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Announcement of suspension of the publication and a retrospective.

Among the recent measures undertaken in Canada to adapt the public sector to the 'new economy' in order to maintain or enhance economic competitiveness on an international level has been the adoption of new technologies and e-government, affecting both labour processes and service delivery. All three levels of government – municipal, provincial, and federal – have adopted 'virtual service techniques'. This paper examines telemediated processes and new work arrangements in the public sector and raises questions regarding the impact on workers and their trade unions, working conditions, service delivery, and social citizenship.

The article reviews the book, "On the Front Line: Organization of Work in the Information Economy," by Stephen J. Frenkel, Marek Korczynski, Karen A. Shire, and May Tam.

This paper explores the impact of the adoption of neoliberal economic policies and practices on public sector jobs within the Canadian Federal government. In recent years, employment in the public sector has been increasingly shifted to a call-centre format, thereby transforming the working conditions of public servants as well as access to services enjoyed by Canadians. By adopting work practices, technologies and managerial techniques usually found within the private sector, we argue that the call-centre format fundamentally transforms the notion of public 'service' from secure employment and a dynamic career to that of a routine, Taylorised job. In this process, standardised interactions redefine the notion of public service and the role of the public servant.

The restructuring of the economy of Canada continued at a quick pace throughout the recession of the early 1990s. Challenges are faced by unions and their leaders as the workplace undergoes major reorganization as a result of recent economic policy, unrelenting global competition, and political uncertainty. Interviews were conducted with senior and upper middle-level leaders of 8 unions in Ontario in 1992. Interview data were supplemented with an examination of documents. All the union leaders argued that the basic roles of unions and their members' expectations of their unions have not changed despite transformations in the composition of the membership and changes in the structure of the workplace and the economy. Union leaders generally see the importance of the union's involvement in local affairs, but are cautious about their particular union's place in social movements. All leaders agreed that the present climate for labor-management negotiations is adversarial and increasingly contentious.

This paper examines Ontario Labour Relations Board decisions regarding the inclusion of part-time workers in bargaining units front 1976 to 1986.

This collection of original essays investigates the social, political, and economic transformations associated with the emergence of the so-called new economy, and their impact on the organization of work within Canada. Essays in the book discuss the ways in which new management strategies, new communication technologies, and efforts to revitalize the labour movement have transformed the Canadian workplace. Focusing on changes in work organization, individuals' expectations regarding work, and the institutional support provided for workers and their families, the text constructs a critical analysis of the "new economy" in order to identify both the potential for quality work experiences and the ways in which the organization of work remains a profound social problem. --Publisher's description

As a result of concerns around declining memberships and the growth of precarious employment in recent years, unions have sought to expand their jurisdictions and organize groups of workers who have typically resisted collective bargaining. Research on union renewal has examined working conditions and workplace structures that may give rise to successful organizing campaigns. In this paper we examine working conditions amongst non-unionized same-day messengers working in Toronto, Canada. The research team conducted 143 semi-structured interviews with bikers, drivers and walkers who work primarily for local courier companies. We find that although same-day couriers are typically treated as ‘independent contractors’, they are dependent on brokers, and precariously employed, with unpredictable income and hours of work. Though this group would benefit substantially from unionization, especially organized on a sector-wide basis, their attitudes and culture combined with the structure of the local industry create substantial impediments to organizing.

Interrogating the New Economy is a collection of original essays investigating the New Economy and how changes ascribed to it have impacted labour relations, access to work, and, more generally, the social and cultural experiences of work in Canada. Based on years of participatory research, sector-specific studies, and quantitative and qualitative data collection, the work accounts for the ways in which the contemporary workplace has changed but also the extent to which older forms of work organization still remain. The collection begins with an overview of the key social and economic transformations that define the New Economy. It then illustrates these transformations through examples, including essays on wine tourism, the regeneration of mining communities, the place of student workers, and changes in the public service workplace. It also addresses unions and their responses to the restructuring of work, as well as other forms of resistance. --Publisher's description

The Shifting Landscape of Work is a contributed text that explores contemporary issues pertaining to labour in the context of race, class, age, economics, and gender, presented from a left-of-center perspective. All of the contributors are well known and respected scholars in their field of research. The authors challenge students to think about the dynamics of the labour market, including the realities of unpaid work and the impact of structural shifts in societal power relations. --Publisher's description

[This book] offers a progressive approach to the sociology of work and labour. Each chapter tackles an essential contemporary labour issue and includes original research from top scholars across Canada. The first of four parts is devoted to the contemporary turmoil of working Canadians caused by the upheaval in the manufacturing and service industries. Part Two discusses the tremendous impact of technology on the labour force. Specific case studies raise universal questions. ...Part Three examines issues specific to women in the new and changing workplace. The intrinsic conflict of work and family is established as the context for examining the division of labour inside and outside the family. ...Chapters in the final part examine the loss of manufacturing jobs, and the new realities of unemployment, underemployment, and under-qualification. --Publisher's description (abridged). Contents: Introduction: Debating the future of work (pages 1-5). Part 1. Canadian working lives in turmoil: The traditional workplace transformed (7). Lost horizons, leisure shock: good jobs, bad jobs, uncertain future / Daniel Glenday (8-34)-- From cars to casinos, from work to workfare: the brave new world of Canadian employment / Jamie Swift (35-52)-- The casualization of the labour force / Dave Broad (53-73). Part 2. The new workplace: technology, telework and restructuring (75). Technology and the deskilling of work: the case of passenger agents at Air Canada / Vivian Shalla (76-96 )-- The impact of teleworking on Canadian employment / Kay Stratton Devine, Laurel Taylor, and Kathy Haryett (97-116) -- Health care, hospitals, and reengineering: the nightingales sing the blues / Jerry P. White (117-142). Part 3. Tradition confronts the new employment: women, work, and family (143) -- Always working , never done: the expansion of the double day / Norene Pupo (144-165)-- The part-time solution: toward entrapment or empowerment? / Ann Duffy (166-188). Part 4. Negotiating the margins: unemployment and training (189). Changes in the patterns of unemployment: the new realities of joblessness / Patrick Burman (190-216) -- Living in the credential gap: responses to underemployment and underqualification / David W. Livingston (217-239) -- Editors' conclusion: The jobs crisis: looking ahead (240-43).