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The article reviews the book, "Union Revitalisation in Advanced Economies: Assessing the Contribution of Union Organising," edited by Gregor Gall.

As many of the traditionally unionized sectors of the economy experience crisis, unions are turning to social unionist strategies of coalition-building and community mobilization as a means of defending jobs through external solidarity. This paper explores the politics and dynamics of the Canadian Auto Workers' (caw) organization of a union-community coalition and rally in Windsor, Ontario as a means of defending the manufacturing base. The paper contends that while Windsor's May 2007 Manufacturing Matters rally was quite successful in its short-term aims, due to the caw's strong mobilizing structures and longstanding relationships between local unions and community organizations, internal coalition dynamics and framing processes led to decisions which limited the longer-term capacities of the campaign. The coalition opted to emphasize place over class as the unifying element, to produce non-adversarial discourses and tactics so as to avoid appearing anti-business, and to marginalize more militant talk and tactics. These outcomes raise questions about both the sustainability for ongoing solidarity and mobilization amongst the Windsor working class, and the capacity of the local labour movement to articulate counter-hegemonic interpretations of economic problems and promote policy options not dominated by the needs and interests of economic and political elites.

Analyzes some of the practices that cause discontent within unions including weaknesses in equity, internal politics, and decision-making practices.

The article reviews the book, "Canadian Labour in Crisis: Reinventing the Workers' Movement," by David Camfield.

Analyzes the tendency of public sector unions towards social unionist strategies, including in collective bargaining and mobilizing broader public support for services.

Explores the conceptual categories of business unionism and social unionism commonly used to classify different approaches to workers' interests, identities and strategies. [The author] points to their much more complex concrete expressions, and argues for a more careful assessment of different forms of workers' political activity, particularly since so many strategic recommendations for the movement's revival emphasize the centrality of social unionism to renewal. --Editor's introduction

Introduces the book's principal themes and comments on the essays contained therein.

The February 2012 closure of London, Ontario’s Electro-Motive Diesel by the notoriously anti-union US multinational Caterpillar symbolizes the deep challenges faced by private sector unions in globalized industries. This closure was the final blow in Caterpillar’s negotiations with Canadian Auto Workers Local 27. This article explores the implications of changes in corporate structure, investment, and labour-relations strategy in manufacturing that have reduced capital’s dependence on production and increased corporate power over workers. Through a detailed case study based on extensive analysis of a range of sources, the authors argue that union strategy must be guided by a more differentiated understanding of corporate structure. While unions can effectively mobilize in response to attacks by anti-union employers, union strategy must first be rooted in a careful study of the employer’s structure, strengths and weaknesses, and industry context. Second, unions must develop capacities to intervene at scales beyond the local employment relationship and community. Third, unions must consider more carefully the nature of the various forms of power they seek to deploy and how these forms of power can amplify each other. Even the most effective campaigns will fail to muster leverage over an employer or industry if they neglect developing these forms of knowledge and capacity.

This multi-disciplinary edited collection critically examines the causes and effects of anti-unionism in Canada. Primarily through a series of case studies, the book’s contributors document and expose the tactics and strategies of employers and anti-labour governments while also interrogating some of the labour movement’s own practices as a source of anti-union sentiment among workers. -- Publisher's description. Contents: Labour Under Attack: An Introduction to Anti-Unionism in Canada / Stephanie Ross & Larry Savage -- A Crisis of Representation: Anti-Unionism, Media and Popular Culture / Dennis Soron -- The Complexities of Worker Anti-Unionism / Stephanie Ross -- Inequality and Divisions on the Shop Floor: The Case of John Deere Welland Works / June Corman, Ann Duffy & Norene Pupo-Barkans -- Organizing Against the Odds: Anti-Unionism in Niagara’s Casino Gaming Sector / Larry Savage & Nick Ruhloff-Queiruga -- Anti-Unionism in Professional Sport: The Case of Major Junior Hockey / Simon Black -- The Cultural Politics of Labour in Retail / Kendra Coulter -- “I Work at VICE Canada and I Need a Union”: Organizing Digital Media / Nicole Cohen & Greig De Peuter.

This chapter describes the multi-faceted dynamics of anti-unionism in Canada, and considers how the labour movement might respond. Authors Larry Savage and Stephanie Ross describe the history of anti-unionism in politics, law, and Canadian culture while paying special attention to employer union avoidance tactics and the influence of mainstream media on the public perception of unions

Given [the] hostile political and ideological climate in which, rightly or wrongly, unions are seen as defenders of sectional rather than the general interest, the question of new and effective political strategies and tactics to combat austerity is all the more urgent for the labor movement. It is within this context that contributors to this special issue of Labor Studies Journal and other labor educators from across North America presented their research at the United Association for Labor Education conference in Toronto in March 2013 as part of six panels focused on labor’s strategic response to austerity. Panelists represented a wide range of different approaches, produced rich and varied research aimed at clarifying some of the obstacles facing unions, and explored the various routes open to the labor movement in its efforts to confront austerity. --From Editors' Introduction

For decades, public sector unions in Canada have been plagued by austerity, privatization, taxpayer backlash and restrictions on union rights. In recent years, the intensity of state-led attacks against public sector workers has reached a fevered pitch, raising the question of the role of public sector unions in protecting their members and the broader public interest. Public Sector Unions in the Age of Austerity examines the unique characteristics of public sector unionism in a Canadian context. Contributors to this multi-disciplinary collection explore both the strategic possibilities and challenges facing public sector unions that are intent on resisting austerity, enhancing their power and connecting their interests as workers with those of citizens who desire a more just and equitable public sphere. --Publisher's description

This article explores the contradictions in the Canadian Auto Workers Union’s (CAW) approach to environmental issues, particularly climate change. Despite being one of the Canadian labor movement’s leading proponents of social unionism— understood as a union ethos committed to working-class interests beyond the workplace, and a strategic repertoire that involves community-union alliances— the CAW’s environmental activism demonstrates the contradictory way that social unionism can be understood and practiced by unions. Through a critical discourse analysis of CAW policy documents and leadership statements, we show the union has not reframed its bargaining demands to emphasize both economically and environmentally sustainable production. Instead, the CAW’s relatively uncritical defense of the North American auto industry and the jobs it provides, despite the clearly negative role such production plays in the climate crisis, its acceptance of the structures of automobility, and its emphasis on environmental issues that have little to do with the nature of their industry, indicates the way that social unionism can be an add-on rather than a fundamental reorientation of a union’s role and purpose. We argue that, for social unionist environmental activism to be effective, the CAW must incorporate social unionist goals and analyses into their bargaining priorities, and confront the contradictions between their members’ interests as autoworkers, on the one hand, and as workers and global citizens who require economically and environmentally sustainable livelihoods, on the other.

Though the Canadian labour movement’s postwar political, economic and social achievements may have seemed like irrevocable contributions to human progress, they have proven to be anything but. Since the mid-1970s, labour’s political influence and capacity to defend, let alone extend, these gains has been seriously undermined by the strategies of both capitalist interests and the neoliberal state. Electoral de-alignment and the decline of class-based voting, bursts of unsustained extra-parliamentary militancy and a general lack of influence on state actors and policy outcomes all signal that the labour movement is in crisis. Despite much experimentation in an attempt to regain political clout, labour continues to experience deep frustration and stagnation. As such, the labour movement’s future political capacities are in question, and the need for critical appraisal is urgent. Understanding how and why workers were able to exert collective power in the postwar era, how they lost it and how they might re-establish it is the central concern of Rethinking the Politics of Labour in Canada. With essays from established and emerging scholars from a wide range of disciplines, this collection assesses the past, present and uncertain future of labour politics in Canada. Bringing together the traditional electoral-based aspects of labour politics with analyses of the newer and rediscovered forms of working-class organization and social movement-influenced strategies, which have become increasingly important in the Canadian labour movement, this book seeks to take stock of these new forms of labour politics, understand their emergence and assess their impact on the future of labour in Canada. --Publisher's description. Contents:  Rethinking the Politics of Labour in Canada: An Introduction / Stephanie Ross & Larry Savage -- Part 1: Contextualizing Labour and Working-Class Politics. Canadian Labour and the Crisis of Solidarity / Donald Swartz & Rosemary Warskett -- Business Unionism and Social Unionism in Theory and Practice / Stephanie Ross. Part 2: The Challenge of Electoral Politics. The New Democratic Party in the Era of Neoliberalism / Bryan Evans -- Québec Labour: Days of Glory or the Same Old Story? / Peter Graefe -- Organized Labour and the Politics of Strategic Voting / Larry Savage -- Labour and the Politics of Voting System Reform in Canada / Dennis Pilon -- Part 3: The Prospects of Extra-Parliamentary Activism. Unions, Gender Equity and Neoconservative Politics / Amanda Coles & Charlotte Yates -- Social Unionism, Partnership and Conflict: Union Engagement with Aboriginal Peoples in Canada / Suzanne Mills & Tyler McCreary -- Canadian Labour and the Environment: Addressing the Value-Action Gap / Dennis Soron -- Community Unionism and the Canadian Labour Movement / Simon Black -- Anti-Poverty Work: Unions, Poor Workers and Collective Action in Canada  / Kendra Coulter -- Organizing Migrant and Immigrant Workers in Canada / Aziz Choudry & Mark Thomas -- Labour, Courts and the Erosion of Workers’ Rights in Canada / Charles Smith. Includes bibliographical references (pp. 198-222).

This article seeks to engage Jansen and Young’s recent research on the impact of changing federal campaign finance laws on the relationship between organized labour and the New Democratic Party. Jansen and Young use models from mainstream comparative politics to argue that unions and the NDP retain links due to a “shared ideological commitment” to social democracy, rather than an expectation of mutual rewards and despite changes in the global economy. We critically assess the evidence, method of comparison, and theoretical assumptions informing their claims and find many aspects unconvincing. Instead, we propose that better explanations of this enduring yet strained relationship can be formulated by drawing insights from Canadian political economy, labour history and working class politics, and comparative social democracy.

Contrasts business unionism and social unionism with "social movement unionism" as a model of public sector worker engagement.

Analyzes the turbulent history of labour relations between public sector unions and provincial and federal governments since the 1970s. Summarizes the distinctive features of the neoliberal state as employer.

Portrays nonprofit social services as a largely female, increasingly diverse workforce with a strong care ethic. Concludes that values of social justice and social unionism are integral both to worker engagement and resistance of state austerity and managerialism.

Examines the "politicization of caring" and the contest for the public trust between nurses and the state since 1960. Concludes that nurse militancy demonstrates how the battle against austerity can be fought.