- IS THERE AN AFFIRMATIVE ACTION REQUIREMENT IN YOUR
TRAINING PROGRAM? DO YOU HAVE TARGET NUMBERS OF WOMEN FOR EACH PROGRAM OR TYPE
OF COURSE?
In Saskatchewan, the widespread provision of Life Skills
and Work Preparation courses for women is seen as an affirmative action. In
Newfoundland, the Department of Education has an "equal opportunities for male
and female" policy which was implemented last year.* A technicality in Human
Rights legislation prevents the implementation of affirmative action programs,
according to that department's respondent.
The official response from
the Director General of Training follows:
"There is a national action
plan to promote the participation of women in the National Training Program.**
This action plan includes the setting of national and regional targets for the
number of women enrolled in the various components of the Program. It also
includes targets for the proportion of women involved in non-traditional
occupations. In Institutional Training, this means that women receive priority
for 30% of the seats purchased for training in these occupations.
The
special modules referred to above are being developed as a result of this
action plan.
Special measures are also in effect to increase
participation of women in industrial training for non-traditional occupations.
Incentive funding is offered to employers by which 75% of the trainee wages are
reimbursed as compared to the regular 50% reimbursement.*
* See Appendix D- Policy on Equality of Opportunity
See full text of letter from L. Bourgault in
Appendix C.
*See Appendix F- Women's Employment
Strategy Plan of Action 1983-84
- WHAT ACTION HAS BEEN TAKEN TO EDUCATE EMPLOYERS REGARDING
THE BENEFIT OF HIRING OR SPONSORING WOMEN TRAINEES OR APPRENTICES?
Here are some examples of the federal government's involvement in
the promotion of women as candidates for industrial training, apprenticeship
and employment:
"In 1981-82, there was an extensive publicity campaign
directed at employers and at potential women trainees, promoting women in non-
traditional jobs. Another campaign directed at employers is currently running
in several media featuring among other subjects, women in non-traditional
jobs.
Information material on CEIC programs is available and
distributed to employers, specifically on training and employment of women.
Each regional office of CEIC has a Women's Employment Coordinator
(Quebec and Ontario each have two coordinators). These coordinators have direct
liaison with employers and use various approaches such as seminars and visits
to potential employers.
In several programs, special incentives are
built in to encourage employers to hire and train women. I referred earlier to
WINTO. I can also mention Career Access, one of the new Job Creation programs,
which provides substantial wage subsidies to employers hiring women.
In
several programs where CEIC financial assistance is involved, a Human Resources
Plan is a requirement of eligibility."*
Each regional CEIC office has a
number of Account Executives whose full-time job it is to visit employers and
convince them of the benefits of job market planning strategies, of training
employees, and in particular of hiring and training women. In times of economic
restraint, however, most employers would rather pull an experienced worker from
the unemployment rolls than train anyone. As well, each CEC counsellor must
spend a certain designated period of time each week visiting employers, but the
amount of time he or she can spend on promoting the hiring and training of
women is extremely limited.
The most logical source of an employer
education campaign is the CEIC Regional Women's Co-ordinator. Unfortunately the
Regional Women's Co-ordinator is restricted by a job description that would
keep an office of forty busy full-time, no budget, no staff, no official status
within CEIC in any of the power structures affecting women. Nobody has to tell
her anything, or send her copies of memos, or include her in meetings. She can
be pointed to as the person "responsible for" women and women's issues in CEIC,
but she is virtually powerless. Furthermore, the CEIC Regional Women's
Co-ordinator is not always a woman.
* See full text of letter from L. Bourgault in
Appendix C. |