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In this article, I argue that graduate employees took on the political identity of precarious workers who face job insecurity and income insecurity, drawing attention to the casualization of work in the academic labor market in Canada, and the cost of undertaking graduate studies in Canadian universities. Their argument appealed to media, faculty, undergraduate students, and supportive media, which was key to building solidarity and public support for graduate employees’ struggle. Building on social movement unionism literature, I show how this identity moved the debate away from the bargaining table and into broader coalition building, suggesting a broader social movement unionism among academic workers.

Union renewal research calls for moving beyond broad terms, like community unionism, to specify how social relations of work shape renewal for different workers, sectors and contexts. Analysis of interviews with union officials and union members in publicly funded, in-home personal support reveal two community dimensions: both caring and racialized relations between workers and service recipients. Scholarship on care workers emphasizes empathy and coalition with service recipients as a key aspect of union renewal, yet says little about racialized tensions. Studies of domestic workers emphasize organizing in response to racialization, but provide little insight into caring social relations at work. This article develops arguments that both positive and negative worker–recipient relations shape union organizing and representation in the service sector by specifying the ways in which racialization contributes to this dynamic. It suggests that anti-racist organizing at work, alongside coalition building and collective bargaining, are important renewal strategies for this sector.

This dissertation explores the nature of workers’ self-activity during World War II and the ensuing responses to these actions by the state and capital. A close examination of wartime strikes demonstrates that top-down efforts by unions to operate within normative industrial relations were generally failures. Far more likely to be effective were democratic strikes, generally illegal, called from the shopfloor. The Workers’ War further illustrates that while the government passed incredibly coercive legislation to control labour, such legislation failed to have a significant impact. Even where it was most influential and targeted it was eventually beaten through direct action. Even Japanese Canadian forced labour in work camps with armed guards, undertook effective strikes. Largely interested in institutional and legislative changes, the unions, far from being a militant force, spent much of their energy trying to stop or curtail strikes. This thesis contends that the concretion of industrial legality in Canada was imposed to control effective action. Rather than breaking unions of their militancy, the dearth of a state terror apparatus necessitated the creation of compulsory bargaining legislation. First, it argues that the creation of the modern industrial relations regime that forms the foundation for modern labour law was the result of effective workers’ action rather than militant unions. It further shows that the repressive apparatus of the state was unable to control workers, necessitating a structural adjustment. In a larger sense, this thesis argues that this story is at the centre of the history of capitalism in Canada. The imposition of capitalist social relations on the geographies that become Canada had the transformation of land into capital via labour at the very core of its project. Controlling labour was a central concern, and the manner in which labour relations were consolidated was a reflection of a negotiation between labour, capital, and state- a manifestly unequal negotiation that largely failed to reflect the interests of workers.

The article reviews the book, "Household Workers Unite: The Untold Story of African American Women Who Built a Movement," by Premilla Nadasen.

In recent years K-12 school systems from New York to Mexico City to Toronto, serving vastly divergent students and communities, have been subject to strikingly similar waves of neoliberal policies by governments. A key manifestation has been the de-professionalization or deskilling of teachers. Organized labours response has been highly uneven geographically. Professional autonomy means a capacity and freedom of teachers to exercise their judgement in interpreting broad curriculum guidelines, into their day to day classroom activities. It is the primary obstacle to the further neoliberalization of education. The expansion of standardized instructional and evaluative techniques and technologies are necessary for opening new markets within schools and for weakening the collective power of teachers and their unions. Their proponents are limited by the existence of the classroom as a space of labour autonomy, run by experienced and highly educated teachers. Recognizing the significant crossover of policy at the North American scale alongside significant economic and political linkages, this dissertation centres on case studies in three cities, New York, Mexico City and Toronto. This dissertation assesses challenges to teachers professional autonomy from 2001 to 2016 across five dimensions of comparison. First are changes in governance, namely the centralization of authority, often legitimized by mobilizing policies from elsewhere. Second are policies which have shifted workplace power relations between principals and teachers, as with School Based Management programs that download budgetary, discipline and dismissal practices to school administrators. Third are the effect of standardized testing of students and teachers on the latters capacity to exercise professional judgement in the classroom through designing unique lesson plans, pedagogy and evaluation. Fourth is the creation of school choice for schools competing for enrolment and thereby funding, which has tended to perpetuate class and racial segregation. Finally, the ability of teachers unions to construct a multi scalar strategy is considered, including alliances with parents, communities and other sectors of labour. This dissertation concludes with recommendations for how teachers unions could respond to the challenge to professional autonomy with a stronger engagement on teacher practice and professional self-regulation.

This article reviews the book, "American Prophets: Seven Religious Radicals and their Struggle for Social and Political Justice," by Albert J. Raboteau.

L’externalisation, qui donne lieu à l’intégration indirecte du travail dans l’organisation productive, pose des défis importants pour la représentation collective des travailleuses et des travailleurs. C’est que le droit du travail a été établi en fonction d’un tout autre modèle organisationnel. Afin de mieux comprendre ces défis, nous avons mené trois études de cas sur la représentation collective en contexte d’externalisation des services publics d’aide à domicile au Québec durant la période 2003-2013. Les travailleuses concernées — majoritairement des femmes — occupent des emplois précaires chez trois types de prestataires privés intégrés à des réseaux locaux de services: entreprises d’économie sociale en aide domestique (EESAD), usagers du programme Chèque emploi-service (CES) et agences de location de personnel. Nous avons examiné si des pratiques de représentation collective de ces travailleuses existent et quels acteurs sociaux les portent. Nous avons aussi vérifié si ces pratiques se confinent à l’intérieur des frontières de l’entité identifiée comme l’employeur au sens juridique ou si elles sont « réticulaires », étendant la solidarité à la sphère du pouvoir stratégique (Appay, 1997) exercé par les autorités publiques dans les réseaux. Nos résultats montrent l’absence d’une représentation collective réticulaire dans ces réseaux locaux de services où la dévalorisation sexuée du travail, contrée en partie dans le secteur public, revient en force. Le personnel de 15% des EESAD est syndiqué, mais les pratiques de représentation syndicale n’interpellent que l’employeur reconnu au sens juridique, les EESAD. Dans les agences de location de personnel intégrées à ces réseaux locaux, aucune forme de représentation collective n’existe, ni dans le programme CES. Cependant, une action collective interpellant les autorités publiques au sujet des conditions d’emploi dans le CES a eu un certain succès ponctuel. Portée par une coalition d’associations locales représentant des personnes vivant avec des limitations fonctionnelles, elle ouvre la voie à l’idée d’alliances salariées-usagers autour de la qualité des services et de l’emploi. , Outsourcing, which entails the indirect integration of work into the organization of production and services, poses significant challenges for workers’ collective representation. This is because the relevant labour law is premised on a completely different organizational model. To gain insight into these challenges, three case studies were conducted on collective representation in the context of outsourcing of public homecare services in Quebec during the 2003-2013 period. The workers involved—for the most part women—held precarious jobs in three types of private service providers integrated into local networks of services: social economy domestic help enterprises (EESAD), users of the Service Employment Paycheque plan (SEP) and employment agencies. We examined whether these workers are represented collectively and which social actors are involved. We also investigated whether these practices are confined within the boundaries of the entity identified as the employer in the legal sense or whether they are “reticular”, extending solidarity to the sphere of strategic power (Appay, 1997) exercised by the public authorities in the networks. Our results show that there is no reticular collective representation in these local networks of services where the gendered devaluation of work, partly overcome in the public sector, is back with a vengeance. Employees in 15% of EESADs are unionized but the union representation practices only focus on the legally recognized employer, the EESADs. In the employment agencies integrated into these local networks, no form of collective representation exists, nor does such representation exist in the case of the SEP. However, collective action targeting the public authorities involving working conditions under the SEP has had some one-off success. Driven by a coalition of local associations representing people living with disabilities, it paves the way for the idea of employee-user alliances around service and job quality. , La externalización, que da lugar a la integración indirecta del trabajo en la organización productiva, plantea retos importantes a la representación colectiva de los trabajadores y trabajadoras. Es que el derecho laboral ha sido establecido en función de un modelo organizacional diferente. Para comprender mejor estos retos, hemos llevado a cabo tres estudios de caso sobre la representación colectiva en contexto de externalización de servicios públicos de asistencia domestica a domicilio en Quebec durante el periodo 2003-2013. Las trabajadoras concernidas – mayoritariamente mujeres – ocupan empleos precarios en tres tipos de proveedores privados integrados a las redes locales de servicios: las empresas de economía social de asistencia domestica (EESAD), los utilizadores del programa Cheque empleo-servicios (CES) y las agencias de empleo. Hemos examinado si las prácticas de representación colectiva de esas trabajadoras existen y cuáles son los actores sociales que los sostienen. Hemos verificado también si esas prácticas son confinadas al interior de las fronteras de la entidad identificada como empleador en términos jurídicos o si son « reticulares », extendiendo la solidaridad a la esfera del poder estratégico (Appay, 1997) ejercido por las autoridades públicas en las redes. Nuestros resultados muestran la ausencia de una representación colectiva reticular en esas redes locales de servicios donde la desvalorización sexuada del trabajo, bloqueada en parte en el sector público, regresa con fuerza. El personal de 15% de las EESAD es sindicalizado pero las prácticas de representación sindical interpelan únicamente al empleador jurídicamente reconocido, las EESAD. En las agencias de empleo integradas a esas redes locales, no existe ninguna forma de representación colectiva, ni en el programa CES. Sin embargo, una acción colectiva interpelando las autoridades públicas en cuanto a las condiciones de empleo en las CES tuvo cierto éxito puntual. Sostenida por una coalición de asociaciones locales que representaban las personas que viven con limitaciones funcionales, la acción abrió la vía a la idea de alianzas entre asalariados y utilizadores de servicios en torno a la calidad de los servicios y del empleo.

This article integrates the employment strain model with the social stress model in order to reveal the mechanisms that explain the relation between precarious employment and mental well-being. This model is applied to the case of temporary agency employment by analysing 41 in-depth interviews with temporary agency workers from Canada. The results show how temporary agency workers perceive employment-related uncertainties and efforts mainly as negative and to a lesser extent as positive experiences, respectively evoking strain or activation. Further, it is revealed how uncertainties and efforts mutually reinforce each other, which increases strain, and how support can serve as a buffer.

This article provides an overview of some key issues related to immigration in Quebec. Quebec stands out from the rest of Canada in terms of the origin of its immigrants, who come mainly from francophone countries. Quebec immigrants are relatively better educated than those elsewhere in Canada, but have higher unemployment rates. Our overview of the research examining the impact of immigration on the economy found that immigration has a relatively small impact. Given the above, we suggest that immigration in Quebec should be maintained at current levels–at least in the short term–but that selection and integration policies should be improved by, among other things, putting more emphasis on the needs of employers. In addition, candidates with Canadian or Quebec experience should be favoured. Finally, the impact of these policies will be limited without more openness to immigrants on the part of employers.

This article reviews the book, "Consumers in the Bush: Shopping in Rural Upper Canada," by Douglas McCalla.

This article reviews the book, "Silk Stockings and Socialism: Philadelphia's Radical Hosiery Workers from the Jazz Age to the New Deal," by Sharon McConnell-Sidorick.

This article provides a statistical picture of the economic well-being of Canadian children. We discuss changes in families, nationally and by province. We outline how Canadian policy in support of children has changed and how it differs across regions. Changes or differences in median incomes, in income distributions and in child poverty both before and after taxes and transfers, at different points of time, in different kinds of families, and in different provinces constitute the core of the article. Finally, the economic well-being of Canadian children in 2010 is compared with that of children in eight other affluent countries.

This article reviews the book, "The Making of Working-Class Religion," by Matthew Pehl.

While concerns and debates about an increased presence of non-citizen guest workers in agriculture in Canada have only more recently begun to enter the public arena, this dissertation probes how migrant agricultural workers have occupied a longer and more complex place in Canadian history than most Canadians may approximate. It explores the historical precedents of seasonal farm labour in Canada through the lens of the interior or the personal on the one hand, through an oral history approach, and the external or the structural on the other, in dialogue with existing scholarship and through a critical assessment of the archive. Specifically, it considers the evolution of seasonal farm work in Manitoba and British Columbia, and traces the eventual rise of an “offshore” labour scheme as a dominant model for agriculture at a national scale. Taking 1974 as a point of departure for the study of circular farm labour migration between Mexico and Canada, the study revisits questions surrounding Canadian views of what constitutes the ideal or injurious migrant worker, to ask critical questions about how managed farm labour migration schemes evolved in Canadian history. In addition, the dissertation explores how Mexican farm workers’ migration to Canada since 1974 formed a part of a wider and extended world of Mexican migration, and seeks to record and celebrate Mexican contributions to modern Canadian agriculture in historical contexts involving diverse actors. In exploring the contexts that have driven Mexican out-migration and transnational integration, it bridges oral accounts with a broader history that sets Mexican northward migration in hemispheric context. It reads agricultural migration upon various planes, including corporeality, experience, identity, masculinity, legality, “contra-modernity,” and the management of mobilities.

The focus of this research is the economic, social and health impacts of a living wage for employees in Ontario who were previously earning less than a living wage. The living wage is a calculation based on how much it costs for a family to live in a specific region. The rise of living wage campaigns is a response to the prevalence of low wage work. This research explains the significance of a living wage from the perspectives of workers compared to current research which concentrates on labour market impacts and how this policy affects businesses. Lived experience is emphasized as an important type of knowledge by including the voices of workers through qualitative interviews. Their experiences highlight how low-income and precarious work can affect workers’ lives and how the living wage addresses these problems. Their experiences also demonstrate how a living wage is a vast improvement from the minimum wage but also reveal the shortfalls of the current living wage framework. Overall, the living wage has a significant impact on the economic, social and health aspects of living wage workers but falls short as an all-encompassing solution for achieving a decent standard of work. Issues such as unaffordable housing, high tuition costs, lack of job opportunities for young workers and precarious work all contribute to an insufficient living wage. These types of social policies from governments and decent work provided by employers need to assist the living wage in achieving a good standard of living for all workers.

The article reviews the book, "On the Formation of Marxism: Karl Kautsky's Theory of Capitalism, the Marxism of the Second International and Karl Marx's Critique of Political Economy," by Jukka Grunow.

The article reviews the book, "Escape from the Staples Trap: Canadian Political Economy After Left-Nationalism," by Paul Kellogg.

The article reviews the book, "Sex Work Politics: From Protest to Service Provision," by Samantha Majic.

The nature of work arrangements in the film industry and the professional characteristics of cultural workers involved in film production impact the legal qualification of these workers. They highlight the difficult task of classifying actual work arrangements in one specific legal category: either an “employment relationship” or a “contract for services relationship”. If adequate legal frameworks are not in place to capture the reality of those work arrangements properly, the legal qualification may lead to uncertainty detrimental to workers’ access to collective representation. This uncertainty opens the door to work conflicts and contestations of different types. This paper builds a dialogue between two disciplines, legal analysis and cultural labour analysis, by comparing two locally embedded case studies: the “Hobbit Law” in New Zealand and the “Spiderwick Case” in Quebec (Canada). Firstly, we outline our theoretical and methodological approach, drawing on literature on cultural labour studies as well as legal analysis. Secondly, we compare the legal status of cultural workers and collective representation within each of our cases. Thirdly, we present full accounts of the chronology, conflicts and contestations within our two cases, as well as outlining the legislative outcomes in each. And finally, in comparing these cases, we illustrate the difficulty of legally qualifying these relations, the uncertainty this engenders and the differing impacts these difficulties have had on collective action in each industry. We emphasize that each case, with their vastly differing outcomes, provides evidence of both the inclusion of cultural workers within the boundaries of specific legislation fostering collective representation of artists (in the Spiderwick Case) and the exclusion of cultural workers from the boundaries of labour legislation enabling collective representation of employees (in the Hobbit Case). This is telling because these cases both took place in a location attracting Hollywood’s productions and, for both, this power of attraction remains crucial for the local industry. Understanding the impact of local cultural work regulation in the context of major global productions still lacks sustained attention and in this paper, we build a dialogue between our two cases to begin to remedy this. , La nature des modes d’organisation du travail dans l’industrie de la production cinématographique ainsi que les caractéristiques professionnelles des travailleurs oeuvrant dans la production de films influencent la qualification juridique de ces travailleurs. Ils mettent en lumière la difficulté de classer juridiquement les modes actuels d’organisation du travail au sein d’une catégorie juridique spécifique parmi celles disponibles, soit la « relation d’emploi » ou la « relation contractuelle en vertu d’un contrat de service ». Si des cadres juridiques adéquats permettant d’appréhender correctement la réalité de ces modes d’organisation du travail ne sont pas mis en place, l’exercice de qualification juridique peut mener à de l’incertitude, ce qui est néfaste pour l’accès des travailleurs visés à la représentation collective. Cette incertitude ouvre la porte à des conflits de travail et à des contestations de divers types. Le présent article développe un dialogue entre deux disciplines, l’analyse juridique et l’analyse du travail culturel, en comparant deux études de cas ancrés au niveau local : le « cas de la Hobbit Law » en Nouvelle Zélande et le « cas Spiderwick » au Québec (Canada). En premier lieu, nous exposons l’approche théorique et méthodologique retenue, en nous appuyant sur la littérature issue des études sur le travail dans le monde culturel (cultural labour studies en anglais), ainsi que sur l’analyse juridique. En second lieu, nous comparons le statut juridique des travailleurs culturels et leur représentation collective pour chacun des cas sous étude. En troisième lieu, nous présentons en détail les événements chronologiques et les enjeux soulevés dans chacun des conflits sous étude, ainsi que les conséquences législatives auxquelles ils ont respectivement mené. En dernier lieu, en comparant ces cas, nous illustrons la difficulté que représente l’exercice de qualification juridique, l’incertitude que cela engendre et les différentes conséquences que ces difficultés ont eues sur l’action collective dans chacune des industries en cause. Nous soulignons que la solution, très différente, adoptée pour résoudre chacun des conflits fournit une démonstration tant de l’inclusion de travailleurs culturels à l’intérieur des frontières de la législation spécifique favorisant la représentation collective d’artistes (dans le cas Spiderwick) que de l’exclusion de travailleurs culturels des frontières de la législation du travail permettant la représentation collective des salariés (dans le cas Hobbit). Cette démonstration est révélatrice parce que ces cas ont tous les deux pris place dans des lieux attirant les productions d’Hollywood et, pour les deux, ce pouvoir d’attraction demeure crucial pour l’industrie locale. L’impact de la régulation du travail culturel au niveau local dans le contexte de grosses productions mondiales demeure un sujet peu étudié. Dans le présent article, nous établissons un parallèle entre ces deux études de cas afin de commencer à remédier au manque d’analyse de la réalité du milieu cinématographique. , La naturaleza de los modos de organización del trabajo en la industria de producción cinematográfica y las características profesionales de los trabajadores que trabajan en dicha producción influencian la calificación jurídica de dichos trabajadores. Esto pone en evidencia la dificultad de clasificar jurídicamente los modos actuales de organización del trabajo en una categoría jurídica específica dentro de aquellas disponibles: « relación de empleo » o « relación contractual basada en un contrato de servicios ». En ausencia de marcos jurídicos adecuados para evaluar correctamente la realidad de esos modos de organización del trabajo, el ejercicio de calificación jurídica puede conducir a una situación de incertidumbre que sería perjudicial al acceso de dichos trabajadores a la representación colectiva. Dicha incertidumbre abre la puerta a conflictos de trabajo y a contestaciones de diversos tipos. El presente artículo desarrolla un dialogo entre dos disciplinas, el análisis jurídico y el análisis del trabajo cultural, para comparar dos estudios de caso arraigados a nivel local: el « caso de la Hobbiy Law » en Nueva Zelandia y el « caso Spiderwick » en Quebec (Canadá). Presentamos en primer lugar el enfoque teórico y metodológico retenido, apoyándonos en la literatura dedicada al estudio del trabajo en el mundo cultural (cultural labour studies) y al análisis jurídico. En segundo lugar, comparamos la situación jurídica de los trabajadores culturales y de su representación colectiva por cada caso estudiado. En tercer lugar, presentamos en detalle la cronología, los conflictos y las contestaciones correspondientes a cada caso, así como los retos y las consecuencias legislativas que se desprenden de cada caso. En último lugar, comparando ambos caso, ilustramos la dificultad que representa el ejercicio de la calificación jurídica de estas relaciones, la incertidumbre que esto engendra y el impacto de dichas dificultades sobre la acción colectiva en ambas industrias. Se destaca que la solución adoptada para resolver el conflicto, muy diferente en cada caso, procura una demostración tanto de la inclusión de los trabajadores culturales al interior de las fronteras de la legislación específica favoreciendo así la representación colectiva de artistas (en el caso Spiderwick), como también, de la exclusión de trabajadores culturales de las fronteras de la legislación laboral que permiten la representación colectiva de asalariados (en el caso Hobbit). Esta demostración es reveladora puesto que dichos casos han ocurrido en lugares que atraen los productores de Hollywood y, en ambos, ese poder de atracción sigue siendo crucial para la industria local. El impacto de la regulación del trabajo cultural a nivel local en el contexto de grandes producciones mundiales sigue siendo un sujeto poco estudiado. En el presente artículo, establecemos un paralelo entre esos dos estudios de caso con miras a paliar la escasez de análisis de la realidad del medio cinematográfico.

The article reviews the book, "Decolonizing Employment: Aboriginal Inclusion in Canada's Labour Market," by Shauna MacKinnon.