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Hitting the targets

A new dear language translation of the Workers' Handbook and other materials from the Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are now available. Thanks to a collaboration by the Northern Territories Federation of Labour and the NWT Literacy Council, the material is now written at a Grade 5-6 readability level. This represents the average literacy level of the target audience of workers. The material had previously been written at a Grade 12 level.

Graphics and white space were added to the handbook for easier reading. The structure was set up in a question-and-answer format, with questions in bold, 14-point font, and the answers below in 12-point font. This resulted in a wider booklet with more pages and includes a flow chart of the WCB process that is dear and easy to follow.

Brochures directed at the harvesters, hunters, trappers, and fishers who require information to access claims are now in the process of being completed. The dear language translation will make the further translation to aboriginal languages much easier.

For more information and the text of the dear language documents, please visit: www.wcb.nt.ca

Steve Petersen, Northern Territories Federation of Labour

Quebec's 1 per cent solution brings results

Québec's requirement that employers invest at least 1% of payroll in workforce training has brought results that have exceeded labour's expectations.

The requirement, which applies ta all employers with a payroll of $250,000 or more per year, covers virtually all businesses with more than 10 employees. It was made law in June, 1995.

Data from 1998 (the first available) show that ail categories of workers have benefitted from the investment in training. For example, two out of five production workers received an average of 48 hours of training per year, while two out of five office workers received an average of 42 hours. The data also showed that for workers with higher levels of education, a larger number of employees (50%) received less training (an average of about 33 hours).

While the law is starting to bear fruit, the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ) remains vigilant about the need for equity. The FTQ originally lobbied for a provision that would ensure funds were spent equitably within the workplace. The labour central wanted training to be provided to workers outside the usual management, professional and technical ranks. While the government did not comply with this demand, the law does require businesses ta report the kind of training provided and to which categories of employees. The FTQ will continue to monitor the results.