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Takes note of articles published in the issue including on the unskilled, the labour/non-labour of women and children, Canadian job loss over the last 30 years, the attitude and ideological underpinning of labour history writing, and the relationship between academics and the labour movement. Discusses the transfer of Canadian Security Intelligence Service records to the National Archives, which had been long promised. Access, however, remains problematic. Explains the increased cost of the journal subscription and two minor corrections to the previous issue are noted, including a book review by VSP rather than BDP.

Describes a visit to the collection of radical pamphlets, primarily 20th-century and mainly Canadian, at the library of the University of Prince Edward Island. The materials were filed by title on two ranges of eight-foot steel shelves running at least 50 to 60 linear feet. Housed at UPEI since the late 1960s, the collection came as part of the library's purchase of the stock of the Blue Heron Book Store in Toronto, which had been run by the bibliographer, Peter Weinrich. Included are at least 62 titles that pertain to communist party leader Tim Buck. [Note: The collection was later transferred to the Memorial University library. See the article, "The International Labour and Radical History Pamphlet Collection at Memorial University of Newfoundland," by Michael Lonardo, published in the journal in Fall 1994.

The article reviews the book, "Reform, Labor and Feminism: Margaret Dreier Robins and the Women's Trade Union League," by Elizabeth Anne Payne.

Three principal features distinguish the contemporary state of research in industrial relations. First, the unsettlement of fixed categories in the theoretical study of state and society turns the attention of political theorists towards this politically charged domain of dynamic order. Second, recent developments within the domain itself challenge the principal approaches whose competition has governed the discipline. Third, the elaboration of the discipline itself yields increased recognition of the need for heightened theoretical and methodological self-awareness. The decade of comparative studies of divergent union density rates between the United States and Canada provide materials for an exploration of these theoretical issues, especially in light of the fact that recent analytical consensuses are called into doubt but the most recent tendencies. A comparative approach oriented to a history-sensitive concept of "labour regimes" offers a method capable of learning from the principal competing analytical strategies, while promoting a more open and reliable research programme than many of those considered. Critical encounters with the work of Lipset, Weiler, Teubner, Panitch and Swartz, and others are complemented by comparative historical study, in order to lay out the main elements of the approach proposed.

Examines academic research on labour in the past five years with a view toward strengthening ties between unions and the academy. Discusses the nature of academic research, currents in the literature, and gaps that need to be addressed. Points to funding challenges and argues that there is a need for interdisciplinary collaboration. Comments on the perception of industrial relations' research, including scholars whose subject background does not foster sympathetic appreciation of working-class issues. Concludes with a set of recommendations for going forward, such as an labour-academic exchange program to improve dialogue and to create integrated approaches that contribute to labour's role in society. The article is based on a literature review, a mailed survey, and interviews with academics.

The article reviews the book, "La Norme et les Déviantes: Des Femmes au Québec pendant l'entre-Deux-Guerres," by Andrée Lévesque.

The article reviews the book, "Détruire le PCF — Archives de V Etat français et de l'occupant hitlérien 1940-1944," by Roger Bourderon and Yvan Avakoumovitch.

Le travail à temps partiel a connu une croissance marquée durant les années 1980. Si ce régime d'emploi reste très répandu chez les jeunes et les personnes autour de l'âge de la retraite, il est en forte croissance chez les 25-44 ans. La féminisation du travail à temps partiel s'est encore accrue et ce régime d'emploi apparaît de plus en plus comme non volontaire. On observe l'avènement d'une nette polarisation. D'un côté, le travail à temps partiel est une forme d'emploi précaire imposée par les mutations du marché du travail. De l'autre, il est recherché comme tel en tant que réponse à des changements dans les façons de vivre des individus, pour qui le travail n 'occupe pas une place centrale dans leur vie. L'emploi à temps partiel est alors pour les uns forme de travail précaire et pour les autres une façon originale de concilier le travail avec la poursuite d'autres activités. La polarisation de l'emploi à temps partiel résulte de la rencontre entre deux types de transformations sociales: celles qui affectent les entreprises et le marché du travail et celles qui marquent les modes de vie et les préférences des individus.

The article reviews the books "Big Bill Haywood," by Melvyn Dubofsky and "A. J. Cook," by Paul Davies.

In a follow-up study to Schell et al. (1989), the occupational and age profiles of employees aged 45 years to 64 years are explored in relation to retirement issues. The data collected by Schell and colleagues were taken from a mail survey of 465 male employees aged 45 years or over from 8 participating firms. The following profiles were presented: 1. socio-demographic, including health, 2. present and future finances, and 3. retirement age intentions and opinions. Results showed that all 4 occupational groups were inclined to take an early retirement in the medium term and were more inclined to do so in the long term. Given the current levels of expected financial security and health concerns, the recent acceptance rate of 60% for existing pension packages probably will continue. With all other things being equal, companies need not improve the packages significantly. However, any increase in workforce requirements, which could happen in the long term, would oblige companies to consider diminishing their use of early retirement offers.

"The heroic and principled struggle of the Industrial Workers of the World to become the organization representing the working class in its contest with capital has been celebrated in story and song for most of this century. That they eventually lost this struggle is well known; less well understood is why. It is this why that concerns Mark Leier in Where the Fraser River Flows. In recounting the IWW's glory days in British Columbia, particularly the famous Free Speech Fights of 1909 and 1912, Leier shows that they were pitted against not just the bosses and government, but also against conservative elements within labour and the left. To ask what happened to the IWW, says Leier, is to ask a larger question-why is there no socialism?"--Page 4 of cover

The article reviews the book, "Harvey and Jessie: A Couple of Radicals," by Jessie Lloyd O'Connor, Harvey O'Connor and Susan M. Bowler.

Takes note of forthcoming conferences, research grants, and the 75th anniversary commemoration of Joe Hill. Reports that National Archives has received from the National Labour Relations Board records pertaining to the certification of unions from 1944 to 1947.

Takes note of forthcoming conferences, a contest, and a database on Canadian industry in 1871 that is based on the census data for that year.

The article reviews the book, "Syndicats, salaires et conjoncture économique, L'expérience des fronts communs du secteur public québécois de 1971 à 1983," by André Beaucage.

The article reviews the book, "Les relations patronales-syndicales," by Jean Boivin and Jacques Guilbault.

The article reviews the book, "The New Day Recalled: Lives of Girls and Women in English Canada, 1919-1939," by Veronica Strong-Boag.

The article reviews the book, "Si le Travail m'était conté autrement...Les Travailleuses de la CTCC-CSN : quelques fragments d'histoire," by Nadia Fahmy-Eid and Louis Piché.

The article reviews the book, "Femmes et emploi : le défi de l'égalité," by Hélène David.

As a permanent population established itself on the island of Newfoundland in the 19th century, the various sectors of society jostled each other for a share of control over their society. In the Conception Bay outports of Harbour Grace and Carbonear the social divisions and alliances which spawned an active culture of resistance formed around ethno-religious groups, political affiliation, and social class. The first part of this paper will recount a number of diverse collective plebeian acts and look at the natives and loyalties connected with each. Part two deals with election violence with which the population used informal means to affect change in a formal theatre. Section three is devoted to the largest plebeian disturbance of the decade; the 1832 sealers' strike. Here fishermen overcame their various social biases to work in class ways for their common good.