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Over the last several decades, the workplace in Canada has experienced profound changes. Work has become increasingly insecure for a growing number of workers, and income inequality has deepened. New technologies have reshaped labour processes and have enhanced elements of employer control over work and workers. Entry into the labour market is itself a difficult process, as young workers struggle to match qualifications and credentials with jobs, while for many older workers, retirement with a secure income is a diminishing prospect. The demographic composition of the labour market is transforming, yet this change is conditioned by longstanding patterns of inequality in terms of gender, race, disability, and immigration status. Work and Labour in Canada explores the changing world of work, mapping out major trends and patterns that define working life and identifying the economic, social, and political factors that shape the contemporary workplace. Evaluating working conditions and the quality of jobs from a critical perspective, this text presents an analysis of recent trends in employment and unemployment as well as outlines the role and impact of unions and other workers’ organizations. The fourth edition includes a new chapter on work and technology, updated statistical data, and additional content on the basic income debate, labour and climate change, and COVID-19. This thoroughly revised and updated edition is essential for teachers, researchers, labour activists, and students of labour studies, sociology, political science, political economy, and economic geography programs. --Publisher's description

Using post-structural theories, this paper explores the public discourses of several Canadian teacher unions and grassroots teacher activist groups around the issue of school reopening plans in Canada amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper aims to highlight the ways in which these two forces of teacher activism can influence and impress upon each other to create a different possible future for collective resistance to neoliberalism in education – an assemblage of union and grassroots activism intra-acting, shaping, and impressing upon one another.

How did labour fare in 2024? In many ways, the Canadian labour market and labour movement are both looking more like they did pre-pandemic. Hopes of using the relatively robust post-pandemic economy as a springboard to build something better seem to largely be fading. Strike activity was down considerably in 2024, after reaching historic heights the previous year, by some measures. Wage growth has cooled, even as unions continue to seek pay increases to account for post-pandemic inflation. While some legislative gains were made this past year, governments also intervened in several important labour actions to end or pre-empt strikes and to come to the aid of employers who locked out their workers. In particular, the federal government has been especially coercive in its use of back-to-work orders.... Introduction

The article reviews the book, "The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor," by Hamilton Nolan.

This article provides a history of the Japanese Camp and Mill Workers Union (JCMWU), from its founding in 1920 until its dissolution during the World War II mass incarceration of Japanese Canadians. The JCMWU was, according to union organizer Ryuichi Yoshida, a “general union of all Japanese workers” that “could not be an ordinary labour union.” Organized along the lines of race rather than by trade or industry, the union fought struggles against bosses, business owners, state officials, and the Asian exclusion movement through a number of programs and activities. But perhaps more than anything else, the jcmwu was a political education project, centred around its newspapers, Rōdō Shūhō and Nikkan Minshū. Drawing on previously untranslated materials from these newspapers, this article takes up the extraordinary analysis and activities of the JCMWU to contribute to broader discussions about the relationship of race, labour, capitalism, and imperialism.

The Art of Solidarity delves into the rich tapestry of labour arts and heritage in Canada—from protest music and union banners, to murals, community theatre, and oral histories, to workers’ history museums and arts festivals—showcasing how these expressions of working people’s culture have been essential to challenging inequality and fostering solidarity. This inspiring collection highlights the resilience and creativity of labour arts and heritage practitioners who, despite financial and organizational challenges, continue to amplify the voices and experiences of working-class communities. In an economy characterized by growing polarization, inequality, precarity, and uncertainty about the future and meaning of work, labour arts and heritage has a central role to play in providing answers that challenge the prevailing narratives about whose work matters and whose efforts are central to our communities’ wellbeing. This work is more important than ever before. -- Publisher's description

This article examines how Asian migrant sex workers have continuously been targeted by the “carceral web” of Canadian laws and policies at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels. A case study of Newmarket, Ontario’s municipal council’s recent “crackdown” on personal wellness establishments illustrates how systematic racism and “whorephobia” are embedded in the regulations targeting low-income Asian migrant women, particularly those who work in massage parlours and the sex industry. The article ends with a discussion of how Asian workers in massage parlours and the sex industry are actively working to resist, fight for their rights, and build solidarity to push back against racist oppressions targeting them.

In July 1962, Saskatchewan doctors went on strike in a refusal to work under the Medicare Care Act, which introduced universal health insurance in the province. The much-studied conflict between organized medicine and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation government has been understood as a decisive moment in the history of public healthcare in Canada. Less studied, but equally important, the doctors were supported by a larger protest movement that set out to oppose the expansion of the welfare state. This article reveals that an alliance between maternal activists who started the Keep Our Doctors committee, businessmen who aimed to foster popular anti-statism through the Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s Operation Freedom and the Free Citizens Association, and doctors was an unplanned coalition, but not something that emerged entirely by chance. The agitation was a form of conservative populism resolved, in exaggerated fashion, against compulsion, increased taxation, and alleged communism. It was also part of a distinctive transnational moment of right-wing radicalization. Principles of democracy and freedom united opponents of Medicare in Saskatchewan and linked them with American radical right peers in ways specific to the early 1960s.

...I offer this chapter to new and current faculty members who are interested in learning more about the role of faculty unions, what it means to be a faculty union member, and union activism as a part of an academic identity and career. I begin with a brief history of faculty unionization in Canada, followed by a discussion of the union continuum, and the relevance of faculty unions. Throughout the chapter I share my experiences and a-ha moments as a union member and conclude with lessons learned that I hope readers will find of value as they navigate their own relationship with their faculty union. --Introduction

Tens of thousands of migrant workers travel every year to Canada in the hope of providing a better life for their families. They are promised labour opportunities and working conditions that very often they cannot enjoy in their countries of origin. Yet, many find a different reality upon arrival: they are made to work long hours without rest, are underpaid, suffer physical and psychological abuse, and are often subjected to stereotypes and assumptions about their skills, behaviours or identities. Their visas are tied to one employer, making it difficult for them to leave their job and change employers, or report abuses and access effective remedies. This report investigates the human rights impact of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), a temporary migration scheme that allows employers to hire migrant workers, primarily in low-pay occupations. Amnesty International’s research finds that Canada’s migration policy has designed, regulated and implemented the TFWP in such a way as to inherently increase racialized workers’ risk of labour exploitation and other abuses, creating discriminatory outcomes and violating its international human rights obligations.

Disabled people often experience time in a manner that is distinct from able-bodied individuals. Disabled people may have shorter careers, have difficulty maintaining full-time employment, and may be forced to work part-time due to the impact of their impairments. Many disabled people face considerable barriers every day in accessing services to participate fully in the workplace, including accessible transportation and attendant services. These underfunded services are often late if delivered at all, wreaking havoc on the ability of workers with disabilities to plan their day and make firm commitments. Yet disability scholars have attempted to reclaim this experience as one that needs to be understood as one with liberating potential. Ellen Samuels and Alison Kafer have identified this phenomenon as “crip time.” In Canadian law, the duty to accommodate workers with disabilities up to the point of undue hardship has not typically engaged with how disabled people experience time differently. We develop a typology of what we call crip time from above to reflect the lived experiences of disabled people, and in particular, their experience of time. In this paper, we report initial findings from a multi-year qualitative research project exploring the relationship between disability accommodations and crip time. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada, we undertook focus group interviews with disabled people to explore their experiences of time, followed by individual interviews. Influenced by the work of radical Greek–French philosopher, Cornelius Castoriadis, we argue that his notion of social imaginary time enriches the existing work of crip time and opens new possibilities to create a philosophy of accommodation that recognizes how disabled bodies experience the workplace. Our initial findings suggest that disabled people experience work differently because of a number of barriers relating to their experience of crip time. We conclude with some policy recommendations.

The diversification of the academic workforce is primarily the responsibility of management in most Canadian universities. However, the University of Victoria Faculty Association played a critical role in the last two bargaining rounds, successfully negotiating meaningful advancements concerning equity, indigenization and decolonization. In the 2019–2022 collective bargaining round, for example, an Indigenous hiring fund was negotiated. Empowered with a strong mandate from the membership, the faculty association sought in the next bargaining round to move beyond an “Indigenous inclusion” framework, which simply added more Indigenous people to the academy, towards bargaining for a more decolonized space in which, for example, Indigenous members faced fewer barriers in tenure and promotion processes, and were recognized for the additional decolonial work they do in and for the institution, and beyond. We discuss the challenges and successes for Indigenous members in this bargaining round and the crucial role of faculty association Indigenous members in shaping these bargaining successes.

Background: This study critically analyzes the impact of platform capitalism on elder care in British Columbia, focusing on Tuktu, an app-based tech startup that mediates care services through digital platforms. Analysis: Using feminist and intersectional theory, we explore how Tuktu’s business model commodifies care and exploits care workers by misclassifying them as independent contractors and stripping them of labour rights and protections.Conclusions and implications: We advocate for comprehensive policy reforms that ensure equitable labour standards, uphold the dignity of care recipients, and promote community-based care solutions. The study also calls for stronger regulation of digital platforms in the care economy, ensuring that the integration of technology enhances, rather than undermines, the quality of care and labour conditions.

Migrant agricultural workers employed through Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program face serious occupational health and safety hazards, with compounded difficulties in accessing workers’ compensation (WC) if they are sick or injured by the job. Little is known, however, about their ability to return to work (RTW) upon recovery—a fundamental right included in the conception of WC, but complicated by their restrictive work permits and precarious immigration status. Based on interviews with injured migrant workers in two Canadian provinces (Quebec and Ontario), our research suggests that workers’ RTW process is anything but straightforward. This article highlights three key issues—pressure to return to work prematurely, communication and bureaucratic challenges with WC agencies, and impacts of injury/illness and failure to return to work on workers’ long-term well-being. Consequences and opportunities for reform are discussed.

In 1909, an atypical church emerged in Toronto’s industrial core, the “People’s Institute,” which closed its doors less than two years later. Helmed by missionary C. S. Eby, the People’s Institute was an experiment designed to encourage political involvement and spread a Christian anti-capitalist ethic. This article situates the People’s Institute in the changing landscape of 1909 Toronto and within the larger trends of the labour church and the social gospel. It also argues that Eby’s experiment serves as an example of broader obstacles that prevented the long-term flourishing of left-wing approaches to Christianity in Canada.

The post-secondary education sector is increasingly incorporating equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) frameworks into its institutions. This transition from traditional concepts of affirmative action and employment equity to a decolonization, equity, diversity, and inclusion (DEDI) model was very much in development both at administrative and faculty levels during my stint as Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Administration of the Agreement (JCoAA), representing a large faculty association. In regular meetings with Labour Relations, representing university administration, conceptual perspectives differed, objectives needed to be agreed upon, and goals compromised. This paper explores the broader model of justice, equity, diversity, decolonization, and inclusion (JEDDI) and the absolute importance of such a perspective for the higher education sector and labour market in general. Implementing and actualizing JEDDI is important as universities continue to diversify. Utilizing such frameworks can assist in assuaging tensions regarding academic freedom, governance, and labour practices.

The contemporary movement for sex workers' rights emerges from a lengthy and complex legal history of sex workers challenging dominant discourses that frame prostitution as a public nuisance, moral offence, and violence against women. The existing literature demonstrates that sex workers and sex work activists resist oppressive and reductive discourse via community-based initiatives, lobbying efforts, and strategic litigation such as the successful constitutional challenge against Canada's prostitution laws in 2013 (Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford, 2013). However, there is a significant gap in understanding how sex workers and sex work activists enact resistance through embodied performance. As such, this thesis explores the ways in which sex worker rights activists resist dominant discourse and troubling public perceptions through symbolic communication and attire during protests. To this end, this research builds a conceptual framework that puts resistance literature in conversation with key theoretical insights from Michel Foucault and Judith Butler. Based on 143 publicly accessible images of sex worker rights protests in Canada between 2013-2023, a qualitative visual content analysis is deployed to examine how sex workers and sex work activists enact resistance through what the author calls the performance of the subject-self. The findings reveal how the subtle, creative, and symbolic aspects of sex work activism are serious and significant forms of political expression.

Examines the anti-labour legislation of the the Doug Ford-led Conservative government in Ontario that saw the rollback of workers' rights. Discusses court challenges to the government's Bill 124, which restricted public sector pay increases to 1 percent. Documents the exponential growth of wealth accumulation by the very rich while most Ontarians' wages have stagnated or fallen. Concludes that organized workers and unions must become more militant to combat these trends. The Ontario Council of School Board Unions is cited as an example.

Discusses the new, high quality reproductions of Henry Orenstein's mural , "Mine Mill Local 598," published in the current issue in conjunction with Elizabeth Quinlan's "Note and Correction" regarding the painting. The painting was originally reproduced on the cover of Labour/Le Travail, no. 93 (2024) as part of Quinlan's article, "Making Space for Creativity: Cultural Intiatives of Sudbury's Mine-Mill Local 598 in the Postwar Era."

The article reviews the book, "Just the Usual Work: The Social Worlds of Ida Martin, Working-Class Diarist," by Michael Boudreau and Bonnie Huskins.