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  • The article reviews the book, "Canadian State Trials, Volume IV: Security, Dissent, and the Limits of Toleration in War and Peace, 1914–1939, edited by Barry Wright, Eric Tucker, and Susan Binnie.

  • Background: Although worker representation in OHS has been widely recognized as contributing to health and safety improvements at work, few studies have examined the role that worker representatives play in this process. Using a large quantitative sample, this paper seeks to confirm findings from an earlier exploratory qualitative study that worker representatives can be differentiated by the knowledge intensive tactics and strategies that they use to achieve changes in their workplace. Methods: Just under 900 worker health and safety representatives in Ontario completed surveys which asked them to report on the amount of time they devoted to different types of representation activities (i.e., technical activities such as inspections and report writing vs. political activities such as mobilizing workers to build support), the kinds of conditions or hazards they tried to address through their representation (e.g., housekeeping vs. modifications in ventilation systems), and their reported success in making positive improvements. A cluster analysis was used to determine whether the worker representatives could be distinguished in terms of the relative time devoted to different activities and the clusters were then compared with reference to types of intervention efforts and outcomes. Results: The cluster analysis identified three distinct groupings of representatives with significant differences in reported types of interventions and in their level of reported impact. Two of the clusters were consistent with the findings in the exploratory study, identified as knowledge activism for greater emphasis on knowledge based political activity and technical-legal representation for greater emphasis on formalized technical oriented procedures and legal regulations. Knowledge activists were more likely to take on challenging interventions and they reported more impact across the full range of interventions. Conclusions This paper provides further support for the concepts of knowledge activism and technical-legal representation when differentiating the strategic orientations and impact of worker health and safety representatives, with important implications for education, political support and recruitment.

  • In Northern Canada, Indigenous mixed economies persist alongside and in resistance to capital accumulation. The day-to-day sites and processes of colonial struggle, and, in particular, their gendered nature, are too often ignored. This piece takes an anti-colonial materialist approach to the multiple labours of Indigenous women in Canada, arguing that their social-reproductive labour is a primary site of struggle: a site of violent capitalist accumulation and persistent decolonising resistance. In making this argument, this piece draws on social-reproduction feminism, and anti-racist, Indigenous and anti-colonial feminism, asking what it means to take an anti-colonial approach to social-reproduction feminism. It presents an expanded conception of production that encompasses not just the dialectic of capitalist production and reproduction, but also non-capitalist, subsistence production. An anti-colonial approach to social-reproduction feminism challenges one to think through questions of non-capitalist labour and the way different forms of labour persist relationally, reproducing and resisting capitalist modes of production.

  • The article reviews the book, "Soviet Princeton: Slim Evans and the 1932–33 Miners' Strike by Jon Bartlett and Rika Ruebsaat.

  • The article reviews the book, "La « rébellion de 1837 » à travers le prisme du Montreal Herald. La refondation par les armes des institutions politiques canadiennes," by François Deschamps.

  • The article reviews the book, "Capitalism: A Short History," by Jürgen Kocka.

  • Après plusieurs décennies de formation et de mises en pratique de la NBI dans les relations patronales-syndicales, cette étude cherche à comprendre la résonnance pratique de cette approche auprès des négociateurs syndicaux ainsi que comment elle est réellement utilisée dans le cadre de négociations collectives. Rapportant les résultats d’une étude empirique menée auprès de quarante-cinq négociateurs syndicaux œuvrant dans le secteur privé et ayant, pour la plupart, mis en pratique à plusieurs reprises la NBI au cours des dernières années, les résultats de cette recherche soulignent à la fois les limites et les retombées multiples de cette approche sur la pratique de la négociation collective en entreprise. Les résultats de notre étude démontrent que les négociateurs syndicaux n’hésitent pas à s’approprier la NBI et à modeler ses principes et procédés en fonction de leurs besoins et du contexte dans lequel ils interviennent. Cette « appropriation imaginative » de la NBI ainsi que les pratiques innovantes auxquelles elle donne lieu montrent, non seulement l’existence de frontières poreuses entre les approches distributive et intégrative et l’existence de « négociation mixte » (ou mixed motive bargaining), mais également les différentes formes que peuvent prendre cette négociation mixte dans le cadre de la négociation collective. Enfin, si les négociateurs syndicaux interrogés rapportent très peu de cas d’application intégrale de la NBI, cette recherche révèle néanmoins à quel point cette approche s’avère, à travers ses diverses formes d’appropriation, une source fondamentale de l’évolution de la pratique de la négociation collective.

  • This article examines the development of the ILO’s Global Strategy on Occupational Safety and Health through the lens of social exclusion. Social exclusion is a transversal concept across the social sciences. The article integrates the study of exclusion as an essential element of institutional analysis in industrial relations. After discussing the treatment of the study of exclusion in labour and employment relations scholarship, it presents an analytic frame using four mechanisms of exclusion taken from sociology: 1- encoding; 2- framing pathways; 3- non-decision making; and 4- mining actualities. Observations are presented from a qualitative study of 125 preparatory and legal texts created through the development of the Global Strategy between 2000 and 2015. The method of analysis is a socio-historic interpretation following the principles of analysis of primary source documents outlined by Marc Trachtenberg in his book The Craft of International History: A Guide to Method. Exclusionary dynamics are observed in three areas: 1- managing the meaning of OSH policy integration; 2- shaping the role of collective labour rights in OSH policy; and 3- sidestepping the development of specific OSH hazard protections. Comparisons are made at key points with recent normative work by UN human rights bodies, including the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and their General Comment No. 23 on the human right to just and favourable conditions of work. The result is a Global OSH Strategy with promotional strengths, but also neoliberal values interwoven in its policy framework. // Cet article examine le développement de la Stratégie globale en matière de sécurité et de santé au travail de l’Organisation internationale du Travail (OIT) à travers le prisme de l’exclusion sociale. L’exclusion sociale est un concept transversal dans les sciences sociales. L’article intègre l’étude de l’exclusion comme une composante essentielle d’une analyse institutionnelle en relations industrielles. Il présente un cadre analytique en utilisant quatre mécanismes d’exclusion repris de la sociologie : 1- l’encodage ; 2- les voies encadrant ; 3- la non-prise de décision ; et 4- les actualités minées. Les observations sont présentées à partir d’une étude qualitative de 125 textes juridiques préparatoires rédigés dans le cadre du développement de la Stratégie globale entre 2000 et 2015. Notre méthode s’avère être une interprétation socio-historique suivant les principes de l’analyse des documents primaires articulés par Marc Trachtenberg dans son livre The Craft of International History : A Guide to Method. Des dynamiques d’exclusion furent observées dans trois domaines : 1- la gestion du sens de l’intégration des politiques en matière de SST ; 2- l’élaboration du rôle des droits collectifs du travail dans la politique en matière de SST ; et 3- le développement des protections spécifiques de danger en matière de SST. Le résultat a donné une Stratégie globale en matière de SST avec des forces de promotion, mais aussi des valeurs néolibérales entrelacées dans le cadre de sa politique.

  • The article reviews the book, "Disaster Citizenship: Survivors, Solidarity, and Power in the Progressive Era," by Jacob A.C. Remes.

  • Historians have analyzed working-class masculinities from multiple perspectives, but few have examined how these masculinities were viewed and experienced by working-class women. Ida Martin (nee Friars), a working-class diarist from Saint John, New Brunswick, commented on the work-related activities and social behaviours of her husband, Allan Robert Martin (AR), a longshoreman and odd-jobber. Ida’s diaries reveal that older forms of working-class masculinity persisted in the postwar period in Saint John, including participation in a homosocial recreational culture; risk-taking behaviour; and a commitment to direct action as a form of labour unrest. Moreover, Martin’s diaries illustrate that AR’s participation in these forms of masculinity threatened the stability of the family economy. By documenting AR’s various injuries, the diaries also highlight the impact that physically demanding and dangerous work had on working-class male bodies.

  • The article reviews the book, "Welcome to Resisterville: American Dissidents in British Columbia," by Kathleen Rodgers.

  • Theoretical developments and case studies have started to explore the complexity and intricacies of new forms of labour regulation in Global Value Chains (GVCs). This paper builds on these to integrate what we know into a coherent framework that can guide practice and future research. We bring together existing knowledge on new forms of labour standards regulation—such as Private Social Standards (PSSs) and International Framework Agreements (IFAs)—into a framework that integrates and disentangles the contextual determinants, processes, regulatory mechanisms, and outcomes of such regulation in GVCs. Of special significance is the distinction between regulatory processes—vicarious voice, workers’ voice, coordinated international campaigns—, and regulatory mechanisms—IFAs and PSSs. Extant literature tends to deal with existing forms of regulation without much clarity on their respective roles. Our framework identifies two pathways from regulatory processes to regulatory mechanisms: the labour power and the customer power pathways. Our framework also establishes clear connections between concepts, underlining links of causality and moderating effects. We explore the impact of value chain structure, and specifically, the connections between workers’ and vicarious voice, on regulatory outcomes. With regard to the structure of supply chains, we examine the coupling of operations and the sensitivity of value chain participants to reputational risk and drive within value chains. We add the significant dimension of ‘internal drive’ to existing understandings of drive to capture the possible internal discrepancies leading managers in multinational companies (MNCs) to apply mixed incentives to their suppliers to comply with labour standards. Additionally, we introduce the concept of ‘vicarious voice’, which we define as a situation where workers’ voice is substituted by that of actors who, unlike local unions or activist unionism, do not have a close representative link with workers. Vicarious voice may be composed of ethical consumerism, social advocacy, and international union federations. // Certains développements théoriques et des études de cas récentes ont commencé à explorer la complexité et les subtilités des nouvelles formes de régulation du travail dans les chaînes de valeur mondiales (CVM). À partir de ces analyses, le présent article cherche à intégrer ce que nous savons déjà dans un cadre cohérent qui puisse guider la pratique et la recherche à l’avenir. Nous y intégrons les connaissances actuelles sur les nouvelles formes de régulation du travail — telles les normes sociales privées (NSP) et les accords-cadres internationaux (ACI) — dans un cadre cohérent qui intègre, tout en les démêlant, les déterminants contextuels, processus et mécanismes de régulation, ainsi que les résultats de cette régulation dans les CVM. S’avère particulièrement importante la distinction entre les processus de régulation — tels la voix du salariat (workers’ voice en anglais), la voix par procuration (vicarious voice), les campagnes coordonnées au niveau international — et les mécanismes de régulation — tels les NSP et ACI. La littérature existante a tendance à traiter ces diverses formes de régulation sans grande nuance quant à leurs rôles respectifs. Notre cadre identifie deux avenues permettant de passer des processus de régulation aux mécanismes de régulation : le pouvoir des travailleurs et le pouvoir des consommateurs. Il établit également des connexions claires entre concepts, liens de causalité sous-jacents et effets modérateurs. Nous nous intéressons plus particulièrement à l’impact des structures des chaînes de valeur, des connexions entre voix du salariat et voix par procuration, sur les résultats de la régulation. En ce qui ce qui a trait aux structures des chaînes de valeur, nous examinons le couplage des opérations, la sensibilité des participants à l’intérieur de ces chaînes au risque à la réputation, ce qui procure une influence (drive en anglais) à l’intérieur de ces chaînes de valeurs. Nous ajoutons la dimension significative de « l’influence interne » aux termes déjà convenus du sens de l’influence, cela afin de mieux pouvoir saisir les divergences internes possibles pouvant conduire les gestionnaires principaux dans les multinationales à mettre en place divers types d’incitatifs pour leurs fournisseurs afin de satisfaire aux normes du travail. De plus, nous introduisons le concept de voix par procuration (vicarious voice en anglais), que nous définissons comme une situation dans laquelle le moyen traditionnel qu’est la voix du salariat — tel le syndicalisme local ou l’activisme syndical en tant qu’agent de représentation des travailleurs — se voit remplacé par des acteurs qui n’ont pas de lien de proximité avec les travailleurs. La « voix par procuration » peut s’exprimer par le consumérisme éthique, les groupes de pression sociale, ou les fédérations syndicales internationales.

  • Discusses the conflict between Canada Post and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers. Describes the union's vision of the postal service (in particular, postal banking) in "Delivering Community Power: How Canada Post Can Be the Hub of Our Next Economy," released on the website, deliveringcommunitypower.ca, on Feb. 29, 2016.

  • SummaryUsing the large-scale Korean Workplace Panel Survey, this study examines the interplay between international diversification, labour flexibility, and workplace-level performance in the context of advanced emerging markets. Filling the gap in the literature on the international diversification-performance (IDP) relationship, which focuses primarily on firm-level characteristics and overlooks the role of labour factors as contingent variables, we draw attention to the workplace level dynamics by exploring how the two types of labour flexibility—functional and numerical flexibility—moderate the impact of international diversification on performance. The results show that when workplaces invest in training for job enlargement and employee involvement programs that lead to the enhancement of functional flexibility, the link between international diversification and performance can be strengthened.This finding supports the assertion in the international HRM literature that, in the ever-globalized business environment, investment in human capital is a better strategy for improving financial performance in the long run. Furthermore, we find that numerical flexibility, as measured by in-house subcontracting arrangements, has a negative impact on the IDP relationship. Overall, our study suggests that the quality of human resources and a well-designed workplace configuration may still help improve performance in the context of international diversification, whereas excessive dependence on employment externalization for cost reduction is likely to hurt not only financial performance but also long-term sustainability. We also believe that our findings on the advanced emerging market economy complement insights from previous studies, which are largely based on Western developed economies, thus enriching current theories on labour flexibility. // En s’appuyant sur une enquête à grande échelle, le « Panel d’enquête coréen sur les milieux de travail » (Korean Workplace Panel Survey), la présente étude examine l’interaction entre diversification internationale, flexibilité du travail et rendement au travail en contexte de marchés avancés émergents. Afin de combler les écarts dans la littérature sur la relation entre rendement et diversification internationale — laquelle met principalement l’accent sur les caractéristiques de l’entreprise et néglige le rôle des facteurs liés au travail comme variables conditionnelles —, nous attirons l’attention sur les dynamiques en cours au niveau du milieu de travail en explorant comment les deux types de flexibilité du travail, soit la flexibilité fonctionnelle et la flexibilité numérique, atténuent l’effet de la diversification internationale sur le rendement. Les résultats montrent que lorsque, dans les milieux de travail, on investit dans des programmes de formation en vue de l’élargissement des tâches et la participation des salariés afin d’accroître la flexibilité fonctionnelle, le lien entre diversification internationale et rendement devrait se renforcir.Ces résultats appuient l’assertion de la littérature internationale sur la gestion des ressources humaines à l’effet que, dans un environnement commercial sans cesse globalisé, l’investissement en capital humain constitue une meilleure stratégie pour améliorer la performance financière à long terme. De plus, nous constatons que la flexibilité numérique, telle que déterminée dans les ententes de sous-traitance internes, a une influence négative sur la relation entre rendement et diversification internationale. Globalement, notre étude suggère que la qualité des ressources humaines et une configuration bien conçue du milieu de travail peuvent aider à améliorer la performance dans un environnement de diversification internationale, tandis qu’une dépendance excessive à l’égard de l’externalisation de l’emploi dans le but de réduire les coûts est susceptible de plomber non seulement la performance financière, mais aussi le développement à long terme. Nous pensons également que nos résultats relatifs à une économie de marché émergente avancée ajoutent aux observations rapportées dans d’autres études qui portaient principalement sur les économies occidentales avancées, constituent un enrichissement des théories actuelles sur la flexibilité du travail.

  • Announces the appointment of Charles Smith and Joan Sangster as co-editors of the journal.

  • Announces Sean Cadigan's resignation as editor. Bryan Palmer and Gregory Kealey to be interim co-editors until a new appointment is made. Takes note of the Canadian Labour Studies database, an open access bibliography of labour studies resources produced by Laurentian University librarians Desmond Maley and Dan Scott.

  • We examine the effects of the Universal Child Care Benefit on the labour supply of mothers. The benefit has a significant negative effect on the labour supply of legally married mothers, reducing their likelihood of participation in the labour force by 1.4 percentage points and hours worked by nearly one hour per week. In contrast, the likelihood of participation by divorced mothers rises by 2.8 percentage points when receiving the benefit and does not affect hours worked. Moreover, the benefit does not have a statistically significant effect on the participation of common-law married mothers or never-married mothers.

  • Bergman and Jean (2016) include freelancers as one of the categories of workers who are understudied in the industrial and organizational (I-O) psychology literature. This neglect is particularly striking given the attention paid by the popular media and by politicians to the rise of the “gig economy,” comprising primarily short-term independent freelance workers (e.g., Cook, 2015; Kessler, 2014; Scheiber, 2014; Warner, 2015). This may be due in part to challenges involved in accessing and researching this population, as discussed by Bergman and Jean, but it may also arise from complexities in defining and conceptualizing freelance work, as well as from misunderstandings about the nature of the work now performed by many people who are considered freelancers. Major topics of interest to I-O psychologists such as organizational attraction, job satisfaction, and turnover may seem at first glance to lack relevance to the study of workers who are officially classified as self-employed. But there is substantial opportunity for I-O psychologists and other behaviorally oriented organizational researchers to contribute to our understanding of the growing number of people who earn all or some of their income by freelancing.

  • The article reviews the book, "Generation Rising: The Time of the Québec Student Spring," by Shawn Katz.

  • The article reviews the book, "Swedes in Canada: Invisible Immigrants," by Elinor Barr.

Last update from database: 3/12/25, 4:10 AM (UTC)