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The article reviews the book, "International and Comparative Labour Law: Current Challenges," by Arturo Bronstein.

The article reviews the book, "The Transformation of Labour Law in Europe : A Comparative Study of 15 Countries, 1945-2004," edited by Bob Heppel and Bruno Veneziani.

In 2009, Ontario adopted the Employment Standards Amendment Act (Temporary Help Agencies) partly in response to public concern over temporary agency workers' lack of protection. Analyzing consequent changes to the Employment Standards Act in historical and international context, this article argues that while the Act now contains a section extending protections to temporary agency workers, several of its features take the province back to the future: specifically, its focus on temporary help agencies to the neglect of an overlapping group of private employment agencies and its exclusion of a key occupational group resemble unprincipled omissions and exclusions permitted previously. Limits on workers' politico-legal freedoms sanctioned under the new section also mirror precarious labour market conditions in early 20th century Ontario -- conditions prompting state intervention in the first place.

[E]xplores the precarious margins of contemporary labour markets. Over the last few decades, there has been much discussion of a shift from full-time permanent jobs to higher levels of part-time and temporary employment and self-employment. Despite such attention, regulatory approaches have not adapted accordingly. Instead, in the absence of genuine alternatives, old regulatory models are applied to new labour market realities, leaving the most precarious forms of employment intact. The book places this disjuncture in historical context and focuses on its implications for workers most likely to be at the margins, particularly women and migrants, using illustrations from Australia, the United States, and Canada, as well as member states of the European Union. Managing the Margins provides a rigorous analysis of national and international regulatory approaches, drawing on original qualitative and quantitative material. It innovates by analysing the historical and contemporary interplay of employment norms, gender relations, and citizenship boundaries. --Publisher's description

The article reviews the book , "Comrades and Critics: Women, Literature and the Left in 1930s Canada," by Candida Rifkind.

The article reviews the book, "Donner et prendre : la coopération en entreprise," by Norbert Alter.

The article reviews the book, "Are Worker Rights Human Rights?" by Richard P. McIntyre.

The traditional understanding of union-party relations in Canada suggests that the social-democratic New Democratic Party (NDP) is the party of organized labour. Reality, however, dictates that this is no longer the case. This paper examines the rise of the Working Families Coalition (WFC) and its effects on union-party. While popular rhetoric suggests that the Coalition is simply a front for the Liberal Party, a more in-depth analysis suggests otherwise. The paper suggests that the emergence of the WFC has significantly changed the union-party relationship in Ontario and consequently has altered the political strategy of the labour movement.

Shifts in Canada’s immigration policy, most recently linked to the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) with the US and Mexico, have created an increased reliance on temporary migrant workers, who constitute a disposable workforce, driven from their own countries by the same forces of neoliberal capitalism which foster their super-exploitation in the Canadian labour market. In this article, the operation of two migrant worker programmes, the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP) and Live-in Caregiver Program (LCP), are considered in the context of the province of British Columbia. The various means by which migrant workers are maintained in a state of vulnerability, available as a pool of cheap labour but excluded from belonging to the nation, are discussed. The article concludes by examining examples and further possibilities of alliances across social movements in BC in order to advance the struggle for human dignity.

The article reviews the book, "Razing Africville: A Geography of Racism," by Jennifer Nelson.

The article reviews the book, "The Undiscovered Paul Robeson: Quest for Freedom, 1939-1976," by Paul Robeson Jr.

Using longitudinal data from the Canadian Workplace and Employee Survey, this article estimates the union effect on a firm's ability to innovate new products. The results do not find a negative relationship between unions and product innovation. Surprisingly the presence of a union is found to have a small positive effect on a firm's ability to innovate new products. These results do not imply that unions are important determinants of product innovation; instead they are noteworthy because a negative effect is not observed. These findings contradict the popular assertion that unions generally detract from firm performance. The article then reviews the Canadian and U.S. empirical literature on the union effect on various measures of firm performance, such as labour costs, employment growth, sales and profitability. In keeping with the results of this paper it appears that the argument that unions detract from firm performance is not based on a conclusive body of empirical evidence.

The article reviews the book, "Contesting Clio's Craft: New Directions and Debates in Canadian History," edited by Christopher Dummitt and Michael Dawson.

S’inspirant de la perspective des « variétés de capitalismes », cette contribution analyse le rôle des milieux patronaux de l’industrie suisse des machines, de l’électrotechnique et de la métallurgie (MEM) dans le fonctionnement des relations industrielles et la gouvernance d’entreprise dans ce secteur au cours des trente dernières années. En se centrant sur le rôle des associations patronales de branche et des réseaux d’interconnexions des Conseils d’administration, elle explore l’hypothèse d’un glissement du modèle d’économie coordonnée qui caractérise traditionnellement la Suisse vers un modèle anglo-saxon d’économie libérale, axé sur les marchés concurrentiels. D’une part, la défection des sociétés membres, la concurrence d’associations rejetant le système de négociations collectives et l’offensive patronale en faveur d’une décentralisation et flexibilisation des relations industrielles a affaibli la coordination par les associations traditionnelles. D’autre part, l’évolution des réseaux d’interconnexions des Conseils d’administration, qui constituent un mécanisme de contrôle et de réduction de l’incertitude, indique une rupture brutale du contrôle des banques sur les industries ainsi que l’impact différencié de l’affirmation des mécanismes de marché concurrentiels sur l’intégration des grandes entreprises MEM dans le réseau national des Conseils d’administration. Les connexions sectorielles témoignent en effet d’une plus grande résistance que les liens entre les grandes entreprises MEM et celles d’autres secteurs. La contribution conclue à un rapprochement du capitalisme helvétique d’un modèle libéral de marché centré sur la compétition et les marchés boursiers, même si les formes de coordination, toujours plus sectorielles, restent indéniablement à l’oeuvre.

Contrary to Schein's theory of career anchors, which rests on the dominance of a single career anchor, the present study proposes an original career anchor structure that captures multiple dominant anchors. The analysis of data from a sample of 880 Quebec engineers supports this reconceptualization based on a circular model of career anchors. The new dynamics of career anchors shows that several anchors are complementary (e.g., creativity and challenge) while others are conflictual (e.g., challenge and security). In particular, the correlational analysis at the axial level indicates that the "self-enhancement" pole (managerial competence, identity) is negatively correlated with the "self-transcendence" (service/dedication to a cause, technical competence), whereas the pole "openness to change" (challenge, entrepreneurial creativity) is negatively correlated with the "conservation" pole (security, lifestyle). These findings can lead to more research in career management.

This article seeks to analyze whether, or to what degree, worker cooperatives are providing immigrant and refugee populations in Canada with a viable alternative to precarious employment, and if so, in what ways. Much of the existing research on precarious employment is limited in that it fails to address the root causes of precarious employments and fails to offer solutions or alternatives that can be organized by workers themselves, today. While several challenges remain to organizing and sustaining worker cooperatives, the cooperatives studied were successful in creating an alternative space of employment that provided control and flexibility over their work and lives and a sense of community and empowerment. More research is needed to better support and facilitate the development of cooperatives to truly harness the potential for the model.

Women´s employment in traditionally male manufacturing jobs is hindered by both formal and informal structures (Levine 2009). In light of recent recession-based changes in the Ontario economy, it is becoming more important for women to maintain well-paying manufacturing employment. Women face different challenges in the home and workplace than men. This paper investigates the Canadian Auto Workers´ (CAW) Union´s unique women´s advocacy program, as a promising mechanism to secure women´s safety at home and at work, while protecting their employment status. Drawing on ethnographic research with women auto workers and union women, our findings suggest that the CAW´s women´s advocacy program is innovative and beneficial in maintaining women´s employment as they attend to personal problems. This program can be extended throughout other locals and unions to assist women dealing with violence and other issues related to work-life experience.

Although many areas of work today are characterized by post-Fordist principles, there are still significant numbers of workplaces that have adapted and continue to operate using a Fordist model, and in particular, low-paying service industries that rely on a largely female and part-time labour force. This paper explores how the Fordist model has been adapted and extended within the Canadian coffee shop franchise industry. Qualitative interviews were conducted with staff and managers in selected coffee shops to gain a better understanding of how work is organized and managed in this industry.

Using recent survey data, this paper examines the career satisfaction of white/Caucasian and visible minority managerial, professional and executive employees in the information and communications technology and financial services sectors in corporate Canada. Black, South Asian and Chinese employees were less satisfied with their careers than white/Caucasian employees, but to varying magnitudes--with Black employees being the least satisfied. About 58% to 82% of the differences in career satisfaction scores, depending on the particular ethnic group, can be accounted for by factors included in this paper. Of the unexplained portion, most of the differences in career satisfaction between white/Caucasian and minority groups are attributable to higher returns to white/Caucasian employees' human capital and demographic characteristics.

This study uses human capital and gender stratification theory to answer three research questions concerning the gendered patterns of precarious employment the effects of human capital investments and family obligations on precarious employment, and the extent that these investments and obligations affect precarious employment differently for men and women. Lucrative jobs that offer benefits, union protection, with full-time work status were considered indicators of high quality and therefore non-precarious employment. Using data from U.S. respondents, findings suggest: a) a "gender" to precarious employment in that women are more likely to work in low quality job settings; b) gender discrepancies in benefits and union protection are explained by differences in men's and women's human capital, family investments, and other work-related situations; and, c) gender differences in wages and part- time work status result from workplace discrimination towards women. The implications of these findings are discussed along with recommendations for future research.