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The article reviews the book, "Skills Mania: Snakeoil in our Schools?," by Bob Davis.

The article reviews the book, "Italy's Many Diasporas," by Donna R. Gabaccia.

Patrick Conroy, the secretary-treasurer of the Canadian Congress of Labour (CCL) from 1941 to 1951, was not someone who gave up easily. As a friend observed, the Scottish-born coal miner was a committed trade unionist whose “moral certitude was admirable and… one of his great strengths.” In late 1942, however, Conroy seemed ready to call it quits on the CCL's campaign to win a national collective-bargaining policy in Canada. Since its inception in September 1940, the Congress, which represented most of the industrial unions in the country, had pushed hard for a comprehensive labor policy like the National Labor Relations or Wagner Act in the United States, which protected and advanced the rights of workers. But the Liberal government of Prime Minister Mackenzie King repeatedly refused to move beyond a turn-of-the-century conciliatory framework that emphasized moral suasion and compromise. In late 1942, when a regional organizer asked Conroy whether a collective-bargaining policy appeared likely in the future, the CCL leader replied: “We do not feel it worthwhile to raise people's hopes when the record of the federal government is as it has been.” --Publisher's extract

The Shadow Welfare State: Labor, Business, and the Politics of Health Care in the United States, by Marie Gottschalk, is reviewed.

The article reviews the book, "The Great Silent Army of Abolitionism: Ordinary Women in the Antislavery Movement," by Julie Roy Jeffrey.

The article reviews the book, "Challenging the Conspiracy of Silence: My Life as a Canadian Gay Activist," by Jim Egan; compiled and edited by Donald W. McLeod.

The author recounts her experience of collaboration on "The Plywood Girls," a video documentary about the hundreds of women who worked at the plywood sawmill in Port Albernini, BC, from 1942 to 1991. Also discusses the difference between working in the print medium (she had previously published an academic article on the subject, based on oral interviews) and visual media (more emotive and transient, but reaches a wider audience).

Creating Competitive Capacity: Labour Market Institutions and Workplace Practices in Germany and the United States, edited by Peter Berg, is reviewed.

The article reviews the book, "American Science in an Age of Anxiety: Scientists, Anticommunism, and the Cold War," by Jessica Wang.

The article reviews the book, "Striking a Bargain: Work and Industrial Relations in Industrial England, 1815-65," by James Jaffe.

Une approche historique est ici présentée comme démarche permettant de mieux comprendre les options et les enjeux de travaux récents ayant établis des liens privilégiés entre l’analyse du travail et la conception d’action de formation professionnelle. La crise du mode de régulation fordiste semble avoir été déterminante dans l’explosion des recherches et interventions développées ces dernières années dans ce registre. Mais le type de contrat social dans lequel les auteurs se sont inscrits oriente de façon décisive la finalité des projets et la portée des résultats.

The article reviews the book, "Les ressources humaines," edited by Dimitri Weiss.

This study identifies and compares the severance compensation determinants of legal and human resource professionals, using court cases and policy-capturing HR survey. Results confirmed that HR practitioners not only considered the factors critical in court decisions, which were length of service, age, employment status, and labor market conditions, but also had economic and social justice concerns as revealed by significant factors such as a company's financial situation and reason for dismissal. Certain HR decision-makers' characteristics were also found to influence the decision. Overall, HR notices were shorter than court notices in similar situations. Implications of such findings are discussed.

This article uses a case study to explore how organized labour, particularly the Jewish Labour Committee, contributed to the development of human rights values and anti-discrimination law in the immediate post-war period. The study focuses on the town of Dresden, Ontario, which at one time was infamous for its treatment of blacks. When a number of organizations (including labour groups) lobbied the Ontario government to create Canada's first Fair Accommodation Practices Act, they pointed to Dresden as an example of why this legislation was necessary. After the legislation was passed, they used litigation to ensure that discrimination in Dresden would come to an end. The paper demonstrates that, although the trade union movement in Canada was not free from racism, it nevertheless played an important and under-appreciated role in fighting for egalitarian human rights.

Cet article traite des rapports entre le partenariat et la démocratie au travail. Sur la base d’une recherche longitudinale effectuée dans six usines de pâtes et papiers au Québec, nous dressons d’abord un portrait des innovations organisationnelles et de la participation syndicale à la gestion. Nous en dégageons différents cas de figure, incarnant la participation et la démocratie à des degrés très variables. La prise en compte de la dynamique des relations entre acteurs sociaux nous permet ensuite de construire une trajectoire de la participation syndicale à la gestion et de mettre en évidence deux configurations opposées au sein du partenariat, se distinguant selon le caractère de la démocratie salariale et l’évolution du pouvoir syndical.

Le partenariat n’est susceptible de s’accompagner de la démocratie au travail et d’un renforcement du syndicalisme qu’à certaines conditions et dans certaines circonstances. À défaut de les réunir, se met plutôt en place un processus d’affaiblissement du syndicat local, dans le cadre de dispositifs participatifs sans pouvoir. C’est la principale conclusion qui se dégage de l’étude de Tembec, la plus vieille expérience de partenariat au Québec. En l’absence d’un programme distinctif de celui de la direction, dépourvu de ressources externes et internes et doté d’une démocratie déficiente, le syndicat local s’affaiblit dans le cadre de sa participation à la gestion.

The article reviews the book, "L’intervention ergonomique : un regard sur la pratique professionnelle," by Fernande Lamonde with the collaboration of Philippe Beaufort.

Quel est le rôle de la négociation collective dans la régulation du marché du travail et comment ce rôle évolue-t-il dans le cadre de l’intégration européenne ? Cet article défend l’hypothèse selon laquelle ont récemment émergé dans les pays de l’Union européenne des formes originales de régulation conjointe du marché du travail. Il propose tout d’abord un cadre d’analyse des évolutions récentes en matière de négociations portant sur l’emploi en Europe, avant d’examiner les évolutions nationales. Il met ainsi en évidence la coexistence de divers modes de régulation conjointe du marché du travail dans le contexte européen, pour examiner en finale la nature de cette régulation et ses enjeux pour les relations professionnelles.

The conceptual mastery of the work process and its improvement in the pulp and paper industry has been studied in several mills. Development programs based on systematic analysis and modeling of the work process have been used to improve the work process and the workers' conceptual mastery of it. The participants in the programs have made dozens or even hundreds of concrete proposals to improve the actual work processes and their conceptual mastery of the work process has increased. The results also suggest that conceptual mastery of the work process can be a source of positive well-being. This connection can happen during the development process showing that knowledge of the work process is really valued in the organization.