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This paper examines the effects of grid compression on gender-based salary gaps. In this case, the workplace setting is a large Canadian research university previously found to have both a positionally segregated cohort of academic staff and a persistent gender-based differential in their salaries. The annual salary grids at this institution underwent seemingly subtle compressions over the course of two decades, with within-rank compression largely confined to the first decade and across-rank compression confined to the second decade. We employ a simulation methodology to check whether the two types of compression reduce the salary gap to varying degrees. After deflating staff salaries back to the start of each decade, we project the salaries forward using the historical annual increases and grids in place in each year at the university. We compute the gap present in the salary distribution at the start and end of each decade in the simulation, and check whether the gap decreased more across one decade than the other. We find that across-rank compression of the institution’s salary grid during the second decade narrows the salary gap to a greater extent than the within-rank compression of the earlier decade. Our work demonstrates that employers using stated salary grids could use simulation to monitor the equity effects of their pay policies and shows that they could accelerate the closure of gaps through consciously altering relationships among pay levels at different points in the grid’s hierarchy.

Cet article propose d’établir des liens entre le sens du travail chez les salariés et les contextes économique et organisationnel dans lequel ils travaillent. Cet environnement économique est marqué, notamment, par la montée des relations donneurs d’ordre/sous-traitants, une gestion plus flexible de la production ou de l’emploi et la financiarisation des entreprises. Selon nos hypothèses, ces transformations agissent sur les conditions de travail et, de ce fait, sur le sens que les individus peuvent accorder à leurs tâches. Ce sens peut varier à la hausse comme à la baisse. Cette étude exploite deux bases de données françaises : tout d’abord, l’Enquête Conditions de travail 2013 réalisée auprès de 6724 salariés, rattachés à 5496 établissements. Ensuite, chaque établissement a été apparié à des données macro-sectorielles de l’Insee (Base ESANE-FARE, en évolution entre 2008 et 2012), afin de disposer d’informations sur l’évolution de ratios qui caractérisent les dynamiques productives actuelles, comme le taux de marge ou la financiarisation du capital des entreprises. À l’aide de questionnaires auprès des salariés, quatre conditions du sens du travail ont été identifiées et, ensuite, mesurées par quatre scores. Il s’agit de l’utilité, l’autonomie, la pression temporelle et les relations dans le collectif de travail. Ce sont les variations de ces scores que nous cherchons à expliquer. Par une analyse multiniveau, nous pouvons mesurer l’impact du contexte organisationnel (niveau 2) et du contexte macro-sectoriel des entreprises (niveau 3) sur ces quatre conditions du sens du travail. Les résultats montrent comment l’organisation du travail dans les établissements et la financiarisation des entreprises influencent le sens du travail chez les salariés. De plus, nous avons observé que le sens de cet impact dépend beaucoup de la position de l’établissement dans la chaîne de valeur.

This article explores the experiences of informal construction and home renovation workers with payment-related violations of employment standards. Such violations, often broadly referred to as ‘wage theft,’ can comprise an array of practices including, but not limited to, withholding workers’ wages for long periods of time, paying workers below the minimum wage, extracting illegal deductions from workers’ paycheques, and outright not paying the wages due.

Dans notre thèse, nous étudions la période de « flottement » et de réorganisation du mouvement ouvrier entre le déclin de l’organisation des Chevaliers du Travail et l’ascension du syndicalisme catholique. Notre étude révèle que cette expérience de transition, entre les années 1896 et 1914, est formatrice pour le mouvement ouvrier de Québec et Lévis. L’analyse de ces années s’avère essentielle mieux saisir et caractériser la suite des évènements dans le monde syndical de cette région. Notre regard nouveau sur le mouvement ouvrier de Québec et Lévis permet d’éclairer le rôle actif des travailleurs et de nuancer le misérabilisme contenu dans une partie de l’historiographie ouvrière. En effet, nous montrons que les travailleurs de Québec et Lévis s’activent dans le monde du travail, mais aussi sur la scène politique, entre 1896 et 1914 afin d’améliorer leurs conditions de vie et de travail. Notre thèse indique aussi que, contrairement au contexte montréalais, Québec devient le bastion du syndicalisme national durant cette période. Cette conjecture peut trouver racine dans la relation particulière qui se développe à Québec et Lévis entre les patrons, la classe ouvrière et l’Église. En effet, l’Église de Québec et Lévis se montre un acteur important entre 1896 et 1914 ; la classe ouvrière doit ainsi négocier avec cette dernière pour se développer. Notre analyse permet ainsi d’expliquer le cheminement particulier des ouvriers de Québec et Lévis entre 1896 et 1914 et de mieux saisir leurs idéologies et leur conduite.

The article reviews the book, "Labor and the Class Idea in the United States and Canada," by Barry Eidlin.

Migrant care worker organizations are releasing a report today documenting the experiences of hundreds of racialized migrant domestic workers during COVID-19. The report, “Behind Closed Doors: Exposing Migrant Care Worker Exploitation During COVID-19”, features shocking stories of abuse including working every day without a break, thousands of dollars in stolen wages, workers being trapped in employers’ homes for months, and being laid off and evicted. The report documents how these crises threaten workers’ ability to unite with their families and access permanent residency, and calls for full and permanent immigration status for all migrants as the only solution. --Press release 2020-10-28

This article considers the potential for union revitalization through campaigning in general elections. It first charts changes in unions’ campaigns in general elections, moving beyond a focus on industrial relations issues towards issues of social significance, such as health and education. Second, by reconceptualizing this activity using lay morality, unions may enhance their ability to increase their power and legitimacy. Thus, by acting in this way, unions can broaden the bases for their legitimacy and build new opportunities for their renewal. However, this approach may not lead to revitalizing their density, but may open the opportunity for their renewal because this approach consolidates their legitimacy to a broader constituency. We suggest that when unions act in this way, they become agents of social utility who champion the interests of a wider constituency. We argue that, given the dynamics of changes to work and the ways in which workers now work, this provides one route for unions to tap into these multiple subjectivities of workers and remain relevant. This article combines an analysis of over 1000 media articles that cover four periods of campaigns by peak unions in Australian elections between the years 2007-2016, with original interviews with key informants and an analysis of electoral survey results for each election to provide the discussion. These three methods triangulate to establish the shift in unions’ campaign focus and to suggest that this is a potential path to revitalization.

In 2018, roughly 72% of the 69,775 temporary migrant agricultural labourers arriving in Canada participated in the Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP). Despite having legal status in Canada, these individuals are often systematically excluded from community life and face barriers when accessing health and social services. SAWP workers’ exclusion from many public spaces and their incomplete access to the benefits of Canadian citizenship or residency provide us a unique opportunity to examine social and political mechanisms that construct (in)eligibility for health and protection in society. As individuals seeking to care for the sick and most marginalized, it is important for nurses to understand how migrant agricultural workers are positioned and imagined in society. We argue that the structural exclusion faced by this population can be uncovered by examining: (1) border politics that inscribe inferior status onto migrant agricultural workers; (2) nation-state borders that promote racialized surveillance, and; (3) everyday normalization of exclusionary public service practices. We discuss how awareness of these contextual factors can be mobilized by nurses to work towards a more equitable health services approach for this population.

The article reviews the book, "American Labour’s Cold War Abroad: From Deep Freeze to Détente, 1945–1970," by Anthony Carew.

Cette étude vise à mieux comprendre le lien entre identité professionnelle et agressions fondées sur le sexe et le genre dans les métiers spécialisés de la construction et du secteur manufacturier au Québec. Une limite importante dans la littérature s’avère être l’absence d’étude portant sur l’identité professionnelle et sa fragilisation. L’identité professionnelle englobe l’ensemble des pratiques et des coutumes qui procure une reconnaissance aux travailleurs dans l’exécution de leurs tâches, en plus d’une affirmation d’eux-mêmes au travail (Ashforth et Mael, 1989). Des questionnaires ont été distribués dans sept chantiers de construction et dans quatre établissements manufacturiers, pour un total de 282 répondants. Les résultats des analyses multiniveaux, en considérant les variations entre les 54 équipes de travail, ont suggéré un effet direct de la déviance interpersonnelle sur les agressions psychologiques. Les résultats ont aussi révélé que l’identité professionnelle et sa fragilisation prédisposent aux agressions, notamment une faible intégration des différences dans l’équipe, ainsi qu’un soutien social insuffisant. Tandis qu’une utilisation des compétences plus forte et une faible préoccupation pour le groupe s’associent aux agressions sexuelles dans les métiers spécialisés. De plus, une faible estime publique du métier s’associe à des agressions physiques, alors que des demandes élevées au travail et l’insécurité d’emploi s’associent à des agressions psychologiques. Enfin, les modèles multiniveaux ont associé le fait d’être une femme aux agressions physiques et sexuelles. Les conclusions de cette recherche corroborent l’importance d’agir sur les dimensions identitaires afin de réduire les agressions, particulièrement en misant sur l’inclusion des travailleurs dans les processus innovants et sur une plus grande ouverture de leur part aux nouvelles idées. Au niveau de la culture des métiers spécialisés, il serait également judicieux de privilégier les valeurs dites plus féminines basées sur la collaboration, l’empathie et le soutien.

With the introduction of digital platforms in the Canadian labour law’s landscape comes an increased used of agreements imposing arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism. To challenge their classification as independent workers and gain employment standards acts’ protection, gig workers therefore need to submit their disputes to a private proceeding, often located outside Canada. It is in this context that the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision to invalidate the arbitration clause in Heller v Uber Technologies Inc. must be read. Having granted leave for appeal, will the Supreme Court of Canada follow in the footsteps of American law and allow mandatory arbitration agreements to impede collective actions challenging the misclassification of gig workers? Our study of the Ontarian and American decisions regarding the validity of mandatory arbitration agreements between Uber and its drivers brings to light the determining impact of the approach chosen by courts.

L’arrivée d’Uber a provoqué une petite révolution par sa conception innovante de la prestation de transport par taxi, rendue possible grâce à une application numérique (la plateforme) permettant de jumeler conducteurs et passagers. Cette incursion aurait pu être bénéfique à l’ensemble de l’industrie, mais elle s’est effectuée, au Québec, au mépris des acteurs historiques en place et, surtout, de la réglementation en vigueur, ce qui entraîna sa fissuration, puis sa démolition. L’industrie fut alors complètement déréglementée.

Minutes of the annual general meeting held by Zoom on June 16, 2020,

With compelling insight, Canada 1919 examines the year following the Great War--a war that was, for Canada, completely unexpected in its magnitude. In the midst of relief that the killing had ended, economic and political tensions were fraught as the survivors attempted to right the country and chart a path into the future. The Canadian Corps had played a significant role in the war and were hailed as the "shock troops" of the British empire. They came home full of both sorrow and pride in their accomplishments, wondering what they would do, and how would they fit in with their families. The military stumbled through massive demobilization. The government struggled to hang on to power, labour seethed, and the threat of Bolshevism emerged. At the same time there were positive changes, and a new Canadian nationalism was forged. This book offers a fresh perspective on the concerns of the time: the treatment of veterans, including nurses and Indigenous soldiers; the place of children; the influenza pandemic; the rising farm lobby; the role of labour; Canada's international standing; and commemoration of the fallen. Canada 1919 exposes the ways in which war shaped Canada--and the ways it did not. -- Publisher's description

This dissertation critically examines the history of the government of Ontarios policies towards the mining industry to analyze the impact of concentrated economic power on political processes in liberal democracies. It is the first comprehensive study of the political power of one of the provinces largest and most influential industries. Drawing on critical theories of business power, this dissertation examines policy developments across four contentious issue areas, namely fiscal policy, air pollution control, occupational health and safety, and access to mineral lands. Employing a qualitative historical narrative, the study draws on data collected from the Public Archives of Ontario, newspapers, published reports and secondary academic literature. Challenging those theoretical perspectives that downplay the direct influence of large business enterprises over public policy, this dissertation argues that the mining industry has exercised a predominant influence over the government of Ontarios public policies. While the industry disposes of several political resources that privilege it in relation to its opponents, two in particular deserve special attention: First, minings commanding economic presence in the provincial North where alternative investment opportunities are generally absent, and second, the industrys deep-seated linkages with the provincial mining ministry in terms of personnel and ideology. In sum, the mining industrys structural power over the Northern economy together with its close working relations with the provincial ministry of mines have rendered provincial policymakers particularly vulnerable to the industrys lobbying, allowing the industry to play a predominant, though not monolithic, role in shaping provincial public policy.

The article reviews the book, "Our History is the Future: Standing Rock versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Long Tradition of Indigenous Resistance," by Nick Estes.

The article reviews "Coerced: Work under Threat of Punishment," by Erin Hatton, "Bite Back: People Taking on Corporate Food and Winning," edited by Saru Jayaraman and Kathryn De Master, "Hustle and Gig: Struggling and Surviving in the Sharing Economy," by Alexandra J. Ravenelle, "Uberland: How Algorithms Are Rewriting the Rules of Work," by Alex Rosenblat, and "Bandage, Sort and Hustle: Ambulance Crews on the Front Line of Human Suffering," by Josh Seim. "Beginning in 2018, the University of California Press has published a series of books under the general title of 'Labor in a Time of Crisis.' They examine employment and related issues of those who engage with Uber, TaskRabbit, Kitchensurfing and Airbnb; food workers; prisoners, workfare workers (welfare recipients), college athletes, science graduate students; and ambulance crews....These five works document different dimensions of the nature of work in neo-feudal America." --From author's introduction and conclusion.

The article reviews the book, "Maurice Blackburn: Champion of the People," by David Day.

The article reviews the book, "The Long Deep Grudge: A Story of Big Capital, Radical Labor and Class War in the American Heartland," by Toni Gilpin.

This article reviews the book, "Supreme Inequality: The Supreme Court’s Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America," by Adam Cohen.