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The article is the text of the speech given in honour of Shirley Goldenberg as recipient of CIRA's award at its annual conference in 2000.

Editorial introduction to the theme of the issue.

Editorial introduction to the issue.

Drawing on the results of a national survey of labor organizations in Canada, this paper focuses on the changing environment and strategic orientations of unions. It looks at the strategic dilemma facing Canadian unions on the basis of a reading of their organiza tional and bargaining priorities and their relative success in achiev ing them. Key results include the necessity of a strategic mix be tween traditional and new types of objectives as well as the impor tance of policy and the democratic dialogue that underpins that policy in achieving union objectives and pursuing union renewal.

The conflict between property rights and the right of association creates the case for various policy avenues to ensure that employees have effective access to the right to associate for the purposes of collective bargaining. One such labour policy in Canada is first-contract arbitration. The experience of this policy in Quebec over the last three decades has achieved key objectives: ensuring first agreements for newly unionized workers, developing constructive bargaining relationships and overcoming what can be a major obstacle to an effective right to associate. After reviewing this experience, this article provides an overview of the unionization campaigns resulting in union certifications for the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada in six Wal-Mart facilities in Quebec province over the last six years. It then examines two recent cases of first-contract arbitration for these certifications. In one case, the company summarily closed the department concerned after the first contract was awarded. In the second case, the store remains open, with an operative collective agreement. Absent a policy of first-contract arbitration, it appears unlikely that this would be the case. The evolution of the bargaining relationship beyond the first-contract will provide a key test of the relative efficacy of Canadian policy approaches to ensure the freedom of association.

Editorial introduction to the themes examined in the issue.

This article explores paths for the renewal of the study of industrial relations and labour law. Through a comparative historical review of these two fields of study, it examines their common roots and legacies and a range of renewal initiatives. It is argued that both fields need to reappropriate core values: recognition of the fundamental inequality of the parties to the employment relationship; and recognition of the need to compensate for this inequality through collective processes. The seeds of this renewal are identified in both labour law and industrial relations. Their future lies in the emergence of an integrated field of study of work and employment and in the role and future of work as a vector of democracy.

Cet article explore les voies du renouvellement de l'étude des relations industrielles et du droit du travail. À travers un examen historique comparatif de ces deux domaines d’études, il examine leurs racines et héritages communs ainsi qu'une série d'initiatives de renouvellement. Il est soutenu que les deux domaines doivent se réapproprier des valeurs fondamentales : la reconnaissance de l'inégalité fondamentale des parties à la relation de travail et la reconnaissance de la nécessité de compenser cette inégalité par des processus collectifs. Les germes de ce renouveau sont identifiés à la fois dans le droit du travail et dans les relations industrielles. Leur avenir réside dans l'émergence d'un champ d’études intégré du travail et de l'emploi et dans le rôle et l'avenir du travail en tant que vecteur de démocratie.

C’est avec tristesse et désarroi que nous apprenions, le 28 juin 2018, le décès de notre collègue et ami, Jacques Bélanger. Comme bien des lecteurs et des lectrices de la revue RI/IR le savent, Jacques Bélanger fut un professeur titulaire renommé du Département des relations industrielles de l’Université Laval, un contributeur fréquent à RI/IR, et le codirecteur et cofondateur du Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur la mondialisation et le travail, le CRIMT. Intellectuel brillant, théoricien novateur, pédagogue chevronné, comment, dans un espace si restreint, donner un juste aperçu de ce que Jacques fut et de son immense contribution à la recherche et à l’avancement des connaissances sur le travail humain dans ses multiples déclinaisons ? Jacques Bélanger, chercheur de réputation mondiale, est toujours demeuré profondément attaché à ses origines et à Saint-Vallier de Bellechasse, son village.... / Our reaction to news of the death of our dear colleague and friend, Jacques Bélanger, on 28 June 2018, was one of deep sadness and dismay. As so many RI/IR readers will know, Bélanger was a distinguished Professor in the Industrial Relations Department at Université Laval, a frequent contributor to RI/IR, and the co-director and co-founder of the Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work, the CRIMT. Bélanger was a brilliant intellectual, innovative theorist and accomplished teacher. In the few words permitted here, we can only provide a glimpse of his multiple contributions to research and the advancement of knowledge across diverse aspects of contemporary work and employment. Despite his international renown, Jacques Bélanger was profoundly attached to his origins and, in particular, to his birthplace and village of origin, Saint-Vallier de Bellechasse.....

This article examines union members’evaluation of the relevance of unions and their identification with a traditional collective value frame for union action. It seeks to take account of the impact of increasing labor market heterogeneity, declining instrumentality, and the behavior of unions and employers. Using Canadian data gathered from individual union members and their local union leaders, the study finds that new labor market identities are notlinked to weaker belief in the relevance of unions but are associated with weaker identification with the traditional value frame. Although declining instrumentality and hostile employer behavior are associated with greater identification with traditional value frames, greater union democracy is associated with less membership disaffection on both the relevance of unions and their collective modes of action. Union democracy is therefore found to be a key tool to address membership disaffection and to generate collective identities for a renewed union project.

Workplace representatives (shop stewards) provide insight into union transformations. This article explores the renewed research interest in terms of the representativeness of unionism and of workplace representatives, the complexity of the sites of representation and employer strategies, the search for new references and the centrality of workplace representatives in union renewal strategies.

Affectées par des changements nombreux, les équipes syndicales doivent elles-mêmes se transformer. Comment comprendre leurs cheminements divers dans ces péripéties ? Une comparaison entre des établissements canadiens et européens permet de fonder empiriquement et théoriquement une analyse de ces phénomènes. Les auteurs formulent le concept de « syndicalismes référentiels ». Il articule les principales dimensions à travers lesquelles se dessinent les transformations des acteurs : répertoires d’action, identités collectives, ressources, capacité représentative, capacité stratégique. En retenant les cas de deux établissements, canadien et français, l’article illustre la place respective et les interactions de ces dimensions. Leur hiérarchisation au sein de l’action collective permet de comprendre pourquoi des situations institutionnelles inégales peuvent donner lieu à des évolutions analogues. L’incertitude, les pertes de repère caractérisent une phase paradoxale où les acteurs collectifs ne peuvent échapper aux risques d’une redéfinition.

Cet article s’intéresse à la contribution des alliances syndicales internationales (ASI) à l’effectivité des Accords-cadres internationaux (ACI), notamment à leur capacité à favoriser le processus de syndicalisation et de négociation de conventions collectives dans des pays où la législation nationale peine à assurer le respect de ces droits fondamentaux. Le contenu de ces accords, généralement le fruit d’une entente bilatérale entre la direction d’une multinationale et celle d’une Fédération syndicale internationale, repose habituellement sur certaines conventions de l’OIT dont celles relatives au droit d’association et à la liberté de recourir à la négociation collective.

[A]nalyzes the Quebec experience with union renewal, focusing on the critical role of power resources, that is "resources that a union can access and mobilize in order to influence the process of change." --Editors' introduction

[H]ighlights some of the innovations in structures, policies, and practices underway in union organizations in Canada, and the factors underlying the patterns of change. The paper draws on an extensive survey of innovations and change conducted by the authors in 2001 in partnership with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and major unions and federations. --Editors' introduction