The fight for their rights

They’re the silent — indeed, practically invisible — majority.

But now the 52 per cent of workers in the GTA and Hamilton region who are “precariously” employed in temporary, contract or part-time positions have an advocate. The Urban Worker Project, launched this week, is an organization that plans to campaign on their behalf for everything from improved access to health and parental leave benefits to better pay.

That’s a big, uphill job. Until now, these workers, whether they earn a good living off high-paying contracts or, increasingly, a poor one in low-wage, temporary jobs, have been largely ignored by governments and unions alike.

Our social safety net was woven at a time when secure, full-time jobs that came along with things like pensions and rich benefit plans were the norm. The new normal is very different and less secure, but governments are just starting to adjust to the fact that a huge and growing part of the workforce has little chance of landing what was traditionally thought of as a “good” job.

The plight of these workers has sparked much debate among academics and think tanks. And it’s behind a lot of the renewed interest in the concept of a guaranteed annual income.

At best, though, that’s an idea that will take many years to become reality — if it ever does. In the meantime, there is much that governments could do now to improve the lives and livelihoods of more than half of the GTA’s workforce and other precarious workers. Here are some places they could start. The federal government should: Enhance the Canada Pension Plan. Precarious workers at the bottom of the rung have little opportunity to save for retirement. Premier Kathleen Wynne is to be congratulated for recognizing that the maximum CPP payout of $12,780 a year is not enough and creating the Ontario Retirement Pension Plan to increase retirement benefits. A better solution would be for Ottawa to expand the CPP and double maximum benefits so that Ontario doesn’t have to step in.

Make Employment Insurance benefits easier to get. Precarious workers may not work long enough in temporary jobs to receive them, or the benefits may run out long before they have found a new job. Workers should not be forced onto welfare because of trends in the workforce they can’t control.

Create a national pharmacare program. Canada is the only country with a universal health-care system that fails to cover the cost of prescription medicine. Right now, 85 per cent of those earning less than $10,000 and 70 per cent of those earning between $10,000 and $20,000 — in other words, precarious workers on the bottom employment rung — don’t have an employer-provided health plan. As a result, many can’t afford to fill prescriptions that could prevent illnesses and avoid costly operations and hospital stays.

Create a national, affordable child care system that will enable parents to take on new jobs when they’re offered. It must also recognize that many precariously employed parents work several part-time jobs to make ends meet. Traditional 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. child care hours won’t work for them. The Ontario government should: Raise the minimum wage to at least $12 an hour, and aim for $15. As one economist put it, the current minimum wage of $11.25 “falls far short of any suggested benchmark: productivity gains, the average industrial wage, the living wage or the poverty line.” This is especially important because of the number of workers making minimum wage. In 1997, only one in 40 earned the minimum. Today it’s one in eight.

Beef up the Employment Standards Act to require employers to give paid sick days, ensure temporary workers are paid the same rate as full-time workers doing the same job, and follow the example of Australia, where casual employees must be paid15 to 25 per cent above minimum wage to compensate for having fewer benefits. There should also be a maximum time that a company can employ a “temporary” worker before giving them a full-time job.

Enforce the Employment Standards Act with more inspections and followup fines and charges. Companies in violation of the act should be ineligible for government contracts. How bad is it? Astonishingly, three-quarters of companies employing precarious workers inspected by Ontario’s Ministry of Labour in the last two rounds were found to be in violation of the act.

Unions also have responsibility in this area. They should reach out to precarious workers in temporary and part-time positions and represent them on issues from wages and scheduling to minimum hours per week.

Precarious workers need advocates on all fronts. The launch of the Urban Worker Project is welcome, but governments and unions should be leading the way in creating fairer conditions for all employees.

Governments are just starting to adjust to the fact that a huge and growing part of the workforce has little chance of landing what was traditionally thought of as a ‘good’ job