Development and Advanced Education. Over 6,700 Alberta employers participated.

LINKS:

Press release and summary at < http://www2.gov.ab.ca/acn/200509/18809823611C6-E630-4D3F-9FBA223469A6E5EF.html >

2005 Alberta Wage and Salary Survey (searchable database) at < http://www.alis.gov.ab.ca/wageinfo/Content/RequestAction.asp?format=html&aspAction=GetWageHomePage&Page=Home >

----------
WHO WORKS FOR MINIMUM WAGE? YOUNGER WORKERS AND WOMEN:  The Fact Sheet on Minimum Wage published by Statistics Canada shows the distribution of minimum wage workers by province, age, sex, industry, education level, firm size, union membership, job tenure, and part-time/full-time status.  Women accounted for almost two-thirds of minimum wage workers; two-thirds of minimum wage workers were under age 25.   Only 1% of union members worked for minimum wage, compared to 6% of non-union members.   The report was calculated from data from the monthly Labour Force Survey.

LINK:

"Fact sheet on Minimum wages" (4 pages, PDF) from online Perspectives on Labour and Income (Sept. 2005) at < http://www.statcan.ca/english/studies/75-001/comm/2005_09.pdf>
----------
FUNDING ANNOUNCED FOR NEW SECTOR COUNCILS IN POLICE, FOOD, PRINTING, AND NON-PROFIT SECTORS: On September 26, the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development announced   funding of approximately $2 million through the Sector Council Program to create four new sector councils:  Police Sector Council, the Canadian Food Industry Council, the Canadian Printing Industries Association and the HR Council for the Voluntary/Non-profit Sector.  Sector councils “bring together business, labour and educational stakeholders in key industries to identify and address common human resources and skills issues, and to find solutions that benefit the sector. “   The sector council network now covers approximately 47 % of the labour market.

LINKS:

Government of Canada press release at < http://www.news.gc.ca/cfmx/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=171439 &>

Canadian Food Industry Council at < http://www.canadianfoodindustrycouncil.com/en/index.asp>
Canadian Printing Industries Association at < http://www.cpia-aci.ca/>http://www.cpia-aci.ca/

HR Council for the Voluntary/Non Profit sector at < http://www.hrcouncil.ca/council/index_e.cfm>

Police Sector council at < http://www.policecouncil.ca/pages/home.html>

The Alliance of Sector Councils website at < http://www.councils.org/tasc/nav.cfm?s=1main&p=index&l=e>

----------
CANADIAN LABOUR AND BUSINESS CENTRE TAKES ON NEW ROLE TO LEAD RESEARCH IN WORK AND LEARNING:  The Canadian Council on Learning, a national non-profit organization funded by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada,   announced in mid-September that it has selected the Canadian Labour and Business Centre as the lead organization for the new Work and Learning Knowledge Centre.  The Work and Learning Knowledge Centre  is one of five such centres being created by the CCL ;  the others are Adult Learning, Early Childhood Learning, Aboriginal Learning, and Health and Learning.  Each knowledge centre is responsible for advising CCL on research priorities, monitoring outcomes and knowledge exchange within its topic area.   In September, the CCL commissioned a review of best practices and knowledge gaps in e-learning, diversity, and literacy in the workplace.   Principal investigator is Lynn Johnston, Executive Director of the Canadian Society for Training and Development.

LINKS:

Work and Learning Knowledge Centre at < http://www.ccl-cca.ca/english/know/work.asp>

Canadian Council on Learning at < http://www.ccl-cca.ca/english/home/default.asp>

Press release at the Canadian Labour and Business Centre at < http://www.clbc.ca/home.asp>

----------
CSTD ANNOUNCES AWARDS FOR TRAINING EXCELLENCE :  The Canadian Society for Training and Development (CSTD) announced four winners of its Canadian Awards for Training Excellence on September 19. The winners were: Ontario Service Safety Alliance (OSSA),  Alias and Knightsbridge GSW , Hydro One Networks and Provinent, and Mental Health Works for “Working It Out: A Manager's Guide to Mental Health and Accommodation in the Workplace.  These awards are part of the inaugural CSTD Learn@Work Week, running from September 19 to 23.

LINKS:

Press release at the Canadian Society of Training and Development website at < http://www.bettermail.ca/m/72/5229/>

Fall 2005 issue of the online Canadian Learning Journal (40 pages, PDF) at < http://www.cstd.ca/filedrop/CLJFall05.pdf> .

----------
YOUNGER RETIREES GO BACK TO WORK FOR MANY REASONS, MAINLY FINANCIAL:  An article in the September 2005 issue of online Perspectives on Labour and Income shows that 22% of people who retired at the age of 50 or older went back to some form of paid work, and another 4% said they looked for a job, but hadn't been able to find one.  For 38% or respondents their reason for returning to work was  for financial concerns;  22% returned because they didn’t like retirement;  19% returned for the intrinsic rewards, such as challenge and social contacts, and 14% felt they were needed or wanted to help out.  Many people had multiple reasons. The study was based on the 2002 General Social Survey and measured behaviour between 1992 and 2002.

LINKS:

Summary of "Post-retirement employment" by Grant Schellenberg, Martin Turcotte and Bali Ram from The Daily (Sept. 23) at < http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/050923/d050923b.htm> . To read the full article, the September edition of  online Perspectives on Labour and Income (Cat. #75-001-XIE) can be downloaded for $6 Cdn. from < http://www.statcan.ca/cgi-bin/downpub/pickup.cgi?issue=1090575-001-XIE.pdf >
----------
CONSUMER PRICE INDEX RISES 2.6% IN AUGUST:  Statistics Canada released the Consumer Price Index report for August 2005 on September 23, reflecting some of the recent increases in gasoline prices.  The 12-month increase for the All-items CPI was 2.6% in August, compared to 2.0% in July.  With energy costs excluded, the All-items 12 month change would have been only 1.6% in August.  Gasoline prices increased by 6.6 % between July  and August, bringing the year-to-year gain for that item to 20.1 %.

LINKS:

Latest release from the Consumer Price Index at the Statistics Canada website at < http://www.statcan.ca/english/Subjects/Cpi/cpi-en.htm>

----------
WORLD DEVELOPMENT REPORT FROM THE WORLD BANK:  The World Bank released its annual flagship document, the World Development Report in Washington on September 20. World Development Report 2006: Equity and Development calls for   “removal of trade barriers in rich countries, flexibility to allow greater in-migration of lower-skilled people from developing countries, and increased—and more effective— development assistance.”

A press release from the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions states that   “the ICFTU considers this year's report to be among the most balanced assessment of labour issues that the World Bank has recently produced…. Like many Bank publications, the 2006 WDR includes some stereotyped and negative references to trade union actions that simply aren’t realistic …But the fact that the report recognizes the positive social and economic role of trade unions, and advocates defending workers’ rights, is an improvement.”

LINKS:

World Development Report 2006 website, including the full report, background papers at < http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/EXTWDRS/EXTWDR2006/0,,menuPK:477658~pagePK:64167702~piPK:64167676~theSitePK:477642,00.html >

Overview and archive of all World Development Reports at the World Bank website at < http://econ.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/EXTWDRS/0,,contentMDK:20227703~pagePK:478093~piPK:477627~theSitePK:477624,00.html >

ICFTU press release at < http://www.icftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index=991222829&Language=EN >

----------
Book of the Week: Strategic Unionism and Partnership: Boxing or Dancing ?

edited by Tony Huzzard, Denis Gregory and Regan Scott.

Houndmills. <?xml:namespace prefix = u1 />U.K. : Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.  362 p.

ISBN 1-4039-1756-6

How can trade unions make sense of social partnership? What are the implications of partnership for union renewal? This book takes an international perspective to explore these issues based on an ongoing dialogue between researchers and union practitioners in eight countries. The book develops the metaphors "boxing" and "dancing" to denote contrasting strategic choices to the employment relationship, yet argues that neither approach alone can offer an exclusive trajectory for union development. The contributors conclude by identifying lessons for union renewal.

About the Editors:

Tony Huzzard is Research Fellow, National Institute for Working Life, Stockholm, Sweden.

Denis Gregory teaches Labor Relations and Labor Economics at Ruskin College, Oxford.

Regan Scott is a freelance writer on Industrial Relations.

----------
 121 St. George Street, Toronto Canada M5S 2E8    < http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/cir>



_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   *
Director, IWS News Bureau                *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                        *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             *
New York, NY 10016                        *
                                            *
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  *
****************************************

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                   Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations           Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                    Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                        Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

The Effect of Minimum Wages on the Employment and Earnings of South Africa's Domestic Service Workers,
http://www.upjohninst.org/publications/wp/05-120.pdf
[full-text, 60 pages]
Upjohn Institute Working Paper 05-120
Tom Hertz , 2005. [15 August 2005]

Abstract
http://www.upjohninst.org/publications/wp/05120wp.html

Minimum wages have been in place for South Africa's one million domestic service workers since November of 2002. Using data from seven waves of the Labour Force Survey, this paper documents that the real wages, average monthly earnings, and total earnings of all employed domestic workers have risen since the regulations came into effect, while hours of work per week and employment have fallen. Each of these outcomes can be linked econometrically to the arrival of the minimum wage regulations. The overall estimated elasticities suggest that the regulations should have reduced poverty somewhat for domestic workers, although this last conclusion is the least robust.
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   *
Director, IWS News Bureau                *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                        *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             *
New York, NY 10016                        *
                                            *
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  *
****************************************

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                   Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations           Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                    Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                        Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

Trends in U.S. Wage Inequality: Re-Assessing the Revisionists [12 September 2005]
http://papers.nber.org/papers/w11627.pdf
[full-text, 60 pages]
Davi<d H. Autor, Lawrence F. Katz, Melissa S. Kearney
NBER Working Paper No. 11627
Issued in September 2005

---- Abstract -----
http://papers.nber.org/papers/w11627

A large literature documents a substantial rise in U.S. wage inequality and educational wage differentials over the past several decades and finds that these trends can be primarily accounted for by shifts in the supply of and demand for skills reinforced by the erosion of labor market institutions affecting the wages of low- and middle-wage workers. Drawing on an additional decade of data, a number of recent contributions reject this consensus to conclude that (1) the rise in wage inequality was an “episodic” event of the first-half of the 1980s rather than a “secular” phenomenon, (2) this rise was largely caused by a falling minimum wage rather than by supply and demand factors; and (3) rising residual wage inequality since the mid-1980s is explained by confounding effects of labor force composition rather than true increases in inequality within detailed demographic groups. We reexamine these claims using detailed data from the Current Population Survey and find only limited support. Although the growth of overall inequality in the U.S. slowed in the 1990s, upper tail inequality rose almost as rapidly during the 1990s as during the 1980s. A decomposition applied to the CPS data reveals large and persistent rise in within-group earnings inequality over the past several decades, controlling for changes in labor force composition. While changes in the minimum wage can potentially account for much of the movement in lower tail earnings inequality, strong time series correlations of the evolution of the real minimum wage and upper tail wage inequality raise questions concerning the causal interpretation of such relationships. We also find that changes in the college/high school wage premium appear to be well captured by standard models emphasizing rapid secular growth in the relative demand for skills and fluctuations in the rate of growth of the relative supply of college workers ­ though these models do not accurately predict the slowdown in the growth of the college/high-school gap during the 1990s. We conclude that these patterns are not adequately explained by either a ‘unicausal’ skill-biased technical change explanation or a revisionist hypothesis focused primarily on minimum wages and mechanical labor force compositional effects. We speculate that these puzzles can be partially reconciled by a modified version of the skill-biased technical change hypothesis that generates a polarization of skill demands.
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   *
Director, IWS News Bureau                *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                        *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             *
New York, NY 10016                        *
                                            *
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  *
****************************************

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                   Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations           Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                    Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                        Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP)

BENEFIT LEVELS FOR UNEMPLOYED HURRICANE VICTIMS ARE TOO LOW [27 September 2005]
by Isaac Shapiro
http://www.cbpp.org/9-27-05ui.htm
or
http://www.cbpp.org/9-27-05ui.pdf
[full-text, 3pp.]


Individuals who have lost their jobs due to Hurricane Katrina currently can receive cash unemployment benefits through the unemployment insurance program or the disaster unemployment assistance program, which is available to workers who do not qualify for regular UI benefits. For individuals from Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi, the levels of assistance provided under either program are far too low.

INCLUDES TABLES....
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   *
Director, IWS News Bureau                *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                        *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             *
New York, NY 10016                        *
                                            *
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  *
****************************************

IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                   Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations           Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                    Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                        Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)

Political Institutions, Policymaking Processes, and Policy Outcomes in Mexico
http://www.iadb.org/res/publications/pubfiles/pubR-512.pdf
[full-text, 68 pages]
R-512
Author: Lehoucq, Fabrice
 Negretto, Gabriel
  Aparicio, Francisco
  Nacif, Benito
  Benton, Allyson
Published: September 2005
Language: English

Abstract:
This paper uses a transaction-costs framework to link the policymaking process (PMP) and the outer features of public policies in Mexico, a middle-income developing country. It shows how a highly secretive PMP, centralized around the presidency, fashioned nationalist policies that were stable, adaptable, coordinated and private-regarding for the urban-based corporatist pillars of the regime. When growth faltered in the late 1970s, however, this PMP was unable to adapt to economic volatility, although it remained dominant in an increasingly turbulent polity. The paper explains how unified government and corporatist control of the economy made a constitutionally weak president the envy of executives around the world, even at the cost of being unable to enact reforms with short-term costs for the corporatist pillars of the regime. The article also explains why democratization in the 1990s is giving rise to a less centralized and more open PMP that benefits larger shares of the population. As the separation of powers enshrined in the 1917 constitution materializes, policymaking is increasingly wedded to the status quo. On the one hand, divided government preserves a macroeconomic framework consistent with an open economy (such as fiscally sound policies and a floating exchange rate). On the other, checks and balances are helping old and new parties and interest groups to veto agreement on the raising of chronically low tax rates (at 10 percent of GDP) and on reforming nationalist policies that limit private sector investment in the state-controlled energy sector.
_____________________________
This information is provided to subscribers, friends, faculty, students and alumni of the School of Industrial & Labor Relations (ILR). It is a service of the Institute for Workplace Studies (IWS) in New York City. Stuart Basefsky is responsible for the selection of the contents which is intended to keep researchers, companies, workers, and governments aware of the latest information related to ILR disciplines as it becomes available for the purposes of research, understanding and debate. The content does not reflect the opinions or positions of Cornell University, the School of Industrial & Labor Relations, or that of Mr. Basefsky and should not be construed as such. The service is unique in that it provides the original source documentation, via links, behind the news and research of the day. Use of the information provided is unrestricted. However, it is requested that users acknowledge that the information was found via the IWS Documented News Service.

****************************************
Stuart Basefsky                   *
Director, IWS News Bureau                *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                        *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor             *
New York, NY 10016                        *
                                            *
Telephone: (607) 255-2703                *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                       *
E-mail: smb6@cornell.edu                  *
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