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The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted employment across Canada. While several reports show an increase in job loss and unemployment, there is little mention of changes in types of employment during the pandemic. Drawing on the Canadian Labour Force Surveys from 2017-2021, this article explored how the pandemic affected nonstandard employment rates while examining whether these impacts differed by certain sociodemographic variables. Namely, differences in rates of nonstandard employment were explored by gender, immigrant status, and age group. The main finding was that rates of nonstandard wage work (temporary and part-time employment) decreased during the first initial lockdown and returned to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2020. Meanwhile, own-account and part-time self-employment increased during the first wave of the pandemic. While these increases were uniformly experienced across different groups of workers, there is some evidence of widening or narrowing gaps in rates of nonstandard employment depending on the sociodemographic group.

The article reviews the book, "The Economists' Hour: False Prophets, Free Markets, and The Fracture of Society," by Binyamin Appelbaum.

This article reviews the book, "The Third Pillar. How Markets and the State Leave the Community Behind," by Rajan Raghuram.

Canada’s largest and most famous example of class conflict, the Winnipeg General Strike, redefined local, national, and international conversations around class, politics, region, ethnicity, and gender. The Strike’s centenary occasioned a re-examination of this critical moment in working-class history, when 300 social justice activists, organizers, scholars, trade unionists, artists, and labour rights advocates gathered in Winnipeg in 2019. Probing the meaning of the General Strike in new and innovative ways, For a Better World includes a selection of contributions from the conference as well as others’ explorations of the character of class confrontation in the aftermath of the First World War. Editors Naylor, Hinther, and Mochoruk depict key events of 1919, detailing the dynamic and complex historiography of the Strike and the larger Workers’ Revolt that reverberated around the world and shaped the century following the war. The chapters delve into intersections of race, class, and gender. Settler colonialism’s impact on the conflict is also examined. Placing the struggle in Winnipeg within a broader national and international context, several contributors explore parallel strikes in Edmonton, Crowsnest Pass, Montreal, Kansas City, and Seattle. For a Better World interrogates types of commemoration and remembrance, current legacies of the Strike, and its ongoing influence. Together, the essays in this collection demonstrate that the Winnipeg General Strike continues to mobilize—revealing our radical past and helping us to think imaginatively about collective action in the future. --Publisher's description

New labour market intermediaries, such as those using digital platforms, are challenging not only temporary help agencies but also traditional employer–employee relationships. A new conceptual scheme is proposed to distinguish between three functions: a) allocating the work; b) entering into a contract with the worker; and c) managing and organizing the work.

The article reviews the book, "Inclusion des personnes d’origine étrangère sur le marché de l’emploi. Bilan des politiques en Wallonie.," edited by Altay Manço et Leïla Scheurette.

The article reviews the book, "Dissenting Traditions: Essays on Bryan D. Palmer, Marxism, and History," edited by Sean Carleton, Ted McCoy, and Julia Smith.

Analyzes Indigenous women's activism during the period of the the Royal Commission on the Status of Women as well as the National Action Committee on the Status of Women founded in 1972. Issues of colonialism and the Indian Act are explored.

Pays tribute to co-editor Joan Sangster, who retires with the publication of this issue. Comments that the COVID-19 pandemic has not dimmed the journal's quality, and that it remains committed to fostering scholarship, dialogue and debate on injustices and inequities which, if anything, have become more apparent in the present context. Reports the cancelation of a workshop on the carceral state in Canada due to the pandemic, but that the first of the papers that were to be delivered appear in the issue.

In the early 1920s in St. Antoine, Montreal, train porters Junior Massey and Zeke Garret, and their families, colleagues, and community pursue diverging paths to a better life. --Website description. The 8-episode series depicts the history of Black Canadian and African-American men who worked as Pullman porters in the period following World War I, leading to the 1925 creation of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters as the first Black-led labour union. --From Wikipedia article

The article reviews the book, "The Red Thread: The Passaic Textile Strike," by Jacob A. Zumoff.

The article reviews the book, "L’intelligence artificielle et les mondes du travail : perspectives sociojuridiques et enjeux éthiques," edited by Jean Bernier.

Examines the 1970 Royal Commission on the Status of Women's proposals on child care, which included tax measures, a child allowance, and establishment of a national daycare program. Provides background and argues that the taxchange introduced by the federal government (which was not what the report had recommended) exacerbated inequality and reinforced the notion that childcare was a private matter.

Notre article s’intéresse à la manière dont le dialogue social se transforme lorsque les échanges se déroulent en ligne. Jusqu’à très récemment, le dialogue social avait largement résisté aux appels de la numérisation. Cependant, avec la COVID-19, les rencontres en personne ont dû être remplacées par des interactions à distance. En raison de ce changement soudain, notre article propose d’examiner comment les rituels de dialogue social se transforment lorsque les interactions entre les employeurs et les syndicats deviennent virtuelles. Pour mieux cerner cette problématique, nous mobilisons le cadre théorique développé par Goffman (1973) dans lequel le monde social est métaphoriquement comparé à un théâtre. Ainsi, nous proposons d’étudier l’évolution dramaturgique des relations entre les syndicats et les employeurs lorsque la scène et les coulisses du dialogue social se dématérialisent. Pour analyser empiriquement cette question, nous avons réalisé 23 entretiens avec des acteurs impliqués dans le dialogue social en France, dont 13 qui représentent la partie syndicale et 10 qui représentent la partie patronale. Nos résultats mettent en évidence trois mécanismes qui, sur la scène, contribuent à l’étiolement de la dramaturgie du dialogue social : la perte du caractère théâtral des interventions syndicales, l’isolement des représentants des salariés et la désynchronisation de leurs interventions. Notre étude empirique souligne aussi comment, dans les coulisses du dialogue social, le passage au numérique se traduit globalement par un appauvrissement des échanges, à l’exception des relations basées sur des liens forts. Fort de ces constats, notre article contribue à la littérature en postulant que les changements observés concourent à une perte de pouvoir pour la partie syndicale. En outre, derrière une pacification de façade des interactions patronales-syndicales, nous soulignons que la perte du caractère théâtral du dialogue social pourrait éloigner les acteurs d’une dynamique intégrative et les enfermer dans un mode plus distributif. S’appuyant sur les écrits de Goffman, notre article s’intéresse à la manière dont le dialogue social évolue lorsque le théâtre des interactions entre syndicats et employeurs devient numérique, comme ce fut le cas à la suite de la pandémie de COVID-19. Se basant sur 23 entretiens, notre article met en évidence trois effets du numérique sur le jeu scénique des acteurs syndicaux : la perte du caractère théâtral des prises de parole, l’isolement des acteurs et la désynchronisation de leurs interventions. Notre étude conclut également à un appauvrissement global des échanges en coulisse. Cet article contribue à la littérature en montrant comment le mode à distance modifie les relations de pouvoir entre les syndicats et les employeurs ainsi que la nature même de leurs relations.

The article reviews and comments on "Department Stores and the Black Freedom Movement: Workers, Consumers, and Civil Rights from the 1930s to the 1980s," by Traci Parker, "Toward Freedom: The Case Against Race Reductionism," by Touré F. Reed, and "Workers on Arrival: Black Labor in the Making of America," by Joe William Trotter, Jr.

We studied 14 universities across Canada and Australia to examine how the COVID-19 crisis, mediated through management strategies and conflict over financial control in higher education, influenced workers’ job security and affective outcomes like stress and happiness. The countries differed in their institutional frameworks, their union density, their embeddedness in neoliberalism and their negotiation patterns. Management strategies also differed between universities. Employee outcomes were influenced by differences in union involvement. Labour cost reductions negotiated with unions could improve financial outcomes, but, even in a crisis, management might not be willing to forego absolute control over finance, and it was not the depth of the crisis that shaped management decisions.

In this qualitative study of 27 bank employees, we investigated how learning algorithms affected their working conditions, their autonomy and the meaning of their work. We show that employees responded to the AI-induced changes through job crafting behaviours (Wrzesniewski & Dutton, 2001). Employees reshaped their task and relationship boundaries, and cognitively reframed their jobs, to maintain their autonomy, their desired social relationships and the meaning of their work. By considering the effects of learning algorithms on the employees’ work experience from their perspective, we provide a novel application of job crafting theory. Employees’ concerted response across the three job crafting dimensions underlines the importance of synergy across job crafting dimensions if they are to be successful in altering employees’ experience of work and enhancing the human value of their services.

L’étude du droit du travail restauré au cours de la transition économique chinoise nous montre que, comme ailleurs à d’autres époques, il accompagne le développement capitaliste et assure la construction du marché du travail. Suivant la tradition institutionnaliste en économie fondée sur le lien étroit économie-droit, nous pouvons mettre à jour les choix faits par l’État concernant les droits à protéger à travers des normes du travail élevées. Ces droits du travailleur s’exerçant dans un pays autoritaire se trouvent soumis avant tout au projet de « société harmonieuse » mené par le Parti communiste chinois. En fin de compte, l’ancrage du droit du travail dans le dispositif de « management social », destiné à assurer le contrôle de l’État sur les travailleurs, se retourne contre eux.

Income inequality has skyrocketed in Canada over the past decades. The rich have become richer, while the average household income has deteriorated and job quality, plummeted. Common explanations for these trends point to globalization, technology, or other forces largely beyond our control. But as Jobs with Inequality shows, there is nothing inevitable about inequality. Rather, runaway inequality is the result of politics and policies, and what governments have done to aid the rich and boost finance, and what has not done to uphold the interests of workers. Drawing on new tax and income data, John Peters tells the story of how inequality is unfolding in Canada today by examining post-democracy, financialization, and labour market deregulation. Timely and novel, the book explains how and why business and government have rewritten the rules of the economy to the advantage of the few, and considers why progressive efforts to reverse these trends have so regularly run aground. -- Publisher's description

Low-wage work and precarious employment are among the most urgent issues of our time. Canadian Labour Policy and Politics serves as essential reading for undergraduates who need to understand the politics of inequality in Canada’s labour market. This comprehensive textbook traces the rise of these pressing problems, reveals the resulting inequalities, and outlines the solutions for a sustainable future. Written by leading experts and practitioners, the text demonstrates how and why laws and public policy – intended to protect workers – often leave workers vulnerable with little economic or social security. Based on up-to-date data and international comparisons, chapters provide readers with real-world examples and case studies of how globalization, labour laws, employment standards, COVID-19, and other challenges affect workers on and off the job. Canadian Labour Policy and Politics also engages students in defining a far-reaching policy agenda for developing greater economic equality, political inclusiveness, and a green recovery in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Accessible and clearly written, it is a must-read for students as well as researchers, practitioners, activists, and policymakers. Key features include chapter summaries and outlines, suggestions for further reading, and glossaries. Students and scholars of Canadian politics and public policy, labour studies, political economy, and sociology will find this an invaluable addition to their bookshelves. The volume is a core text for second-, third-, and fourth-year level university labour and inequality courses. The fresh and insightful overview of Canada’s labour market and policies will also be essential reading for government policymakers, NGO representatives, union researchers and practitioners, and journalists. --Publisher's description