Getting to Know Each Other

For more than a decade, we’ve asked grant seekers what decent work means to them. Everyone who has decent work is able to explain what it is, and if they don’t, they have been able to say why.

From the International Labour Organization in Geneva to the Workers’ Action Centre in Toronto, the people who participate in the global movement for decent work define it broadly as:

— Equality of opportunity and treatment;

— Work that is productive and delivers a fair income;

— Work that provides income security and social support when sick, unemployed, and/or raising children;

— Safety in the workplace and freedom to express concerns; and,

— Freedom to organize and participate in the decisions that affect our lives.

In Canada, Professor Harry Arthurs, a leading labour law scholar, introduced the “principle of decency” into federal labour standards in his 2006 report Fairness at Work: Federal Labour Standards for the 21st Century. Professor Arthurs emphasized that labour standards must guarantee basic dignity:

“Labour standards should ensure that no matter how limited his or her bargaining power, no worker in the federal jurisdiction is offered, accepts or works under conditions that Canadians would not regard as ‘decent.’ No worker should therefore receive a wage that is insufficient to live on; be deprived of the payment of wages or benefits to which they are entitled; be subject to coercion, discrimination, indignity or unwarranted danger in the workplace; or be required to work so many hours that he or she is effectively denied a personal or civic life.”

Learn more about decent work by reading this backgrounder.

Employment-related services are essential to help individuals navigate work transitions, get training, and find a place in the labour force that’s right for them. We value this important contribution to the movement for decent work. We have decided to prioritize, however, collective action on the root causes and consequences of growing inequality and employment precarity.

People most often view their personal hardships as isolated, private troubles caused by their own shortcomings or local circumstances. But there are personal struggles, like unemployment and working poverty, that are more accurately understood as public issues rooted in the larger historical and economic structures of society.

Atkinson puts its modest resources behind strategies to tackle public issues related to decent work: raising the bottom, growing the middle, and taming the top of the economic pyramid. We support Ontario-based organizations who can imagine and advocate for changes in legislation, policy and practice with:

— Indigenous, Black and other racialized workers who are twice as likely to hold low-wage jobs than their white counterparts;

— Racialized immigrant women who face a triple disadvantage that results in the lowest median employment incomes and a 28% gender wage gap even among those with university degrees; and,

— A significant and growing segment of the provincial labour force that has been misclassified as self-employed and performs part-time, temporary, or “gig” work without the protection of the Employment Standards Act or union representation.

When movements build narrative, economic, and democratic power, they can create lasting, systemic change. They make it possible for people with no special resources or influence to have a say in decisions that affect their lives.

Narrative power shapes common sense. It changes cultural norms. It redefines what society expects or thinks possible.

Economic power provides independent resources. It creates material leverage. It sustains household economies and builds community wealth.

Democratic power rewrites the rules in workplaces and legislatures. It is about exercising the rights guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

It’s important to build this kind of power to “promote social and economic justice in Ontario”—the mission Atkinson was established to serve. It’s been said a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Research has shown that even a fraction of the population — as little as 3.5% — can tip the balance.

Learn more about building movement power by reading this essay.