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Canadian higher education has been critiqued for its inequitable structures and failure to change despite claiming to be inclusive. This paper considers the experiences of 15 academic developers who engage in varied forms of institutional equity work. By focusing on how their work takes place, why they pursue equity work and their relationships with co-workers, I open a critical discussion of how prepared Canadian teaching and learning centres are to support equity work. By examining equity work and how it is supported, I intend to contribute to ongoing dialogues about the urgency of structural change in Canadian academic development workplaces.

Temporary migrant workers on closed work permits are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. To address this precarity, the Government of Canada introduced the Open Work Permit for Vulnerable Workers (OWP-V) in June 2019. This permit allows migrant workers in abusive situations, or at risk of abuse, to leave their employers and find new work in Canada for up to 12 months. Drawing from secondary literature, policy analysis and qualitative interviews with migrant support workers and experts, this research assesses the implementation of the OWP-V policy in the Maritimes by examining its benefits and critiques. This research demonstrates that although some perceive the policy as a step in the right direction, significant barriers remain that hinder the effectiveness of the OWP-V in removing migrants from abusive conditions. Further findings demonstrate that even with systemic and technological improvements, stakeholders remain dissatisfied with the policy as it fails to protect migrant workers from re-entering cycles of abuse and exploitation, serving only as temporary relief. To improve the implementation of this policy, stakeholders provided several suggestions pertaining to accessibility, language options, processing times, and inspections. Overall, this thesis argues that while these changes could help improve the working conditions of temporary migrant workers in Canada, substantial systemic issues remain.

Using collective agreement and strike data from the Canadian Federal and provincial jurisdictions for the years 1978–2019, this study examines the effect that various legislative regimes that govern public‐sector bargaining disputes have on the incidence, duration and cost of conflict. This study seeks to replicate and improve previous estimates related to this topic but also extends the analysis to examine changes to the legal environment in Canada in which labour rights have been increasingly enshrined in constitutional law through the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This study finds, in contrast to previous studies, that the legislative regime impacts the way agreements are settled when disputes occur but not the likelihood of a directly negotiated agreement prior to impasse. It also highlights some differences in contract and wage settlements prior to and after the constitutionalization of labour rights in Canada.

This article contributes to understanding the relationship between mobilities and labour control. Focusing on the expansion of the Chinese/Asian restaurant industry in the United States during the last two decades and drawing from a multi-sited, multi-scalar ethnography, the concept of spatial labour control is employed to explicate the various forms of labour control and the mechanisms that contribute to the autogenous reproduction of the industry's out-of-state work arrangement. Specifically, a spatial lens reveals paternalistic control over workers' food and housing, spatial control over workers' morals and affect, and control over workers' mobilities. Moreover, workers' constant relocation to new work destinations to combat social isolation and feelings of restlessness unintentionally reproduces the circulation of atomized labour for the industry. Such conditions are inconducive to collectively addressing labour discontent.

During COVID-19, politicians and the media in North America spotlighted the contributions of essential workers. As many low-income essential services are performed by migrant workers, this study explores how the pandemic served as a critical moment to raise societal awareness of the disadvantaged circumstances faced by migrant workers and to garner public support for their rights and equality. Engaging with scholarly critiques of media representation of underprivileged migrant groups and migration and labor scholars’ work on migrant workers in Canada, the study examines mainstream media discourse and public discourse on essential workers and migrant workers in Canada during the pandemic. Adopting thematic and critical discourse analysis, the study reveals that nationalist ideology, intersected with capitalist and neoliberal ideologies, prevents the public from forming solidarity with migrant workers, although overt racist and xenophobic discourse diminishes, and advocacy voices begin to gain higher visibility in mainstream media. The study contends that mobilizing broader public support to tackle inequalities remains a crucial issue in the context of transnational labor migration.

Canadian theatre has the potential to incite social change but inequitable working environments within theatre organizations have hindered this prospect. The sector needs new frameworks to improve conditions for arts workers. Inspired by several scholars such as José Esteban Muñoz, Jack Halberstam, and Lee Edelman, I look to the concept of queer utopia to address inequities within the theatre sector, with a focus on the role of theatre organizations. By defining Queer Utopian Theory (QUT), analyzing calls to action in the Canadian theatre sector, and employing three focus groups, I created a Queer Utopian framework for Canadian theatre organizations to answer the research question: What is the utility of the concept of queer utopia in addressing inequities in the Canadian theatre sector? My research found that relationship building, embracing fear, and subverting socio-political norms are aspects of QUT that are of utility to organizational leaders who wish to foster equitable environments.

Summary: Many young individuals now prioritize involvement in collective action as a means to instigate societal change. Crucially, they have access to social media platforms, which help them connect with like-minded peers and coordinate efforts. Some of them may be thus more inclined to favour less conventional collective action over formal union membership. In this study, which draws on data from young British workers during the period from December 2022 to March 2023, we endeavoured to ascertain this cohort’s preferred approach to collective action. We distinguished between an informal grassroots initiative and one led by a labour union as a means to advance the rights of gig economy workers. To this end, we conducted a controlled online experiment. We focused exclusively on a specific age cohort within a particular timeframe, thus limiting our ability to determine generational differences in preferences for collective action and in attitudes toward unions. Nevertheless, the results do offer insights into the forms of collective action preferred by Generation Z. British youth were found to view the informal grassroots initiative more positively than the union-led one. However, they viewed the latter as potentially having greater influence on government policy. Furthermore, they were not significantly more willing to join one initiative than the other. Nonetheless, they were more inclined to recommend the grassroots initiative. This paper contributes to the body of research on the relationship between labour unions and young people. It also provides insight into how members of Generation Z think about various ways of participating in collective action.

Employment insurance should deal with misclassification and extend emergency support to those who now fall through the cracks.

Without a public home-care system, disabled people are forced to choose between living in a long-term care home, medical assistance in dying, and hiring an underpaid migrant home-care worker. ...As organizers, former care workers, and care receivers, we – Megan Linton, Mary Jean Hande, and Ethel Tungohan – know the transformative potential of building common cause between migrant care workers and low-income home-care users. We write this article as part of the Towards Just Care project, which brings together the perspectives of low-income home-care receivers and migrant care workers to imagine a more just home-care system that doesn’t rely on global labour exploitation that displaces workers from their families and communities and that provides inadequate home-care services that endanger care receivers.

Across Canada, union coverage is inversely proportionate to inequality. From lifting wages and securing employment benefits to advocating for public programs, union power is a bulwark against inequality.

The article reviews the book, "On Class," by Deborah Dundas.

A judge will allow a lawyer for two former Quebec Major Junior Hockey League players to file evidence and make verbal arguments about why a $30 million settlement in three class-action lawsuits filed by current and former Canadian Hockey League players should be rejected.

...A new study from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute dives deep into perceptions of labour unions, finding a nation with competing views about the value and cost of organized work in Canada, among union members and non-members alike. Overall, Canadians largely feel that unions have had a positive impact for those they represent. Three-in-five say this, approximately three-times as many as say the impact has been a net negative. The cost-benefit calculation is more divided when considering the impact of unions on the country’s economy as a whole. Two-in-five say this impact is a positive one while three-in-ten say it has been negative. Workers themselves have their own experiences. For most, union membership has been a plus. Three-in-five members of both public (62%) and private (63%) sector unions say they’re satisfied with the representation they receive. Half as many say they’re dissatisfied, suggesting there is plenty of room for improvement. Progress may come from more than one area. Overall, among those who have gone to a union representative for assistance, three-in-ten (30%) say they did not feel supported. Women are slightly more likely to say they did not feel supported (36%) than men (30%). Further, when they think about the costs of membership and the benefits they receive, two-in-five union members (39%) say they do not receive adequate benefit for what they pay. Asked which of the main federal political parties they think is currently best suited to improve their own situation, public sector union members overwhelmingly say the NDP, traditionally associated with organized labour, is the best option (49% say this, a 31-point advantage over the next option chosen). That said, those in private sector unions are less certain. One-third say the Conservative Party would be best (32%), one-third choose the NDP (32%) and 26 per cent choose the governing Liberal Party. --Website summary

Work stoppages, including number of work stoppages, maximum number of employees involved, average duration, and number of person-days not worked due to work stoppages by jurisdiction, industry, and sector, annually, from 1946 to 2020.

The Labour Issue: Rebuilding the working class. On International Workers’ Day, we celebrate the power of workers—together, we have the power to fundamentally transform the economy. That’s why this issue of the Monitor focuses on labour power. In his lead editorial, CCPA Senior Communications Specialist Jon Milton writes about the need to rebuild the working class in the face of persistent attacks on organized labour’s strength. --Website introduction

The CCPA is excited to announce Shift Storm: Transforming Work in a Changing Climate, a newsletter on work and climate change by National Office senior researcher Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood. The Shift Storm newsletter is the new home for the Work and Climate Change Report, which was published by York University from 2011 to 2021. [Includes] a Q&A with CCPA climate researcher Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood.--Introduction

The article reviews the book, "The Story of Work, A New History of Humanity," by Jan Lucasssen.

Cet article vise à comprendre l’émergence et le développement d’une gestion des ressources humaines (GRH) inclusive en PME. Le concept d’inclusion renvoie à l’épanouissement professionnel et à la reconnaissance des salariés (Bonneveux et al., 2020). Cette forme de GRH comporte une visée intégrative dans la mesure où elle offre la possibilité d’améliorer la collaboration notamment entre le dirigeant et ses salariés. Dans cette optique, nous avons mobilisé de façon originale la logique du don de Mauss, couplée à la littérature sur la GRH en PME afin de proposer une nouvelle grille de lecture. À partir du cas emblématique d’une PME, une étude qualitative longitudinale a été menée sur une période de 8 ans. Les résultats soulignent le décalage entre les contre-dons attendus et ceux réellement réalisés par le dirigeant, qui conditionnent in fine l’adonnement des salariés. Ce déséquilibre dans la relation amène à la construction d’une GRH inclusive.

In this singular firsthand account, a former migrant worker reveals a disturbing system of exploitation at the heart of Canada’s farm labour system. When Gabriel Allahdua applied to the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program in Canada, he thought he would be leaving his home in St. Lucia to work in a country with a sterling human rights reputation and commitment to multiculturalism. Instead, breakneck quotas and a culture of fear dominated his four years in a mega-greenhouse in Ontario. This deeply personal memoir takes readers behind the scenes to see what life is really like for the people who produce Canada’s food. Now, as a leading activist in the migrant justice movement in Canada, Gabriel is fighting back against the Canadian government to demand rights and respect for temporary foreign labourers. Harvesting Freedom shows Canada’s place in the long history of slavery, colonialism, and inequality that has linked the Caribbean to the wider world for half a millennium--but also the tireless determination of Caribbean people to fight for their freedom. -- Publisher's description