Canadian Publicly Traded Firms
4.1 Provide detailed information on the workforce. How many workers? In which plant do they work? What are the demographics of the workforce?
4.2 Is the company unionized? Which union at which facility?
4.3 Are there identifiable worker issues?
Who the target firm employs tells a great deal about their operation. Are most workers full-time or part-time? Knowing more about the demographics of the workforce will be central in identifying worker issues and developing a campaign.
The Annual Information Form available at SEDAR typically provides rudimentary information on employment and whether the firm is unionized. The company annual report and web site might have additional information on the workforce, but it is frequently difficult to find more detailed demographic information. LinkedIn provides some basic information on employees by searching under the “company” tab.
You can find Labour Board decisions at CanL11, which is a clearinghouse of legal decisions at the federal and provincial levels.
It is best to contact workers to identify worker issues, but there are some resources available online such as Glassdoor that includes workers comments about their employer. Social media sites such as Facebook may also be useful.
The AFL-CIO maintains the UNICORE database that includes information on corporate facilities in the U.S. and Canada, their location and (if they are unionized) information on the union. This database is only available to AFL-CIO affiliates.
Paid Resources (Subscription Required)
You can find information on the workforce at Business Source Complete (you will need to select Business Source Complete from the list). Basic information is available on “company information” tab or look under “company profiles” for the more extensive Datamonitor report. Additional information may be available on Mergent Market Atlas.