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Drawing from Nicholson and Johns (1985) typology of absence culture (N = 460 from 43 work groups), we found that greater similarity in union membership status between co-workers was associated with a lowering of a member's absence culture, as was a more harmonious union-management (UM) climate. In addition, greater similarity in union membership was related to a lowered absence culture when the UM climate was perceived to be positive. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings for understanding the social context in which the absence culture of union members is engendered are discussed.

Reviews the book "Helping Working Families: The Earned Income Tax Credit," by Saul D. Hoffman and Laurence S. Seidman.

Educating for Changing Unions, by Bev Burke, Jo Jo Geronimo, D'Arcy Martin , Barb Thomas and Carol Wall, is reviewed.

In the winter of 1918-1919, a pandemic of influenza crossed the globe, killing as many as 50 million people. This dissertation is a local study of influenza in Winnipeg, Canada. It dissects the social responses to the disease from four different perspectives: that of the public health and medical authorities; middle class Anglo-Canadian women volunteers who provided nursing care and material relief to the city's poorer influenza victims; working class and immigrant families; and organized labour. The dissertation argues that the influenza epidemic, coming on the heels of the devastating Great War, and arriving in the midst of class, ethnic, and gender conflicts, played a role in deepening the social cleavages of Winnipeg society in the period, particularly those of class and ethnicity. Class and ethnic tension was not the inevitable outcome of the epidemic. Rather, it was the result of the social inequality of the disease's impact--working families represented a disproportionately high number of influenza's victims--and the failure of public authorities to mount a compassionate and cooperative community effort to fight the disease. The volunteerism of middle class Anglo-Canadian women, too, failed to build the bonds of community. Labour believed that the state response to influenza was a betrayal of principles of justice and public good. Workers' families bore the brunt of public closures and layoffs. A spirit of mutualism sustained families and neighbourhoods through the disease, and contributed to the mobilizing successes of the workers' movement in 1918-1919. The trauma of the epidemic suggested the fragility of the social order, and workers' capacity to build an alternative society. Their vision of social transformation included the creation of the "springs of health": a living wage, quality housing, and equal access to a democratic medical system. Many working families, nevertheless, found it difficult to recover from the loss of spouses and children. Their stories suggest that influenza had a long-term impact upon the evolution of post-war Canada that we are only just beginning to understand.

The article reviews the book, "A Promise and a Way of Life: White Antiracist Activism," by Becky Thompson.

The article reviews the book, "Talking About Identity: Encounters in Race, Ethnicity and Language," edited by Carl James and Adrienne Shadd.

The article reviews the book, "Fighting for the Union Label: The Women's Garment Industry and the ILGWU in Pennsylvania," by Kenneth Wolensky, Nicole Wolensky and Robert Wolensky.

The article reviews the book "Comrades and Partners: The Shared Lives of Grace Hutchins and Anna Rochester," by Janet Lee.

The article reviews the book, "Blood, Sweat, and Cheers: Sport and the Making of Modern Canada," by Colin D. Howell.

The article reviews the book, "Portuguese Women in Toronto: Gender, Immigration, and Nationalism," by Wenona Giles.

The article reviews the book "Mirrors of Stone: Fragments From the Porcupine Frontier," by Charlie Angus and Louie Palu.

Detailed assessment of the mixed record of the Canadian labour movement over the past decade. Concludes that union renewal lies in the balance between union education and democracy, and engagement with workplace restructuring.

This journal is the official journal for the Labor and Working-Class History Association. The labor question—who will do the work and under what economic and political terms?—beckons today with renewed global urgency. As a site for both historical research and commentary, Labor hopes to provide scaffolding for understanding the roots of our current dilemmas. Although the tradition from which the journal derives its energy has focused primarily on social movements and institutions based on industrial labor, Labor intends to give equal attention to other labor systems and social contexts (agricultural work, slavery, unpaid and domestic labor, informal sector, the professions, etc.). Its focus begins on the US experience but extends to developments across the “American” hemisphere and to other transnational comparisons that shed light on the American experience.

The article reviews the book "Divided Minds: Intellectuals and the Civil Rights Movement," by Carol Polsgrove.

The article reviews the book, "Mine de rien. Les Canadiens français et le travail minier à Sudbury 1886-1930," by Paul DeLaRiva.

La littérature spécialisée est peu loquace sur les règles d'éthique spécifiques à appliquer lors du processus de négociation collective. Get article tente de dresser un premier portrait de ces règles. Suite à des entrevues auprès de praticiennes et praticiens québécois qui œuvrent à titre de porte-parole syndicaux dans ce domaine, ce premier inventaire indique que le bilan des écrits actuels néglige certaines facettes de la négociation collective. Les résultats font de plus ressortir que l'éthique en la matière va audelà de l'application d'une méthode de négociation basée sur les intérêts.

Reviews the book "Trade Unions and Global Governance: The Debate on a Social Clause," by Gerda van Roozendaal.

La littérature en études managérielles et en gestion des ressources humaines avance depuis plusieurs années que le sentiment de plafonnement de carrière que connaissent de plus en plus d'individus serait l'un des principaux effets pervers des nombreux changements survenus dans l'environnement des organisations. Menace réelle à l'accroissement de l'efficacité et de l'efficience des organisations, le plafonnement de carrière subjectif nécessiterait d'être combattu par des stratégies de gestion des ressources humaines. Cette recherche s'intéresse aux variations du sentiment de plafonnement de carrière chez les fonctionnaires d'une grande ville du Québec, suite à une restructuration organisationnelle qu'elle a subie au milieu des années 1990. Construite àpartir d'un questionnaire complété par 515 cadres et professionnels, cette recherche suggère que les pratiques de gestion des ressources humaines privilégiées dans cette organisation publique n'expliquent que faiblement la variation du sentiment de plafonnement ressenti par les fonctionnaires municipaux.

Reviews the book "Wage Formation in Europe," by Emmanuel Mermet.