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The article reviews the book, "Understanding Industrial Organisations : Theoritical Perspectives in Industrial Sociology," by Richard K. Brown.

Les transformations de l'organisation du travail reposent sur les relations de confiance entre les principaux agents du travail et de la gestion. Nous présentons quatre cas de coopération concertée vers une réorganisation de la production dans des établissements manufacturiers syndiqués. Le processus de mise en confiance se fonde sur la présence de personnes réputées et compétentes. La répétition de l'expérience, la durée des contacts interpersonnels et l'échange d'informations jugées crédibles permettent de consolider la confiance entre les représentants syndicaux et les membres de la direction qui solutionnent des problèmes particuliers au processus de transformation de l'organisation du travail dans leur établissement. Les ententes patronales syndicales sont de nature consensuelle et permettent la flexibilité recherchée par les acteurs. Des facteurs hors de leur contrôle les incitent toutefois à cosigner ces ententes et à cristalliser de nouvelles formes de relations fondées sur la coopération.

The article reviews the book, "Trading Freedom: How Free Trade Affects our Lives, Work and Environment," edited by John Cavanagh, John Gershman, Karen Baker and Gretchen Helmke.

Les lois Auroux de 1982 ont impulsé, en France, un mouvement de décentralisation des relations professionnelles. On peut effectivement constater, au cours de la dernière décennie, un développement notable des accords d'entreprise. Aux yeux de l'observateur, ce mouvement ne doit pas occulter, malgré tout, ni la pérennité des accords de branche, ni l'importante variable des accords d'entreprise selon les secteurs et les tailles d'entreprise ni, enfin, le fait que la dynamique n'est pas nécessairement la même d'un thème de négociation à l'autre. Une enquête menée dans deux secteurs (électronique et santé) permet de spécifier les limites de la décentralisation en matière de négociation sur l'emploi.

A study examined the effects of various factors underlying variations in the time taken to certify unions in British Columbia. A multivariate regression model with granting time as the dependent variable was employed, with dummy variables for the certification process, unfair labor practice complaints, region, industry union, and time period as the independent variables. The size of the union bargaining unit was considered, also. The results show that the certification process is the most important determinant of granting time. Most of the explanatory power of the model was obtained from the certification process and region regressors.

The article reviews the book, "The Politics of Continuity: British Foreign Policy and the Labour Government: 1945-46," by John Saville.

The article reviews the book, "Maritime Capital: The Shipping Industry in Atlantic Canada, 1820-1914," by Eric Sager and Gerald Panting.

The article reviews the book, "People in Struggle: The Life and Art of Bill Stapleton," by C. H. Gervais.

The editor takes note of two papers published in the journal as well as editorial board members who received awards.

The article deals with various deregulatory efforts in relation to labour relations and labour markets in Germany. The analysis differentiates between flexibilisation as a strategy of employers and deregulation as a collection of actions taken by the state, which currently provide the political flanks for employers' efforts towards flexibility. The central measures of German deregulation are described and criticized in theoretical and empirical perspective. A controlled form of flexibility instead of a market driven, non-controlled flexibility is given preferential treatment. Proposals are made for defensive, compensatory steps towards re-regulation; offensive, formative forms of regulation are discussed.

The article reviews the book, "On Strike at Hormel: The Struggle for a Democratic Labor Movement," by Hardy Green.

The article reviews the book, "On Wisconsin Women: Working for Their Rights From Settlement to Suffrage," by Genevieve G. McBride.

The public is concerned about whether the management careers of women are hindered by discrimination and whether women and men in management who try to balance career and family are penalized for doing so. In an attempt to address those questions, data from a 1989 survey of over 600 middle-level managers im a large Canadian corporation were analyzed to examine the characteristics of jobs held by career-family and career-primary men and women. Hypotheses were developed based on human capital theory, statistical discrimination theory, and gender role congruence theory. Examining career outcomes suggested that participation in household labor had a significantly more negative association with men's hierarchical level than with women's.

A study investigates the impact of an insurance premium experience rating mechanism that is designed to induce firms to reduce the incidence of workplace accidents and accident claims costs. Logit model analysis of survey-response data and case study information is used to analyze the impact of the introduction of workers' compensation insurance premium experience rating on employer behavior in Ontario, Canada. The main result is that the financial incentives provided by experience rating have induced employers to alter their behaviors and undertake strategies aimed at accident prevention (reducing accident frequency rates) and reducing workers' compensation claims cost.

A model of a critical union commitment dimension - willingness to work for the union - is proposed and tested. Given the decline in union density in most advanced industrial societies, unions all over face the need for increased member activism. Organization and social psychological theories, along with previous empirical research, are used to develop the conceptual model, measures, and predictions. These predictions are tested via a 2-stage regression model, using data from a large sample of Swedish professional union members. As predicted, both attitudinal commitment and subjective norms are critical influences on the individual's willingness to work on behalf of the union. These results suggest that future research on union participation should focus on the determinants of behavioral intentions given the high correlation between willingness to work for the union and actual participation.

The article reviews the books, "Histoire des idées sociologiques, Tome I : Des origines à Weber; Tome 2 : De Parsons aux contemporains," by Michel Lallement.

The article reviews the book, "Working Women of Collar City: Gender, Class, and Community in Tory, 1864-86," by Carole Turbin.

The article reviews the book, "La Culture inventée. Les stratégies culturelles aux 19e et 20e siècles," edited by Pierre Lanthier and Guido Rousseau.

This article uses a classical Marxist framework to study the consciousness and action of inside postal workers in Hamilton, Ontario during and after their participation in the 1987 strike by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW). At the time of the strike the Hamilton Local of CUPW was 58 per cent women; the article includes a discussion of the impact of gender processes on women worker's consciousness and action. It also deals with three more general issues. First, through a discussion of conceptual issues and the presentation of a multi-level theoretical model, I offer advice on how to proceed with empirical research on strikes and class consciousness. Second, the "culture of solidarity" portrayal of strikers, as developed by Rick Fantasia, is criticized for presenting an over-integrated view of the participation and consciousness of strikers. I argue that one need not romanticize striking workers in order to be optimistic about the political role of the contemporary working class. This optimism must recognize that in a macro context of politico-economic stability, only a minority of a striking workforce can be expected to experience an expansion of generalized class consciousness. Third, I suggest that Marxist political action in the 1990s should concentrate on the development of generalized class consciousness, especially workers' positive sense of class unity, through the organization of local worker solidarity networks.