Your search

The article reviews the book, "Subcommander Marcos: The Man and the Mask," by Nick Henck.

The article reviews the book, "No Place to Go: Local Histories of the Battered Women's Shelter Movement," by Nancy Janovicek.

The focus of this paper is the large difference in the labour market involvement of Canadian and Australian women. In the context of ageing populations and associated skill shortages, this employment gap has particular policy significance. Understanding the contributing factors could guide the development of new approaches to maximising potential labour supply. This paper explores the role of differences in educational attainment, marginal tax rates, parental leave, child care costs and attitudes regarding the legitimacy of mothers' involvement in paid work.

Economist, sociologists, and other social scientists have begun to study the influence of sexual orientation on individuals in the labor market, particularly with respect to employment discrimination. The conceptual framework developed in this paper connects lesbian, gay, and bixexual workers' disclosure of their sexual orientation to the economic and social characteristics of the workplace. Disclosure creates the potential for discrimination by employers and coworkers. The framework shows how sexual orientation operates independently and in interaction with other important characteristics such as race and gender. A review of existing research supports the hypothesis that discrimination against gay workers exists. Both workplace groups for gays and lesbians and those who work gay and lesbian workers (such as supervisors, personnel managers, and counselors) need to understand the relationship between disclosure and discrimination in order to make workplaces supportive of lesbian, gay, and bisexual workers.

The article reviews the book, "Global Governance in Question: Empire, Class and the New Common Sense in Managing North-South Relations," by Susanne Soederberg.

The article focuses on the educational course History 492 and the relationship between the re-conceptualization and rewriting of working-class history in the U.S. and the ways in which teaching of the subject has changed. The evolution of the course suggests that social class is still being talked about in more capacious terms. It says that the seminar's comparative approach indicates that the characteristics of capitalism and industrialism are shared from one society to another.

The article reviews the book, "Scapegoats of September 11th: Hate Crimes and State Crimes in the War on Terror," by Michael Welch.

The article reviews the book, "Liquid Gold: Energy Privatization in British Columbia," by John Calvert.

The article reviews the book, "The Freedom to Smoke: Tobacco Consumption and Identity," by Jarrett Rudy.

The article reviews the book, "The Parlour & the Suburb: Domestic Identities, Class, Femininity and Modernity," by Judy Giles.

The article reviews the book, "The Mysterious Voodoo Queen, Marie Laveaux: A Study of Powerful Female Leadership in Nineteenth-Century New Orleans," by Ina Johanna Fandrich.

The article reviews the book, "Social Theory at Work," edited by Marek Korczynski, Randy Hodson and Paul K. Edwards.

Cette introduction présente les cinq articles sélectionnés dans ce numéro spécial. Elle montre dans un premier temps comment chaque contribution a un lien avec la théorie de l’échange social, qui sert de fondement à l’ensemble du numéro spécial. Ce faisant, l’apport des cinq articles est souligné et les principaux résultats sont mis en perspective avec les travaux antérieurs sur l’échange social. La deuxième partie de l’introduction présente diverses perspectives de recherche sur la relation d’emploi. Les auteures suggèrent des pistes liées aux emplois atypiques, à l’étude de la relation d’emploi dans une perspective temporelle, et à l’approche multi-cibles et multi-niveaux de la relation d’emploi. Le recours aux méthodes de recherche longitudinales et quantitatives y est suggéré. // This introduction presents the five articles selected for this special issue. First, it illustrates how each contribution relates to the social exchange theory, on which this entire special issue is based. The contributions of the five articles are highlighted and their main results are compared with those of previous work conducted on social exchange. The second part of the introduction presents various research perspectives on the employment relationship. The authors recommend avenues for contingent jobs, for a study of the employment relationship from a temporal perspective, and a multi-foci and multi-level approach of the employment relationship. They also recommend the use of longitudinal and quantitative research methods.

The article reviews the book, "Travail et reconnaissance des compétences," edited by William Cavestro, Christine Durieux and Sylvie Monchatre; afterword by Hugues Bertrand.

L’historiographie québécoise regorge d’études sur le mouvement ouvrier et ses répercussions dans le monde du travail. Par contre, peu de chercheurs se sont penchés sur les conséquences familiales causées par un manque à gagner, tant du côté des travailleuses que de celui des mères et épouses de grévistes. Cette étude vise à reconnaître l’apport de ces femmes durant la grève de 1946 à la Montreal Cottons de Salaberry-de-Valleyfield, tout en essayant de cerner et d’analyser les circonstances entourant le soutien féminin substantiel à ce conflit de travail.

Cette étude a pour but d’analyser les facteurs contribuant à bâtir la confiance entre employés syndiqués et cadres après une grève de longue durée dans une succursale bancaire. Des entrevues semi-dirigées auprès de treize employés et cinq cadres, des observations et une analyse documentaire ont servi à déterminer ces facteurs. Ces derniers ont été analysés à la lumière des écrits scientifiques pour établir un modèle relationnel et analyser la situation vécue par les membres de l’organisation à l’étude., The effects of strikes have always preoccupied industrial relations’ scholars and practitioners. Even though statistically, there have been fewer strikes in Quebec during the last few years, they have not been of lesser interest. The most recent strikes have been more apparent because of their longer duration. This study discusses trust between managers and unionized employees who have returned to work after a fourteen-month strike. The objective is to better understand the phenomenon of trust in a situation of organizational conflict and, more precisely, to analyze the factors that contribute to re-establishing trust between union employees and managers following this major conflict. A few theoretical concepts about trust help us understand the basic elements needed to produce collaborative relationships. Among other things, categories of trust established by Lewicki and Bunker (1996) as well as Zucker (1986) are presented to help make a better judgment with regard to the different types of relationships and to understand the way in which they present themselves in particular situations. This section ends with an overview of the authors’ theoretical perspective, an institutional approach, which makes reference to Powell and Dimaggio’s (1991) framework. Because of the difficulty to access multiple companies affected by a strike, a qualitative case study was conducted. Thirteen union employees and five managers chosen randomly among each job category from a total of forty-six employees make up the sample. They were interviewed during semi-structured interviews six months following the end of the strike. Observations about individual behaviour during the interview period were also taken into consideration. An analysis of internal documents from the organization helped bring out factual information about the state of the relationship between the two groups before, during and after the strike. It is the use of these three traditional methods that helped construct the case presented. Not only does it explain the events surrounding the conflict by using a balanced approach including information obtained from union employees and company managers, but it also includes references to articles published in local newspapers to give a temporality and a sense of place to the events. Subsequently, the authors undertake a discussion about ways to reconstruct trust among the parties. Tables detailing the factors that can contribute to reconstructing trust according to each party are presented with representative quotes from the semi-structured interviews. In total, three common factors were raised—communication, material investments and human investments. Communication is a central concept, but it also includes its share of complexities because the simple act of communicating is not sufficient. Even if, in basic terms, material investments are perceived as advantages, they are not in practice, according to the literature on this subject. Human investments can also bring new dynamics to a company, but cannot be done to the detrimental need of removing existing personnel. To these factors, the union employees add six additional ones including desire, supervision, recognition and appreciation, respect of the collective agreement and the importance of not resorting to outsourcing. The managers also came up with four additional factors—responsibility, comprehension, company vision and the importance of providing projects to union employees. All these factors are systematically analyzed in the article in direct relation to the written scientific and theoretical literature on these subjects. In light of this analysis, it is possible to establish a relationship between these factors and a hierarchy of their importance that can serve to explore the possibility of reestablishing trust within the organization. These relationships and this hierarchy are presented in an illustration which summarizes the study. Explanations about its creation and the way to interpret it are also included. It is important, however, to note that although the study reveals a number of important factors needed to study trust, it has its limitations which can only be rectified by studying each factor in a distinct fashion and by weighing each one individually during subsequent research. In conclusion, this research demonstrates the difficulty to establish trust within an organization because the company does not recognize the union’s presence and its role. The company is rather searching to achieve its own objectives without taking the values and interests of its employees into account as well as those of the trade union. From a theoretical point of view, the study helps identify the limitations to trust relationships between various groups of employees, the effects of strikes on returning to work and of trust in the after-strike context. Paths for future research are explored. It is suggested to replicate the study in an institution in the same field or in different fields to open the door to the possibility of generalization. Secondly, it is suggested to weigh the factors to find out which ones would have the greatest impact on the creation of trust. And, finally, measuring the level of trust that really exists between the parties would be beneficial in understanding the scope of the division which separates them., El objetivo de este estudio es de analizar los factores que contribuyen a construir la confianza entre empleados sindicalizados y directivos después de una huelga de larga duración en una sucursal bancaria. Para determinar estos factores, se utilizaron entrevistas semi-dirigidas con trece empleados y cinco cuadros, observaciones directas y un análisis documentario. Dichos factores fueron analizados a la luz de escritos científicos para establecer un modelo racional y analizar la situación vivida por los miembros de la organización al estudio.

The article reviews the book, "Women's Work & Identity in Eighteenth-Century Brittany," by Nancy Locklin.

In recent decades, the differences between the education and training systems in the liberal and coordinated market economies have increased. It is not possible to understand such different developments by focusing exclusively on the internal dynamics of vocational and general education systems. Vocational education and training (VET), and particularly apprenticeship systems rather than school-based VET, are deeply embedded in the different national production, labour market, industrial relations and status systems. In order to contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of VET, we examine recent developments in general and vocational training and its links to the labour and product market in five contrasting countries, namely, Denmark, Canada, Germany, Korea and the USA. In particular, differences in industrial relations, welfare states, income distribution and product markets are the main reason for the persistent high level of diversity in vocational training systems. The difference can perhaps be summarized as follows: in the coordinated market economies, the modernisation of vocational training is seen as a contribution to innovation in the economy, while in liberal market economies, it is seen as a siding into which weaker pupils can conveniently be shunted.

This article emphasizes the contribution of International Framework Agreements (IFAs) to collective bargaining within multinational companies (MNC). For this purpose, we used various data, including content analysis of 42 IFAs and interviews with representatives of the five Global Union Federations (GUFs) involved in the negotiation of these IFAs, in order to assess the content and efficiency of these agreements. Our analysis reveals that IFAs usually include a commitment by the signatory MNC to conform to ILO's core conventions in all its operations, and to inform its business partners of their obligations under the agreement. Regular meetings are held with unions' representatives for the monitoring of these agreements to ensure their respect by the signatory multinational companies and their business partners. According to GUFs' representatives, the IFAs have been effective in protecting basic trade union rights covered by ILO conventions 87 and 98. In the last part, we emphasize the IFAs' contribution to collective bargaining within MNCs and discuss the prospects for future development of international collective bargaining, particularly in light of Levinson's seminal work (1972) on this subject.

The article reviews the book, "Framing Identity: Social Practices of Photography in Canada (1880-1920)," by Susan Close.