Your search

As a result of the recession that began in 2008, many employers are look- ing for ways to cut labour costs. One way of doing so is to impose two-tier compensation schemes, whereby younger employees do essentially the same job as older ones, but for lower wages and benefits. The key concern of this paper is how Canadian labour, employment and human rights law could respond to the differential impact of two-tier schemes on younger workers. First, the author reviews the use of two-tier systems in the United States and Canada, showing that they affect not only workers' wages and benefits but also their pensions, as employers move from defined benefit to defined contribution plans. In the next part of the paper, he analyses arbitral, labour board and human rights tribunal case law, arguing that lower-tier workers face significant barriers in seeking legal recourse through duty of fair representation or human rights complaints. The author concludes with an overview of the restrictions on two-tier schemes in the Quebec employment standards statute, and discusses the difficulties of enacting similar legislation in other Canadian jurisdictions.

Focusing on arbitral decisions on human rights claims arising in the employment context, this paper looks at the nature of the expertise of adminis- trative tribunals and its role in determining the standard of judicial review. The author notes that arbitrators are considered to have expertise in labour rela- tions, and that this has been a key factor in the high level of deference generally shown by courts to their decisions. However, despite the expansion of arbitral jurisdiction over human rights matters in unionized workplaces, the courts, applying a "correctness" standard of review, have refused to grant deference to arbitrators with respect to their interpretation and application of human rights legislation, in part on the basis that they are not expert in the area. The author takes issue with this view, contending that arbitrators have in fact acquired significant expertise in interpreting human rights statutes in the context of the employment relationship, and that recognition of such expertise should lead to a reappraisal of the level of curial deference. In this regard, he argues, it would be open to the courts to deem arbitrators to possess the requisite expertise in human rights, thereby justifying a more deferential "reasonableness" standard of review.

Créativité et gestion : les idées au service de l’innovation, by Camille Carrier et Sylvie Gélinas, is reviewed.

The article reviews the book, "The Tailor of Ulm: Communism in the Twentieth Century," by Lucio Magri.

The article reviews the book, "Combating Mountaintop Removal: New Directions in the Fight Against Big Coal," by Bryan T. McNeil.

Research Handbook of Comparative Employment Relations, edited by Michael Barry and Adrian Wilkinson, is reviewed.

The article reviews the book, "Contesting White Supremacy: School Segregation, Anti-Racism and the Making of Chinese Canadians," by Timothy J. Stanley.

The article reviews the book, "Pierre Laporte," by Jean-Charles Panneton.

The article reviews and comments extensively on the book, "The Crisis of Theory: E. P. Thompson, the New Left and Postwar British Politics," by Scott Hamilton.

The article focuses on the Canadian political party the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in British Columbia (BC) and how it promoted populism and socialism within the province during the 1930s. The author explores the role of party founder Lyle Telford in the CCF movement, discusses how the CCF won the provincial vote in 1933, and examines the CCF's successor party the New Democratic Party (NDP).

The article reviews the book, "Beyond Blood: Rethinking Indigenous Identity," by Pamela D. Palmater.

The article reviews the book, "The Invisible Handcuffs of Capitalism: How Market Tyranny Stifles the Economy by Stunting Workers," by Michael Perelman.

Aboriginal peoples in Canada are gaining influence in post-secondary education through Aboriginal-directed programs and policies in non-Aboriginal institutions. However, these gains have occurred alongside, and in some cases through, neoliberal reforms to higher education. This article explores the political consequences of the neoliberal institutionalization of First Nations empowerment for public sector unions and workers. We examine a case where the indigenization of a community college in British Columbia was embedded in neoliberal reforms that ran counter to the interests of academic instructors. Although many union members supported indigenization, many also possessed a deep ambivalence about the change. Neoliberal indigenization increased work intensity, decreased worker autonomy and promoted an educational philosophy that prioritized labour market needs over liberal arts. This example demonstrates how the integration of Aboriginal aspirations into neoliberal processes of reform works to rationalize public sector restructuring, constricting labour agency and the possibilities for alliances between labour and Aboriginal peoples.

The article reviews and comments on several books including "From Africa to Jamaica: The Making of an Atlantic Slave Society, 1775-1807," by Audra A. Diptee, "Gleanings of Freedom: Free and Slave Labor Along the Mason-Dixon Line, 1790-1860," by Max Grivno, and "Forging Freedom: Black Women and the Pursuit of Liberty in Antebellum Charleston," by Amrita Chakrabarti Myers.

The article reviews the book, "A Life in Balance? Reopening the Family-Work Debate," edited by Catherine Krull and Justyna Sempruch.

The article reviews the book. "A Bridge of Ships: Canadian Shipbuilding during the Second World War," by James Pritchard.

The article reviews the book, "Babies for the Nation: The Medicalization of Motherhood in Quebec, 1910-1970," by Denyse Baillargeon, translated by W. Donald Wilson.

Workplace representatives (shop stewards) provide insight into union transformations. This article explores the renewed research interest in terms of the representativeness of unionism and of workplace representatives, the complexity of the sites of representation and employer strategies, the search for new references and the centrality of workplace representatives in union renewal strategies.

Improving Organizational Interventions for Stress and Well-being, edited by Caroline Biron, Maria Karanika-Murray and Cary L. Cooper, is reviewed.

An initial observation by the work safety research community of the Quebec Occupational Health and Safety Research Network (QOHSRN) reveals that occupational safety, an aspect affecting all industrial sectors, requires international exchanges to meet the objectives and expand the knowledge gained within the network. This historical review is also meant to show the diversity of the work safety research community goals and the need to develop intersectoral research projects. The growing and essential involvement of student members within the research community ensures a solid future in that regard.