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Over the last several decades, the workplace in Canada has experienced profound changes. Work has become increasingly insecure for a growing number of workers, and income inequality has deepened. New technologies have reshaped labour processes and have enhanced elements of employer control over work and workers. Entry into the labour market is itself a difficult process, as young workers struggle to match qualifications and credentials with jobs, while for many older workers, retirement with a secure income is a diminishing prospect. The demographic composition of the labour market is transforming, yet this change is conditioned by longstanding patterns of inequality in terms of gender, race, disability, and immigration status. Work and Labour in Canada explores the changing world of work, mapping out major trends and patterns that define working life and identifying the economic, social, and political factors that shape the contemporary workplace. Evaluating working conditions and the quality of jobs from a critical perspective, this text presents an analysis of recent trends in employment and unemployment as well as outlines the role and impact of unions and other workers’ organizations. The fourth edition includes a new chapter on work and technology, updated statistical data, and additional content on the basic income debate, labour and climate change, and COVID-19. This thoroughly revised and updated edition is essential for teachers, researchers, labour activists, and students of labour studies, sociology, political science, political economy, and economic geography programs. --Publisher's description

How have workplaces in Quebec's unionized private sector adapted to recent labour shortages? Based on original qualitative and quantitative data, we show that these shortages have affected collective bargaining, collective agreements, work organization, working conditions and union life. As a result, workplace actors have had to be pragmatic in adjusting their practices in response to disruptions caused by labour shortages. The originality of our research lies in its broad perspective on the consequences of labour market tension for labour relations, thus highlighting unexplored and unprecedented effects, both positive and negative on employers, workers and unions.

How have workplaces in Quebec's unionized private sector adapted to recent labour shortages? Based on original qualitative and quantitative data, we show that these shortages have affected collective bargaining, collective agreements, work organization, working conditions and union life. As a result, workplace actors have had to be pragmatic in adjusting their practices in response to disruptions caused by labour shortages. The originality of our research lies in its broad perspective on the consequences of labour market tension for labour relations, thus highlighting unexplored and unprecedented effects, both positive and negative, on employers, workers and unions.

An article from Relations industrielles / Industrial Relations, on Érudit.

An article from Relations industrielles / Industrial Relations, on Érudit.

In France, 7.5% of the total number of 15-64 year-olds recognized as disabled are in employment, i.e. 39%, compared with 68% for these age groups as a whole: this means that a vulnerable population remains a long way from employment. In contrast to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which seeks to eliminate segregation in employment and promote an open labor market, work-based support establishments and services (ESAT) aim to play a key role in helping people with disabilities access employment. They offer professional activity as well as medical, social and educational support in a protected environment. Our research does not assume that ESAT are models of inclusive organization but gives a voice to the workers and staff of these structures specialized in supporting work activity. If the aim of autonomy support is to create an enabling environment, according to the capabilities approach, our problem is to demonstrate the extent to which support in a situation of vulnerability encourages the development of autonomy with the aim of inclusion in the workplace. The analysis of testimonials from 70 people from 12 volunteer ESATs (54 hours of face-to-face interviews) identifies the demands and needs related to this support. The characteristics of the population surveyed are representative of those of the entire population of the ESATs studied and the interviews cover all the ESATs in the study in a balanced manner. The results inspire inclusive management practices in the workplace, based on mutual understanding that empowers people. They renew the concept of developing autonomy, defined not as a goal of self-sufficiency, but as a process of overcoming vulnerability through a supportive relationship. Care, a relationship of kindness and high standards, central to this approach, becomes the way to deal with vulnerability.

Canada is a country whose economy benefits considerably from migrant workers in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). With little protection from workplace exploitation, as well as unclear and constantly changing immigration policies, migrant workers often lose their legal immigration status due to conditions out of their control, becoming non-status. Living in the shadows and without access to most publicly funded services, non-status migrants experience a myriad of chronic daily stressors. In partnership with non-status community members, this Community-based Participatory Research project explores the question, “In what ways does a lack of status influence the psychosocial well-being of non-status migrants in Alberta?”. Both non-status migrants and service providers participated in semi-structured interviews, while a group of service providers working in mental health also participated in a focus group interview. The interpretation of this study’s findings was guided by the socio-ecological systems framework. Non-status realities were described from the perspective of both non-status migrants and service providers. Findings included insights into how the TFWP creates systemic vulnerabilities for migrant workers and facilitates the loss of immigration status. This lack of status led to a scarcity of access to most basic services and resources, leading to significant detrimental impacts on psychosocial well-being. This produced internalized experiences of shame and un-belonging, as well as a range of deleterious mental health outcomes. Furthermore, the impacts associated with a lack of access were significantly exacerbated by a discriminatory and hostile sociopolitical environment. Recommendations centered around the inclusion of non-status migrants in collaborative partnerships with service providers and policymakers alike. In light of these findings and recommendations, the implications for counselling psychology practice are also illuminated.

This article reviews the book, "Transpacific Reform and Revolution: The Chinese in North America, 1898-1918" by Zhongping Chen.

Using post-structural theories, this paper explores the public discourses of several Canadian teacher unions and grassroots teacher activist groups around the issue of school reopening plans in Canada amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper aims to highlight the ways in which these two forces of teacher activism can influence and impress upon each other to create a different possible future for collective resistance to neoliberalism in education – an assemblage of union and grassroots activism intra-acting, shaping, and impressing upon one another.

Workers may experience job desperation, characterized by frustration, pressure to quit and readiness to take extreme steps to secure a new job position. We examined the psychometric properties of a French-language version of the Job Desperation Scale by administering a survey to three independent cohorts of French-speaking employees, with a view to assessing the antecedents of job search behaviour and intention to quit. The first (n = 253) and second (n = 184) cohorts, composed of employees from France and Canada respectively, responded to the survey for the exploratory and confirmatory stages of analysis. The third sample (n = 252) of French employees responded both to the survey and to additional measures that typically identify antecedents of job search behaviour and turnover intention. The findings confirm the single-factor structure and robustness of the French-language version. More importantly, they show the substantial and incremental predictive power of job desperation in explaining job search behaviour and turnover intention. These insights help explain job desperation as a critical factor in contemporary labour markets and contribute to the vocational behaviour literature.

How did labour fare in 2024? In many ways, the Canadian labour market and labour movement are both looking more like they did pre-pandemic. Hopes of using the relatively robust post-pandemic economy as a springboard to build something better seem to largely be fading. Strike activity was down considerably in 2024, after reaching historic heights the previous year, by some measures. Wage growth has cooled, even as unions continue to seek pay increases to account for post-pandemic inflation. While some legislative gains were made this past year, governments also intervened in several important labour actions to end or pre-empt strikes and to come to the aid of employers who locked out their workers. In particular, the federal government has been especially coercive in its use of back-to-work orders.... Introduction

The article reviews the book, "The Hammer: Power, Inequality, and the Struggle for the Soul of Labor," by Hamilton Nolan.

This thesis seeks to understand the historical conditions that have relegated worker cooperatives to the periphery of the Canadian political economy. It begins with a theoretical exploration of the relationship between worker cooperatives and capitalism, highlighting two key dynamics: 1) worker cooperatives are a form of collective property that allow workers to secure their subsistence outside of the wage-labour market; 2) worker cooperatives can serve a wide range of interests depending on the subjectivities of the worker-members and the objective conditions of their political-economic environment. This framework is then used to examine subjective and objective considerations in the context of Canadian worker cooperatives, with a focus on the emergence of the contemporary sector in the 1970s and 1980s. Material need has at times produced upswings of grassroots momentum, but this momentum has struggled to sustain itself in the absence of support from major institutions of the Canadian political economy.

This article reviews the book, "Conscripted to Care: Women on the Frontlines of the covid-19 Response," by Julia Smith.

This summer, the Canadian Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) brought a strike of running trades workers at Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited (CPKC, or just “CP”) to an abrupt conclusion. In a moment of rare opportunity, Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) contracts covering nearly 10,000 locomotive engineers, conductors, crew dispatchers, and rail traffic controllers at both companies had expired at the same time, in the fall of 2023. ...The stories collected here were shared by current and former engineers and conductors, as well as workers in other trades and unions at both CN and CP. They describe in detail the day-to-day work of a railway employee, and they reflect on the conditions on the job, within the TCRC, and with management and the federal government – the conditions that brought the heady few days in August, when it looked as though a historic strike was set to shut down the railways, to devastating effect.--Introduction

This article provides a history of the Japanese Camp and Mill Workers Union (JCMWU), from its founding in 1920 until its dissolution during the World War II mass incarceration of Japanese Canadians. The JCMWU was, according to union organizer Ryuichi Yoshida, a “general union of all Japanese workers” that “could not be an ordinary labour union.” Organized along the lines of race rather than by trade or industry, the union fought struggles against bosses, business owners, state officials, and the Asian exclusion movement through a number of programs and activities. But perhaps more than anything else, the jcmwu was a political education project, centred around its newspapers, Rōdō Shūhō and Nikkan Minshū. Drawing on previously untranslated materials from these newspapers, this article takes up the extraordinary analysis and activities of the JCMWU to contribute to broader discussions about the relationship of race, labour, capitalism, and imperialism.

Intimate partner violence and coercive control can manifest in abusers’ attempts to sabotage their partners’ participation in employment. Work-related intimate partner violence (WRIPV) also implicates employers, governments, and society more broadly, challenging the individualizing frame often applied to IPV. However, the legal recognition of WRIPV has been slow and sporadic, disproportionately impacting women experiencing intersecting inequalities, who are more vulnerable to IPV and to work-related inequalities. This article examines how governments have responded to WRIPV, situating their responses in the continuing legacy of the public/private distinction. Using a rights-based framework, I evaluate the two newest Canadian reforms concerning WRIPV: occupational health and safety and employment leave legislation. Both reforms specifically attend to WRIPV, at least in some jurisdictions, and provide preventive potential and remedial support for the economic and other consequences of IPV. Yet they also have shortcomings, including lack of coverage of some forms of IPV and some workplaces, loss of pay, and verification requirements that draw on gendered myths and stereotypes. I conclude by identifying further government action needed to better address WRIPV.

The Art of Solidarity delves into the rich tapestry of labour arts and heritage in Canada—from protest music and union banners, to murals, community theatre, and oral histories, to workers’ history museums and arts festivals—showcasing how these expressions of working people’s culture have been essential to challenging inequality and fostering solidarity. This inspiring collection highlights the resilience and creativity of labour arts and heritage practitioners who, despite financial and organizational challenges, continue to amplify the voices and experiences of working-class communities. In an economy characterized by growing polarization, inequality, precarity, and uncertainty about the future and meaning of work, labour arts and heritage has a central role to play in providing answers that challenge the prevailing narratives about whose work matters and whose efforts are central to our communities’ wellbeing. This work is more important than ever before. -- Publisher's description

This article examines how Asian migrant sex workers have continuously been targeted by the “carceral web” of Canadian laws and policies at the federal, provincial, and municipal levels. A case study of Newmarket, Ontario’s municipal council’s recent “crackdown” on personal wellness establishments illustrates how systematic racism and “whorephobia” are embedded in the regulations targeting low-income Asian migrant women, particularly those who work in massage parlours and the sex industry. The article ends with a discussion of how Asian workers in massage parlours and the sex industry are actively working to resist, fight for their rights, and build solidarity to push back against racist oppressions targeting them.