Work and socio-economic democratization
WORK-SHARING

Several Problems

Contrary to what many politicians would like us to believe, unemployment is still a serious problem in Canada. Despite the "official" figures for the unemployment rate, the situation is still extremely difficult for hundreds of thousands of citizens. The official unemployment rate is 7.7% ( 1 283 700 unemployed) but this excludes Canadians considered to be "inactive," such as social assistance recipients (estimated at roughly 1 200 400 Canadians in the year 2000).

Figures for the population 15 years old +
For those in the Active Population	66,7 %
Inactive Population	33,3 %

Active Population
Full-time Work	75,1 %
Part-time Work	17,2 %
Unemployment Rate	7,7 %

Unlike the 1940-1970 period, unemployment is no longer periodic (linked to economic cycles), but is clearly structural (linked to the economic structure itself). This unemployment is now endemic.

We are also observing a new phenomenon, where economic growth is not accompanied by a proportional growth of employment. This signifies that economic growth alone is not enough to fight unemployment. Many causes help explain this situation, but we cannot ignore the technological changes (automation and robotization in the manufacturing and service sectors) which involve enormous productivity gains and thus significant lay-offs in some economic sectors.

We also observe paradoxical tendencies in the world of work. On the one hand, we note high unemployment for many workers, while on the other we find that more work is demanded of those already employed. Let's not forget that some people (for family or other reasons) would like the chance to work a few fewer hours each week, without completely losing their jobs.

As well, precarious work has increased substantially since the 1990s (part time, on-call, contract, self-employment). This precarious work does not affect all people equally. Thus:

• The proportion of women over 25 years old who work part-time is 22.7%, as compared to 6.1% for men over 25.
• Youth under 25 have precarious work in 45% of cases, versus 13% for those between 25 and 65 years of age.
• As well, the poorly educated (9 years and less of education) fill less than 5% of jobs in Canada.

Finally, we cannot ignore the large income differentials between people in the labour force. A significant number of workers barely make enough to stay above the poverty line, while many remain below.

Some solutions

During a first mandate, we will adopt a Canada-wide policy for sharing and reducing working time. This will be one part, among others, of a new full employment strategy.

We will nevertheless proceed in steps. It is not desirable to impose coercive measures in the short term. We will therefore use incentive measures during the first mandate.

We will organize a wide consultation on the reform of the Canadian Labour Code in order to increase the flexibility and the feasibility of measures seeking to reduce and share working time. Unions, employers and other social actors will be invited to participate, without forgetting non-unionized workers.

We wish to attain our objectives through partnership and concerted strategies. Local work-sharing measures could be created to facilitate the task, such as Work-Sharing Action Committees (WSAC) composed of unions, firms, and other local actors.

We will undertake vast public consultations in order to:

• Establish clear objectives for the next decade;
• Specify the functioning of a sectoral approach;
• Propose pilot projects.

Finally, we will implement measures to compensate for lost purchasing power in cases where reduced working time involves reduced income. We will nevertheless tailor our approach according to the sector, particularly for sectors majoritarily occupied by women. As such, we can combine work-sharing with pay equity. More specifically, we will:

• Implement a universal citizen's income;
• Offer measures, using Employment Insurance funds, to compensate part of the foregone wages;
• Increase hourly wages in sectors where average wages are lower;
• Undertake pilot projects inside the federal public service;
• Push in favour of a minimum wage in Canada.