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Discusses the role of the Canadian militia and army in crushing strikes, protest, and dissent, as well as the privileged class backgrounds of military officers and their connections to elite clubs and institutions.

Provides a historical assessment of the NDP-labour relationship that became more distanced and defensive in the neoliberal era, especially at the provincial level. Whether there will be a rapprochement in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic remains to be determined. A revised version of the essay published in the first edition (2012).

Argues that COVID-19 has exposed the flawed premise of the migration system, namely that workers are essential yet disposable. Discusses the exploitative forms of precarious migrant labour and organized efforts to counteract them including a union drive in British Columbia (UFCW Local 1518 versus Sidhu & Sons), social movements like the Migrant Rights Network, and the hybrid approaches of the Montreal Immigrant Workers Centre.

Gig economy workers, particularly those on platforms such as Foodora and UBER, do not have a clear legal status in Canada, and unionization has largely escaped them. One obstacle is that union certification presupposes a stable employment relationship and a relatively fixed workplace. It does not lend itself easily to a decentralized organization of work, let alone one that is merely "facilitated" by a digital platform. Another obstacle is their dual status of being extremely dependent on the platform for everything from payments to scheduling, while being legally considered as "independent contractors." In response, Canadian labour unions have pushed tribunals to adopt a new legal status: that of "dependent contractors." Based on the successful unionization drive among Foodora couriers in Toronto in 2020, our contribution argues that the involved actors resorted to "institutional experimentation" to open traditional frameworks of collective bargaining and labour law to workers of the gig economy.

Discusses the distinctive features of labour and politics in Quebec, where the labour movement has had little connection with the NDP. Rather it has worked with the Parti Quebecois and the community sector, as well as participating in provincial roundtables. Since 2000, however, the left in the province has fragmented, as has the PQ's nationalist project, leaving labour in a weakened position. Concludes that the strategic partnerships with the provincial government continue to be of pivotal importance, as is protecting and promoting a strong, autonomous, rights-oriented community sector. A revised version of the essay published in the first edition (2012).

Discusses the shifting relationship between Indigneous peoples and the labour movement, where historically there has been deep tension. Concludes that labour organizing should engage with and learn from the frameworks of Indigenous communities as they struggle to develop in the context of the capitalist system and their changing relationship with the state. A revised version of the essay published in the 2012 edition.

Defines business and social unionism. Argues that the distinction between the two is not air tight, rather they intermingle. However, social unionism is essential for global solidarity. A revised version of the essay published in the first edition (2012).

[The authors] explore the state of labour politics in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the one hand, they argue the pandemic created an unprecedented opening for organization labour to build broader forms of solidarity around class-wide demands for the expansion of universal social protections like paid sick days, universal public child care, basic income and pharmacare, and to integrate gender and racial justice into these demands in new and important ways. On the other hand, they make the case that the differential impact of of the pandemic on various sections of the working class saw some unions eschew more universal strategies in favour of a more politically expedient defensive unionism aimed at protecting a narrow community of interest from the negative effects of the pandemic. --From editor's introduction.

Discusses union-backed strategic voting (most often, endorsement of Liberal rather than NDP candidates) to defeat the Conservatives. Concludes that such campaigns have been divisive and do not advance the labour movement. A revised and expanded version of the essay published in the first edition (2012).

Examines the shifting currents of court decisions on labour rights in the Charter era. Concludes that labour's resort to the courts is primarily defensive and that victories, when they occur, are limited.

Defines the value-action gap (i.e., the disjuncture between word and deed) and explores the labour movement's mixed response to the environmental challenge in terms of this model. The conclusion urges labour to help foster a broad-based movment that would integrate environmental sustainability with economic equality and social justice. It also cautions against the embrace of green capitalism. A revised version of the essay in the first edition (2012).

Examines the legislative record of the governing conservative Saskatchewan Party on protecting the rights of migrants and immigrants in the context of business and labour market demands. Concludes that the province's legal regime stands well in comparison to other jurisdictions, although the government has at times also catered to anti-immigration populism, such as the Yellow Vest Canada movement.

Examines the anti-union legislative record of the Saskatchewan Party, which saw one of its core bills, prohibiting the right to strike in a broad range of public sector services, struck down by the Supreme Court. The court did, however, uphold a companion bill that undermined workers' ability to organize. Provides background on provincial labour regimes since the landmark Trade Union Act of 1944 that was passed by the CCF government of Tommy Douglas. Concludes that the Saskatchewan Party has done more than any previous conservative government to curtail the right of workers to organize and take job action.

Questions the commitment of organized labour to equity, inclusion and diversity, which in practice has been treated as a side show to the bread-and-butter issues. Argues that organized labour must make major internal structural changes to confront the problems of EDI that exist both internally and externally.

This chapter examines the idea of animals having humane jobs. The concept of humane jobs has been proposed primarily to help conceptualize and propel good work for people which also benefits animals. Here the focus expands to interrogate whether animals can be engaged in what could be considered humane jobs and what that would involve. By building in particular on feminist political economy and care ethics, as well as the front-line efforts of people who work with animals, the chapter elucidates key preconditions and perameters for certain animals to have humane jobs, including important inclusions and exclusions. Moreover, it argues that humane jobs are not sufficient on their own, but rather that we also ought to be emphasizing animals’ work-lives. This means understanding animals not only as workers but as whole beings, and taking seriously their lives, relationships, and experiences, before and after work, on a daily basis, and over their lifetimes. The chapter is thus both inductive and generative, and offers a constellation of ethical and conceptual considerations, intended to drive further research, foster nuanced and contextualized analysis, and help inspire tangible changes in thought and political action.

This chapter compares the historical development and use of criminal law at work in the United Kingdom and in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, it considers the use of the criminal law both in the master and servant regime as an instrument for disciplining the workforce and in factory legislation for protecting workers from unhealthy and unsafe working conditions, including exceedingly long hours work. Master and servant legislation that criminalized servant breaches of contract originated in the United Kingdom where it was widely used in the nineteenth century to discipline industrial workers. These laws were partially replicated in Ontario, where it had shallower roots and was used less aggressively. At the same time as the use of criminal law to enforce master and servant law was contested, legislatures in the United Kingdom and Ontario enacted protective factory acts limiting the length of the working day. However, these factory acts did not treat employer violations crimes; instead, they were treated as lesser ‘regulatory’ offences for which employers were rarely prosecuted.

Many women who lived through the Second World War believed it heralded new status and opportunities, but scholars have argued that very little changed. How can these interpretations be reconciled? Making the Best of It examines the ways in which gender and other identities intersected to shape the experiences of female Canadians and Newfoundlanders during the war. The contributors to this thoughtful collection consider mainstream and minority populations, girls and women, and different parts of Canada and Newfoundland. They reassess topics such as women's presence in the military and in munitions factories, and tackle entirely new subjects such as wartime girlhood in Quebec. Collectively, these essays broaden the scope of what we know about the changes the war wrought, and draw on diverse methodologies to address wider debates about memory, historiography, and feminism. Making the Best of It offers new insights into the impact of the Second World War and lays the foundation for a better understanding of the dramatic alterations that occurred in the lives of women and girls in Canada after the 1940s. -- Publisher's description

[This book] details the Canadian Left's promotion of colonial policies and nationalist myths. Yves Engler...outlines the NDP's and labour unions' role in confusing Canadians. From Korea to Libya, Canada's major left-wing political party has backed unjust wars; Canadian unions supported the creation of NATO, the Korean War, the assassination of Patrice Lumumba, the Bay of Pigs invasion and the coup in Haiti. Left, Right also shows how prominent Left commentators concede a great deal to the dominant ideology. Whether it's Linda McQuaig turning Lester Pearson into an anti-US peacenik, Stephen Lewis praising Canada's role in Africa, or others mindlessly demanding more so-called peacekeeping, Left intellectuals regularly undermine the building of a just foreign policy. Left nationalist ideology, both Canadian and Quebecois, has warped the foreign policy discussion; viewing their country as a semi-colony struggling for its independence has blinded progressives to a long history of supporting empire and advancing corporate interests abroad. Even many victims of Canadian colonialism among indigenous communities have succumbed to the siren song of supporting imperialism. Finally, Left, Right suggests some ways to get the Left working for an ecologically sound, peace-promoting, non-exploitative foreign policy that does no harm and treats others the way we wish to be treated. --Publisher's description

In this chapter, we bring together narratives elicited by Tracy [Gregory], whose graduate work as a peer researcher with strip club dancers in Northern Ontario contributes the bulk of the data, and the contributions of Jennifer [Johnson] - a former committee member for Tracy's graduate research and later a supporter of Tracy's continued work in establishing the Sex Workers Advisory Network of Sudbury (SWANS). Together, we apply the insights of feminist geography and sex-work-informed thinking to the issues of spatial awareness and relations of power described by the participants in the study. --From Authors' Introduction