The Precarious Economy

When stable full-time jobs are replaced by insecure part-time or contract positions, it undermines both the economy and society in general.

Co-authored by Deena Ladd

Around the world, a tidal wave of precarious forms of employment threatens real economic recovery. The number of permanent full-time, stable jobs is declining. In their place has grown an unprecedented number of temporary, contract-based, involuntary part-time, and self-employed jobs.

These jobs have been termed “precarious,” and rightfully so. They are usually characterized by unstable work hours, low wages, few (if any) protections under employment standards legislation, and inherent insecurity.

Consider the underpaid retail sales clerk who is forced to scrounge up hours on a weekly basis because there are no full-time jobs available. Or the long-haul truck driver, forced to become an owner-operator (technically self-employed) and then compete with other drivers for work. What about the home care worker, who is hired as a temporary worker and does not know for certain if work will still be available month after month? Or the warehouse worker, who is working for low pay and faces a perpetual probationary period because they were hired through an employment agency?

In Canada this has slowly but surely become the norm. Precarious work has grown since the 1970s, accelerating over the last decade. In 2008, more than one-third (36 per cent) of Canadian workers fell into this category.

Since the economic crisis officially began last October, Canada has shed 485,000 full-time jobs. Over the same time period, nearly 100,000 part-time jobs were created. The most recent job market figures released by Statistics Canada for August showed that over 27,000 net jobs were created over the course of the month, the lion’s share of which were part time.

Those who have defended Canada’s labour market performance in recent years, including the Harper government, wrongly identify the loss of a well-paid, stable, full-time job and the creation of a low-paid, precarious, part-time job as an equal trade-off. This is clearly not the case.

The impact of precarious job growth is severe; both for the workers directly impacted, and Canadian society more generally.

So many of our country’s social support mechanisms are tied to our jobs and the number of hours we work. Workers’ access to pensions, unemployment insurance, child care, health benefits, parental benefits, and others are all impacted by our work arrangements. The absence of legal protections for precarious work also poses major social and economic challenges for families and communities.

Socially progressive groups around the world – including academics, non-governmental organizations, and trade unions – have taken on the task of raising the public’s awareness on precarious work.

October 3 to 10 has been designated a week of action against precarious employment by the International Metalworkers Federation. The Federation is urging action by affiliates and supporters in over 90 countries. Governments will be pressed to ensure equal rights for precarious workers, strengthen labour legislation to protect the integrity of full-time, stable jobs, and review social programs with an eye to the impact of insecure forms of employment. They will also be urged to think more strategically about the kinds of jobs that are created as countries begin to emerge from recession.

In Canada, there is a need to update and improve existing employment standards and labour laws that protect the growing ranks of precarious workers, especially workers from racialized communities that have been hardest hit. These improvements would include providing them the ability to unionize and assuring they are covered under the terms and conditions of these important statutes. The government must also ensure landed status and real protection for temporary foreign workers who face major violations of their rights, and are made vulnerable by immigration rules under Canada's deeply flawed TFW program.

Better enforcement of labour laws to protect workers in precarious jobs are needed, as well as social programs that take into account the unique challenges these workers face. Extended notice periods for layoff and pay in lieu should be provided to precarious workers, especially where it is clear that employers are evading their obligations under law. The government must also step up to the plate with comprehensive industrial strategies in the wake of this devastating recession to secure decent work opportunities for more Canadians, including investments in greening the economy.

Zellers warehouse workers in Toronto went on strike for over two months in an effort to fight employer demands to expand the use of temporary agency workers in their facility, among other concessions. In a small way, this was a critical fight against a global trend that threatens to erode quality of work and quality of life standards. Theirs is just one example of countless other fights to maintain the integrity of work in Canada.

Governments and policy-makers must be vigilant in protecting good jobs. It is their responsibility to set and enforce the labour market rules that employers must play by. Let’s not wait until next year’s IMF week of action on precarious work. Rather, let’s take the opportunity to show the world that Canada can play a leading role in protecting and promoting good jobs now.