A 1999 survey of 975 collective agreements where there are 500 or more employees showed that about 45.4 per cent of agreements have a reference to paid training on the job. This represents about 51.4 per cent of the 2.3 million workers covered in the survey. This is step forward over 1998, when only 42.9 per cent of agreements had these provisions.
This means that 54 per cent of agreements, representing some 48.3 per cent of workers, have no provisions regarding training. Of course, many companies will have training that is not included in the collective agreement and therefore does not show up in the survey results.
We know that with more than 1.18 million workers having guaranteed access to training, we have made some progress. But it isn't enough. What about the workers at smaller locals who may be worse off than those at the large locals in the survey? What about the 68 per cent of workers in Canada who are unorganized and have no union to go to bat for them on training?
Here are some facts:
The following are excerpts from collective agreement clauses on training and literacy. Copies of the full text are available from the CLC.
During the current negotiations, the Employer and the Union agreed, in accordance with the provisions of the attached Document (#102), to provide the RE.S.T. (Basic Education for Skills Training) Program at the following General Motors of Canada Limited locations:
The parties agreed that the B.E.S.T. Program would be established within the following guide lines: