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The article reviews the book, "Security/Capital: A General Theory of Pacification," by George S. Rigakos.

This paper evaluates the potential of the framework of reasonable accom- modation under Canadian human rights legislation to respond adequately to the workplace discrimination claims of minorities, particularly racialized Muslim women. Developing the premise that religious freedom and gender equality are not mutually exclusive, the author considers the legislative and judicial context of multiculturalism in Canada, as exemplified by the R. v. NS case (dealing with whether a witness in legal proceedings may wear a niqab while testifying) and by certain legislative initiatives (such as the federal Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act and the Quebec Charter of Values) that reflect a climate of growing xenophobia and islamophobia and that reinforce the "otherness" of minority racialized women under the pretext of secularism and gender equality. The paper then examines more closely the existing legal framework for rea- sonable accommodation in the workplace, arguing that the rigorous standard adopted by the Supreme Court in Meiorin was weakened and devalued in subse- quent decisions such as McGill and Hydro-Qu6bec. Ultimately, the author con- tends, state multiculturalism should be challenged and reconceptualized through the prism of critical multiculturalism, in order to move away from a simplistic emphasis on cultural difference and to address the underlying systemic issues of racism and discrimination. Furthermore, she argues, the notion of reasonable accommodation should be reformulated to shift the focus away from accommo- dation of minority women as tolerated exceptions to the norm, and towards the achievement of substantive equality through structural change.

This article reviews the book, "Working Through the Past: Labor and Authoritarian Legacies in Comparative Perspective," edited by Teri L. Caraway, Maria Lorena Cook, and Stephen Crowley.

Though rare in Canada, community benefits agreements (cbas) are now commonly being negotiated by labour-community coalitions in American cities. cbas require "urban revitalization" projects to provide living wages, affordable housing, and access to jobs for marginalized residents. Surprisingly little has been written about cbas within the labour studies literature, and most critiques of cbas correspond with private developments. This case study draws on three years of participatory, action-based fieldwork with a labour-community coalition, called the Toronto Community Benefits Network (hereafter, the Network). Formed in 2013, the Network tried to negotiate the first-ever cba with the Ontario government, linked to the $6.6 billion Eglinton Crosstown Light Rail Transit project in Toronto. The Network won discursive support for cbas from provincial policymakers, but demands for employment equity were met with only an ineffective workplace-development approach. I explain and evaluate the Network's "insider strategy" in relation to political vulnerabilities of the government of Ontario; the Network's efforts to mobilize resources and gain union support; and the changing labour-relations regime governing infrastructure projects in Toronto. I argue that while cbas open a new terrain of struggle for marginalized groups and unions to assert a right to the city, these struggles are being coopted by governments and used as political cover for deepening neoliberal governance.

This paper focuses on safety on multi-employer worksites in high-risk industries. Relevant industries are those that utilize flexible labour arrangements and specialization, such as construction, mining and petroleum production, and that traditionally have been high-risk due to hazards in the physical work environment and the occurrence of unsafe work processes and practices. These industries also share common characteristics in matters of overall work environments, multi-employer worksites (including subcontracting chains), as well as tasks performed by contractors, making it relevant to explore and clarify the situation regarding the safety of the affected groups. A comprehensive review is performed of 43 peer-reviewed research articles published up until early 2015, with a main focus on international studies covering safety issues on multi-employer worksites in construction and industrial work settings such as mining, petroleum production and manufacturing.The results show that previous research has focused on a number of key issues that may be divided into three broad categories: 1- contract work characteristics; 2- structural/organizational factors and conditions; 3- cultural conditions. Much of the focus is on structure and organization, for example, how multi-employer arrangements can lead to breakdowns in communication and overall disorganization effects in relation to safety. There is, however, a need for further studies on the nature of these structural and organizational factors and conditions, such as focused studies on the consequences of power asymmetry for the ability of contractors to adhere to safety laws and regulations. Furthermore, we argue that the development towards blurred organizational boundaries in these networks due to extensive outsourcing and long-term contracts may be a worthwhile avenue for future research into safety on multi-employer worksites.

Cet article s'intéresse à la façon dont les discours en circulation au Québec parlent de la pauvreté urbaine dans un contexte de prospérité. Il met en lumière la coexistence, pendant les années qui suivent la Seconde Guerre mondiale, d'une vision « individualisante » de la pauvreté avec une conception plus « socialisante » assimilant ce phénomène à une injustice. Il soutient aussi qu'un changement de paradigme s'effectue dans les années 1960 et 1970, la pauvreté commençant à être appréhendée en lien avec la société de consommation en voie de consolidation. Dans ce contexte, la pauvreté qui perdure en dépit de mesures prises pour l'enrayer dérange de plus en plus et en vient à être assimilée à un phénomène social dont l'injustice est exacerbée par les valeurs de la consommation de masse et la prospérité ambiante qui le rendent d'autant plus inacceptable.

This paper provides evidence of the impact of three important and general policies shaping the degree of labor market rigidity on the labor share: welfare expenditures, government ex- penditures on active labor market programs, and passive labor market measures. It analyses the impact of regulation, such as the intensity of employment protection, and evaluates whether trade unions and minimum wage institutions play a role in the relationship between all measures and the labor share. The labor income share has experienced a declining trend since the mid- 1970s in most advanced economies, and the existing literature found little if no correlation of this decline to general labor market characteristics. However, the present paper finds that some in- stitutions are correlated to the downward trend, depending on the welfare system adopted, and that welfare and employment protection counteract the decline. Moreover, many countries saw an upsurge in their labor share after the burst of the financial crisis. Evidence of whether the effect of the policies weakened or reinforced the labor share after 2007 is reported.

This article examines the efforts of feminist unions to organize childcare workers in 1970s Vancouver, British Columbia, and highlights the entrenched opposition to union organizing by women considered to be “just babysitters.” These workers’ efforts challenged the “love-versus-money” divide that hampered women’s organizing efforts in the care sector. Vancouver childcare workers, working in alliance with parents, insisted on the public importance of their traditionally private work. In doing so, they connected their fight for better working conditions with the fight for universal childcare. They linked women’s struggles in the workplace to calls for the redistribution of society’s caregiving responsibilities away from families and the market and toward the state. Government intransigence prevented meaningful childcare policy reform, but workers’ efforts highlighted a key moment in Vancouver’s feminist and labor history when the fair treatment of care workers was linked to the liberation of all women.

This article reviews "Labor’s Love Lost: The Rise and Fall of the Working-Class Family in America," by Andrew J. Cherlin, "Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis," by J.D. Vance, "Fighting for Total Person Unionism: Harold Gibbons, Ernest Calloway, and Working-Class Citizenship," by Robert Bussel, "Conservative Counterrevolution: Challenging Liberalism in 1950s Milwaukee," by Tula A. Connell, and "Reframing Randolph: Labor, Black Freedom, and the Legacies of A. Philip Randolph," edited by Andrew E. Kersten and Clarence Lang.

This article reviews the book, "Health and Safety in Canadian Workplaces," by Jason Foster and Bob Barnetson.

This article reviews the book, "Dialogue social, relations du travail et syndicalisme : perspectives historiques et internationales," edited by Paul-André Lapointe,

Thiis article reviews the book, "Quand travailler enferme dans la pauvreté et la précarité : travailleuses et travailleurs pauvres au Québec et dans le monde," by Carole Yerochewski.

Taverns and inns were centres of neighbourhood life, places for travellers seeking meals, drink, and accommodation and commercial and domestic spaces where keepers and their families earned a living and that they called home. Women figured largely in public houses as patrons, servants, family members, and publicans in their own right. The article focuses on a sample of 90 female publicans who held tavern licences from 1840 to 1860, arguing that keeping these establishments afforded them distinct levels of economic independence and power. It considers broadly those characteristics that constituted ideal female keepers in mid-nineteenth-century Montreal and how they maintained a respectable status precisely at a moment when alcohol consumption and associated licensed and unlicensed commercial sites were coming increasing under scrutiny by temperance advocates, authorities of the criminal justice system, and elites. To retain their licences, female keepers had to negotiate the landmines of respectability by following licensing regulations, maintaining a reputable demeanour, and regulating the public house’s culture and clientele.

This article reviews the book, "In Love and Struggle: The Revolutionary Lives of James and Grace Lee Boggs," by Stephen M. Ward.

Precarious employment is on the rise in Canada, increasing by nearly 50% in the last two decades. However, little is known about the mechanisms by which it can impact upon geographical mobility. Employment-related geographical mobility refers to mobility to, from and between workplaces, as well as mobility as part of work. We report on a qualitative study conducted among 27 immigrant men and women in Toronto that investigates the relationship between precarious employment and daily commutes while exploring the ways in which gender, class and migration structure this relationship.Interview data reveal that participants were largely unable to work where they lived or live where they worked. Their precarious jobs were characterized by conditions that resulted in long, complex, unfamiliar, unsafe and expensive commutes. These commuting difficulties, in turn, resulted in participants having to refuse or quit jobs, including desirable jobs, or being unable to engage in labour market strategies that could improve their employment conditions (e.g. taking courses, volunteering, etc.). Participants’ commuting difficulties were amplified by the delays, infrequency, unavailability and high cost of public transportation. These dynamics disproportionately and/or differentially impacted certain groups of workers. Precarious work has led to workers having to absorb an ever-growing share of the costs associated with their employment, underscored in our study as time, effort and money spent travelling to and from work. We discuss the forces that underlie the spatial patterning of work and workers in Toronto, namely the growing income gap and the increased polarization among neighbourhoods that has resulted in low-income immigrants increasingly moving from the centre to the edges of the city. We propose policy recommendations for public transportation, employment, housing and child care that can help alleviate some of the difficulties described.

Objective. We sought to document pathways between under/unemployment and health among racialized immigrant women in Toronto while exploring the ways in which gender, class, migration and racialization, as interlocking systems of social relations, structure these relationships. Design. We conducted 30 interviews with racialized immigrant women who were struggling to get stable employment that matched their education and/or experience. Participants were recruited through flyers, partner agencies and peer researcher networks. Most interviews (21) were conducted in a language other than English. Interviews were transcribed, translated as appropriate and analyzed using NVivo software. The project followed a community-based participatory action research model. Results. Under/unemployment negatively impacted the physical and mental health of participants and their families. It did so directly, for example through social isolation, as well as indirectly through representation in poor quality jobs. Under/unemployment additionally led to the intensification of job search strategies and of the household/caregiving workload which also negatively impacted health. Health problems, in turn, contributed to pushing participants into long-term substandard employment trajectories. Participants’ experiences were heavily structured by their social location as low income racialized immigrant women. Conclusions. Our study provides needed qualitative evidence on the gendered and racialized dimensions of under/unemployment, and adverse health impacts resulting from this. Drawing on intersectional analysis, we unpack the role that social location plays in creating highly uneven patterns of under/unemployment and negative health pathways for racialized immigrant women. We discuss equity informed strategies to help racialized immigrant women overcome barriers to stable work that match their education and/or experience.

In this study, we examine the predictors of unmet demand for unions in non-union workplaces, using the Australian Worker Representation and Participation Survey (AWRPS). Unmet demand is defined here, as those employees in non-union workplaces who would be likely to join a union if one were available. We argue that this is the first study in Australia to examine the predictors of unmet demand in non-union workplaces, and, that this is an important line of inquiry given a rise in non-union workplaces and never members in Australia, alongside declining union density and membership numbers. Drawing on three strands of existing literature, namely the individual propensity to unionize, the rise and characteristics of non-union workplaces and alternative forms of representation, and, managerial responsiveness to employees and unions, we develop and test four hypotheses.Our results show, controlling for a range of personal, job and workplace characteristics, that there are two significant predictors of the willingness to join a union in non-union workplaces: perceived union instrumentality (Hypothesis 2) and perceived managerial responsiveness to employees (Hypothesis 4), whereby employees who perceive that managers lack responsiveness are more likely to want to join a union if one were available.These results show that unions must try to enhance their instrumentality in workplaces and could be more effective in recruiting if they targeted never members. The results also show that unions need to have some gauge (measure) of how responsive managers are to employees, and that they can leverage poor responsiveness of managers for membership gain and the extension of organizing. In the final analysis, an understanding of the predictors of unmet demand for unions in non-union workplaces has implications for Australian unions’ servicing and organizing strategies, and for their future growth prospects.

The article reviews the book, "Worker Voice: Employee Representation in the Workplace in Australia, Canada, Germany, the UK and the US, 1914–1939," by Greg Patmore.

This article reviews the book, "From Left to Right: Maternalism and Women's Political Activism in Postwar Canada," by Brian Thorn.

The article reviews the book, "Drawn to Change: Graphic Histories of Working-Class Struggle," edited by the Graphic History Collective .