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The article reviews the book, "Descent into Discourse: The Reification of Language and the Writing of Social History," by Bryan D. Palmer.

The legacy of the Socialist Party of Canada has come down to us in phrases such as economic determinism, mechanistic materialism, impossiblism, and sectarianism. The life of Bill Pritchard reveals the humanist roots of the SPC and what the party's leading thinkers owed to William Morris and the British ethical socialist tradition. That tradition was about `making socialists' who were educated, organized, and prepared to implement fully a socialist society. Bill Pritchard and other Marxian socialists, as much as they supported the Russian Revolution, were unwilling to submerge that goal in the program of the Third International. Their humanism, as much as their determinism, explains the choices they made and the legacy they left.

The article reviews the book, "The Untold Story of Ontario's Bushworkers," by Bruce Magnuson.

The article reviews the book, "Le Syndicalisme au Québec," by Bernard Dionne.

The article reviews the book, "Labour Arbitration Yearbook," by William Kaplan.

According to the side-bet theory, organizational commitment increases with the accumulation of side bets or investments. Cross-national data for 7 side-bet indexes (age, tenure, education, marital status, salary, gender, and hierarchical position) were used to test the theory's generalizability. Four hundred and sixty-three white-collar employees in Canada and the US were surveyed. The findings indicate that while organizational commitment levels between Canadian and US respondents were similar, the effects of various side-bet indexes differed between the 2 countries. The results suggest that previously reported correlations between age, tenure and organizational commitment cannot be replicated.

Discusses the economic independence and position of strength of the Nishga and Tsimshian women of the northern Pacific coast from 1830-1900. Despite the beliefs that the fur trade and missions had a negative impact upon the roles and status of native women, the status of women in the northern Pacific coast did not decline. The roles and status of Canada's northern Pacific coast women, which moved from a position of strength in the traditional era to a position of strength in the mission era, are examined.

A recent study presents regression results that can be used to calculate the impact on the unemployment rate of women and youth in Ontario of a variation in the minimum wage. These regressions yield results very similar to those obtained for Quebec, an economy whose structure is fairly similar to that of Ontario. These results indicate that the proposed increase in the minimum wage in Ontario would lead to a one-percentage-point increase in the unemployment of women and youth in the province, which in terms of the unemployment rate of 1991, is approximately a 10% increase in employment. Such a result is in agreement with economists and should be taken into account by policymakers.

The article reviews several books including "The Skilled Metalworkers of Nuremberg: Craft and Class in the Industrial Revolution," by Michael J. Neufeld, "Mercedes in Peace and War: German Automobile Workers, 1903-1945," by Bernard P. Bellon, and "A History of Foreign Labor in Germany 1880-1980: Seasonal Workers/Forced Laborers/Guest Workers," by Ulrich Herbert.

The article reviews the book, "Le discours de presse - L'image des syndicats au Québec (1982-1983)," by Mayrse Souchard.

The article reviews the book, "Repenser le travail. Quand les femmes accèdent à l'égalité," by Ginette Legault.

Cet article compare les résultats obtenus suite à l'utilisation de deux méthodes de comparaison des emplois pour réaliser l'équité salariale dans les organisations. Les deux indicateurs retenus sont la proportion d'emplois à prédominance féminine dont le salaire horaire serait ajusté à la hausse et l'ampleur des ajustements mesuré en pourcentage du salaire. Les résultats obtenus révèlent que la moyenne des ajustements salariaux ne varie pratiquement pas, peu importe la méthode utilisée. La méthode «emploi à courbe» semble cependant supérieure à la méthode «emploi à emploi» en ce qui concerne la proportion d'emplois ajustés, en particulier dans les trois organisations où le nombre d'emplois de bureau à prédominance féminine était le plus élevé.

A meta-analytical framework is used to examine the true impact of specific beliefs about unions, general beliefs about unions, job satisfaction, sex, race, and Southern US residence on union voting intent. The results strongly suggest that union voting intent is affected by both specific and general instrumentality, with specific instrumentality being a more important predictor of union voting intent than general instrumentality. The results also indicate that non-whites and women are more likely to express a pro-union voting intent, while those with high job satisfaction are more likely to express an anti-union voting intent. Meta-analysis results show that even Southerners are likely to express a pro-union voting intent, but that the magnitude of this effect is very small compared with other factors. All of the factors considered in the study do affect union voting intent regardless of the situation, but the incidence of some of the factors on union voting intent could vary across situations.

The article reviews the book, "The Souls of the Skyscraper: Female Clerical Workers in Chicago, 1870-1930," by Lisa M. Fine.

Social support is examined as a correlate of perceived job demands and psychological strain and as a moderator of the relationship between stimulus and response, according to personality traits. An occupational stress questionnaire was administered to 807 hospital employees. Data were obtained regarding 2 sources of job demands, 3 psychological symptoms, 4 categories of personality, and 3 areas of social support. The strongest evidence favors a non-specific direct correlation between all dimensions of social support and all the strain symptoms analyzed. The differences between personality types are relative exceptions to the general trend. There is also evidence supporting a direct relationship between job demands and social support, as well as strain symptoms. Extrinsic job demands appear to be a strong correlate of both. Here again, the emphasis is on interdependency and not necessarily on causality. The results offer some support for the role of social support as a moderator variable in the relationship between occupational demands and psychological strain.

The article reviews the books "Love in the Time of Victoria," by Francoise Barret-Ducrocq and "Romantic Longings ― Love in America, 1830-1980," by Steven Seidman.

The article reviews the book, "Tom Mann," by Joseph White.

Criminal prosecutions are not a common incident in industrial disputes. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that there exists a range of criminal sanctions that can be and sometimes are used to punish picketers who get out of line. Peaceful, informational picketing is a protected right, but the criminal law is ready to step in if picketing is too loud, too pushy, untimely, or in the wrong place, or if there are simply too many picketers. Criminal sanctions thus act as an important state instrument in regulating industrial conflict. It is suggested that the use of criminal law to restrain picketing is inappropriate and incongruous with the stated aims of the industrial relations regime. Among the underlying goals of this regime is the fostering of successful collective bargaining through promoting equality of bargaining power and recognizing that the employment relationship is an ongoing one. Criminal prosecutions skew the odds in a strike in favor of the employer.

A recent study contrasts competing paradigms of a key issue in the employee-employer relationship: the application of the concept of progressive discipline. In a review of both the arbitral jurisprudence in the unionized sector, and the organizational behavior literature, two very different perspectives regarding the application of discipline in the workplace are illustrated. One view is embodied in arbitral law and focuses on the corrective effects of discipline, while the other is embodied in behavior modification theory and emphasizes its negative effects. The notion of discipline is discussed in a broader perspective by highlighting some current trends in human resource management, as well as alternative approaches to dealing with employee misconduct.

La recherche comparative en relations industrielles bénéficie actuellement d'un regain d'intérêt. Un des thèmes majeurs est la génération du consentement au sein de l'atelier. Il existe déjà une tradition de recherche bien établie sur ce thème, mais son apport n'a reçu que peu d'attention jusqu'ici. L'article expose les grandes lignes de cette tradition ethnographique, mettant ses forces en relief. Il existe aussi des points faibles, notamment en ce qui a trait à la généralisation des résultats. Après évaluation, ces limites paraissent moins définitives que ne le suggèrent certaines critiques. Des exemples de l'application de cette approche à l'étude comparative sont présentés, et un programme de recherche est avancé.