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The author reflects on his interview with Nova Scotia activist Lynn Jones, who fought racial discrimination in her community, work place, and union.

Docments the rising inequality, financialization of the economy, erosion of the manufacturing sector, the growth in resource industries and construction, changes in the workforce, and ithe decline in union density in the context of the neoliberal poltiical climate in Canada. Concludes that unions must contribute to a broader working class organization that redresses the balance.

Annotated photographs of migrant farmers in Ontario from 1984 to 2009, drawn from the author's book, "Harvest Pilgrim's" (Between the Lines, 2009).

An analysis of the impact of the Supreme Court of Canada decision in Fraser on protection of freedom of association in the collective bargaining context in Canada, with particular emphasis on the different approaches taken by the Court, including the dissenting reasons of Justice Rothstein, and what those reasons reveal about the Court's disagreement over the scope of freedom of association in the collective bargaining context.

[Provides] a critical examination of Canada's Temporary Migration Programs for agriculture. I show how migrants are positioned to be relatively more vulnerable than other workers within the country's food agricultural system owing to their position at the bottom of the occupational hierarchy, their precarious immigration status as temporary "foreign" workers, and their racialization as non-Whites from the global South. Moreover, I illustrate how changes to policies of temporary migration have constituted farm work as an even more precarious form of employment for migrants in particular, but also Canadians.... Finally, while recognizing that TMPs may contribute to aspects fo economic development, enabling participants to access income and assets formerly out of their reach, I call for greater attention to the rights, welfare, and dignity of migrants when considering temporary migrations programs.

[E]xamines the collective bargaining system for teachers employed in the kindergarten to grade 12 public school system in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. ...[Concludes that the] long tradition of centralized labour relations, reinforced by legislation that preserves the centralized system, appears to serve the parties well. --Editor's introduction.

[The author] delves into the influence on teacher labour relations of the decades-long struggle for control of public education in British Columbia. The chapter identifies key developments in the pre- and post-1972 periods and their effects. --Editor's introduction

[D]escribes the current system of collective bargaining and labour relations in this sector. The underlying theme is that of progressive centralization...at the provincial level. ...[D]iscusses the historical evolution of the collective bargaining regime. ...[C]onsiders the outcomes of collective bargaining in terms of process, conflict, and working conditions.

[E]xplains the unique dual statutory model regulating teacher employment in Manitoba and key junctures in the development of this model, and the organization of the education system in a highly politicized context. ...[C]oncludes by offering some observations on the effectiveness of the collective bargaining structure of kindergarten to Grade 12 public school teachers in Manitoba as well as possible impacts on future bargaining.

[The author] traces the evolution of teacher collective bargaining from its pre-collective bargaining roots, through several distinct stages, including the 1997-2001 restructure of the bargaining system as well as the current era in which the provincial government ha staken a more conciliatory, two-tier approach to negotiations. ...[C]oncludes that a consistent them throughout this history is the struggle about the issue of control over education policy and, in particular, teachers' voices in the bargaining workload. --Editors' introduction

[E]xamines the structure and functioning of teacher bargaining under both the Conservative government (1997-2001) and the subseuqent Liberal government, including the latter's innovative and informal introduction of centralizaiton, and the effects of these approahces on fostering or impeding bargaining. --Editors' introduction

[The author] traces the development of teacher bargaining structures in BC through three distinct historical periods. ...[C]oncludes that, by any measure, K-12 teacher collective bargaining has not been a success. --Editors' introduction

[P]rovides an overview and comparative discussion of the basic legal frameworks regulating K-12 teacher bargaining. --Editors' introduction

Employing data from interviews with education sector stakeholders, this study assess the degree to which the more centralized bargaining structure that existed during teacher negotiations in 2005 and 2008 addressed and balanced stakeholders' interests. --Editors' introduction

[M]aps the development of K-12 teacher bargaining, which has been strongly influenced by a series of provincial government social re-enginereering efforts that have shaped the province as a whole. ...[C]oncludes that the system will likely move toward a two-tiered bargaining structure. --Editors' introduction

Explores the conceptual categories of business unionism and social unionism commonly used to classify different approaches to workers' interests, identities and strategies. [The author] points to their much more complex concrete expressions, and argues for a more careful assessment of different forms of workers' political activity, particularly since so many strategic recommendations for the movement's revival emphasize the centrality of social unionism to renewal. --Editor's introduction

Analyzes the housing boom, rising inequality, lowering of employment standards, the attack on organized labour and public sector contracts, and the expansion of temporary and/or precarious workers under the the provincial Liberal government of Gordon Campbell (in office, 2001-2011) in British Columbia. Concludes that unions are in a weakened state and that a broader solidarity movement is needed.

Interpretations of Aboriginal women's work have shifted over time, but they have been absolutely central to First Nations women's experiences of colonialism. Yet, in both women's history and Aboriginal history, there has been a "mystification" of Indigenous women's labor, because it was often defined as nonproductive or marginal within capitalist economies; wage work was particularly neglected (Littlefield and Knack 1999: 4). Yet, by studying women's labor in its multiple forms (paid, unpaid, voluntary, ceremonial, commodity production), and in multiple contexts (bush, urban, reserve or reservation), we can gain immense insight into how colonialism was structured, experienced, negotiated, and resisted by women at the level of daily life. By perusing past academic writing on Aboriginal women and work, this paper explores some of the intellectual, political, and social influences that have shaped understandings of Aboriginal women's labor in Canada and the United States, asking what insights we have gained, what questions we need to answer, and what contradictions we still face in our research. Arguably, we need a dialogue that crosses disciplines and theoretical approaches, with perspectives and traditions from Aboriginal history, feminist theory, and labor studies informing and challenging each other. There are transnational trends and shared perspectives in Aboriginal women's history that cross the 49th parallel; however, we also need to identify how and why national and regional histories and interpretations diverge. Still, one transnational commonality highlighted in this paper is the close connection between politics and research, between the present and the past: the questions posed by scholars have been stimulated and inspired by Aboriginal thought and organizing, and Aboriginal politics have benefited from scholarly research. Although research may still be difficult and contested terrain in Aboriginal–non-Aboriginal relations (Smith 1999; Biolsi and Zimmerman 1997), there is hope that scholarly dialogue might contribute productively to decolonization. --From Introduction

Assesses labour's approach to electoral reform, making the case that shifting union support for voting system reform has reflected broader strategic considerations about how best to secure progressive public policy changes for unions and the working class in particular historical moments. --Editor's introduction

Explores the labour movement's contemporary engagement with strategic voting campaigns. [The author] argues that this approach has been a failure for labour, as both an instrumental tactic designed to block the election of right-wing parties and a practice which ultimately undermines labour's capacity to develop a political alternative to neo-liberalism. --Editor's introduction