Report suggests ways to improve work opportunities

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The Commission on Improving Work Opportunities for Saskatchewan Residents released its final report on Feb. 16, outlining 25 recommendations aimed at making it easier for part-time and vulnerable workers in the province to access training and employment. Six of those 25 recommendations deal specifically with ways to improve the work situation for Aboriginal people.

The commission, created by the provincial government in February 2005, was chaired by Lynne Pearson, dean of the College of Commerce at the University of Saskatchewan. Fred Cuddington, an experienced mediator and arbitrator, and Deb Thorn, CEO of Temple Gardens Mineral Spa Inc., rounded out the commission membership. The final report and recommendations were drafted by the commission members following consultation with organizations and individuals from across the province.

"[S]askatchewan has a large number of people who are working, but without the financial resources to adequately care for themselves and their families. Many have limited access to benefits or coverage by labour legislation. Many experience unstable employment and lack the education and training that can lead to job advancement," the introduction of the report states. The goal of the commission was to find ways to improve the opportunities available to these people.

The commission recommends increasing the minimum wage, improving access to employment insurance benefits for vulnerable workers and providing those workers with supplementary medical and pension benefits.

Improving training programs so that skills taught more closely match the skills needed in the workforce is also recommended, as is establishment of programs that encourage employers to train vulnerable employees.

The report encourages employers to work to ensure the qualifications identified in job advertisements accurately reflect the skills and experience needed to do the job, and suggests that more work readiness programming be provided in high schools in the province.

Efforts to ensure employers and employees understand their rights and obligations under the Labour Standards Act and stiffer penalties for those that repeatedly violate those rights and obligations are also suggested, as are adjustments to child care subsidies and other strategies that help all employees balance workplace and family responsibilities.

In the recommendations dealing specifically with employment of Aboriginal people, the commission calls on post-secondary institutions in the province to look at the programs they have in place to support Aboriginal students and to rectify any shortcomings identified. Dedicating funds to establish, expand or improve childcare facilities within educational institutions and Aboriginal childcare institutions is also recommended.

The report recommends that all employers in the province work with the department of First Nations and Metis Relations Aboriginal Employment Development Program, developing partnership agreements and adopting strategies aimed at achieving a representative workforce.

The commission would like to see the provincial government take a lead role in creating a representative workforce.

"If an Aboriginal person applies for a professional position in the public service or Crown Corporations and meets the qualifications, he/she will be hired. If more than one Aboriginal person applies, the candidate deemed most qualified will be hired. Qualifications for the position will not be artificially inflated. Managers will be held accountable for results," one recommendation states. This hiring policy should remain in place, the commission suggests, for three years or until the number of Aboriginal employees within the public service in Saskatchewan account for 13.5 per cent of the workforce, equal to the percentage of Aboriginal people in Saskatchewan's population. The commission also recommends that, during this time, 25 per cent of all entry level positions within the public srvice and Crown Corporations should be filled by Aboriginal people.

The report also calls for unions to play a greater role in encouraging and supporting employers in the hiring of Aboriginal people, and for the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission to strengthen its monitoring of the employment equity efforts of Crown Corporations and the public service.

"When we were first established we were to be focusing on what's generally termed vulnerable workers. And a couple of things became quite clear to us quickly. One is that you can't talk about just finding employment, you've got to look at training and education, you've got to look at child care, you've got to look at a number of items," Lynne Pearson said. "The other was that it is in some cases more challenging for Aboriginal people who are seeking training perhaps, or employment than it may be for some other workers."

It's in businesses' best interest to strengthen the province's Aboriginal workforce in order to lessen the impact the labour shortages that have already begun to be felt in Saskatchewan will have in the future. With a young and growing population, Saskatchewan's Aboriginal people can meet future demands for workers, if they receive the support and opportunities they need. While some companies and organizations in the province are doing this, others are not. If more isn't done to provide opportunities for Aboriginal people, they will go where those opportunities do exist, even if it means leaving the province.

"One of the things that we're saying in our report is we've got a really important opportunity here in this province, but we could blow it if we don't do something," Pearson said. "So we're suggesting that the provincial government show some leadership and take some extra methods in terms of hiring people. And that means being very effective in their recruitment. People are qualified for these jobs. We need to hire them."

The government, for its part, has already agreed to act onone of the commission's recommendations-providing benefits to vulnerable people.

"We find that when you're looking at low income, all of the compensation that you get is important. And we heard of situation after situation where people had just gotten into the workforce and then a child gets sick and they had enormous drug bills and they got knocked back into social assistance because they couldn't afford the drug bills and that sort of thing. So the province has agreed to look at that recommendation and consider it," Pearson said.

"We have asked that an implementation plan be developed within six months related to all of the recommendations and that we be asked then to comment on those. I think they're working on these. Whether we'll see any of these things in the budget or in the upcoming throne speech and that sort of thing, I'm really not sure because it may be a bit too early for them, but I think they will treat this seriously."