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The paper is framed by the author's reminiscence of his attendance at a public tour of the Springhill underground mine in Nova Scotia. The tour guide, in response to a question, suddenly spoke compellingly of the disaster that had taken place there. The paper then analyzes the place of oral and public working-class history in an era of deindustrialization. There is a tendency for oral history to be used simply to provide an emotional gloss, but the author argues that particular incidents can also become a turning point in terms of the bigger picture. The author emphasizes the usefulness of dialogue and mutual interrogation in the cultural re-situation and re-imagination of narratives of workers' experience, struggles, and perspectives on change.

Self-employed workers have an legal ambiguous status. Traditionally self-employment is equated with entrepreneurship and legally it is considered to be a form of independent contracting and thus outside the ambit of labour protection and collective bargaining laws. But the evidence suggests that most of the self-employed, especially those who do not employ other workers, are much more like employees than they are like entrepreneurs. Instead of attempting to draw a new line between employment and independent contracting for the purpose of determining the scope of labour protection, collective bargaining, and social insurance laws, all workers, including the self-employed, who depend on the sale of their capacity to work should be covered by these laws, unless there are compelling public policy reasons for a narrower definition.

Prenant son départ dans une réflexion sur la notion de classe sociale, cet article analyse l’histoire et l’évolution du syndicalisme eu égard à son lien avec une classe ouvrière qu’il a eu pour mission de représenter. La construction de deux paradigmes contraires, qui se sont succédé et qui font écho à différents changements sociaux, permet de mettre en relief et de sérier les problèmes identitaires qui affectent le syndicalisme, tant dans son rôle de régulation que dans son rôle de contestation. La remise en question de la représentation biclassiste de la société, qui a caractérisé tant la pensée marxiste et le projet social-démocrate que plusieurs courants d’analyse sociologique, jointe à la « disqualification » de la classe ouvrière comme principal acteur du changement social, témoigne de la nécessité de rethéoriser le syndicalisme selon une approche dialectique, seule capable de prendre en compte les contradictions multiples qui façonnent le fait syndical.

Two books are reviewed: "Sweatshop Warriors: Immigrant Women Workers Take on the Global Economy," by Miriam Ching Yoon Louie, and "Disposable Domestics: Immigrant Women Workers in the Global Economy," by Grace Chang.

Reviews the book 'Harnessing Labour Confrontation: Shaping the Postwar Settlement in Canada, 1943-1950,' by Peter McInnis.

The article reviews the book, "The World Turned: Essays on Gay History, Politics and Culture," by John D'Emilio.

The importance of volunteer activity for employees, employers and governmental and non-governmental organizations that are increasingly relying on volunteers is discussed, followed by an econometric analysis relating volunteer activity to a variety of characteristics of work and family as well as to personal and demographic characteristics of the volunteers. The analysis is based on Cycle 9 of the Canadian General Social Survey (GSS) of 1994—an ideal data set since it links volunteer activity to a wide range of characteristics of work and family. The results are interpreted through the lens of a household production function framework, highlighting the importance of time cost and income, but also characteristics of work and family. (English)

The article reviews the book, "Scènes de la vie en rouge: L'époque de Jeanne Corbin 1906-1944," by Andrée Lévesque.

The article reviews the book, "De Français à Paysans: Modernité et tradition dans le peuplement du Canada français," by Leslie P. Choquette.

The article reviews the book, "Rainbow Quest: The Folk Music Revival and American Society, 1940-1970," by Ronald D. Cohen.

Dans le contexte actuel de pénuries de compétences, la fonction ressources humaines — après avoir encouragé les départs anticipés — se voit confrontée au défi de maintenir en emploi les employés vieillissants. Après avoir passé en revue les principales pratiques de gestion associées à la rétention des employés de 50 ans et plus, les auteurs mesurent leur effet sur l’extension de la vie professionnelle de 402 cadres des services sociaux et de santé de Montréal. Les résultats, une fois validés à partir de ceux de deux autres sources de données (tirés de la même enquête), permettent d’élaborer une stratégie de maintien en emploi axée sur les quatre dimensions suivantes : 1) élaboration d’un projet de fin de carrière, 2) aménagement du temps de travail, 3) amélioration de la qualité de vie au travail, 4) stimulants financiers. // In many industries in Quebec and Canada, as well as in other Western countries, labour shortages have now replaced labour surpluses in a context where succession is growing scarce and a real culture of rapid departure has developed as a result of the recent waves of early retirement and the work overload that this has created for the “survivors.” After years of encouraging departures and of managing early retirement programs, the human resources (HR) function now faces the new challenge of attempting to retain aging employees in today’s context of multiple restructuring, infrastructure sharing, growing competition and—for the Public Service—tighter management of the financial resources that the state makes available to institutions. This raises the question of whether it is possible today to have end-of-career employees extend their working lives. In the 1980s and 1990s, numerous studies (Rosen and Jerdee 1985a; Nusberg 1986, 1989; Meier 1988; Dennis 1988; Hale 1990; Shea 1991) presented—based on the specific needs and expectations of this category of workers—management practices which were supposed to satisfy end-of-career employees and encourage them to stay in their jobs longer. However, the issue of the effectiveness of these practices has rarely been addressed. What is the value of this model of managing aging? Can it be useful for HR managers? According to the domain-specific literature, a retention strategy may be based on a number of practices aimed at extending the working life of older employees. These practices will be presented according to seven main categories: career planning, career development, career moves, job content design, time management, pay and benefits, and employment relationship. The effectiveness of these practices will then be assessed on the basis of a sample of managers who, in March 2001, answered a more general questionnaire on job dissatisfaction, mobilization and retention in the Montreal health and social services sector. Out of a total of 3525 managers, 1054 managers answered the questionnaire. Of this number, 402 managers were aged 50 years or over and formed the sample used in this study. Extension of working life (EWL), the dependent variable used in this study, was assessed through four indicators: expectations of early retirement, expectations of extending working life, planned retirement age and desired age (regardless of any financial consideration). Thirty-seven practices which are supposed to be linked with retirement departure were drawn from the literature and retained as independent variables. Other variables—socio-demographic, professional, psychological and organizational—act as control variables in certain analyses. The results show that the percentage of explanation of EWL through end-of-career management practices is only 13%. As amply repeated in the literature, end-of-career managers are particularly partial to individualized arrangements. These managers stay on because their employer has organized a stimulating end-of-career project for them that is either challenging or offers particularly attractive working conditions. Without these accommodations, there is no hope of retaining these managers, short of offering substantial financial incentives. From this analysis of management practices emerged a strategy for retaining older managers based on: (1) a stimulating end-of-career project; (2) individualized arrangements of work time (and place) or advantages which allow for this flexibility and (3) in addition to—or in the absence of—these elements, financial incentives can always be used to “purchase” the retention of older employees. To validate the retention strategy which emerged from the preceding results, two additional analyses were conducted. The first analysis used other independent variables, i.e. the opportunities offered by the workplace to satisfy a number of professional expectations. These variables could be considered as intervening variables between management practices and the decision to stay employed. The second analysis was based on the results of an open-ended question which asked the respondent, “Under what conditions would you agree to extend your career beyond the planned retirement age?” The results allow us to complete and specify the retention strategy described above. Thus, four tools are available to retain end-of-career managers in the Montreal health and social services sector: End-of-career individual project. Time management. Improvement of quality of working life. Financial incentives. Although the impact of these practices on the extension of working life is less significant than the impact of individual factors (seniority, health status, expected financial situation at retirement, importance of work in life, etc.), the impact of these practices is far from insignificant. Thus, this demonstrates that the HR function has a role to play in the development and implementation of a management strategy to retain managers aged 50 or over.

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, by Eric Schlosser, is reviewed.

Recent research on the policing of labour disputes suggests that there have been substantial historical changes in policing practices and policies in North America and Europe. Much of the literature points to a postwar movement from reactive policing grounded in the threat and use of force to a more preventive consent-based approach which relies on communication, negotiation and self-policing. At the same time, there have been conflicting reports of increased use of police force and confrontation with labour in some countries such as Britain, while police actions in a number of recent anti-globalization protests in Canada, the United States and Europe have demonstrated readiness of the police to use substantial force in certain public disorder situations. These developments speak to the need to examine more fully the ways in which the police construct their role and the role of labour unions in labour strikes and public protests. Based on interviews with police in 38 different cities and 10 provincial jurisdictions across Canada, this article looks at the ways in which the police understand and implement policies in strike and protest situations. It is argued that the police in most services have constructed a minimalist role for themselves in "normal" strike and protest situations which is grounded in processes of responsibilization, flexible policing and privatization. As they understand most situations, the "best way" to maintain order is to limit the show and use of force, while relying on negotiation and persuasion to resolve conflicts, and civil court or labour board proceedings and the threat of court imposed fines. At the same time, in contexts where the police perceive a clear threat to public interest or safety, in particular when unions or more typically other radical groups refuse to play by the rules of the game, police thinking shifts markedly to the view that extraordinary force is necessary and justified both to prevent and control public disorder.

The article reviews the book, "Agnes Heller: Socialism, Autonomy and the Postmodern," by Simon Tormey.

La confiance est un attribut relationnel essentiel à la coopération dans un contexte de construction de nouvelles formes d’organisation du travail et de partenariat. Une analyse qualitative des représentations de la confiance entre les gestionnaires et les représentants syndicaux nous révèle que la confiance peut présider à la conception d’un nouveau lien entre les agents malgré les divergences dans les représentations des conditions essentielles à ce type de relation. Par ailleurs, notre étude montre que la confiance est un concept multidimensionnel où s’entremêlent des aspects personnels, situationnels et événementiels et des stades de développement dont l’atteinte permet de solidifier la relation malgré certaines difficultés. La confiance révèle une relation empreinte d’ambiguïté selon les agents présents, la situation et les enjeux. Les agents hésitent à accorder entièrement la confiance à l’autre sur la base d’une identité commune. Notre étude sur la confiance conclut que les agents désirent transformer la relation tout en conservant leur identité propre, sans s’aliéner ses besoins, ses valeurs, ses intérêts.

The article is a first hand account of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada (CEP) attempt to organise workers on Hibernia's offshore oil drilling platform. Documented are the problems of accessing workers on a worksite in the Atlantic and the challenges of inter-union rivalry to successful union organising campaigns. The paper provides a chronology of the campaign from its beginnings in 1997. Although the CEP won a contested certification in 2001, the struggle at Hibernia continues.

This paper examines historical and recent trends in average annual work hours. The shared long-term decline in annual hours appears to be giving way to a growing divergence among OECD nations, with notable differences between several European nations and the United States. Significant differences among nations exist in annual vacation entitlements and are emerging with regard to the workweek. Competing notions of work-time flexibility held by employers and employees are an important new element in recent work-time debates, as is the related trend toward individualised forms of work-time reduction. Some European countries with pioneering work-time regimes are reviewed. The paper concludes by raising the question of how Canada can resist the American long-hours model and catch up with leading-edge practices.

Using a comprehensive collective bargaining data set, we examine dispute resolution patterns of all bargaining units in the province of Ontario over a 10-year period. A central finding is that bargaining units covered by legislation requiring compulsory interest arbitration arrive at impasse 8.7 percent to 21.7 percent more often than bargaining units in the right to strike sectors. Even after controlling for legislative jurisdiction, union, bargaining unit size, occupation, agreement length, time trend, and part-time status, strong evidence was found that compulsory arbitration has both chilling and dependence effects on the bargaining process. The problem of failure to reach negotiated settlements is particularly acute in the health care sector, especially among hospitals. Our results also call into question the use of interest arbitration in a central bargaining context. The centralized structure appears to exacerbate the negative effects of interest arbitration

The article reviews the book, "Duquesne and the Rise of Steel Unionism," by James D. Rose.