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The article reviews the book, "Corporate Integrity, Rethinking Organizational Ethics and Leadership," by Marvin T. Brown.

This paper examines the impact of enterprise bargaining on employment relations practices in the Australia automotive assembly sector in the context of the globalization of the industry. While there has been convergence towards lean production principles among the four auto assemblers, arising from global trends, there has also been divergence resulting from enterprise bargaining, among other variables. Strong similarities are apparent between the companies in areas such as work organization, skill formation and enterprise governance, whereas there are differences in remuneration and staffing practices. However, it remains to be seen whether decentralized bargaining will continue to yield greater differentiation in employment relations among the automotive manufacturers in an increasingly globalized industry.

Cet article examine le rôle de la médiation comme outil d’action sur la confiance entre les représentants de salariés et d’employeurs. La notion de confiance est appréhendée à travers les typologies de McAllister (1995) et de Lewicki et Bunker (1995b). Il apparaît que la médiation joue un rôle fort sur la dimension cognitive de la confiance, mais un rôle moindre sur sa dimension affective. Parallèlement, les dimensions basées sur le calcul et sur la connaissance sont fortement influencées, mais la médiation a un impact plus faible sur la dimension identitaire de la confiance. Une approche en termes de « contrat psychologique » peut alors aider à rétablir la confiance identitaire ou affective, bien qu’il puisse subsister une part de méfiance irréductible, liée aux blocages idéologiques. Cette réflexion est illustrée par une étude qualitative du « dispositif d’appui au dialogue social » mis en place par l’Agence nationale pour l’amélioration des conditions de travail (ANACT) en France.

The article reviews the book, "From Culture to Democracy: Culture and Politics in the Italian Elections of 1948," by Robert A. Ventresca.

The article pays homage to labour activist Danielle Cuisinier Dionne (1921-2006).

Jeanne Corbin typifies the female militants of the first generation of Canadian Communists. Andrée Lévesque's powerful account of the experiences of Corbin and her female comrades reveals the essential role women played in the movement. Levesque also shows that, despite some efforts to construct egalitarian gender relations, these women subordinated gender issues to the class struggle. Corbin's red itinerary began when she joined the Young Communist League in Edmonton. She later held party posts across the country through her involvement with The Worker in Toronto, a French communist paper in Montreal, the Workers' Cooperative in Timmins, and a lumbermen's strike in Abitibi - where she was jailed for taking part in a protest. She died of tuberculosis in London, Ontario, in 1944. Levesque relies on a wide range of sources to provide a unique exploration of Canadian labour and social history. --Publisher's descriptioin

[C]ontributes to an understanding of the nature of precarious employment and its broader social implications, with an emphasis on its impact on health. It reports findings of a survey exploring connections between the employment relationship, the organization of work, and workers' health. ...[The authors] develop a new concept - "employment strain" - to examine how precarious employment relationships affect workers' health.

The industrial relations system at Magna International is an example of an integrated, coherent, non-union human resource management strategy. It includes significant mechanisms of worker voice and conflict resolution as substitutes for union representation. Potential labor-management conflicts associated with Taylorized labor processes are often translated into group problem-solving. Redistributive conflicts are re-framed as mutual gains through profit-sharing. Corporate communications promote an ethos of competitiveness. Individualized pay and promotion schemes, segmented internal labor markets, and the exposure of individual plants to competitive pressures, promote cultures of labor cooperation in the pursuit of productivity gains. The success of this union avoidance model is situated in a context of the erosion of unionized labor relations, the disciplinary effects of precarious labor markets, and the vulnerability of workplaces to transnational competitive forces. Continued success is predicated on Magna's ability to survive sectoral and macroeconomic restructuring forces which are, in large measure, beyond management's control.

The article reviews and comments on several books including "Every Man a Speculator: A History of Wall Street in American Life," by Steve Fraser, "Something for Nothing: Lick in America," by T. J. Jackson Lears and "Born Losers: A History of Failure in America," by Scott A. Sandage.

[Analyzes] existing legislation, law and legal literature on the application of occupational health and safety and on workers' compensation legislation in Quebec. [Argues] there are very few tools available to examine regulatory effectiveness from a legal perspective...[and that] it is crucial for legal researchers to join with researchers determining health effects. --From editor's introductory chapter, p. 38.

The article reviews the book, "Worker Centers: Organizing Communities at the Edge of the Dream," by Janice Fine.

The article reviews the book, "Men of Blood: Violence, Manliness and Criminal Justice in Victorian England," by Martin J. Wiener.

Compilation of recent English/French publications on Canadian labour history that emphasize the period 1800-1975. Materials pertaining to the post-1975 period may also be included, although more selectively. [See the database, Canadian Labour History, 1976-2009, published at Memorial University of Newfoundland.]

Much research on precarious employment compares permanent workers with one or two other broadly-defined employment categories. We developed a more refined method of examining precariousness by defining current employment arrangements in terms of job characteristics. These employment arrangement categories were then compared in terms of socio-demographics and self-reported job insecurity. This investigation was based on a cross-sectional population-based survey of a random sample of 1,101 working Australians. Eight mutually exclusive employment categories were identified: Permanent Full-time (46.4%), Permanent Part-time (18.3%), Casual Full-time (2.7%), Casual Part-time (9.3%), Fixed Term Contract (2.1%), Labour Hire (3.6%), Own Account Self-employed (7.4%), and Other Self-employed (9.5%). These showed significant and coherent differences in job characteristics, socio-demographics and perceived job insecurity. These empirically-supported categories may provide a conceptual guide for government agencies, policy makers and researchers in areas including occupational health and safety, taxation, labour market regulations, the working poor, child poverty, benefit programs, industrial relations, and skills development.

In two parts, the Notebook opens with "Steel-ing Cape Breton's Labour History," by Dan McDonald, who critiques "The Steel Plant in the Home," an exhibit at the Cape Breton Centre for Heritage and Science. McDonald also argues that Cape Breton's rich labour history has been trumped by the notorious Sydney tar ponds and a giant fiddle built as as tourist attraction. The second part, entitled "Report from the Archives: Records of the Joint Action Group to Clean Up the Sydney Tar Ponds," by Wendy Robicheau, discusses the 90 linear metres of unprocessed records received by the Beaton Institute from the Joint Action Group, a community-based organization dedicated to cleaning up the tar ponds.

An essay is presented on industrialization. It offers a history of employment and examines the possible role of employers in the proliferation of work culture. The author relates his first experience with unionized environment and discusses conversations he has had with several employees on the subject of labor union.

[This book updates] recent and classic scholarship on the history, politics, and social groups of the working class in Canada. Some of the changes...in the new edition include better representation of women scholars and nine provocative and ground-breaking new articles on racism and human rights; women's equality; gender history; Quebec sovereignty; and the environment. --Publisher's description

The article reviews the book, "Unsocial Europe: Social Protection or Flexploitation?," by Anne Gray.