CAW Media Advisory
July 12, 2012
Laid
off workers face wage cuts, precarious work, CAW study finds
(Toronto Ontario
The final phase of the CAW’s Worker
Adjustment Tracking Study released earlier today shows that many laid off
workers are forced into lower quality and more precarious jobs (including temp
agency work), with a significant reduction in pay following the loss of good
full-time employment.
“This study provides pretty clear evidence
to contradict the notion that all jobs are created equal,” said CAW President
Ken Lewenza.
“There’s a problem in
our economy when the jobs being created don’t provide stability, when they fuel
insecurity and when they make people less healthy. This is exactly the track
we’re heading down and there are huge negative implications for Canadians as a
result,” Lewenza said.
The study, which is the first of its kind
in Ontario Kitchener ,
which closed in April 2009 and the elimination of the third shift of Chrysler’s
Brampton
While the majority of workers from Collins
& Aikman and Kitchener Frame are currently working, most are earning
significantly lower wages and incomes, fewer or no benefits with greater income
and employment instability. A majority of workers from these locations have
experienced wage reductions of 20 per cent or more. Although most workers
participating from the Chrysler location have returned to their jobs, a
majority express concern over their long term job security.
The study also found that workplace action
centres continue to be a useful point of contact and support for laid off
workers. The Ontario Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities sponsored
action centers deliver services and interventions that both enhance
re-employment prospects and support laid-off workers and their families during
a difficult period of transition.
Workers reporting high use of action centre
services are overall the most likely to report a more positive adjustment to
the impact of job loss.
“What’s clear from
these study results is that hands-on transitional supports, like workplace
actions centres, increase the chances of job market success,” Lewenza said.
“When workers have
one-on-one job search and retraining supports, they do better. If they’re left
to fend for themselves, they’re worse off. If policy-makers can take something
away from these results today, it’s that adjustment services are a vital
lifeline for workers and have to be kept up.”
Other study highlights include:
-
Over 1 in 5 reported being
without income for longer than one year;
-
31% reported their general
health has deteriorated as a result of layoff;
-
48% reported they had done
without something they needed in order to pay the rent or mortgage;
-
Employment and job
characteristics for most workers are poorer than in their previous jobs;
-
Nearly 60% of those who
completed job retraining programs found related employment.
The CAW released the initial phase of this
study on June 7, 2010. The second phase of the study, titled Finding Their Way,
Second Round Report of the CAW Workers Adjustment Tracking Report, was written
by Sam Vrankulj of the McMaster University School of Labour Studies.
To read the complete report, please visit:
www.caw.ca/en
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For more information contact CAW
Communications, Angelo DiCaro ,
416-606-6311 or CAW National Representative Cammie
Peirce , cell, 905-866-8146.
