Results | Labour Studies Index

Barnetson, B., & Foster, J. (2024). The Practice of Human Resource Management in Canada. AU Press. https://www.aupress.ca/books/120332-the-practice-of-human-resource-management-in-canada/

This introductory human resource management (HRM) textbook provides students with an overview of the major domains of human resource management (the “how-to”) with a focus on the practical application of the most recent HRM research and best practices. Students will learn to understand, anticipate, and respond to how power, profit, and intersectionality shape the practice of HRM. Moving beyond the typical procedure-oriented textbook, Barnetson and Foster provide thought-provoking political analysis to better prepare students for the real-world practice of human resource management. --Publisher's description

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Foster, J., Barnetson, B., & Cake, S. (2024). A Thumb on the Scale: Alberta Government Interference in Public-Sector Bargaining (p. 36 pages). University of Alberta, Parkland Institute. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378396226_A_Thumb_on_the_Scale_Alberta_Government_Interference_in_Public-Sector_Bargaining/link/65d7c4abadf2362b634e7dc3/download?_tp=eyJjb250ZXh0Ijp7ImZpcnN0UGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIiwicGFnZSI6InB1YmxpY2F0aW9uIn19

This report examines the ways governments, and specifically the Government of Alberta, interfere in public-sector collective bargaining through both legislative measures and non-legislative actions. It also explores how this growing interference may impact the 2024 bargaining round in Alberta.

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Foster, J., Barnetson, B., & Cake, S. (2024). From Advice to “Secret Mandates”: The Evolution of Government Intervention in Public-Sector Bargaining in Alberta, Canada. Relations Industrielles / Industrial Relations, 79(1), 17 pages. https://doi.org/10.7202/1112835ar

Governments in Canada are increasingly using multiple tools to advance their political agenda at the expense of free collective bargaining in the public sector. Legislative intervention has long been a strategy to curtail bargaining rights (Evans et al., 2023). Recently, governments have turned to non-legislative means to influence bargaining outcomes. This article is about the use of a coordination office, a decidedly non-legislative tactic, and how, over two rounds of negotiations, it transformed public-sector bargaining in Alberta. Bargaining has been further transformed by enactment of a legal requirement to keep the government’s mandates secret, the outcome being increased frustration among union representatives and potential damage to long-term relationships. Together, these measures have provided the government with a powerful means of influence, which, if successful, could spread to other jurisdictions.

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Barnetson, B. (2015). Worker Safety in Alberta: Trading Health for Profit. In M. Shrivastava & L. Stefanick (Eds.), Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy in Canada (pp. 225–247). AU Press. https://www.aupress.ca/app/uploads/120251_99Z_Shrivastava_Stefanick_2015-Alberta_Oil_and_the_Decline_of_Democracy_in_Canada.pdf

Prior to May 2015, the oil-rich jurisdiction of Alberta had, for over four decades, been a one-party state. During that time, the rule of the Progressive Conservatives essentially went unchallenged, with critiques of government policy falling on deaf ears and Alberta ranking behind other provinces in voter turnout. Given the province’s economic reliance on oil revenues, a symbiotic relationship also developed between government and the oil industry. Cross-national studies have detected a correlation between oil-dependent economies and authoritarian rule, a pattern particularly evident in Africa and the Middle East. Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy in Canada sets out to test the “oil inhibits democracy” hypothesis in the context of an industrialized nation in the Global North. In probing the impact of Alberta’s powerful oil lobby on the health of democracy in the province, contributors to the volume engage with an ongoing discussion of the erosion of political liberalism in the West. In addition to examining energy policy and issues of government accountability in Alberta, they explore the ramifications of oil dependence in areas such as Aboriginal rights, environmental policy, labour law, women’s equity, urban social policy, and the arts. If, as they argue, reliance on oil has weakened democratic structures in Alberta, then what of Canada as whole, where the short-term priorities of the oil industry continue to shape federal policy? In Alberta, the New Democratic Party is in a position to reverse the democratic deficit that is presently fuelling political and economic inequality. The findings in this book suggest that, to revitalize democracy, provincial and federal leaders alike must find the courage to curb the influence of the oil industry on governance.--Publisher's description.

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Foster, J., Cake, S., & Barnetson, B. (2022). Profits First, Safety Second: Canada’s Occupational Health and Safety System at 50. Labour / Le Travail, 90, 179–202. https://doi.org/10.52975/llt.2022v90.007

This article argues that while work-places are safer today than they were 50 years ago, the degree to which this change is due to Canada's occupational health and safety (ohs) system is unclear. Examining the literature and reflecting upon the authors' own experiences with work-place safety, the article suggests that fundamental flaws embedded in the principles of the system undermine its effectiveness at keeping workers safe. Specifically, the premise of joint responsibility – which is given life in the internal responsibility system (irs) – appears to ignore the conflicting interests and unequal power relations that exist in Canadian work-places. The circumstances that contributed to the historical effectiveness of the irs no longer exist, undermining the ability of workers to realize safe and healthy work-places.

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Barnetson, B., & Foster, J. (2015). Exporting Oil, Importing Labour, and Weakening Democracy: The Use of Foreign Migrant Workers in Alberta. In M. Shrivastava & L. Stefanick (Eds.), Alberta Oil and the Decline of Democracy in Canada (pp. 249–273). AU Press. https://www.aupress.ca/app/uploads/120251_99Z_Shrivastava_Stefanick_2015-Alberta_Oil_and_the_Decline_of_Democracy_in_Canada.pdf

In this case study, we examine why the use of Temporary Foreign Workers increased in Alberta, how the former Conservatives government of Alberta encouraged and justified the use of migrant workers, and how a petroleum-based economy affects labour markets and the democratic health of a region. This study also explores how Alberta’s use of migrant workers is consistent with labour-market dynamics in an oil-exporting economy. --Authors' introduction

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Broadway, M. J., Bucklaschuk, J., Contractor, D., Dunlop, D. A., Hambly, B., Hamm, Z., Kennett, P., Koshan, J., Lau, C. F. A., Martinelli, J. G., McIntyre, R. C., Medeiros, N., Preibisch, K., Rolfe, H., Tomic, P., Trumper, R., & Turner, K. E. (2016). Farm Workers in Western Canada: Injustices and Activism (S. A. McDonald & B. Barnetson, Eds.). University of Alberta Press. https://ualbertapress.ca/9781772121384/farm-workers-in-western-canada/

Bill 6, the government of Alberta’s contentious farm workers’ safety legislation, sparked public debate as no other legislation has done in recent years. The Enhanced Protection for Farm and Ranch Workers Act provides a right to work safely and a compensation system for those killed or injured at work, similar to other provinces. In nine essays, contributors to Farm Workers in Western Canada place this legislation in context. They look at the origins, work conditions, and precarious lives of farm workers in terms of larger historical forces such as colonialism, land rights, and racism. They also examine how the rights and privileges of farm workers, including seasonal and temporary foreign workers, conflict with those of their employers, and reveal the barriers many face by being excluded from most statutory employment laws, sometimes in violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. -- Publisher's description. Contents: Capitalist farms, vulnerable workers / Bob Barneston -- The personal experiences of an Alberta farm worker and activist / Darlene A. Dunlop with Shirley A. McDonald -- Georgic themes and myths of entitlement in the life writing of prairie settlers / Shirley A. McDonald -- Cows, meat, people / Michael J. Broadway -- A temporary program for permanent gains? / Jill Bucklaschuk -- Working away / Zane Hamm -- Farming the Constitution / Jennifer Koshan, Gianna Argento, Delna Contractor, Brynna Hambly (Takasugi), Paul Kennett, C.F. Andrew Lau, J. Graham Martinelli, Robin C. McIntyre, Nelson Medeiros, Heidi Rolfe, and Kay Elizabeth Turner -- BC-Grown / Kerry Preibisch -- Labouring in the "four-season paradise" / Patricia Tomic and Ricardo Trumper.

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