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The authors are engaged in a multi-dimensional project that analyzes Canadian private sector experience under provincial and federal labour statutes. The broad objective of the research is to draw nuanced lessons from the Canadian experience that will inform the debate over labour law reform in the U.S. This commentary reflects the authors´ preliminary research results as they relate to the specific proposals included in the Employee Free Choice Act.

[This] is an annotated list of selected recent publications on unionization and labour market performance, with relevance to Canada-U.S. labour market comparisons and the effect of collective bargaining structures on economic and social outcomes. While the broad literature on this topic is vast, the publications summarized below seem to be germane to Canadian aspects of the U.S. Employee Free Choice Act debate that are considered in this special issue of Just Labour. --Introduction

...[O]pponents of proposed changes to U.S. labour law (and, in particular, the Employee Free Choice Act) have attempted to argue that Canada’s labour market experience “proves” that unionization and collective bargaining produce higher unemployment and lower employment. One consultant’s study (Layne-Farrar 2009) has been especially important in making this argument. ...This article conducts a detailed econometric re-examination of Layne-Farrar’s counter-intuitive and sensational findings. --From executive summary

Critiques US economist Anne Layne-Farrar's argument that higher unionization results in higher unemployment.

In the wake of a series of prolabor Supreme Court decisions in Canada, the mantra of “workers' rights as human rights” has gained unprecedented attention in the Canadian labor movement. This article briefly reviews the Canadian labor movement's recent history with the Supreme Court before arguing that elite-driven judicial strategies, advocated by several academics and Canadian unions, threaten, over time, to depoliticize traditional class-based approaches to advancing workers' rights. The argument is premised on the notion that liberal human rights discourse does little to address the inequalities in wealth and power that polarize Canadian society along class lines.

English/French abstracts of articles in the Spring 2009 issue.

English/French abstracts of the articles in the Fall 2009 issue.

The article reviews "Coming to Terms With Nature: Socialist Register 2007," edited by Leo Panitch and Colin Leys. The Register is published annually.

The article reviews the book, "L’approche systémique de la gestion des ressources humaines: le contrat psychologique des relations d’emploi dans les administrations publiques du xxie siècle," by Louise Lemire and Gaétan Martel.

The article reviews the book "James P. Cannon and the Origins of the American Revolutionary Left, 1890-1928 (Book)," by Bryan D. Palmer.

The article reviews the book, "Making a Living: Work and Environment in the United States," by Chad Montrie.

In the summer of 2008, we set out to hear from Ontario´s growing population of temporary help workers, also known as, temporary service workers. Having already conducted studies of temporary help workers in the United States, we sought to compare the working conditions of temporary workers in Ontario to those of workers south of the border. We visited temporary agencies in Toronto and conducted in-depth interviews with over a dozen temporary help workers. Their circumstances are not unlike those of their U.S. counterparts — they are not adequately rewarded for their vital on-call role in contemporary capitalism and they become "stuck" in this relatively new type of work, unable to find and secure full-time employment.

A self-professed sceptic, the author argues that the recognition of a Charter right of employees to organize, bargain and strike would not likely improve labour's lot in an era of declining union membership and influence. In his view, it is doubtful whether Charter litigation has made much of a difference in Canada's social, economic and political life, which is largely determined not by the formal, juridical constitution but by what he calls the "real constitution" - the unequal distribution of wealth and power in society. Moreover, constitutionalization of collec- tive bargaining rights would probably undermine labour law's auton- omy and its effectiveness by promoting the design of industrial relations systems by judges rather than experts, with dysfunctional results. A reconceptualization of the constitutional significance of "labour" does in fact hold the potential to bring about far-reaching consequences for our approach to labour markets, employment standards legislation, pen- sion laws, and the collective bargaining regime. Howeve, the author says, Charter litigation has little capacity to realize that potential, given itsfocus on the juridical constitution and disconnectedness from the real constitution.

The article reviews the book, "The (Un) Making of the Modern Family," by Daniel Dagenais.

The present study examines the income growth of newly arrived immigrants in Canada using growth curve modeling of longitudinal data. The results from this study indicate that recent immigrants, regardless of visible minority status, face initial earnings disadvantage. However, while immigrants of European origins experience a period of "catch up" early in their Canadian careers, which allows them to overcome this earnings disadvantage, visible minority immigrants do not enjoy such a catch-up. This racial difference in recent immigrants' income growth is found to be caused by the fact that visible minority immigrants receive lower returns to education, work experience and unionization. Furthermore, visible minority recent immigrants face greater penalties for speaking a non-official first language than do their white counterparts.

As part of a broader assessment of how well the Government of Alberta's labour programming contributes to fair and, to a lesser degree, safe workplaces, this study examines how effectively the government enforces the Employment Standards Code provisions regulating child and adolescent employment. Enforcement strategies appear to emphasize softer forms of regulation and thereby create little disincentive for violations. Preliminary research into the employment levels of children (age 9-11) suggests over 11,000 children are employed, some perhaps illegally, and that further inquiry into their employment experiences is warranted.

The article reviews the book, "Solidarity First: Canadian Workers and Social Cohesion," edited by Robert O'Brien.

The opportunity structure facing waged agricultural workers seeking basic statutory employment rights in the Canadian province of Alberta is hostile, reflecting the intertwined political and economic interests of farmers, the provincial government, and agribusiness. This article outlines the contours of the political opportunities and constraints facing labour groups and agricultural workers seeking legislative change. Analysis suggests there is little opportunity at present to alter this legislative exclusion.