From: co_pub_info To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: IHAC minority report Date: Thursday, September 28, 1995 7:49PM CANADIAN LABOUR CONGRESS -- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 1995 Fewer jobs, more profits -- INFO HIGHWAY TO SERVE BIG BUSINESS: IHAC MEMBER PARROT TORONTO -- "The Council recommends that the information highway serve big business. It will likely mean more profits and fewer jobs," said Information Highway Advisory Council member and CLC Executive Vice-President Jean-Claude Parrot in his dissent to the official IHAC report. "After participating as a member of IHAC for 15 months, I decided that it was necessary for me to make my dissent known by issuing a minority report. This decision was not taken lightly," Parrot said at a press conference held at the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists' headquarters in Toronto. "IHAC's recommendations provide little comfort to the unemployed and those in danger of losing their jobs due to technological change -- like workers at Bell, Northern Telecom, Rogers and other info highway servers. It provides little assurance that this technological revolution will create more jobs than it destroys. The Council recommends little help for those who do lose their employment. Yet, given Canada's persistent high unemployment rate, the measure of IHAC's success depends on this. "From the beginning, the Council's work has been coloured by the ideology of the free market. In contrast, the information highway was born of public subsidies and regulatory preference. Nonetheless, IHAC refused to recognize any of business' or government's responsibility to the community for job creation. "The CLC recognizes that it shares responsibility for job creation with business and government and has adopted a nine-point program for job creation. My approach to IHAC was influenced by a number of contextual factors related to employment and work place issues. "The principle reasons for my dissent are: "First, market driven solutions to unemployment do not work. They ignore the responsibility to create jobs, which should be shared between business and government. "Second, the Council's report talks vaguely about ensuring adequate protection' for workers in the face of technological change and globalization. Just as competitiveness often means fewer jobs, adequate protection' is often code for fewer workplace rights and eroded labour standards. "Third, they failed to recommend that the government take even minimal actions such as workingat the international level to develop social charters among trading partners to ban child and near-slave labour among others. "Fourth, given that voluntary solutions to national employment and adjustment problems, suchas employer-based training, have failed, the Council should have recommended federal regulation in this area. "Fifth, the Council failed to recommend that the federal government enumerate the kind of legislative changes -- including details of the impacts on jobs, rights, standards, and freedoms -- necessary to implement Council's recommendations. "Finally, the Council did not recommend mandatory employment impact statements for corporations. "These recommendations would better insure that the broad public interest is considered rather than simply narrow commercial concerns. "My dissent from the Council's final report does not encompass the report in its entirety. There are several positive aspects of the report such as in Learning and Training, and Content and Culture areas. "I hope that my report -- issued by the Council's sole labour representative -- will have some influence on the government which sought our input and advice." - 30 - For more information: Jean-Claude Parrot, Executive Vice President Canadian Labour Congress (613) 526-7403 Alexander Crawley, President Assn. of Can. Cinema Television & Radio Artists (416) 489-1311 -- Marita Moll Ottawa, Ontario aa319@freenet.carleton.ca