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This article reviews the book, "The Miners: One Union, One Industry ; A History of the National Union of Mineworkers, 1939-46," by R. Page Arnot.

Recent attempts to extend Marx's analysis of capitalism by developing a class-based theory of the role and functions of the capitalist state have turned on the debate between the "instrumentalist" and "structuralist" perspectives. Subsequent critiques and extensions of these two conceptions of the relations between the state and the major classes within capitalist society have raised the issues of the role of class struggle in the development of state structure and policy as well as the impact of the capitalists state itself on the nature of class relations. Although theorists have pointed to the mutually conditioning effects characterizing the relationship between the state and social classes, there has bee little empirical examination of this relationship. The precise nature of the kinds of mechanisms linking various social classes and the state together with the concrete effects of these links on state and class relations required further specification. In response to this significant gap in the development of the theory of the capitalist state, the present research was formulated to address the issue of specifying the forms of mediation between the state, industrial capitalists and labour through an analysis of the history of maximum hours, minimum wage, and workmen's compensation legislation in Ontario between 1900 and 1939. These areas of legislation were chosen because of their significance, for both capitalists and workers; they represent a potential drain on accumulated surplus for owners of capital and a potential improvement in subsistence and working conditions for labour. The development of legislation in each of these areas thus provided a focus for examining relations between owners of industrial capital, wage labour, and the state. The major sources of data for the primary analysis covering the period from 1900 to 1939 consisted of private papers, published and unpublished government documents located in the Public Archives of Ontario and the Public Archives of Canada, labour newspapers, and the journal of the Canadian Manufacturers' Association. The analysis of relations between workers, employers, and the state around limitations on working hours, minimum wage regulation, and the establishment of a workmen's compensation program identifies a number of modes by which capitalist domination in the workplace is mediated to the level of political relations. These modes of mediation function through mutually reinforcing economic, political and ideological forms and have as their primary effect the frustration of the political organization of labour as a class. Capitalist modes of mediation are parallelled and supported by the modes of mediation adopted by the state in its role of managing class relations. In the process of the development of the areas of legislation which are the focus of this study, the state functioned to maintain the hegemony of capitalist social relations of production by transforming the economic class struggle and processing labour demands in such a way that subsequent state policy and structure were guided in the direction of comparability with prevailing class relations of domination and subordination.

Cette recherche porte sur les clivages ethniques au sein du groupe de la haute direction des grandes entreprises ayant leur siège social au Québec. Des différences significatives de comportement à l'égard des francophones ont été enregistrées entre firmes canadiennes francophones et anglophones et entre canadiennes et étrangères. Ce souci de contrôle est encore plus affirmé dans les firmes possédées totalement par des étrangers.

The paper falls under four main heads: 1) the environment of éducation in Canada, past, présent and future; 2) Public Service collective bargaining at the national level, including some observations on collective bargaining for teachers, keeping in mind the spécial interests of this audience and your interest in the general scene, at least for purposes of this early session; 3) options in the resolution of conflict; here I propose to comment first on characteristics of third party intervention, particularly as they may lead to binding arbitration, and then make comments and criticisms on emergency arbitration. There then foliows a conclusion the brevity of which will leave you in a state of disbelief.

To satisfy the continuing need for agricultural labour in western Canada, especially at harvest time, the CPR after 1890 ran cheap harvest excursions from Eastern and central Canada each August and September. Accordingly, to insure an adequate supply of workers and potential settlers the railway companies, together with the federal and provincial governments, created an image of the prairies as a land of opportunity offering plentiful jobs at high wages. Owing to a variety of factors, however, unprecedented numbers responded to the 1908 appeal causing unexpected problems for all concerned. Some of those in the Maritime contingent were particularly troublesome as, bored and thirsty, they went on a rampage which touched most of the communities on the Main Line from Chalk River to Winnipeg. Once in the West distribution problems plagued all the excursionists with the result that places like Winnipeg, Moose Jaw, and Regina had too many harvesters on hand, while other places faced shortages. Consequently, numerous men wandered about aimlessly looking for work and often were forced to accept alternate employment at substantially less money than they had expected. The result was that the image of the West as capable of satisfying all those who went there in search of work was temporarily tarnished.

Class Relations in Canadian mining are explored as changes occur first as a result of the formal subordination of labour through capitalist penetration of petty commodity production then through the real subordination of labour within capitalism. It is argued that the once autonomous position of craftsmen and tradesmen in the surface and underground operations of hardrock mines are being subjected to de-skilling as capital uses technology and the division of labour to maximize its control. Parallel with the mechanization of mines and the automation of surface operations is the introduction of "people technology" in the form of modular training schemes, also designed to maximize capital's control and ease its ability to replace workers.

Minutes of the annual meeting held in Saskatoon, June 4, 1979.

This article reviews the book, "The Double Ghetto: Canadian Women and Their Segregated Work," by Pat and Hugh Armstrong.

Practical guide for trade unionization and trade union recognition in Canada including legal aspects, trade union structures, legal aid possibilities, and selection of bargaining unit. Discusses woman workers' and immigrants' employment opportunities and trade unionism; reviews unfair labour practices and principles of collective bargaining. --Summary, WorldCat catalogue record

Après quinze ans d'expérimentation au Québec, un ancien ministre du travail sous deux gouvernements se demande s'il ne faudrait pas reconsidérer certains principes et certaines modalités du régime de négociation collective dans les secteurs gouvernemental et para-gouvernemental.

This book is an insightful and detailed analysis of Canadian labour relations policy at the beginning of the 20th century, and of the formulation of distinctive features which still characterize it today. The development and reception of this policy are explained as a product of ideological and economic forces. These include the impact of international unionism on the Canadian working class, the emergence of scientific management in business ideology, and the special role of the state in economic development and the mediation of class relationships. The ideas and career of Mackenzie King, including his 'new liberalism,' and his activities in regard to the Department of Labour are examined, revealing how he moulded Canada's official position in the relations between capital and labour. With a focus on King's intellectual qualities in an international context, the author brings out another dimension, portraying him as Canada's first practising social scientist. The book examines implementation of policy through an analysis of the work of the Department of Labour through detailed case studies of government interventions in industrial disputes. The initial acceptance of the labour relations policy by the labour movement is explained and its repudiation in 1911 is examined against a background of setbacks which reflected its practical limits as much as its philosophical orientation. The result is a study which moves beyond a particular concern with labour policy to illuminate the contours of Canadian life in a crucial period of national development. --Publisher's description

This article reviews the book, "Fragile Federation: Social Change in Canada," by Lorna R. Marsden and Edward B. Harvey.

L'auteur analyse la nature, l'origine, la fragilité et la portée des diverses expériences de modifications dans l'organisation du travail ainsi que le contexte dans lequel ces initiatives se sont développées. Elles présagent des changements sans que l'on puisse les prévoir avec précisions. Une chose est certaine, c'est que certaines formes de travail ne seront plus admises.

Since the end of World War II, worker participation in management has expanded in varying degrees, in different forms, and at different levels. In West Europe both collective bargaining and mutualism have expanded dramatically and workers participation in management seems destined to advance. In Britain and North America the adversary System of collective bargaining has predominated. Mutualistic schemes have been in the small minority. The attitudinal climate has not been conducive to consensus thinking in industrial relations.

This is a bibliography of sources for research into the history of women workers and their activity as trade unionists in British Columbia. It spans an eighteen-year period, from 1930 to 1948. During these years dramatic changes occurred in the position of women within production as well as in strategies and strengths of the organized labour movement. --Introduction

Presents two reports on the Knights of Labor Centennial Symposium held in Chicago in May 1979. The symposium focussed on the Knights of Labor in the US. Dick's wide-ranging commentary (pages 185-190) noted British historian E.P. Thompson's influence on the work of symposium leaders Herbert Gutman and David Montgomery as well as several of those who gave papers. Reilly (pages 190-92), in contrast, reported on the three papers on the Knights of Labor in Ontario given by Canadian historians Russell Hann, Gregory Kealey, and Bryan Palmer. The latter two's presentations consisted of selections from their forthcoming book, "Dreaming of What Might Be: The Knights of Labor in Ontario, 1880-1900."

This article reviews the book, "Le forgeron er le ferblantier," by Jean-Pierre Hardy.

This article reviews the book, "A Dictionary of Canadian Economics," by David Crane.

This article reviews the book, "Industrial and Labor Relations Terms : A Glossary," by Robert E. Doherty.