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We examine the relationship between union power and redistribution in Canada’s ten provinces between 1986 and 2014. Subnational jurisdictions are thus the focus of research questions that have previously been addressed at the international level. Multilevel models with time-series cross-sectional data are used to estimate the long-term association between union density and redistribution through provincial transfer payments and income taxes. We found that higher union density correlates with considerably more redistribution over the long term but not over the short term. This finding is confirmed by three distinct measures of inequality and poverty reduction, an indication that it is quite robust. The association is significant for the entire study period and for its second half. This finding is consistent with power resource theory in its original form, but not with more recent work in that area or with comparative political economy scholarship, which generally now neglects or downplays the impact of organized labour on social and economic policy outcomes. Our findings suggest a need to re-assess the diminished interest of recent researchers in the political influence of organized labour. It will also interest scholars in other countries where tax and transfer systems are decentralized, and where the impact of organized labour on such measures has been understudied at the subnational level. Additionally, we show that unionized voters in Canada are more favourably disposed than their non-unionized counterparts toward redistribution and toward pro-redistribution political parties. Unions may consequently affect redistribution in part by socializing their members to favour it. This possibility is advanced with preliminary data in this paper. We argue that further scholarly attention is both required and deserved on this subject in Canada and elsewhere.

The article reviews the book, "Ordinary Saints: Women, Work, and Faith in Newfoundland," by Bonnie Morgan.

This study aims to shed light on the main determinants of and barriers to union commitment among young workers and, more generally, the relationship young workers have with union life. So far, the relationship between young workers and unionism has been examined mainly in terms of the challenges of access to unionization that confront young workers, a group generally underrepresented in union membership. The more specific issue of union commitment among young workers, once they become unionized, has remained largely underexplored in the literature. Using quantitative and qualitative data from an empirical survey of young unionized workers in the Quebec public service, our study identifies and compares the main factors that explain union commitment among young unionized workers and the theoretical underpinnings. It also seeks to shed light on the barriers to this commitment and identifies the organizational measures that could facilitate union commitment among young workers, based on the perceptions expressed by young union members. Our findings indicate that unions should adopt multidimensional organizational measures to foster union commitment among young workers, with a first step being to increase personalized contact between local union representatives and young members. Such investments at the local level are critical, as shown by our quantitative and qualitative findings. Thus, any reform or measure aimed at encouraging union involvement of young workers should not be limited merely to structural aspects but should also take into account the attitudinal and relational underpinnings of young workers’ commitment to their union. By shifting the focus from youth unionization to young members’ involvement in union bodies, our study will contribute to debate about union representation and the generational renewal of the labour movement’s activist base.

The article reviews the book, "Canada’s Other Red Scare: Indigenous Protest and Colonial Encounters During the Global Sixties," by Scott Rutherford.

The article reviews the book, "The Violence of Work: New Essays in Canadian and US Labour History," edited by Jeremy Milloy and Joan Sangster.

The article reviews the book, "Nothing Succeeds Like Failure: The Sad History of American Business Schools," by Steven Conn.

By the 1930s, silicosis – a debilitating lung disease caused by the inhalation of silica dust – had reached epidemic proportions among miners in the gold-producing Porcupine region of northern Ontario. In response, industrial doctors at the McIntyre Mine began to test aluminum powder as a possible prophylactic against the effects of silica dust. In 1944, the newly created McIntyre Research Foundation began distributing aluminum powder throughout Canada and exported this new therapy to mines across the globe. The practice continued until the 1980s despite a failure to replicate preventative effects of silicosis and emerging evidence of adverse neurological impacts among long-time recipients of aluminum therapy. Situated at the intersection of labour, health, science, and environmental histories, this article argues that aluminum therapy represents an extreme and important example where industry and health researchers collaborated on quick-fix “miracle cures” rather than the systemic (and more expensive) changes to the underground environment necessary to reduce the risk of silicosis.

The article reviews the book, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Cars? Public Transit in the Age of Google, Uber, and Elon Musk," by James Wilt.

Trois grèves qui avaient pour objectif l’obtention du salaire minimum à 15 $ l’heure ont été menées par des syndicats québécois en 2016. Ces grèves se sont inscrites dans des campagnes politiques qui avaient le même objectif. Cet article propose une étude comparée de ces grèves dans le but d’analyser dans quelle mesure les formes de solidarité et les modes d’organisation déployés offrent des pistes de revitalisation qui permettraient au mouvement syndical québécois de relever les défis stratégiques contemporains auxquels fait face le mouvement syndical québécois. L’analyse de ces trois grèves, en s’appuyant sur une typologie des divers syndicalismes et activismes syndicaux, permet d’approfondir les formes de solidarité déployées par les syndicats ainsi que les formes de mobilisation originales qui, toutefois, n’ont pas mené à un progrès substantiel du contrôle démocratique exercé par les membres sur leur mouvement.

The article reviews the book, "Le régime des décrets de convention collective au Québec. Quel avenir ?," by Jean Bernier.

L’article présente les résultats d’une étude qualitative menée auprès de 31 intervenants et intervenantes qui travaillent en protection de l’enfance au Québec. Elle porte sur les conséquences des difficultés émotionnelles des intervenants sur leurs relations avec les gestionnaires et les collègues de travail, dans le contexte de la réforme du réseau de la santé et des services sociaux (projet de loi 10). Les résultats montrent qu’une large majorité d’intervenants et intervenantes rapportent une ou plusieurs conséquences délétères dans les relations avec les gestionnaires (colère et frustration, méfiance à l’égard d’une possible instrumentalisation des difficultés émotionnelles, évitement et perte de confiance). Également, une proportion très significative d’entre eux font état de conséquences à l’échelle des relations avec les collègues de travail (isolement et retrait, effet boule de neige sur les collègues et l’équipe de travail et diminution de la collaboration et de l’entraide). L’analyse montre que l’intensification du travail et la dégradation des conditions de pratique des intervenantes et intervenants sociaux, qui ont résulté de la dernière réforme (projet de loi 10) instituée par le ministre Barrette (2013), ont significativement contribué à fragiliser les collectifs de travail. Ce faisant, les possibilités d’entraide et de coopération, pourtant nécessaires à la réalisation de leur mandat professionnel, ont tendance à s’effacer au profit d’une activité professionnelle pratiquée par des travailleuses et travailleurs isolés et en souffrance.

The article reviews the book, "The Southern Key: Class, Race and Radicalism in the 1930s and 1940s," by Michael Goldfield.

The article reviews the book and CD, "Working-Class Heroes: A History of Struggle in Song," edited by Mat Callahan and Yvonne Moore.

The decline in the prevalence of the Standard Employment Relationship in Canada has created challenges for Canadian unions. This article reviews the available estimates of the prevalence of precarious employment and gig work in Canada. Using data from the Poverty and Employment Precarity in Southern Ontario (PEPSO) research group it evaluates both the success of unions in organising workers in precarious employment and bargaining for them. The last section reviews recent union strategies to organise workers in precarious employment with a focus on the subset of precarious employment referred to as gig work. Organising gig workers presents unique challenges for unions as many are deemed by their employers as independent contractors and as a result not covered by existing Canadian labour legislation and hence not eligible for union membership. The paper concludes by arguing that organising precarious workers is a work in progress, whose ultimate outcome remains uncertain.

The article reviews the book, "Fellow Travellers: Communist Trade Unionism and Industrial Relations on the French Railways, 1914-1939," by Thomas Beaumont.

This article discusses the sector-wide organization of contractual archaeologists in Québec, beginning with the formation of a workers’ committee and leading subsequently to union accreditation. We theorize the difficulty of organizing these “precarious professionals” and suggest that self-organization outside of an industrial relations framework may be required to overcome barriers to their unionization. Deliberation, norm setting, and informal parlays with employers lead to clarifying class distinctions that professional identification often occludes, while self-organization increases worker confidence in collective action.

This paper presents case studies of teacher union-government relationships in three Canadian provinces – British Columbia, Ontario, and Alberta – where teacher organizations have undertaken divergent strategic positions relative to educational reform. It identifies critical factors that may lead teacher unions to challenge government reforms, how and when a teacher organization might instead accommodate governmental reform, and under what circumstances union renewal drives an organization to establish reform strategies of its own. The paper demonstrates the results of these varied strategies and suggests that teacher unions’ stances, including when they are resistant, are rational and, arguably, necessary.

The article reviews the book, "The University and Social Justice: Struggles Across the Globe," edited by Aziz Choudry and Salim Vally.

The article reviews the book, "Les relations industrielles en questions," edited by Patrice Jalette.

/Toute personne qui observe le monde du travail et de l’emploi comprendra que ce volume est mis sous presse à un moment d’incertitude et d’anxiété. En 2020, nous sommes entrés dans une longue période de confinement et d’isolement, la COVID-19 ayant généré plusieurs crises. Comme c’est le cas pour les véritables catastrophes, cette ère de malaise a eu un point de départ bien défini (début de mars 2020), mais elle est maintenant entrée dans une phase qui, malgré le déploiement actuel des vaccins, semble être présente pour une durée indéterminée....//This edition goes to press at a time of uncertainty and anxiety for the majority of those who have a stake in the world of work and employment. In 2020, people on all populated continents entered a protracted period of lockdown and isolation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. As is characteristic of genuine catastrophes, this era of malaise had a defined commencement point (early March 2020) but has now entered a phase where, despite the current roll-out of vaccines, looks like being present for an indeterminate long-haul....