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Human Rights in Labor and Employment Relations: International and Domestic Perspectives, edited by James A. Gross and Lance Compa, is reviewed.

The European Sectoral Social Dialogue: Actors, Developments and Challenges, edited by Anne Dufresne, Christophe Degryse and Philippe Pochet, is reviewed.

S’appuyant principalement sur une recension de données qualitatives, cet article vise à mettre en lumière les façons selon lesquelles les agents de service d’un centre d’appel de la région de Montréal parviennent à se dégager certains espaces d’autonomie pour s’engager activement dans le rôle associé à leur travail. Les résultats qui y sont présentés suggèrent que leur activité de travail s’articule autour des notions d’engagement et de distanciation dans une perspective duale. En fait, puisque leur prestation de service se déroule à la frontière de l’organisation et du marché, ils parviennent à mobiliser certaines ressources dans cette zone pour se réapproprier les contraintes pesant sur eux. Ils opérationnalisent cette réappropriation en appliquant les principes d’un engagement instrumental envers l’organisation et de distanciation envers la clientèle ou d’engagement envers la clientèle et de distanciation sociale envers leur entreprise, et ce, selon les comportements des clients qui sont en ligne avec eux. Ces stratégies génèrent des effets bénéfiques temporaires pour eux sur le plan d’une réhabilitation de leur subjectivité puisqu’elles contribuent à les protéger des clients désagréables et à actualiser une volonté de s’affirmer socialement dans leur rôle d’agent de service. En somme, ce jeu de l’engagement et de la distanciation mène à l’édification d’un engagement de leur part envers leur métier. Cet article contribue à l’avancée des connaissances scientifiques puisque, d’une part, il démontre qu’il demeure possible pour ce type de salariés de développer un engagement envers leur métier à partir de l’articulation duale de deux notions a priori contradictoires et, d’autre part, il repousse les courants de l’habilitation et de la domination sociale pour approfondir celui de la dualité en démontrant que ces salariés peuvent se réapproprier les contraintes pesant sur eux même si leur espace d’autonomie s’avère mince et fragile.

The article reviews the book, "Becoming British Columbia: A Population History," by John Douglas Belshaw.

The article reviews the book, "Global Unions, Global Business: Global Union Federations and International Business," by Richard Croucher and Elizabeth Cotton.

While the union's duty of fair representation (DFR) toward its members is well established in Canadian labour law, relatively little research has examined Canadian DFR cases or factors that may affect the outcome of DFR complaints. This paper examines 138 DFR cases filed with the British Columbia Labour Relations Board between 2000 and 2006. Only eight of the 138 cases resulted in a decision in favour of the complainant The most common reasons for DFR complaints were the union's alleged failure to pursue grievances relating to termination or to pursue grievances relating to job changes. The majority of complainants represented themselves in the process. Future research could expand upon these findings to improve understanding of the duty of fair representation and its application.

The article reviews the book, "Power Struggles: Hydro Development and First Nations in Manitoba and Quebec," edited by Thibault Martin and Steven M. Hoffman.

Through late 1973, the Artistic Woodwork strike captivated not only the left-wing milieux of Toronto - from young New Leftists, to rank-and-file union members, to activists from a plethora of political groups - but also the entire city. Artistic was a first contract strike by immigrant workers organized by the Canadian Textile and Chemical Union (CTCU). The narrative of the strike came to be dominated by supporters after many of the workers picketing left due to both fear and the availability of alternative employment. By November, mass pickets of four hundred people added to political pressure and helped secure a first contract settlement. Coming at the end of a period of intense political debate and discussion concerning the agent of social change and the role of the working-class, Artistic assumed special significance in the personal trajectories of many supporters. On these violent picket lines, supporters had an opportunity to act out the prevailing Marxist sociology of the time. Artistic demonstrates the confluence of a variety of forces at the end of the long sixties: the widespread turn towards Marxism and the working-class as a necessary component of social and political change; the importance of nationalism as a unifying feature between some New Leftists and unions such as the CTCU; and the continuing social responsibility of the student and the intellectual. While Artistic was decertified in 1975, we can take valuable lessons from the strike concerning the impact of allowing strikebreakers as well as the power and importance of a social network in garnering widespread strike support.

The article reviews the book, "The Rise of Canadian Business," by Graham D. Taylor.

The article reviews the book, "The Labor of Job: The Biblical Text As a Parable of Human Labor," by Antonio Negri.

We introduce the term “relational activism” to call attention to the way that relationship-building work contributes to conventional activism (re-activism) and constitutes activism in and of itself. In so doing, we unravel Mohai’s paradox – a long-standing “ironic contrast” that notes that women’s environmental concern is not reflected in greater contributions to activism than men’s. We position relational activism as a bridging concept between re-activism and social capital. Relational activism differs from re-activism in four key areas: the role of the individual, effectiveness, motivating values, and temporal scale. To support these claims, we draw upon 26 ethnographic interviews conducted with families in Edmonton, Alberta, who strive to reduce their environmental impact.

The article reviews the book, "Heavy Burdens on Small Shoulders: The Labour of Pioneer Children on the Canadian Prairies," by Sandra Rollings-Magnusson.

The article reviews the book, "Workers of the World: Essays Toward a Global Labor History" by Marcel van der Linden.

Women's structures have long featured in many UK and Canadian unions, and their forms and functions continue to widen. Extant literature highlights their concern with improving female union members' conditions in the workplace, but a growing body of scholarly work observes that women's structures may act as change agents within the trade union setting. Drawing on recent survey and interview evidence, this paper examines various equality achievements for women within UK and Canadian unions, before seeking to account for the extent of this progress with regard to women's structures' presence and activity. The empirical findings then inform a discussion which focuses on women's structures' contribution to women's equality within unions, and the implications of prevailing measures of internal equality progress for union influence.

The article reviews the book, "The Failure of Global Capitalism: From Cape Breton to Colombia and Beyond," by Terry Gibbs and Garry Leech.

The article reviews the book , "Harlem vs. Columbia University: Black Student Power in the 1960s," by Stefan M. Bradley.

The article reviews three books: "Making History: Organizations of Labour Historians in Britain since 1960," edited by John McIlroy, Alan Campbell, John Halstead, and David Martin; "Histories of Labour: National and International Perspectives," edited by Joan Allen, Alan Campbell, and John McIlroy; and "Rethinking U.S. Labor History: Essays on the Working-Class Experience, 1756-2009," edited by Donna Haverty-Stacke and Daniel J. Walkowitz.

The article reviews the book, "Condensed Capitalism: Campbell Soup and the Pursuit of Cheap Production in the Twentieth Century," by Daniel Sidorick.

This article assesses one of the longest private sector strikes in Canadian history — the United Steelworkers (USW) Local 6500 strike at Vale in Sudbury, 2009-2010. It argues that in the context of corporate globalization and the recent financial crisis, Vale took full advantage of its economic power to win major concessions from Local 6500. The USW's community, political, and corporate campaigns were unable to pressure the company or the federal and provincial government effectively and the result was that a powerful international corporation prevailed in its efforts to erode the material well-being of its Canadian workforce. Such a defeat, alongside the recent collective bargaining concessions by auto workers in Canada and the United States, is a major blow to the North American labour movement. Trade unions must therefore develop more successful strategies of resistance and begin the process of reforming and rejuvenating themselves as organizations defending workers. If this is not done the future of North American labour is bleak indeed.

The article reviews the book, "Uniting in Measures of Common Good: The Construction of Liberal Identities in Central Canada," by Darren Ferry.