The Regulation of Paid Care Workers’ Wages and Conditions in the Non-Profit Sector: A Toronto Case Study

This paper aims to contribute to understandings of the broader regulatory context in which remuneration for care work is negotiated and determined. It draws on a case study of the non-profit sector of Toronto and moves beyond an exclusive focus on the formal regulation of the employment relationship to include other crucial regulatory mechanisms in the analysis. The paper attempts to map the intersections between these different forms of regulation and to identify the effects they produce in practice.The paper identifies four main regulatory forces that shape the quantum and basis of the wages and non-wage benefits paid to care workers. Firstly, industrial relations regulation plays an important role not only through the demarcation between unionized and non-unionized agencies, but in demarcations between smaller and larger agencies, between full-time and part-time workers and between regular and elect-to work workers. Secondly, the sources and structure of the social services funding market directly limit care worker remuneration and can work to trump the impact of unionization. Thirdly, the regulatory force of the gendered undervaluing of paid care work is reflected in and intertwined with changes in the protection offered to employees via industrial regulation. Finally, the gendered architecture of paid care work, including size of agency or whether the care work is undertaken in the home or in an institution, contributes to different outcomes for different groups of workers undertaking similar work.The interaction of these regulatory forces plays out in the wage and non-wage outcomes in all social services work at the labour market, industry and workplace levels. While the non-profit sector in Toronto provides one specific context in which this occurs, these regulatory forces, particularly the normative effect of gender, are present in other provincial and national contexts. This is at least partly because the community services funding market in other developed countries is underpinned by the same features of new public management present in Canada.Cet article vise à améliorer la compréhension du contexte général de régulation dans lequel la rémunération pour le travail des fournisseurs de soins professionnels est négociée et déterminée. Il s’appui pour cela sur une étude de cas du secteur à but non lucratif de Toronto et va au-delà d’un examen portant exclusivement sur le mode de régulation formelle de la relation d’emploi, pour inclure d’autres mécanismes qui s’avèrent tout aussi cruciaux. Il cherche à cartographier les espaces communs entre ces différentes formes de régulation et à identifier les effets qu’ils produisent en pratique.L’article identifie quatre forces principales qui influent sur la base et l’ampleur des salaires et des avantages non salariaux du personnel de soins professionnels. Premièrement, la régulation des relations industrielles joue un rôle important non seulement à travers la traditionnelle démarcation entre agences syndiquées et agences non syndiquées, mais aussi entre les agences selon leur taille et entre les salariés selon leur statut d’emploi (à temps complet ou à temps partiel, permanents ou occasionnels). Deuxièmement, le financement des services sociaux limite directement la rémunération de ces salariés et contribue à freiner l’impact de la syndicalisation. Troisièmement, la force régulatrice de la sous-évaluation du travail des soignants, du fait qu’il est très majoritairement féminin, se reflète dans et s’entrelace avec les changements dans la protection offerte aux salariés via la réglementation du travail. Enfin, l’architecture sexuée du travail rémunéré dans ce secteur, incluant la taille des agences et selon que le travail est accompli à la maison ou en institution, contribue à produire des résultats différents pour différents groupes effectuant le même travail.L’interaction entre ces forces régulatrices a un effet certain sur les salaires et les avantages non salariaux des et salariés des services sociaux que ce soit au niveau du marché, de l’industrie ou du lieu de travail. Bien que le secteur sans but lucratif de Toronto constitue un contexte spécifique pour l’observation de ce phénomène, ces forces régulatrices, particulièrement l’effet normatif du sexe, sont aussi présentes dans d’autres environnements, qu’ils soient nationaux ou provinciaux. Il en est ainsi, en partie du moins, parce que le marché pour le financement des services communautaires dans d’autres pays développés repose sur les mêmes caractéristiques du nouveau management public que l’on retrouve au Canada.Este documento busca contribuir a la comprensión del vasto contexto de regulación en que la remuneración del trabajo de cuidador es negociada y determinada. Se basa en un estudio de caso en el sector de organizaciones sin fines lucrativos de Toronto y va más allá de la regulación formal de las relaciones de empleo para incluir en el análisis otros mecanismos cruciales de regulación. Este documento intenta trazar un plano de las intersecciones existentes entre esas diferentes formas de regulación e identificar sus respectivos efectos en la práctica.Se identifican cuatro principales fuerzas de regulación que modulan el monto y la base de los salarios y de los beneficios no salariales pagados a los trabajadores cuidadores. Primero, la regulación de la relaciones industriales juega un rol importante no solo a través la demarcación entre agencias sindicalizadas y no sindicalizadas, pero también en las demarcaciones entre pequeñas y grandes agencias, entre trabajadores a tiempo completo y a tiempo parcial y entre trabajadores regulares y trabajadores temporarios o de agencia. Segundo, las fuentes y estructura de los servicios sociales que financian directamente el mercado limitan la remuneración de los trabajadores cuidadores y pueden trabajar para superar el impacto de la sindicalización. Tercero, la fuerza reguladora de la sub-valorización sexista del salario de los trabajadores cuidadores se refleja y se entrelaza con los cambios en la protección ofrecida a los empleados mediante la regulación industrial. Finalmente, la arquitectura de tipo sexista que adopta el pago del trabajo de cuidador, incluyendo la talla de la agencia o el hecho que el trabajo de cuidar se haga a domicilio o en una institución, contribuyen a diferentes resultados para los diferentes grupos de trabajadores comprendidos en este tipo de trabajo.La interacción de estas fuerzas reguladoras interviene en la definición de los beneficios salariales y no salariales del conjunto de trabajadores de servicios sociales en los diferentes niveles del mercado de trabajo, de la industria y del lugar de trabajo. Mientras el sector de organizaciones sin fines lucrativos en Toronto procura un contexto específico para ello, esas fuerzas reguladoras, particularmente el efecto normativo del género, son presentes en otros contextos provinciales y nacionales. Esto es así, al menos parcialmente, por que el mercado de servicios comunitarios en otros países desarrollados se basa en las mismas características de la nueva gestión pública presente en Canadá

'If I had a family, there is no way that I could afford to work here' : juggling paid and unpaid care work in social services

Drawing on three case studies in each of Australia, New Zealand and Scotland, this article explores how care workers employed in the social services sector negotiate their unpaid care responsibilities in the context of lean work organisation and low pay. For younger workers, the unrelenting demands of service provision and low pay made any long term commitment to working in social services unrealistic, while many female workers experienced significant stress as they bent their unpaid care responsibilities to the demands of their paid work. However male workers, less likely to have primary caring responsibilities, appeared less troubled by the prioritising of paid over unpaid care work and less likely to self-exploit for the job. At the same time there was a widespread acceptance across different national and organizational contexts that the work/family juggle is a personal responsibility rather than a structural problem caused by the demands of underfunded and overstretched organisations

Intraspecific variation for host immune activation by the spider mite Tetranychus evansi

Many parasites can interfere with their host’s defences tomaximize their fitness. Here, we investigated if there isheritable variation in the spider miteTetranychus evansifortraits associated with how they interact with their host plant.We also determined if this variation correlates with mitefecundity.Tetranychus evansican interfere with jasmonate (JA)defences which are the main determinant of anti-herbivoreimmunity in plants. We investigated (i) variation in fecundityin the presence and absence of JA defences, making use ofa wild-type tomato cultivar and a JA-deficient mutant(defenseless-1), and (ii) variation in the induction of JAdefences, in fourT. evansifield populations and 59 inbredlines created from an outbred population originating fromcontrolled crosses of the four field populations. We observed astrong positive genetic correlation between fecundity in thepresence (on wild-type) and the absence of JA defences (ondefenseless-1). However, fecundity did not correlate with themagnitude of induced JA defences in wild-type plants. Ourresults suggest that the performance of the specialistT. evansiis not related to their ability to manipulate plant defences,either because all lines can adequately reduce levels ofdefences, or because they are resistant to them.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Making Way for Trees? Changes in Land-Use, Habitats and Protected Areas in Great Britain under “Global Tree Restoration Potential”

Numerous tree planting initiatives have been launched worldwide, based on the idea that carbon capture by trees can help to limit global warming. A recent study estimated the additional tree canopy cover that could be established given the growing conditions in every square kilometre of land on earth that is not already forested, urbanised, or used for crop production. It reported a total “tree restoration potential” of >900 million ha worldwide and identified hotspots where opportunities for tree planting initiatives may be the greatest. With the potential for an estimated 4.2 million ha of additional canopy cover, one such hotspot is Great Britain. We quantify the extent of habitats, land uses, and protected areas that would be impacted by tree planting on this scale in Great Britain and discuss the potential social–ecological trade-offs involved. Our findings show that realising the “tree restoration potential” would mean a considerable upheaval for the British landscape with 30–50% of ecologically valuable habitats lost and a reduction of 44% in the area of improved grassland. Up to 21% of land protected by law for its ecological, scientific, scenic, or cultural value would be impacted. Importantly, we demonstrate that an alternative approach based on increasing tree canopy cover by up to 20% in urban areas and on cropland could make a substantial contribution to tree planting targets, potentially offsetting losses elsewhere. Such shifts in the structure and function of the British landscape will depend on deep changes in the food system, evidence-based decisions about which existing habitats to protect, and a long-term commitment to tree planting and maintenance

Prediction of Evapotranspiration in a Mediterranean Region Using Basic Meteorological Variables

A critical need for farmers, particularly those in arid and semiarid areas is to have a reliable, accurate and reasonably accessible means of estimating the evapotranspiration rates of their crops to optimize their irrigation requirements. Evapotranspiration is a crucial process because of its influence on the precipitation that is returned to the atmosphere. The calculation of this variable often starts from the estimation of reference evapotranspiration, for which a variety of methods have been developed. However, these methods are very complex either theoretically and/or because of the large amount of parameters on which they are based, which makes the development of a simple and reliable methodology for the prediction of this variable important. This research combined three concepts such as cluster analysis, multiple linear regression (MLR), and Voronoi diagrams to achieve that end. Cluster analysis divided the study area into groups based on its weather characteristics, whose locations were then delimited by drawing the Voronoi regions associated with them. Regression equations were built to predict daily reference evapotranspiration in each cluster using basic climate variables produced in forecasts made by meteorological agencies. Finally, the Voronoi diagrams were used again to regionalize the crop coefficients and calculate evapotranspiration from the values of reference evapotranspiration derived from the regression models. These operations were applied to the Valencian region (Spain), a Mediterranean area which is partly semiarid and for which evapotranspiration is a critical issue. The results demonstrated the usefulness and accuracy of the methodology to predict the water demands of crops and hence enable farmers to plan their irrigation needs.This paper was possible thanks to the research project RHIVU (Ref. BIA2012-32463), financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness with funds from the State General Budget (PGE) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). The authors also wish to express their gratitude to the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (MAGRAMA) for providing the data necessary to develop this study

Accelerated inbreeding depression suggests synergistic epistasis for deleterious mutations in Drosophila melanogaster

Epistasis may have important consequences for a number of issues in quantitative genetics and evolutionary biology. In particular, synergistic epistasis for deleterious alleles is relevant to the mutation load paradox and the evolution of sex and recombination. Some studies have shown evidence of synergistic epistasis for spontaneous or induced deleterious mutations appearing in mutation-accumulation experiments. However, many newly arising mutations may not actually be segregating in natural populations because of the erasing action of natural selection. A demonstration of synergistic epistasis for naturally segregating alleles can be achieved by means of inbreeding depression studies, as deleterious recessive allelic effects are exposed in inbred lines. Nevertheless, evidence of epistasis from these studies is scarce and controversial. In this paper, we report the results of two independent inbreeding experiments carried out with two different populations of Drosophila melanogaster. The results show a consistent accelerated inbreeding depression for fitness, suggesting synergistic epistasis among deleterious alleles. We also performed computer simulations assuming different possible models of epistasis and mutational parameters for fitness, finding some of them to be compatible with the results observed. Our results suggest that synergistic epistasis for deleterious mutations not only occurs among newly arisen spontaneous or induced mutations, but also among segregating alleles in natural populationsWe acknowledge the support by Uvigo Marine Research Centre funded by the “Excellence in Research (INUGA)” Programme from the Regional Council of Culture, Education and Universities, with co-funding from the European Union through the ERDF Operational Programme Galicia 2014-2020. This work was funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) (CGL2016-75904-C2-1-P), Xunta de Galicia (ED431C 2016-037) and Fondos Feder: “Unha maneira de facer Europa.” SD was founded by a predoctoral (FPI) grant from Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, SpainS

A regenerative urban stormwater management methodology: the journey of a Mediterranean city

Urban drainage patterns are altered by increasing urbanization and rapid conveyance and discharge of runoff, leading to increased flood risk, diminish of aquifer recharge and degradation of receiving waterways. These effects are expected to escalate with climate change. In response, alternative and more sustainable drainage practices with a holistic approach have been developed, although their wide-scale implementation has been limited largely due to socio-institutional barriers. This paper presents an innovative regenerative urban stormwater methodology for transition management at city level, containing two main enablers to overcome the barriers that drag out progress. First, a structured set of activities, the 'wheel', to guide and document the process, which is steered by a group of regional actors. Then, a visual and effective set of indicators that monitors and assesses the progress achieved and identifies the strategies to move forward. Its successful application to Benaguasil, a Mediterranean city, reveals that by integrating the views and strategies from actors at different but interconnected scales and following a structured but flexible methodology, it is possible to make progress in only few years and have a promising future ahead. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.This research has been conducted as part of the Life+ program project "AQUAVAL: Sustainable Urban Water Management Plans, promoting SUDS and considering climate change, in the province of Valencia" (Life08ENV/E/000099) and the MED program project "E2STORMED: Improvement of energy efficiency in the water cycle by the use of innovative storm water management in smart Mediterranean cities" (1C-MED12-14), both supported by ERDF funding of the European Union.Perales Monparler, S.; Andrés Doménech, I.; Andreu Álvarez, J.; Escuder Bueno, I. (2015). A regenerative urban stormwater management methodology: the journey of a Mediterranean city. Journal of Cleaner Production. 109:174-189. doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.039S17418910