Canada’s largest public pension funds are showing modest improvements on climate action but are moving too slowly overall, according to a new report by a climate advocacy group. The progress report from Shift Action for Pension Wealth and Planet Health found four of the 11 pension plans it examined still don’t have emissions reduction targets […]
General Motors and the union representing Canadian auto workers reached a tentative contract agreement Tuesday, ending a strike that began just after midnight. About 4,300 striking workers at two GM factories and a parts warehouse returned to work Tuesday afternoon and will vote on the three-year deal later. The tentative agreement with GM follows the pattern […]
Federally regulated workplaces are expected to begin offering free menstrual products to workers by the end of 2023. On Wednesday, Labour Minister Seamus O’Regan announced changes to the Canada Labour Code that would ensure access to such products beginning Dec. 15. The changes would require federally regulated workplaces to provide menstrual products to workers at […]
Roughly 155,000 federal employees represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada are striking over remote working arrangements and wages. The union is seeking to maintain remote working arrangements for employees, noting the working arrangement has become a part of everyday life for many workers. “Our experience during [the coronavirus] pandemic has shown that public […]
A deal for the Royal Bank of Canada to absorb HSBC Bank Canada for $13.5 billion is good news for pension plans, said Dave McKay, chief executive officer of RBC. “This is good for shareholders — which are largely pension funds — and that’s average Canadian pension funds,” said McKay during a conference call. The […]
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to end the nation’s constitutional protections for abortion has catapulted employers of all types into the most divisive corner of politics. Some companies that stayed silent last month — when a draft opinion by Justice Samuel Alito was leaked to Politico — have spoken up for the first time, including […]
It’s become a common sight: jubilant Starbucks Corp. workers celebrating after successful votes to unionize at dozens of U.S. stores. But when the celebrations die down, a daunting hurdle remains: to win the changes they seek — like better pay and more reliable schedules — unionized stores must sit down with Starbucks and negotiate a […]
Canada’s pension plans are well positioned to succeed in a high inflation environment though stagflation remains a significant threat, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings. “The maturing nature of participant bases increases pension funds’ reliance on investment returns, as contributions and income from active members may be outpaced by benefits paid to a […]
Ontario is eyeing a new system to provide “portable benefits” for workers in the gig economy, retail and hospitality sectors who don’t currently have health, dental or vision coverage. Under the plan, workers would be able to keep their benefits even if they change jobs, said the province in a press release. If the plan […]
Employers are continuing to feel the squeeze, with rising prices set to push wages higher this year in a “feedback loop building” as the annual pace of inflation climbed in December 2021 to its highest rate since September 1991. In December, the consumer price index was up 4.8 per cent, compared with a year ago, reported Statistics […]