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The article reviews the book, "Gender and Racial Inequality at Work: The Sources and Consequences of Job Segregation," by Donald Tomaskovic-Devey.

Based on in-depth oral interviews with local residents, and rich archival sources, We Lived A Life and Then Some relates the common person’s struggle to overcome harsh working conditions and government neglect. The unique culture of the hardrock mining town of Cobalt is exposed through the eyes of retired miners, young welfare mothers, and grade-school children. Angus and Griffin reveal why, in spite of great adversity, Cobalt remains a distinctive and cohesive working-class community. --Publisher's description

This article chronicles the prosecution of two Chinese men under a 1912 Saskatchewan statute forbidding “Chinese” men from employing “white” women. The “Act to Prevent the Employment of female labour in Certain Capacities” was motivated largely by anti-immigration and racist attitudes, and white workers' concerns about the competitive pricing of Chinese goods and services. Its effect was to bar Chinese business owners from hiring the cheapest labour available in the province.

Historien reconnu à l'échelle internationale, Stanley Bréhaut Ryerson a été un précurseur par sa réinterpretation de l'histoire des peuples de Canada. Ses ouvrages se tiennent une place tout à fait singulièredans l'historiographie canadienne. Intelluelle d'envergure, il a su allier l'excellence scientifique à la responsibilité sociale ; tout au longue une carrière de plus de soixante années, il a conservé ce profil de militant et d'historien engagé. Sa recherche, toujours inspirée des problèmes de société, a été animée par des valeurs de justice, de solidarité et de liberté. Cet ouvrage auquel participent quatorze collaborateurs qui veut faire connaître le plus important historien Marxiste du Canada. Il vise égalment rétracer la trajectoire militante et le cheminement intellectuel progressiste qui a laissé derrière lui une œuvre fort imposante. --Description de l'éditeur

A question of concern to researchers in many advanced industrialized economies is whether new human resource management practices fit comfortably with the existing collective bargaining relationship in unionized establishments. Analysis of the current research, based on the 1990 national Workplace Industrial Relations Survey, indicates that an index of human resource management practices is negatively related to management reports of the quality of the existing employee-management relationship in unionized establishments, in contrast to the position in nonunion establishments. This finding is consistent with some existing case study research which indicates that human resource management practices are marginalizing the union-collective bargaining role in unionized organizations. Yet a case study of the paper industry indicates that such marginalization does not occur if the existing relationship is more of a joint problem solving one.

Discusses the papers on the labour history of Australia and Canada presented in the volume. Argues that more attention should have been paid to the factors that enabled union incorporation in Australia half a century in advance of Canada as well as to the labour aspects of both countries' export economies. Compares the Argentinean experience (the author is a Latin America specialist) with that of Canada and Australia. Concludes that, in the era of the neoliberal new world order, comparative studies like these are valuable since the labour movement is vital to the health of democracy.

Cet article examine le fonctionnement de quelque dix-sept comités paritaires de formation professionnelle mis en place aux niveaux local et sectoriel au Québec. La question posée est de savoir si de tels comités paritaires participent d'une évolution des relations du travail davantage axées sur la coopération dans un domaine, celui de la formation de la main-d’œuvre, normalement exclu du champ de la négociation collective ? Si la réponse est positive en ce qui concerne les comités sectoriels, au niveau des comités locaux les résultats de l'étude dégagent plutôt trois figures de relations du travail dont la plus importante demeure celle de relations mixtes faites à la fois de coopération et de conflit.

Describes the 10,000 pages of primary resources on the Mackenzie~Papineau Battalion dating from the Spanish Civil War (1936-38) and the 22,000 pages of materials on the Communist Party of Canada , the Comintern, and other internationals from the 1920s and 30s on microfilm at the Public Archives of Canada. The documents, which are mostly in English, were acquired in 1994-95 from the Russian Centre for the Preservation and Study of Records of Contemporary History, which preserves the archives of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The organization follows the original structure and description of the fonds; subdivisions of records are identified, each with a separate file list. Included in the trove are eight substantial files, about 1,200 peges in all, on union activity and labour in Canada and Soviet-Canadian relations during the years 1943-1979. Concludes by noting that, had the Public Archives the funds, there are far more resources on the Canadian left and Soviet-Canadian relations that could be acquired from Moscow.

The article reviews the book "Taylored Lives: Narrative Productions in the Age of Taylor, Veblen and Ford," Martha Banta.

The aim of this paper is to identify and explain the main differences in the structures and strategies of the national union movements in Australia and Canada during the 20th century. Parallel historical narratives reveal that the differences between the two union movements ebbed and waned. They were most similar to each other in the 19th century and after the 1960s, while there was more convincing evidence of divergence in the intermediate period. Following Ross Martin, the explanation offered for these trends emphasises the relationships between unions, political parties and the state. The earlier growth of mass unionism and the political strategies adopted in Australia after their defeats in the 1890s produced more sympathetic state policies (specifically compulsory arbitration from around the turn of the century), which allowed Australian unions to prosper in ways which Canadian unions did not begin to enjoy until the 1940s. At the same time, differences in the types of state policies in the two countries subsequently affected both the structure of unions, Canadian unions being more fragmented at national level than their Australian counterparts, and the strategies they employed, Canadian unions relying more on decentralized collective bargaining compared to the more centralized arbitration approach of Australian unions.

Les auteurs tentent, à partir des résultats d'une recherche présentés dans un article récent de la revue, d'expliquer pourquoi la conciliation volontaire n'est pas plus efficace que la conciliation obligatoire. La comparaison des objectifs, des comportements et des tactiques adoptés par les parties dans chacun des régimes fait ressortir des conclusions inattendues. Parmi celles-ci, les deux plus surprenantes sont les suivantes. Tout d'abord le changement de régime légal exerce une influence sur le comportement des parties non pas durant le processus mais au moment de son enclenchement. Ensuite il a engendré certains effets contre-productifs sur l'efficacité du processus par rapport au but visé par le législateur.

The article reviews the book, "La vie dans les organisations: des indicateurs de succès," by Roch Laflamme.

A paper discusses hours of rest for Canadian shipping employees on the basis of statutory regulations, the research literature, and consultations with representatives of the shipping industry during 4 workshops held in different parts of Canada. Topics include analyses of current regulations, operational practices and research on work and rest and on time of day and rest, and recommendations for change. The analyses found that current regulations do not distinguish between sleep and recreation during rest periods and fail to take into account time of day effects in relation to quality of sleep. The proposed changes in the regulations require the use of non-rotating 24-hour duty schedules providing for minimum rest periods and maximum work periods.

The article reviews the book "Hope and Deception in Conception Bay: Merchant-Settler Relations in Newfoundland 1785-1855," by Sean T. Cadigan.

Introduces Pritchard's unpublished memoir of his speaking tour of rural Alberta on behalf of the avowedly Marxist Socialist Party of Canada during the bitterly cold winter of 1915-16.

The Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) concerns government policy with respect to the original historical nations of this country. Those nations are important to Canada, and how Canada relates to them defines in large measure its sense of justice and its image in its own eyes and before the world. The RCAP was established by Order in Council on August 26, 1991, and it submitted its report in October 1996. --Website description. Contents: v. 1. Looking forward, looking back (695 pages) -- v.2. Restructuring the relationship (1,063 pages) -- v.3. Gathering strength (668 pages) -- v.4. Perspectives and realities (612 pages) -- v.5. Renewal: A twenty-year commitment (609 pages).

Shortly after its formation in 1949, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) became hamstrung by disagreements over cold war issues. General Secretary Oldeubroek's caution was criticized by the Americans, and Charles Millard, Canadian Director of the Steelworkers, was appointed Regional Director, a post established to counterbalance Oldenbroek's influence and to revitalise the organization. However, Millard's zeal was insufficient to compensate for his shortage of international experience, and lack of guile left him vulnerable to opponents among the movement's power brokers. At odds with both the American and British union leaderships, he resigned in 1961, a victim of the constraints placed on labour internationalism by the Cold War.

This ground-breaking collection demonstrates the research interests of a new generation of scholars. Stressing such themes as gender, race and class, the book is compelling evidence that Western Canadian history is far more complex and subtle than its depiction in the traditional literature. The contributors emphasize the way society has been made, and the extent to which it was - and is - the product of human agency rather than possessing an intangible existency beyond the interaction of groups of people. --Publisher's description. Contents: Introduction / Elizabeth Jameson -- The Seven Oaks Incident and the Construction of a Historical Tradition, 1816 to 1970 / Lyle Dick -- The Exploitation and Narration of the Captivity of Theresa Delaney and Theresa Gowanlock, 1885 / Sarah A. Carter -- Tonto's Due: Law, Culture, and Colonization in British Columbia / Tina Loo -- Clearcutting the British Columbia Coast: Work, Environment and the State, 1880-1930 / Richard A. Rajala == Workers and Intellectuals: The Theory of the New Class and Early Canadian Socialism / Mark Leier -- "A Bachelor's Paradise": Homesteaders, Hired Hands, and the Construction of Masculinity, 1880-1930 / Cecilia Danysk -- The Limitations of the Pioneering Partnership: The Alberta Campaign for Homestead Dower, 1909-1925 / Catherine Cavanaugh -- Schooling, White Supremacy, and the Formation of a Chinese Merchant Public in British Columbia / Timothy J. Stanley -- "The Past of My Place": Western Canadian Artists and the Uses of History / Jeremy Mouat -- Western Canadian History: A Selected Bibliography.

A study reports on personnel practices in unions operating in Canada. The analysis is based on survey data collected from a representative sample of 60 labor organizations. The findings indicate that for the overall sample, formal, written personnel policies are the exception and not the rule in Canadian unions. The data also reveal, however, that personnel practices are conducted on a more formal, sophisticated basis for Canadian unions with over 50,000 members. The results confirm findings of an earlier study of US unions that there is a relationship between size and sophistication of administrative practices in at least this one area. The "economy of scale" effect has important ramifications for the efficient operation of unions and for the future structure of the labor movement in North America.