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Working Class Experience is a sweeping and sympathetic study of the development of the Canadian working class since 1800. Beginning with a substantial and provocative introduction that discusses the historiography of the Canadian working class, the book goes on to establish a general framework for analysis of what ultimately is a social history of Canada. Dividing the years into seven periods in the evolution of class struggle, it beings each chapter with an assessment of that period's prevailing economic and social context, followed by an examination of the many factors affecting the working class during that period. Written in a colourful and sometimes irreverent style, Working Class Experience focuses on the processes by which working people moved, and were moved, off the land and into the factories and other workplaces during the Industrial and post-Industrial Revolutions in Canada. Drawing on much recent work on contemporary capitalism, Working Class Experience offers a significant explanation of the malaise in current labour and management relations and speculates on its significance for progressive change in Canadian Life. --Publisher's description

The article briefly reviews "The Formation of Labour Movements, 1870-1914: An International Perspective," edited by Marcel Van Der Linden,and Jurgen Rojahn, "Reluctant Icon: Gladstone, Bulgaria, and the Working Classes, 1856-1878," by Ann Pottinger Saab, "On the Move: Essays in Labour and Transport History Presented to Philip Bagwell," edited by Chris Wrigley and John Shepherd, "Regulating a New Economy: Public Policy and Economic Change in America, 1900-1933," by Morton Keller, "The Nature of Work: Sociological Perspectives," edited by Kai Erickson and Steven Peter Vallas, "Repression and Recovery: Modern American Poetry and the Politics of Cultural Memory, 1910-1945," by Cary Nelson, "The Arbitration of Rights Disputes in the Public Sector," by Clarence R. Deitsch and David A. Dills, "Women, Employment and the Family in the International Division of Labour," edited by Sharon Stichter and Jane L. Parpart, "History from South Africa: Alternative Visions and Practices," edited by Joshua Brown et al., "Arbitration Discharge: Grievances in Ontario : Outcomes and Reinstatement Experiences," by Peter J. Barnacle, "Labour Arbitration Yearbook, 1991, Volume 1," edited by William Kaplan, Jeffrey Sack, and Morley Gunderson, "Class War: A Decade of Disorder," edited by Ian Bone, Alan Pullen and Tim Scargill, "Taylorism Transformed: Scientific Management Theory Since 1945," Stephen P. Waring, and "Women Workers and Global Restructuring," edited by Kathryn Ward / reviews by Bryan D. Palmer -- "Foreign Language Literature on the Nordic Labour Movements," edited by Marianne Bagge Hansen and Gerd Callesen / review by Gregory S. Kealey.

The article reviews the book, "Russia's Cotton Workers And The New Economic Policy," by Chris Ward.

The article reviews the book, "Industrial Harmony In Modern Japan: The Invention Of A Tradition," by W. Dean Kinzley.

Cet article examine l'évolution du discours et des revendications du Comité féminin de la CTCC-CSN. Créé en 1952 à la demande des travailleuses de cette centrale, ce comité reçoit le mandat d'étudier les problèmes particuliers de la main-d'œuvre féminine. Les résultats de l'analyse révèlent que les membres de ce comité semblent se situer, en fait, à la jonction de deux courants idéologiques qui se chevauchent sans pour autant s'exclure l'un l'autre. En effet, leur réflexion et leurs pratiques revendicatives s'inspirent à la fois d'un féminisme égalitaire et d'un discours de la différence modulé par l'intériorisation des rapports sociaux de sexe et notamment, par l'assignement prioritaire des femmes à la sphère privée. Au coeur de cette ambivalence se trouve peut-être un fil conducteur permettant de mieux comprendre le cheminement de ces militantes dans leur volonté de définir un nouvel espace social pour les femmes.

The article reviews the book, "Hello Central? Gender, Technology, and Culture in the Formation of the Telephone Systems," by Michèle Martin.

The problems of time delay, costs and legalism in grievance arbitration are interrelated. Previous studies, as well as new data from the Province of Alberta, show that delays are increasing and that the average grievance that ultimately is resolved through arbitration takes a year to proceed from its origin to the arbitrator's award. Factors associated with time delay include the use of 3-person boards (as opposed to sole arbitrators), the sector (public or private), and the type of issue. The most obvious way to save time without a drastic overhaul of the system is to use sole arbitrators more frequently. In order to reduce the length of the process, it is useful to break the process into 4 distinct phases: 1. the grievance procedure stage, 2. the arbitrator selection stage, 3. the scheduling stage, and 4. the decision stage. The first and last stages need not be tampered with; however, refinements in the arbitrator selection and scheduling stages must be addressed.

The article reviews the book, "New Forms of Ownership," edited by Glenville Jenkins and Michael Poole

The article reviews the book, "New Times: The Changing Face of Politics in the 1990s," edited by Stuart Hall and Martin Jacques.

The article reviews the book, "Work and Wages: Natural Law, Politics and the Eighteenth-Century French Trades," by Michael Sonenscher.

Data on 430 union organizing campaigns in the US are used to examine the incidence and patterns of organizing tactics in representation campaigns. The results show that most traditional tactics were widely used, but most new organizing strategies and tactics were infrequently used in the sample of representation campaigns. None of the corporate power tactics were used in more than 5% of the campaigns. The community acceptance and integration tactics tended to be used less often than the classical approach tactics but more often than the corporate power tactics. Service unions tended to use the classical approach tactics less often and the corporate power and the community acceptance and integration tactics more often than manufacturing unions. Manufacturing unions used paid advertisements more often than service unions, perhaps because they have more resources at their disposal to do so. The importance of new organizing strategies seems to have been exaggerated in the literature.

The article reviews the book, "Moncton 1871-1929. Changements socio-économiques dans une ville ferroviaire," edited by Daniel Hickey.

The article reviews the book, "Religion, Revolution and English Radicalism: Nonconformity in Eighteen-Century Politics and Society," by James Bradley.

The article reviews the book, "Unions and Economic Competitiveness," edited by Lawrence Mishel and Paula B. Voos.

The article reviews the book, "Robust Unionism. Innovations In The Labor Movement," by Arthur B. Shostak.

The article reviews the book, "Work Family Conflicts: Private Lives ― Public Responses," by Bradley K. Googins.

This social history of coal mining in Nova Scotia's Pictou County offers a unique portrait of a long-established working-class community.There are detailed accounts of the changing work-life of miners told in the words of the miners themselves. Family and social life, union agitation, relations with the company and strikes are all described. There are several accounts of major disasters in the mines. The book concludes with a discussion of the revival of coal mining in recent years with the Westray Mine, and an account of the 1992 disaster. Extensively illustrated with historical photographs, Coal in our Blood is a valuable contribution to Nova Scotia's social and labour history. --Publisher's description

The article reviews the book, "For Democracy, Workers, and God: Labor Song-Poems and Labor Protest, 1865-1895," by Clark D. Halker.

The article reviews the book, "Artisans into Workers: Labor in Nineteenth Century America," by Bruce Laurie.

The article reviews the book, "Order Against Chaos: Business Culture and Labor Ideology in America, 1880-1915," by Sarah Lyons Watts.