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The article reviews the book, "The Porto Alegre Experiment: Learning Lessons for Better Democracy," by Marion Gret and Yves Sintomer.

The article reviews the book, "The Empire Reloaded," edited by Leo Panitch and Colin Leys.

La dynamique de transformation de l’organisation du travail dans un contexte de changements technologiques et organisationnels dans une organisation industrielle de haute technologie a conduit à la fragmentation de la communauté technicienne et à la refonte de son identité professionnelle historique. Cette dynamique n’apparaît pas comme le résultat d’un quelconque déterminisme technologique. Les changements technologiques ont été, en dernière instance, un enjeu stratégique autour duquel se sont cristallisés les rapports de force dans l’organisation. Ils ont fait l’objet d’une instrumentalisation sur laquelle se sont appuyées les instances de l’entreprise pour légitimer leurs choix stratégiques en matière d’organisation du travail.

The article reviews the book, "¡Cochabamba! Water War in Bolivia," by Oscar Olivera and Tom Lewis.

The article focuses on the life and works of A.E. Johann, a Winnipeg Communist and a labourer on farms in northern British Columbia. He wrote a total of 18 volumes of both fiction and nonfiction along with numerous articles for newspapers and magazines in Germany. His nonfictional books were commonly anecdotal in form and one volume can plausibly claim to be at least a semi-scholarly study of its subject. It notes that the success of his initial volume in Canada prompted his publisher to finance his travels generously, which he therefore undertook driving an almost new Ford purchased when he arrived in Montreal. Moreover, Johann appears to have been a generally trustworthy chronicler of the Canadian situation.

The article reviews the book, "Civic Capitalism: The State of Childhood," by John O'Neill.

The article reviews the book, "Almost Home: Reforming Home and Community Care in Ontario," by Patricia M. Baranek, Raisa B. Deber and A. Paul Williams.

The diverse conceptual perspectives and practical experiences with non-union employee representation (NER) in the USA and Canada are reviewed. We first propose a six-dimensional descriptive schema to categorise observed NER practices. Dimensions of diversity include (i) form; (ii) function; (iii) subjects; (iv) representational modes; (v) extent of power; (vi) degree of permanence. We then turn to the NER controversy, which is a tangled skein consisting of many different threads of values and prescriptions. To unbundle the controversy, we develop four ‘faces’ of NER—(i) evolutionary voice; (ii) unity of interest; (iii) union avoidance; and (iv) complementary voice—so that future research can more consciously test the validity of competing perspectives with hard data. Generalising about NER is problematic because of these many dimensions of diversity, and because NER is viewed through different ideological and conceptual lenses. We conclude that NER’s future trajectory is uncertain due to conflicting trends but in the short run is most likely to remain a modest-sized phenomenon.

Terms such as labor-community coalitions, community unionism and social movement unionism are important features of current strategies for union renewal. This article develops a three-part framework of union-community relationships, from ad hoc to deeply engaged relationships. Criteria such as common interest, coalition structure, scale and union participation are identified as important variables for relationship variation and campaign success. The article explores the framework by analyzing three case studies from Sydney, Australia, involving the central labor council -- Unions NSW. The paper argues that union-community relationships vary significantly: ad hoc relationships are useful to react to a crisis while deeper relationships are most useful to build a long-term agenda. Deeper relationships are supported when they are built alongside a process of internal union renewal. Deeper relationships are more successful if unions develop workplace leaders, support political union education and provide space for workplace stewards to connect to community campaigns.

The article reviews the book, "Framed!: Labor and the Corporate Media," Christopher R. Martin.

The article reviews the book, "All Hell Can't Stop Us: The On-to-Ottawa Trek and Regina Riot," by Bill Waiser.

The article reviews the book, "Gender Myths v. Working realities: Using Social Science to Reformulate Sexual Harassment Law," by Theresa M. Beiner.

New South Wales is at the forefront globally in the protection of labour standards in the clothing industry by regulating the supply chain from the bottom to the top, from home workers to clothing retailers. This is the first case in which retailers are effectively brought under a legal regulatory framework in which they are acknowledged as having responsibilities in which the clothing that they sell is manufactured. This is the critical difference between and the great advantage of this model over other models that have attempted to regulate the manufacturing nodes in the supply chain or which rely solely upon voluntary codes. In Canada during the Great Depression and subsequently in the 1930s, a regulatory system was developed in Quebec, which attempted to restrict the more destructive of competitive practices between manufacturers and to (and in part through) generalise negotiated labour standards throughout the industry by way of a Parity Committee. This case holds particular significance for current supply chain regulation developments in New South Wales, Australia and, indeed, globally. Its significance lies in the documented evidence of the exertion of the retail sector over the manufacturers in the clothing industry in Quebec, the practices of manufacturers and contractors to attempt to respond to the demands of the retailers by reducing labour costs, and by the dynamism of a labour movement that was able to win a system of regulation to protect unionised and nonunionised workers within the clothing supply chain. Its significance for current initiatives, however, also lies in what the model was unable to achieve, in particular, bringing the retail sector into the regulatory framework, and, the industrial model of regulation which, which sought supply chain regulation without accounting for all nodes of the chain.

The article reviews the book, "De la conciliation emploi-famille á une politique des temps sociaux," edited by Diane-Gabrielle Tremblay.

The organization of working time is a central concern in today's labour market, as it is connected to experiences of work-life conflict, employment insecurity, and broader patterns of gender inequality. This article examines union responses to working time changes using a case study of four large unions, as well as a larger survey of working time provisions in major collective agreements. The article contends that working time re-regulation strategies include not only efforts to reduce hours of work, but also a range of strategies to promote employee-oriented time flexibility. These working time strategies provide some means to address growing forms of work-life conflict and working time inequalities; however, these strategies are constrained by a number of factors, including employer resistance and the need for broader-based representational and collective bargaining structures.

At the height of World War II labour unrest, Montréal tramway workers, the majority of whom were French Canadian, struck over recognition of their Canadian Congress of Labour-affiliated union over two entrenched rival unions. The strike, which threatened critical wartime production in Canada's largest industrial centre, illustrates how multi-union workplaces were a source of wartime industrial disorder. Circumstances related to the strike tested the capacity of the federal government to respond in a way which was compatible with Prime Minister King's broader goals of industrial stability and national unity. King's inaction on labour law reform at this time led key cabinet ministers to pursue criminal charges against the parties involved in the tramway strike. However, legal proceedings were obverted after King intervened on a recommendation from Carl Goldenberg, who had successfully conciliated the strike. Concurrent to these events was the announcement of a wide-ranging public inquiry into national labour unrest, which eventually led to the adoption of a new labour code (PC 1003). The new federal labour law adopted provisions similar to those in the US Wagner Act, which severely limited union substitution, subjugating worker free choice and collective self-determination to the goals of capital and the state.