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The article reviews the book, "Au-delà de l’entreprise libérée : Enquête sur l’autonomie et ses contraintes," by Thierry Weil and Sophie Dubey.

Covers perspectives on the evolution of labour law in Canada and the US since the 1980s. Argues that labour law in the future will trend toward sectoral bargaining or some other form of broad-based bargaining, although there will be foreschocks in the nearer term. The paper was presented as the H.D. Woods Lecture at the Annual Conference of the Canadian Industrial Relations Association, Vancouver, May 2019.

Ce texte a initialement été présenté à titre de Conférence H. D. Woods dans le cadre de la Conférence annuelle de l’Association canadienne des relations industrielles (ACRI/CIRA), en mai 2019, à Vancouver.

Les restructurations d’entreprises sont des réalités socio-économiques importantes depuis au moins trois décennies. À la suite de la crise de 2008-2009, ces tendances, loin de se résorber, se sont accélérées et ont poussé les représentants des salariés à investir de nouveaux champs d’action stratégiques pour contester, avaliser ou influencer les restructurations. Ces mobilisations syndicales ne sont pas sans faire apparaître de contradictions dans les fonctions représentatives des salariés. Cet article propose d’analyser ces stratégies et leurs résultats à travers une comparaison internationale de quatre syndicats locaux dans deux contextes nationaux différents (France et Canada). Sa thèse principale est que ces stratégies se doivent d’être analysées au-delà des contextes institutionnels propres et selon la notion de pouvoir syndical « de », c’est-à-dire des capacités associées aux acteurs sociaux. Trois registres d’action sont identifiés, à savoir « d’opposition », « de coopération » et « d’inventivité ». L’apport de cet article est, à la fois, de souligner l’importance du pouvoir syndical, mais de l’interroger dans la durée, les stratégies d’urgence à la suite d’annonces de restructurations prenant des directions diverses. Bien que cette analyse diachronique relativise la centralité du pouvoir syndical, celui-ci demeure capital à l’heure où les régimes institutionnels subissent d’importantes transformations.

This article explores the long-run relationship between financialization and union density in Canada’s non-financial sector. Drawing on critical political economy literatures, we argue that the shareholder business model, the growing use of financial assets and leading global industries have led to a restructuring of labour markets and unionized workforces. Evidence from panel data analysis suggests that the negative relationship between financialization and union density holds when controlling for economic context and sectoral characteristics. We conclude that the sectoral impacts of financialization on union density – especially in highly financialized sectors such as manufacturing, extractive resources, transport and warehousing – are critical to understanding union decline and recent changes to employment relations.

The article reviews the book, "Red Round Globe Hot Burning: A Tale at the Crossroads of Commons and Closure, of Love and Terror, of Race and Class, and of Kate and Ned Depard," by Peter Linebaugh.

The article reviews the book, "Whistleblowing. Toward a New Theory," by Kate Kenny.

The article reviews the book, "Live at the Cellar: Vancouver’s Iconic Jazz Club and the Canadian Co-operative Jazz Scene in the 1950s and '60s," by Marian Jago .

La diversité de la main-d’oeuvre dans les organisations représente une stratégie porteuse afin de surmonter les problèmes de recrutement et de rétention d’une main-d’oeuvre qualifiée et compétente. Parmi les groupes cibles, les femmes sont sous-représentées dans de nombreux emplois qui nécessitent des qualifications et des compétences spécifiques. La littérature montre bien l’importance des pratiques de gestion comme outil de rétention. L’objectif de cet article est de documenter les pratiques de gestion favorables à la rétention des femmes dans le cas particulier des inspectrices dans les domaines de l’hygiène, de la santé et de la sécurité au travail. De façon plus précise, elle vise à comprendre la réalité des femmes inspectrices afin de saisir, de leur point de vue, les pratiques de gestion qui favoriseront ou non leur rétention dans l’organisation. Deux groupes ont fait l’objet de cette étude : des inspectrices en santé et sécurité du travail et des inspectrices en hygiène alimentaire et animalière. Au total, 62 personnes ont été rencontrées lors d’entrevues collectives, soit 10 gestionnaires et 52 inspectrices et inspecteurs. Les résultats montrent six grandes pratiques stratégiques : la valorisation du travail et de l’expertise professionnelle, la réduction des risques du travail, la rémunération globale équitable, les horaires flexibles, l’autonomie au travail et la transformation des dynamiques de travail. La réussite passe par une transformation stratégique de l’ensemble des processus visant à instaurer un contexte favorable au recrutement et à la rétention des femmes. Un modèle pour agir à divers niveaux sur ces enjeux de diversité dans les milieux de travail est proposé. Ce modèle permet ainsi de mieux documenter les pratiques organisationnelles et d’aller au-delà des obstacles rencontrés par les femmes de façon individuelle.

How do unions respond to the emerging threats and opportunities posed by digitalization in the sphere of employment relations? What factors account for the focus and varying effectiveness of their responses? This paper seeks to address these questions in the case of Italy—a theoretically interesting case that combines significant digitalization-related challenges, historically strong industrial relations institutions under increasing pressure, and diverse union confederations. From the available evidence, we find that Italian union strategies and demands so far have been primarily focused on interventions at the macro and meso levels, with a view to extending traditional forms of protection—especially sectoral collective bargaining agreements—to deal with the disruptive effects of digitalization. This focus has been coupled with some limited innovation in union agendas and discursive repertoires focused on the micro level of intervention, as well as a shift in union preferences toward inclusion of platform workers and self-employed workers in their constituencies. Whilst highlighting the importance of agential factors, we nonetheless find that the focus and effectiveness of union interventions are crucially shaped by prior institutional legacies and distributions of power resources, as well as by the ideological orientation and strategic capabilities of individual unions themselves. Overall, Italian unions have to date tended to privilege gradual response strategies based on extension and adaptation of existing and established institutions. It remains to be seen whether such adaptive approaches will be sufficient to effectively govern the digital transformation of work or whether more radical institutional experimentation will become necessary. Either way, in order to build smart industrial relations in Italy, unions will have an active role to play.

The paper analyzes how digitalization in conjunction with changes to the economic environment are affecting the nature of low-skilled jobs in the logistics sector; in particular, job content and the working and employment conditions attached to those jobs. On the basis of expert interviews and company case studies in French and German retail warehouses, the authors investigate whether the adaptation of these jobs corresponds to the more general ‘neo-Taylorist’ transformation of workplaces discussed in the literature and seek to identify those factors that are helping to stabilize or modify this trend. Drawing on the comparative labour relations literature, which distinguishes between different types of workers’ power resources (institutional, associational and structural), the study examines how and to what extent employees and their representatives renegotiate or influence techno-organizational choices. By focusing on firms headquartered in France and Germany, we can shed some light on whether the institutional power of organized labour may enable them to foster trajectories other than the kind of ‘digital Taylorism’ we see in liberal market economies. The findings point, however, to a general convergence on digitally enhanced ‘Neo-Taylorism,’ which is characterized by deskilling and intensification of performance control. The limited cross-country variation can largely be explained by the very similar effects across countries of ‘lean’ supply-chain transformation and the trend toward outsourcing and offshoring, which negatively affect workers’ structural power. Moreover, associational resources are negatively affected by the deskilling trend. Meanwhile, the findings provide some evidence of a beneficial impact from the institutional power of worker representatives in both countries: in particular, the rights to veto and co-determine performance management systems. These rights have not altogether helped prevent the shift toward neo-Taylorism but have contributed to somewhat less intense forms of neo-Taylorism.

The article reviews the book, "Les théories du travail : les classiques," edited by Daniel Mercure and Jan Spurk .

The article reviews the book, "Reform, Revolution and Direct Action amongst British Miners: The Struggle for the Charter in 1919," by Martyn Ives .

Objectif de la recherche : L’objectif de cette recherche est de cerner quels sont les leviers des politiques de diversité qui pourraient se révéler particulièrement efficaces au Maroc, ainsi que d’identifier les obstacles à la carrière managériale des Marocaines. Intérêt de la recherche : Comme les politiques de diversité proviennent de modèles de management généralement occidentaux, il se peut que des idiosyncrasies marocaines en amenuisent les impacts. L’intérêt d’une telle recherche réside dans l’identification des leviers des politiques de diversité efficaces au Maroc, un territoire qui témoigne toujours de fortes inégalités de genre, notamment dans les fonctions managériales. Méthodologie : Les données ont été récoltées au Maroc grâce à 36 entretiens semi-directifs au sein de six entreprises et auprès de femmes managers, de Directeurs généraux et de Directeurs des ressources humaines. Résultats : Les résultats identifient les obstacles classiques à la carrière managériale des Marocaines, ainsi que les leviers des politiques de diversité qui seraient particulièrement efficaces au Maroc. Contributions et implications managériales : Les entreprises trouveront, dans cet article, les leviers prioritaires permettant de déployer de meilleures politiques de diversité dans un contexte marocain. Les DRH y trouveront, également, une liste des obstacles à la carrière managériale des Marocaines, ce qui devrait leur permettre de mieux les prendre en compte. Limites : Le biais de désirabilité sociale et la taille restreinte de l’échantillon sont les principales limites de cet article.

The article reviews the book, "The Talent Revolution: Longevity and the Future of Work," by Lisa Taylor and Fern Lebo.

In 1978, over 200 textile workers affiliated with Local 560 of the Canadian Textile and Chemical Union went on strike at Puretex Knitting Company, a small garment factory in Toronto, Ontario. Of the strikers, 190 were immigrant women who opposed management’s installation of nine security cameras on the premises, one of which was trained on the entrance to the women’s washroom. To have the cameras removed and win the strike, Local 560 used a combination of traditional strike tactics and legal mobilization. This article makes a case for the significance of the Puretex strike by arguing that workplace surveillance acted as a flashpoint around which feminist and legal allies could mobilize in support of exploited immigrant women in the textile industry during the 1970s. By the strike’s end, the Puretex women had not only gained invaluable and transformative strike experience but engaged with industrial legality and the state in a way that brought about meaningful change in their workplace. The Puretex strike is therefore a significant case of immigrant women’s militant organizing in the labour and feminist movements during the 1970s and an important reminder that engagement with industrial law and the state, in certain historical contexts, can provide avenues for successful worker resistances.

The editor reflects on the 75th anniversary of the journal.

The article reviews the book, "Change and Continuity: Canadian Political Economy in the New Millennium," edited by Thomas, Mark P., Leah F. Vosko, Carlo Fanelli, and Olena Lyubchenko.

The article reviews the book, "They Call Me George: The Untold Story of Black Train Porters and the Birth of Modern Canada," by Cecil Foster.

The Ontario Network of Injured Workers’ Groups in Canada is leading a multiyear campaign called Workers’ Comp is a Right to reform the provincial workers’ injury compensation system and to fight back against regressive changes made to the system over several decades. At their Annual General Meeting in Toronto held in June 2019, delegates voted unanimously to make this submission to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a part of the regular supervisory process under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The subject is income deeming “phantom jobs” to injured worker claimants with income replacement benefits. The document illustrates how Canadian injured worker groups have activated a human rights lens and references international labor and human rights standards concerning social insurance and income replacement benefits for work-related injury and illness.