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Case study of efforts [by the United Steelworkers] to organize Omega Direct Response, a call centre in Sudbury, Ontario. The study shows that, by working together, rank-and-file workers as inside organizers and experienced professional organizers can develop winning strategies that can enable unions to organize hard to organize workplaces. The paper also includes perspectives from a conference on organizing call centres held in Toronto in September 2003. --Editors' introduction

In April 2003, funding by Status of Women Canada was provided to carry out a research project to understand the nature, extent and conditions of rural women’s employment in forestry and agri-food industries. While women have a long history of employment in these resource sectors, surprisingly, their employment contributions and experiences have not been publicly discussed. The goal of this research was to make visible the employment experiences of rural women in these industries, particularly as rural women have fewer job opportunities than women living in cities. We describe issues faced by women working in the forestry and agri-food industries and recommend policies to enhance women’s employment experiences.

The article reviews the book, "Black Struggle, Red Scare: Segregation and Anti-Communism in the South, 1948-1968," by Jeff Woods.

In most western nations, laws discourage discrimination in paid employment on the basis of disability, but for these policies to be of benefit, individuals must define their functional limitations as disabilities. There is a strong relationship between age and disability among those of working age, yet it is unclear whether older workers attribute their limitations to disability or to ‘ natural ageing ’. If the latter is true, they may not believe that they need or qualify for workplace accommodations (i.e. adaptations or interventions at the workplace). Similarly, if an employer as- cribes a worker’s limitation to ‘natural ageing’, rather than to a disability, they may not offer compensatory accommodation. Using data from the Canadian 2001 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, this paper asks whether workers who as- cribe their functional limitation to ageing are as likely as those who do not to report a need for a workplace accommodation. It also addresses whether those who identify a need for compensatory accommodations and who ascribe their limi- tation to ageing have unmet workplace-accommodation needs. The findings sug- gest that, even when other factors are controlled, e.g. the type and severity of disability, the number of limiting conditions, gender, age, education, income and occupation, those who made the ageing attribution were less likely to recognise the need for an accommodation; and among those who acknowledged a need, those who ascribed their disability to ageing were less likely to have their needs met.

Case study of unions mobilizing with community groups to defend public Medicare in Canada. The catalyst for the national campaign in 2001-02 was the royal commission on the future of health care in Canada, chaired by Roy Romanow.

The article reviews the book, "Race, Class, and Power in the Alabama Coalfields, 1908-1921," by Brian Kelly.

Although the service work occupies on increasingly central position in the Canadian labour market, its legacy of activism has largely been forgotten by scholars. This paper begins a reclamation of that legacy by analysing the bitter 1961-1962 strike at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto, Canada's most luxurious lodgings. The unsuccessful battle of mostly immigrant workers against a powerful corporation anticipates the multinational consolidation of and asymmetrical struggle in the industry over the next four decades. The paper evaluates strategies used by service workers, explores the different historical dynamics of service-work trade unionism, analyses the cultural contests which sprang up around such a powerful symbolic action, and seeks to explain what lessons have been learned by current Toronto hotel activists. It represents one starting point in the important work of understanding service work activism, and the economic, political, and cultural battles around class, gender, ethnicity, and consumption in Canada.

This study examines employment segregation by gender and by Aboriginal ancestry within Canada's forest sector in 2001. Results show that while gender segregation was principally by occupation, segregation by Aboriginal ancestry was principally by industry sub-sector. White women were over represented in clerical occupations and Aboriginal men were over represented in woods based industries. Patterns of employment for Aboriginal women differed from those of both Aboriginal men and white women.

The article reviews the book, "L’entrevue structurée pour améliorer la sélection du personnel," by Normand Pettersen and André Durivage.

[D]iscusses the determinants of a strong union movement, the evolution of the union [from 1985 to 2005], and the challenges of union resistance and union renewal. These include making gains in bargaining, expanding democracy, organizing, deepening membership involvement and participation, generational renewal, strengthening social unionism, building alliances with social movements, strengthening our capacity to mobilize, and defining ourselves by what we do. The paper asserts that one of the union's greatest strengths is its culture. -- Editors' introduction

[H]ighlights some of the innovations in structures, policies, and practices underway in union organizations in Canada, and the factors underlying the patterns of change. The paper draws on an extensive survey of innovations and change conducted by the authors in 2001 in partnership with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and major unions and federations. --Editors' introduction

[A]nalyzes the Quebec experience with union renewal, focusing on the critical role of power resources, that is "resources that a union can access and mobilize in order to influence the process of change." --Editors' introduction

[O]utlines the process of decision-making in the union on major policies, emphasizing the involvement of rank-and-file membership. The case study describes how the union formulated the energy policy in 2001 and the benefits of rank-and-file membership participation in policy-making. --Editors' introduction

The article reviews the book, "Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas, Volume One: From Anarchy to Anarchism (300 CE to 1939)," edited by Robert Graham.

L’industrie du travail intérimaire a connu une expansion remarquable au cours des dernières décennies. Le présent article a pour but de comparer la situation des travailleurs intérimaires au Québec et en France et d’expliquer les causes de leur très faible taux de syndicalisation. Pour ce faire, nous ferons les portraits schématiques de l’industrie de l’intérim, décrirons les cadres réglementaires qui régissent le travail intérimaire, examinerons certaines caractéristiques des régimes de représentation collective et analyserons les conditions dans lesquelles s’exerce le syndicalisme des intérimaires dans chacun de ces pays. Si les caractéristiques propres au travail intérimaire rendent difficiles l’organisation et la mobilisation syndicale de cette catégorie de travailleurs en raison de leur dispersion au sein d’une multitude d’entreprises utilisatrices, le très faible taux de présence syndicale dans cette industrie découle également d’autres facteurs spécifiques à chacun de ces pays et que nous tâcherons d’identifier.

[E]xamines the development of youth programs and initiatives within UFCW Canada to increase youth involvement and participation in the union. Of interest are the union's national youth internship program, designed to train young union activists by providing them with basic labour education and training, local union youth committees, and youth conferences for exchange of experiences and views on union strategies and campaigns. The authors believe that the youth initiative has led to the integration of young workers into every level of the union and increased their particiaption in decision-making structures, servicing, and organizing. --Editors' introduction

This paper examines the diversity and complexities of nonstandard work. Two types of nonstandard workers are studied: workers employed by temporary help agencies (THAs) and contract company workers, both of which are involved in a triadic employment relationship. The analyses are based on interviews with managers in three service-sector companies in Norway. The paper discusses the dilemmas managers in client-organizations face when agency temporaries and contract company workers are integrated and do work similar to what is done by the regular workers in the firm. Managers in client-organizations require loyalty from nonstandard workers, and under certain conditions, nonstandard workers are able to form pressure groups. The findings are discussed in relation to the highly regulated labour market in Norway, in a period of labour shortage.

The article reviews the book, "Nursing Against the Odds: How Health Care Cost Cutting, Media Stereotypes, and Medical Hubris Undermine Nurses and Patient Care," by Suzanne Gordon.