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In South Korea, many struggles of non-regular workers, who attempted to organize their unions and engage in militant action to protest against employers’ inhumane discrimination and illegal exclusion, have failed to achieve the desired outcomes, due to their vulnerable employment status and their lack of action resources. In this light, our study examines the conditions that lead to victory in precarious workers’ struggles, by focusing on three attributes: internal solidarity with regular workers, external solidarity from labour and civil society groups outside the workplace, and mobilized protest repertoires. Specifically, this study seeks to identify the configurations of these three conditions that produce successful outcomes in precarious workers’ struggles, in terms of bargaining gains and organizational sustainability. We do this by employing fs/QCA modelling to examine 30 major cases of non-regular worker struggles occurring over a 16-year period from 1998 to 2013. Our analysis presents the finding that the conditional configuration of strong external solidarity, strong internal solidarity, and fewer struggle repertoires constitutes a significant causal path to successful outcomes. This reaffirms the idea that strong solidarity bridging, whether with regular workers that have a different employment status in the segmented workplace, or with labour and civil society groups outside the workplace, is the crucial causal condition for precarious workers to achieve their desired outcomes from struggle. An unexpected finding, however, is that when precarious worker struggles mobilize fewer struggle repertoires, they are likely to achieve the successful outcomes of bargaining and organizational gains. Our study contributes to the theoretical elaboration of labour movement revitalization for the precariat class, by shedding light on the activism of precarious workers, considering that the English-language literature that pays attention to the active role of such atypical workers in staging protests against employers’ inhumane treatments and the neoliberal labour regime is limited.

L’influence positive du soutien organisationnel par le biais d’attitudes et de pratiques favorables à la conciliation travail-famille (CTF) est largement reconnue. En revanche, peu d’études ont porté un regard spécifique sur les dynamiques entourant ces pratiques au sein de milieux où une organisation inflexible du temps de travail complique la manifestation de soutien à l’égard de la CTF, tout en créant des défis de conciliation importants. Réalisée en partenariat avec des syndicats québécois, cette étude s’intéresse aux pratiques informelles de CTF au sein de commerces d’alimentation québécois, un secteur d’emploi faiblement rémunéré où les horaires sont imposés, étendus, imprévisibles et variables.L’analyse thématique d’un corpus de trente entretiens semi-dirigés réalisés auprès de travailleuses syndiquées, de gestionnaires, de représentantes et de représentants syndicaux montre que, en dépit de règles liées à la convention collective, le mode d’établissement des horaires, en apparence neutre, témoigne de l’importance du caractère informel des pratiques de CTF. Ces dernières sont souvent individuelles, voire secrètes, et elles sont perçues comme le fruit d’un traitement privilégié accordé à certaines personnes. Compte tenu de l’accès restreint aux possibilités d’accommodements, ces pratiques peuvent entraîner une dynamique de « chacun pour soi », ce qui affecte la qualité des rapports entre collègues. Certaines mères de famille étaient particulièrement désavantagées par les normes de flexibilité valorisées dans leur milieu de travail. Enfin, des pratiques informelles sont acceptées au sein du collectif si elles sont transparentes et en autant que les gains des uns n’engendrent pas d’injustice perçue pour les autres.L’étude amène un éclairage sur l’impact collectif des pratiques informelles de CTF en contexte d’horaires atypiques, imprévisibles et variables. Elle montre la nécessité, pour les entreprises ainsi que pour les syndicats actifs dans ces milieux, de créer des conditions favorables au développement de relations interpersonnelles saines et équitables, ainsi que des pratiques qui valorisent l’expression des enjeux de CTF.

Les horaires atypiques imposés compliquent la conciliation travail-famille (CTF), particulièrement lorsqu’ils sont associés à un travail impliquant un bas salaire, un faible contrôle sur le travail, ou du temps partiel involontaire. Un nombre grandissant de travailleuses et de travailleurs sont exposés à ces horaires, mais peu d’études se sont intéressées aux stratégies de CTF déployées pour faire face à ces conditions contraignantes. Les seuls accommodements possibles reposent souvent sur des ententes informelles. Ces ententes sont fragiles et individuelles et, de plus, elles sont marquées par les rapports avec un gestionnaire ou des collègues. Elles exercent aussi une pression importante sur le collectif de travail, ce qui peut venir limiter la marge de manoeuvre permettant de concilier les deux réalités, c’est-à-dire l’espace nécessaire afin d’adapter sa tâche en fonction de son contexte et de ses capacités.Notre étude interdisciplinaire (en communication et ergonomie) porte sur les stratégies de CTF d’agentes et d’agents de nettoyage, un emploi comportant des horaires atypiques imposés et un faible niveau de prestige social. Cet article porte sur les facteurs organisationnels et les dynamiques relationnelles qui influencent la marge de manoeuvre d’agentes de nettoyage qui, pour concilier horaires atypiques et vie familiale, font le choix de travailler la nuit.L’analyse des données provenant d’observations et d’entretiens met en évidence l’interaction entre le choix de l’horaire de travail, le soutien des collègues et les rapports liés au genre ainsi qu’à l’ancienneté. En situant les stratégies de CTF au coeur de l’activité de travail, nos résultats permettent d’illustrer les tensions collectives suscitées par l’accommodement des besoins individuels de CTF.Améliorer les marges de manoeuvre visant à concilier vie familiale et horaires atypiques nécessite d’intervenir simultanément sur l’organisation du travail et les dynamiques relationnelles afin de favoriser l’émergence de pratiques collectives de soutien autour des enjeux de CTF. Ces dynamiques doivent être prises en compte lors de la mise en place de mesures organisationnelles, voire même de dispositifs légaux ayant pour but de faciliter la CTF.

By the end of the 20th century, there was general agreement that most labour markets were in transition and that employment was becoming less secure. However, official labour market data have not shown a dramatic increase in temporary or casual employment. This article takes a new look at the changing characteristics of employment and offers a new method to measure employment security: the Employment Precarity Index. We use the Employment Precarity Index to assess how insecure employment associated with a ‘gig’ economy might affect well-being and social relations, including health outcomes, household well-being and community involvement.

Migrant workers in China are a distinctive group due to the existence of the hukou system under which they continue to face restrictions on housing, education, and health care in urban areas. The equal employment legislation does not solve the discrimination problems. Compared with their urban counterparts, migrant workers are more vulnerable, in terms of both precarity of employment and the occupational hazards that they are exposed to, and badly need OHS protection. Any weakness of OHS regime will have a disproportionately adverse effect on migrant workers.China’s OHS regime has been through constant evolution. The old prevention structure, which separated occupational health from occupational safety, was proved to be less effective in protecting migrant workers. In recognition of its deficiencies, China’s top legislature made adjustments to the OHS legal framework by enacting and updating a series of laws. The new prevention structure, unifying the occupational health administration and the occupational safety administration, represents a step forward in terms of OHS protection for migrant workers.According to worker citizenship theory, China’s OHS regime can be categorized as a direct state regulation model. It carries with it both the strengths and weaknesses of direct state regulation models. On the participation rights dimension, the lack of consultative joint OHS committees and the lack of effective collective bargaining shut migrant workers out from the decision-making process on OHS matters. On the social rights dimension, the gendered and aged-based approach becomes a hindrance for female migrant workers and young migrant workers. Furthermore, levels of enforcement vary considerably across different periods and areas, subject to the ever-changing priorities on the government’s agenda. Migrant workers are still facing tremendous obstacles and challenges in obtaining access to adequate protection under the current OHS regime in China. Future reform measures should focus on delivering OHS protection for migrant workers in the informal sector, strengthening participation, and centralizing OHS administration, especially enforcement.

This article reviews the book, "Alien Nation: Chinese Migration in the Americas from the Coolie Era through World War II," by Elliott Young.

Introduces the special issue featuring articles on precarious employment, workers' compensation, and occupational health and safety issued from the International Conference on Regulation, Change and the Work Environment held at the University of Ottawa (Ontario) in December 2015. Includes brief bibliography.

The article reviews the book, "Soldiers as Workers: Class, Employment, Conflict and the Nineteenth-Century Military," by Nick Mansfield.

This article reviews the book, "The Moral Mapping of Victorian and Edwardian London: Charles Booth, Christian Charity, and the Poor-but-Respectable," by Thomas Gibson-Brydon.

The article reviews the book, "Smokestacks in the Hills: Rural Industrial Workers in West Virginia," by Lou Martin.

Thiis article reviews the book, "Recruitment and Selection in Canada," by Victor M. Catano, Willi H. Wiesner, and Rick D. Hackett.

The article reviews the book, "The Fate of Labour Socialism: The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and the Dream of a Working-Class Future," by James Naylor.

This article reviews the book, "Educating the Neglected Majority: The Struggle for Agricultural and Technical Education in Nineteenth-Century Ontario and Quebec," by Richard A. Jarrell.

This article reviews the book, "La crise des emplois non qualifiés," edited by Samir Amine.

Thiis article reviews the book, "Finding a Voice at Work? New Perspectives on Employment Relations," edited by Stewart Johnstone and Peter Ackers.

This article reviews the book, "Toronto's Poor: A Rebellious History," by Bryan D. Palmer and Gaétan Héroux.

Under Canada’s Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP), migrant workers come to Canada for up to eight months each year, without their families, to work as temporary foreign workers in agriculture. Using a ‘whole worker’ industrial relations approach, which emphasizes intersections among work, family and community relations, this article assesses the impacts of these repeated separations on the wellbeing and cohesion of Mexican workers’ transnational families. The analysis is based primarily on 74 in-depth, semi-structured interviews that were conducted in Spanish with male workers, their spouses and children, and with the children’s teachers. Assessment criteria include effects on children’s health and educational success, children’s behaviour, mothers’ abilities to cope with added roles and work, and emotional relations among workers, children and spouses. The study findings suggest that families are often negatively impacted by these repeated separations, with particular consequences for the mental and physical health of children. Children’s behavioural challenges often include poor school performance, involvement in crime, drug and alcohol abuse (especially among sons), and early pregnancies among daughters. As temporary ‘single moms,’ wives often have difficulty coping with extra functions and burdens, and lack of support when their husbands are working in Canada. Typically, there are profound emotional consequences for workers and, frequently, strained family relations. The article concludes by offering practical policy recommendations to lessen negative impacts on SAWP workers and their families, including higher remittances; improved access to labour rights and standards; and new options for family reunification.

The article reviews the book, "A Town Called Asbestos: Environmental Contamination, Health, and Resilience in a Resource Community ,"by Jessica Van Horssen.

Given the growing trend towards "fissured" employment structures char- acterized by the use of subcontractors and supply chains, the lack of any mech- anism for imposing third-party liability is a serious gap in employment standards legislation. By limiting liability to the direct employer, traditionally conceived, the legislation as it has been interpreted can leave victims of wage theft without recourse against a judgment-proof subcontractor. This paper seeks to address that deficiency by focusing on Ontario's successful experience with various statutory regimes that provide for third-party liability, including construction liens and trusts, the internal responsibility system under occupational health and safety legislation, and "cause or permit" regulatory liability in environmental and other public welfare legislation. Building on the key principles of these schemes, all of which create non-delegable responsibilities in the face of arm's- length subcontracted relationships, the author proposes the adoption of a system of joint and several liability for entities that "cause or permit" violations of employment standards. This would require lead companies to take some of the responsibility for compliance by subcontractors down the supply chain, thereby providing vulnerable workers with stronger protections against non-payment of wages. At the same time, the author argues, this approach would strike an appropriate balance with the needs of employers, because a number of low-cost tools would be available to lead companies to spread risk, and third-party lia- bility would not capture subcontracting arrangements that do not jeopardize the wage entitlements of vulnerable workers.