Your search

This article reviews "Labor in the United States" by Sanford Coher.

The following lengthy study of "The History of Labour Unrest in Canada, 1900-66," was undertaken on behalf of the federal government's Task Force on Labour Relations, which is now sponsoring dozens of separate research projects, in response to what appeared to be a major "crisis" in labour relations in this country during 1965-66. ...One final, and more specific, justification for undertaking a lengthy and detailed history of labour unrest in Canada, as manifested in strikes and other forms of overt conflict, is, to put it simply, that it has not been done before. As noted below, in discussing sources that were drawn upon in writing this study, there is a remarkable paucity of literature on the subject of industrial unrest and conflict in Canada. This is particularly the case in scholarly, academic and literary circles. --From introduction

This study compares the methods that are used to determine wages in the developing and developed countries of the Americas.

Part of the new aproach currently transforming the writing of Canadian history, this volume approaches the past in terms of people and the activities and events that shaped their existence. The essays explore the roots of the radical tradition and outline the struggle against industrial capitalism between 1850 and 1925. [This book] increases our understanding of the past, provides a valuable perspective on present struggles, and, in a broader sense, contributes substantially to a new and decisive synthesis of Canadian history. --Publisher's description

This article reviews the study « Des travailleurs et des emplois » by le Conseil Économique du Canada (Ottawa).

La notion de « système » est largement utilisée dans le domaine des relations industrielles, et cela, depuis fort longtemps. Elle implique un mode de reconstitution de la réalité différent de l'approche causale linéaire sur laquelle se fonde la méthodologie de la recherche empirique. Au lieu d'accentuer les différences entre ces deux modes de réflexion, les auteurs de cet article tentent de démontrer qu'ils sont complémentaires pour l'acquisition des connaissances dans le domaine des sciences humaines.

This book presents a picture of Canada's labour movement in the mid-seventies - its structure, its leaders, and aims.Two parallel themes run through Canada's Unions: the surge in labour militancy led by teachers, hospital workers, federal government workers and other public employees in response to the pressure of rising inflation; and the rise of nationalism and the increasing independence of the Canadian union movement during the 1970s. Canada's Union offers an unparalleled, immediate portrait of the state of the Canadian labour movement during a crucial decade of its existence. --Publisher's description (Google Books)

In order to induce firms to feel indifferent towards the sexes in their recruitment for the administrative level, the cause of preference towards males must be eliminated. In this paper the author discusses the preference for males that arise out of expected lower turnover for male employees.

Since the publication of [G. Douglas] Vaisey's work, the annual bibliography (carried on by Vaisey and Marcel Leduc until 1984 and then assumed by me and Robert Sweeny) published in Labour/Le Travail continued to serve as a current awareness tool. Then, several years ago a cumulative version of the English-language entries in the annual bibliographies, including subject descriptors and a sophisticated search engine, was mounted on the Queen Elizabeth II Library web site. During a sabbatical year in 2002/2003 entries for the period 1976-1984 were also added to the database. The result was a searchable bibliography of citations to works published after 1975 that served both as an update to Vaisey's work and a current bibliography of recently published material. In 2010, I decided to cease the task of adding newly-published titles to the bibliography. As a result, titles are only included if they were published between 1976 and 2009. --Author's Introduction

It is easy to forget today how desperate the need was for unions in the days of the worst exploitation and abuse of power by powerful companies. Who now could imagine workers being forced to strike to avoid wage cuts even in times of rising prices? Who could imagine them losing such a strike? This moving story of the miners and steelworkers of Cape Breton focuses on the issues which generated the most militant unions in Canada. Wage cuts, blacklisting, mine disasters, pit closings, police killings, collusion between management and government, company unions, bayonets and barbed wire, American interference, hostile legislation — all this and more have contributed to a century of labour violence and bitterness almost unparalleled in North America. This is a piece of Canadian history usually forgotten, a part of our history that affects us today more than we like to think. --Publisher's description

Labour relations are concerned with the dynamic interactions among workers, unions, employers, and government. These groups are engaged in a struggle for power; that is, the ability to achieve one's objectives despite resistance. This struggle usually results in a power conflict. The power conflict mayor may not create 'good' labour relations; that is, the establishment of mutual cooperation among the groups. The power conflict usually results in 'poor' labour relations as expressed by strikes. Strikes seem to be the main feature of labour relations. Practi­cally all the evidence accumulated on labour relations is concerned with strikes or the threat of strikes. Consequently, the evidence used in this thesis is concerned with the ten strikes which occurred in the coal mines of the Estevan-Bienfait area of Saskatchewan during the 1930s. The ten strikes were concerned with different issues. Strikes on September 8, 1931, October 3, 7, 17, 1938, and October 16, 1939, primarily involved wages, working conditions, and union recognition. The January 28 and February 23, 1932 strikes were caused by the refusal of some miners to join the Mine Workers Union of Canada and pay their dues. The strikes on February 22, 1932 and November l0, 1937 were concerned with the rein­ statement of a dismissed miner. The February 24, 1932 strike involved a sympathy display for the miners striking because their checkweighman was dismissed. These strikes occurred during the depression when both operators and miners found themselves in very difficult situations. There was little cooperation between management and labour as each group sought, in its own way, to increase its power, and to improve its economic position. Government attempts to restore peace and harmony to the troubled coal industry were also fraught with frustration. Labour relations in the Saskatchewan coal mines during the 1930s were characterized by conflict, frustration, and frequent work disruptions. This thesis examines the labour relations of that troubled industry.

This paper examines the effect of the unemployment insurance scheme on the duration of unemployment spells in Canada in the period 1953-1973.

The objective of this paper is to examine the operation of individual labour markets from the point of view of possible government intervention. The first section sets out a theoretical framework describing the operation of individual labour markets, while the second section develops a two-stage approach for identifying the sources of persistent imbalances in particular labour markets. The third section applies the proposed approach to three occupations in the Toronto area : auto mechanics ; sewing-machine operators ; and packaging hands. Alternative approaches by government are suggested for dealing with these imbalances.

Cet article tente d'illustrer le particularisme du régime de relations du travail dans l'industrie de la construction au Québec.

This paper develops a simple industry bargaing model with explicit consideration of the determinants of the bargaining range and the narrowing of that range over time as a function of perceived bargaining power and costs of settlement. The model is then applied to the public-interest sector under altered assumptions of costs of settlement and the introduction of political influences in the determination of bargaining paths. The impact of third party intervention is considered in both the industry and public-interest sector cases.

The objective here is to report on the experiences of the Special Committee on Collective Bargaining Impasses in Public Employment and to emphasize how the various parties viewed the impasses procedures then in effect and what kinds of revisions they considered most desirable.

Le propos de notre thèse consiste à tracer l'évolution des syndicats nationaux au Québec pendant la période 1900-1930. Par syndicalisme national, nous entendons les syndicats qui ont préféré s'organiser sur une base nationale plutôt que de s'affilier à une fédération internationale. Ces syndicats se divisent entre deux tendances: l'une, non-confessionnelle, basée sur un nationalisme politique; l'autre, confessionnelle, identifiée aux syndicats catholiques. Au tournant du siècle, les fédérations internationales qui se lancèrent à la conquête du Canada, augmentèrent de façon importante le nombre de syndicats affiliés. De 1898 à 1902, leur nombre doubla au Québec pendant qu'il triplait dans le reste du Canada. Au cours de leur expansion, les internationaux se heurtèrent aux syndicats nationaux déjà bien établis au Québec, particulièrement parmi les ouvriers de la chaussure. Il en résulta une série de conflits qui culminèrent avec l'expulsion des syndicatsnationaux du Congrès des Métiers et du Travail du Canada en 1902. Ces syndicats se regroupèrent alors dans le Congrès National des Métiers et du Travail du Canada dont l'objectif était d'amener les travailleurs canadiens â se donner des structures syndicales autonomes. Le Québec répondit à l'appel du CNMTC, mais les autres provinces ne se montrèrent pas aussi réceptives à la cause nationale. Réduit à devoir s'appuyer à peu près uniquement sur le faible réservoir de travailleurs québécois, le Congrès national, tout comme les fédérations nationales d'ailleurs, ne comptaient plus avant la Guerre que des effectifs extrêmement réduits. Plusieurs syndicats avaient incliné vers les fédérations internationales, d'autres - c'est le cas de ceux de la ville de Québec - préférèrent l'indépendance à une affiliation nationale. C'est parmi ces syndicats rëfractaires â une affiliation internationale que le clergé trouva ses éléments les plus dynamiques lorsqu'il s'attela à la tâche de former des syndicats catholiques. Leur nationalisme les rendait rëfractaires au syndicalisme international; restait pour le clergé à les convaincre d'associer à ce nationalisme la doctrine sociale de l'Eglise. A partir de la Guerre, le syndicalisme national se perpétua donc au Québec sous une formule confessionnelle. Ce qui amena le clergé â s'intéresser à l'organisation des travailleurs, ce furent les tendances "socialistes" et "anticléricales" qui se sont manifestées au sein des syndicats internationaux. Certaines de leurs réclamations concernant le système d'éducation et le droit de propriété privée ont alarmé les milieux cléricaux qui cruent pouvoir mettre les travailleurs catholiques à l'abri de leur influence. On chercha donc à implanter des syndicats catholiques, formule qu'avaient mis au point les catholiques sociaux en Europe. Née en période de difficultés économiques et mal adaptée aux réalités du monde du travail, la première vague de syndicats catholiques avant la Guerre aboutit à un fiasco complet. Fort de l'expérience acquise, le second groupe de syndiqués catholiques venus se greffer au mouvement après la Guerre, connut plus de succès. Et, à mesure que croissaient leurs effectifs, les chefs du mouvement crurent le moment venu en 1921 de se structurer au plan national en jetant les bases de la Confédération des Travailleurs Catholiques du Canada. Acculée à de sérieuses difficultés de recrutement et en butte â l'hostilité du patronat, la centrale radicalisa certainesde ses options dans les années 20. La négociation de conventions collectives devint prioritaire parmi ses préoccupations pendant que la grève et l'atelier syndical ferme ne lui sont plus apparus comme aussi condamnables. Dès cette époque, commença à s'établir un fossé entre l'idéologie véhiculée par les syndicats catholiques et leurs pratiques syndicales quotidiennes. Cet écart qui est apparu dès la fondation de la CTCC ira en s'accentuant par la suite.