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On 18 November 1941, the gold miners of Kirkland lake struck for union recognition. The Kirkland Lake strike was a bitter struggle between the mine operators and their employees and became a national confrontation between the federal government and the labour movement over the issue of collective bargaining. Locally, the dispute was affected by the company-town environment and by the mine operators' paternalistic view of labour relations. Through the difficult winter womenths, the community -- polarized by the events -- tried to deal with both the 'political' and social impact of the conflict. The author's father, Larry Sefton, emerged as one of the local leaders of the strike, which itself was a training ground for many future trade unionists. The strike was waged in the special circumstances of the war economy, and was a microcosm of wartime developments, which produced unprecedented union growth, serious industrial unrest, hostile management response, and generally antagonistic labour/government relations. Professor MacDowell shows that, even though the strike was lost, its eventual effect on labour policy gave the dispute its particular significance. To win the strike, government intervention and the introduction of collective bargaining were necessary, yet the only intervention was by the Ontario Provincial Police, who were ordered to assist the mining companies to operate with strike-breakers. The federal government refused to intervene, in spire of virtually unanimous support for the strike by the Canadian labour movement. MacDowell confludes that the strike succeeded in unifying organized labour behind the demand for collective-bargaining legislation. It highlighted the inadequacy of the government's wartime labour poilcy, and ultimately forced the government to authorize collective bargaining, first for Crown companies and then for all industrial workers. Thus, the Kirkland Lake strike was not only an important wartime dispute affecting policy development, but it also established a special legacy for trade unionists as part of the history of their movement. --Publisher's description

This article reviews the book, "The Rise and Fall of the Toronto Typographical Union 1832-1972: A Case Study of Foreign Domination," by Sally F. Zerker.

This paper studies three aspects of the job matching process of the Canada Employment Centres.

This paper discusses the issues and concepts involved hère, criticizes récent studies and suggests an agenda for future research. The author also présents some empirical results pertaining to Canadian manufacturing.

This article reviews the book, "British Labour History, 1815-1914," by E.H. Hunt.

This article reviews the book, "Condition féminine en milieu ouvrier," by Alain Vinet, Francine Dufresne & Lucie Vézina.

This article reviews the book, "Actors and Systems. The Politics of Collective Action," by Michel Crozier & Erhard Friedberg.

This article reviews the book, "Sociologie des conflits du travail," by Jean-Daniel Reynaud.

This article reviews the book, "The Future of Work," by John Wilkes, edited.

This article reviews the book, "The Social Organization of Industrial Conflict. Control and Resistance in the Workplace," by P.K. Edwards & Hugh Scullion.

This article reviews the book, "Workplace Democracy: An Inquiry into Employee Participation in Canadian Work Organizations," by Donald V. Nightingale.

This article reviews the book, "Workplace Democracy and Social Change," by Frank Lindenfeld & Joice Rothschild-Whitt, edited.

By the time of Confederation Ontario's economic lead over Quebec had been well established. John McCallum shows that the origins of this lead had little to do with the conservatism of the habitants and the church in Quebec, little to do with any anti-industrial bias of the Montreal merchants, and nothing to do with Confederation. Rather the origins lay in the wealth provided by Ontario's superior agricultural land.During much of the first part of the nineteenth century Ontario farmers were more specialized in wheat-growing than the twentieth-century farmers of Saskatchewan, and when the market conditions changed in the 1860s the province was able to use the capital derived from wheat to shift to other lines of production. The Quebec farmers, lacking both the virgin land of Ontario and the growing markets of the northeastern United States, were unable to find profitable substitutes for wheat. As a result, the cash income of the average Ontario farmer was at least triple that of his Quebec counterparts in the years before Confederation, and this enormous difference had profound effects on economic development in other sectors of the economy.In Ontario the growth of towns, transportation facilities, and industry was inextricably linked to the province's strong agricultural base. In Quebec little development occurred outside Montreal and Quebec City. Montreal industrialists did have several advantages; yet Quebec industry could not possibly absorb the province's surplus farm population. Ontario's wheat boom provided the capital which permitted Ontario industry to evolve in the classic fashion; indeed, Ontario wheat may be a rare instance of a staple whose surplus was retained in the producing area.John McCallum's analytical and historical account of economic patterns that persist today makes a solid and original contribution to Canadian economic history. --Publisher's description. Contents: Preface -- Introduction -- The rise and fall of the Ontario wheat staple -- The agricultural crisis in Quebec -- Agricultural transformation in Quebec and Ontario, 1850-70 -- Urban and commercial development until 1850 -- Transportation -- Industrial development, 1850-70 -- A modified staple approach -- Merchants and habitants -- Statistical appendix -- Subject index -- Index of authors cited.

This article reviews the book, "Skill and the English Working Class, 1870-1914," by Charles More.

The article reviews the book, "The Economic Development of Canada," by Richard Pomfret.

Recent studies have illustrated the strength and significance of working-class movements in the Maritimes during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Other work has emphasized the organization of local and international unions and the emergence of the socialist movement in the region. A study of strikes in the Maritimes can help provide a regional context for such work, and also help correct the regional imbalance in national historiography. Strikes themselves were crucial events, and no historical interpretation of the region in this period can safely overlook them. By studying the vigorous response of the region's workers to the new political economy of the early 20th century, we can start to understand the human implications of economic change. For these reasons, it is worth our effort to describe and analyze the general pattern of strikes, often in quantitative terms. This general pattern can then be related to the region's economic structure and help broaden our understanding of the economic revolution which transformed the region from the 1880s to the 1920s. In particular, two major themes emerge from this analysis: the transformation of the labour market and the revolution in the workplace. --From author's introduction

An empirical study to analyse the criteria that Canadian courts have used to determine the length of notice to award.

This paper shows the asymetric disequilibrium between available resources and results in the course of a union recruiting campaign in a case study of an experience of CUPE and LUSSA at Laurentian University.

An assessment of substance and impact of Theory Z on American management in the context of alternative paths toward employee participation.