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Worker Representation and Workplace Health and Safety, by David Walters and Theo Nichols, is reviewed.

In 2002, approximately two-thirds of school teachers in the Canadian province of Alberta went on strike. Drawing on media, government and union documents, this case study reveals some contours of the political economy of labor relations in education that are normally hidden from view. Among these features are that the state can react to worker resistance by legally pressuring trade unions and justifying this action as in the public interest. This justification seeks to divide the working class and pit segments of it against each other. The state may also seek to limit discussion and settlements to monetary matters to avoid constraining its ability to manage the workplace or the educational system. This analysis provides a basis for developing a broader theory of the political economy of labor relations in education. It also provides trade unionists in education with information useful in formulating a strike strategy.

The Canadian province of Alberta does not effectively enforce its child labour laws. This non-enforcement interacts with the working-alone regulations in Alberta´s Occupational Health and Safety Act to deny workers under age 15 meaningful solo work protection. As a result, children and adolescents are exposed to the hazards adults face while working alone as well as hazards unique to children and adolescents working alone. This suggests that failing to enforce child labour laws has both obvious and subtle effects. The subtle effects are difficult to identify and remediate, in part because of the initial regulatory failure is politically difficult to acknowledge.

This study further develops our understanding of the employment experiences of children (ages 9-11) and adolescents (ages 12-14) in the Canadian province of Alberta, with particular attention to illegal employment and the effectiveness of complaint-based regulation. Survey data demonstrates there is a significant degree of illegal employment among children and adolescents. Interview data suggests that complaint-driven regulation of child labour is ineffective because parents, children and adolescents cannot identify violations and do not take action to trigger state enforcement.

Labour relations scholar Bob Barnetson sheds light on the faulty system of workplace injury compensation, highlighting the way some employers create dangerous work environments yet invest billions of dollars into compensation and treatment.

The article reviews the book, "An Independent Foreign Policy for Canada? Challenges and Choices for the Future," edited by Brian Bow and Patrick Lennox.

Aussi bien le Canada que le Québec ont connu durant les deux dernières décennies une croissance des flux migratoires afin de faire face notamment au vieillissement de la population active et à la pénurie de main-d’oeuvre. Depuis les accords Gagnon-Tremblay-McDougall, le Québec a adopté une politique d’immigration économique où la plupart des personnes sélectionnées ont un profil jeune, un niveau de qualification élevé et parlent le français ou l’anglais. Malgré la hausse du nombre d’immigrants, on observe une intégration professionnelle plus difficile pour les nouveaux arrivants. Plusieurs études et rapports gouvernementaux associent les difficultés d’intégration socioprofessionnelle principalement aux barrières linguistiques, à la non-reconnaissance des acquis et des compétences, aux pratiques discriminatoires et au manque de réseaux sociaux. Ces études évoquent souvent l’importance pour les nouveaux arrivants d’avoir une information pertinente les aidant à intégrer le plus rapidement possible le marché du travail en adéquation avec leurs attentes. L’objectif de cet article est alors d’asseoir une réflexion sur la nature, le rôle et l’impact des flux informationnels véhiculés par les différents réseaux sociaux sur l’intégration socioprofessionnelle des nouveaux arrivants. L’article tente de répondre à un certain nombre de questions : Quelles informations sont indispensables au succès de l’intégration socioprofessionnelle ? Quels sont les facteurs qui peuvent accentuer les lacunes informationnelles ? Comment les flux informationnels véhiculés par ces différents réseaux influencent-ils le processus d’intégration socioprofessionnelle des immigrants ? Pour tenter de répondre à ces questions, nous décrivons d’abord les principales difficultés rencontrées par les nouveaux arrivants au Québec. Ensuite, nous analysons les flux informationnels qui orientent le processus d’intégration sociale et professionnelle des immigrants et repensons le rôle que jouent les réseaux sociaux dans la diffusion des informations. En conclusion, nous suggérons des pistes de recherche en matière de politiques publiques d’immigration et d’intégration.

The article reviews the book, "Organisation pathogène du travail et maintien durable en emploi : une question antinomique ?," edited by Marie-France Maranda and Geneviève Fournier.

David Bennett is the retired National Director of Health, Safety and Environment of the Canadian Labour Congress and the Book Review Editor of the journal New Solutions. Northern Exposures is the result of thirty years of work in the labor movement on workplace health and safety and environmental protection. In the 1990s, the author had a central responsibility in moving the Canadian Labour Congress from its established work in health and safety into environmental protection, a story detailed in Northern Exposures. The book is a collection of published articles and reviews, linked by a new Introduction that shows the development of the thinking and actions of the Canadian labor movement in areas that were in constant flux. --Publisher's description. Contents: The right to know about chemical hazards in Canada,1982-2006 -- Labour and the environment at the Canadian Labour Congress: the story of the convergence -- Occupational health: a discipline out of focus -- Pesticide reduction: a case study from Canada -- The Canadian Labour Congress' pollution prevention strategy -- Prevention and transition -- Cancer battles and the sleep of reason policy and science need not be related: review -- Book about cancer: pragmatic purpose, profound analysis: reviews -- The secret history of the war on cancer: review -- Industrial materials: a guidebook for the future: review -- 'Natural capitalism's' bold theory: review -- Beware ISO -- ISO and the WTO: a report to the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions' Working Party on Health, Safety, and Environment -- Health and safety management systems: liability or asset?

The last quarter of the nineteenth century is often referred to as the “Golden Age” of railroad building. More track was laid in this period in North America than in any other period. The building of railroads was considered synonymous with nation building and economic progress. Railway workers were the single largest occupational group in the period and among the first workers to be employed by large-scale, corporately owned and bureaucratically managed organizations. While there is a rich historiography regarding the institutional and everyday lives of railway workers and the corporations that employed them, the unit of analysis has been primarily bounded by the nation. These national narratives leave out the north-south connections created by railroads that cut across geo-political boundaries and thus dramatically increasing the flows of people, goods and services between nations on the North American continent. Does the story change if viewed from a continental rather than national perspective? Railroad Crossings tells the story of the people and places along the route of the Grand Trunk Railroad of Canada between Montreal, Quebec and Portland, Maine and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad (and later of the Southern Pacific) between Benson, Arizona and Guaymas, Sonora. The study first takes a comparative view of the cross-border railroad development followed by a consideration of emerging patterns and practices that suggest a broader continental continuity. The evidence demonstrates that this broader continental continuity flows from the application of a certain “railroad logic” or the impact of the essence of railroad operations that for reasons of safety and efficiency required the broad standardization of operating procedures that in many ways rendered place irrelevant.

La croissance économique future a besoin d’un taux d’emploi plus important des travailleurs de plus de 55 ans. Par rapport à cette problématique grandissante, il est important d’identifier les solutions préconisées par les travailleurs âgés pour favoriser le maintien dans l’emploi. Ainsi, les travailleurs âgés de trois entreprises ont été interrogés à ce sujet. Ce travail avait pour objectif d’identifier les solutions privilégiées par les travailleurs, parmi celles proposées par la littérature et celles que les travailleurs proposent de manière spontanée. Nous avons également tenté de déterminer si les solutions sont différentes en fonction de la catégorie socio-professionnelle, du temps de travail et du type d’horaire. Finalement cette étude a permis de cibler les actions à mettre en place : actions concernant la discrimination, les conditions de travail, le temps de travail et le développement professionnel. Elle a permis surtout de constater que les actions relatives à la lutte contre la discrimination sont davantage demandées par les ouvriers, les travailleurs à temps partiel et à horaire variable. Dans ce sens, il semble pertinent de considérer les demandes des ouvriers différemment des demandes des cadres. Ces derniers cherchant davantage des possibilités de développement, tandis que les ouvriers cherchent plus une amélioration des conditions de travail.

The article reviews the book, "Teachers and Reform: Chicago Public Education, 1929-1970," by John F. Lyons.

Cette thèse de maîtrise retrace les parcours des travailleurs impliqués dans la grève des mines d'or de Kirkland Lake de 1941-1942. À partir de l'examen des fiches d'embauche et de service de la société aurifère la plus importante à Kirkland Lake, la mine Lake Shore, il a été possible de reconstituer, jour après jour, le déroulement du conflit, en y retraçant les va-et-vient précis de tous les travailleurs présents. À l'évidence, les itinéraires reconstitués des travailleurs sont multiples et divergents. Qu'il soit un employé de bureau ou un mineur, chaque travailleur a eu un parcours propre pendant la grève et a été susceptible de modifier à lui seul la tournure des événements, en adoptant, par exemple, des comportements non solidaires, ou en décidant de poursuivre la grève après sa fin officielle.

The article reviews the book, "When the Labor Party Dreams: Class, Politics and Policy in New South Wales 1930-32 " by Geoff Robinson.

The dominant representation of domestic work in the literature is quite negative, with uncaring employers, sexual, verbal, and physical abuse, and underpaid and overworked employees. However, the interviews conducted for this micro-study present an intriguingly different image. Young, immigrant Mennonite women who had come to Canada during the Second World War moved during the post-war period from their rural homes in the Fraser Valley, British Columbia, into the city of Vancouver. There, they were employed in domestic work and spent Thursday afternoons at the Maedchenheim, or girls’ home, with their peers. This thesis examines the disconnect between their accounts of domestic work and those of other domestics, with particular attention to how ethnoreligious understandings of gender, community, and survival informed my narrators’ memories and retellings of their experiences. It also explores whether the shift from a rural to an urban environment changed these women’s perceptions of their gender identity.

This study endeavours to investigate the effect of family-friendly practices (FFPs) on organizational attractiveness. Using a policy-capturing research design, we tested the distinct effect of four FFPs (i.e., on-site child care; generous personal leaves; flexible scheduling; and teleworking) on applicant attraction. We also tested the effect of organizational reputation and candidates' desire for segmentation. Our results indicate that FFPs do have a main effect on attractiveness. More specifically, the two scenarios that received the highest scores on attractiveness were personal leaves and flexible scheduling. Contrary to expectations, we did not find a significant "Desire for segmentation x Family-friendly practices" interaction. As expected, corporate reputation does have a significant main effect of attractiveness. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The article reviews the books, "Sociologie des relations professionnelles, " new edition, by Michel Lallemant, and "Sociologie du travail : les relations professionnelles" by Antoine Bevort and Annette Jobert.

Following the Second World Congress of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) held from June 21 to 25, 2010 in Vancouver, this article examines the changes undergone by international trade unionism in recent years. The increasing power of multinational corporations, as a result of globalization, has led to a transformation in international trade unionism which has produced a reorganization of its structures and the emergence of new forms of action to ensure the protection of workers´ rights worldwide. The key argument of this article is that the evolution of the structures and practices of international trade union organizations over the last two decades has been characterized by the implementation of strategies aimed, on the one hand, at reinforcing trade union unity and, on the other hand, at targeting multinational corporations. Lastly, although the transformation of international trade unionism has given rise to important structural changes, international trade union organizations continue to face formidable challenges in their efforts to effectively contribute to the regulation of the global economy.

Labour Conditions for Construction: Building Cities, Decent Work and the Role of Local Authorities, edited by Roderick Lawrence and Edmundo Werna, is reviewed.

The article reviews and comments on four books: "Democratizing Pension Funds: Corporate Governance and Accountability" by Ronald B. Davis; "When I'm Sixty-Four: The Plot against Pensions and the Plan to Save Them" by Teresa Ghilarducci; "No Small Change: Pension Funds and Corporate Engagement" by Tessa Hebb; and one other.