Sexual harassment is only the tip of a large iceberg of abusive relations between the labor market and the women who depend upon it.

The abuse of women in labour market relationships has not been so clearly identified. Yet it is a systemic problem requiring both crisis intervention to solve immediate practical difficulties and longer term initiatives to remove the sources of the problem. Consider the large number of women in Canada who are in jobs which pay poverty wages, in jobs which compromise their health and safety and/or that of their young or elderly dependents; who are involuntarily unemployed and or holding part- time or temporary positions when full-time work is needed. These women represent a significant proportion of the female workforce. Many of them are in situations which have all the elements of coercion and systematic detriment to personal well-being which we consider to be unacceptably abusive in domestic relationships. Seen from this perspective, sexual harassment at work is only the tip of a large and systemic iceberg of abusive relations between the labour market and the women who depend upon it.

Quite apart from its insufficiency in providing adequate income, the labour market is notoriously disrespectful of other key relationships in women's lives. Women usually carry responsibilities involving three major spheres of effort: (under)paid work within the labour market; unpaid work within the home (including the nurturing of children, the care of elderly family members and management of the household); and community work (supportive, unpaid work , that maintains the cultural and social fabric of neighbourhoods and communities). Employment in the labour market typically undermines, complicates and overextends the lives of women who try to maintain a balanced and integrated existence involving productive and enjoyable activity in all three spheres (8).

What's Happening to
Women's Training in
Canada?

Volume 10, No. 3/4 of Women's Education des femmes critiques recent changes to training policy and unemployment insurance eligibility, proposes workable models (for language training, training in trades, technology and operations, training for women with disabilities and immigrant women, for private sector training), and defines in detail how training should be structured provide access for all women.

$4.50 ea. (+ 10% handling + 7% GST) or $18.19 for a subscription to Women's Education des femmes (with "What's Happening to Women's Training in Canada" as your first issue).

Canadian Congress for Learning Opportunities for Women






For Better or Worse

Disappointing and disrespectful as many women's experiences with the labor market may be, divorce is not usually an option. Social assistance does not provide an adequate alternative source of income, no matter where you live in Canada. Winning the lottery, inheriting family wealth, or being in a long term spousal relationship with a partner whose income can adequately support all family members are alternatives available to relatively few of us. For the majority of women in Canada, there really is no choice. We cannot hope to meet our income needs except in relationship with the labor market (9).


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