Aboriginal Co-operatives in Canada - Centre for the Study of Co ...

1997, the average consumer co-op recorded an annual increase of 2.8% for full-timeemployment. During the same period, the average Aboriginal consumer co-op recruited 6.5%more full-time workers annually. Because Aboriginal consumer co-ops evolve in a lesscompetitive environment than southern consumer non-Aboriginal co-ops, they seem to be lessvulnerable to economic downturns and the need for restructuring − often in conjunction withhuman resource reduction − is less obvious.Figure 5.3 A Comparison of Average Salaries (Full-TimeEquivalents)The number of full-time40,000equivalent workers in the34,62335,00032,93332,872 32,43633,178Canadian retail sector was30,00026,16726,214 26,247computed using national24,25525,000averages 19 20,93519,81620,40520,595. Aboriginal20,00026,73421,377consumer co-ops appear topay salaries higher than the15,00010,0005,000Canadian retail sector. The0big difference in salaries (over1993 1994 1995 1996 1997Years25%) could be the result ofextrapolation of the retailRetail Sector All Consumer Aboriginal Consumersector full-time workers by the national average. Since the retail sector has proportionately morepart-time workers than the Canadian average 20 , then the full-time salaries of the retail sectorshould probably be close to those in Aboriginal consumer co-ops. It is interesting to note thatAboriginal consumer co-ops employ more full-time workers than other consumer co-ops. In1997, only about 11% of the workers in Aboriginal co-ops had part-time positions, but 42% ofworkers in consumer co-ops were working part-time. Even though the Canadian retail sector isdoing poorly compared to the co-ops, it is nonetheless increasing the salaries of its workers in amore consistent manner (+1.9% annually between 1993 and 1997) than its co-op competitors(-1.0% and +0.7% annually for consumer and Aboriginal consumer co-ops, respectively).$19 At the Canadian level, a part-time worker works approximately one third of the time of a full-timeworker. The number of full-time equivalent workers was calculated as the sum of full-time workers plusone third of all part-time workers.20 In 1996, the average number of hours worked weekly by paid workers in Canada was 33. For the retailsector, it was only 30 hours. This difference indicates that the retail sector has proportionately more parttimeworkers than the average Canadian sector (Statistics Canada CANSIM matrices I190201 andI190243).98