Canadian Labour Policy and Politics
Low-wage work and precarious employment are among the most urgent issues facing Canadian workers. Canadian Labour Policy and Politics is essential reading for undergraduate students and others who seek to understand the politics of inequality in Canada’s labour market. This comprehensive book traces the cause and rise of these inequities, and outlines solutions for a more sustainable future.
Written by leading experts and practitioners, this book demonstrates how and why laws and public policy – intended to protect workers – sometimes leave workers vulnerable, and with little economic or social security. Up-to-date data, international comparisons, and real-world examples and case studies provide readers with a clear understanding of how globalization, labour laws, employment standards, COVID-19, and other factors affect workers on and off the job.
Canadian Labour Policy and Politics also engages students and other readers in defining a far-reaching policy agenda for developing greater economic equality, political inclusiveness, and a green recovery in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key features include chapter summaries and outlines, suggestions for further reading, and glossaries of key terms.
Students and scholars of Canadian politics and public policy, labour studies, political economy, and sociology will find this an invaluable addition to their bookshelves. The volume is a core text for second-, third-, and fourth-year level university labour and inequality courses. This insightful overview of Canada’s labour market is also essential reading for government policymakers, labour-related NGO members, union representatives, and journalists reporting on labour and inequality issues.
It is a wonderful collective achievement of the Canadian labour studies community to make its knowledge accessible to students in one place.
This fine-grained analysis of how social outcomes in Canada – whether it be poverty, exclusion, bad jobs, or inequality – result from political processes reflecting the decline of organized labour and the rise of big business as a political actor is simply masterful.
Canadian Labour Policy and Politics is an excellent text for teaching undergraduate students about the laws, policies, and politics that structure the Canadian labour market and determine who wins and who loses at work.
A much needed and highly recommended addition to our understanding on employment, work, and labour in Canada. This excellent compendium of finely observed thematic studies offers insight and practical advice on making work better for a better society.
Most Canadians know that life at work and at home has gotten harder, less stable, and less secure. Canadian Labour Policy and Politics offers a comprehensive, accessible guide not only to what has happened, but also why. The book offers an invaluable guide to anyone who wants not only to understand the forces shaping our lives today, but how to change them.
John Peters is a research fellow and associated professor at the University of Montreal’s Interuniversity Research Centre on Globalization and Work. He is the director of Blue Green Ideas, a research and consultancy firm focused on creating sustainable, equitable, and innovative green economies. Don Wells is professor emeritus, School of Labour Studies and Department of Political Science, at McMaster University. A former steelworker, autoworker, and labour union organizer, he has been active in the migrant workers' rights, peace, anti-poverty, and environmental movements. He was also a policy researcher in the national office of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Contributors: Donna Baines, Yale Belanger, John Calvert, Bryan Evans, Carlo Fanelli, Colleen Fuller, Rafael Gomez, Jennifer Harmer, Rebecca Hii, John Holmes, Philip Kelly, Adam King, Andy King, Stephanie Luce, Janet McLaughlin, Andie Noack, Stephanie Ross, Larry Savage, Jim Silver, Mark Thomas, Steve Tufts, Leah Vosko.
Introduction
Part 1: Context
1 Confronting the "Monster": The COVID-19 Pandemic / John Peters
2 Globalization and the Rise of Bad Jobs / Stephanie Luce
3 Low-wage Work: Canada in Comparative Perspective / Bryan Evans and Carlo Fanelli
4 Globalization, Work, and Employment Regulation / John Peters
Part 2: The Politics of Labour Policy in Canada
5 Provincial Governments and the Politics of Deregulation / John Peters
6 Precarious Employment in Canada’s Federally Regulated Private Sector / Leah Vosko, Andie Noack, Adam King, and Rebecca Hii
7 Why It’s Hard to Organize a Union and Negotiate a Decent Contract / Rafael Gomez and Jennifer Harmer
8 The Politics of Health and Safety at Work / Andy King
9 Disposable People: The Politics of Temporary Migrant Workers in Canada / Philip Kelly, Janet McLaughlin, and Don Wells
10 Poverty, Jobs, and Social Policy / Jim Silver
Part 3: Cases
11 The Service Economy, Low-Wage Work, and the Populist Moment / Mark Thomas and Steve Tufts
12 The Decline of Good Manufacturing Industry Jobs / John Holmes
13 Neoliberalism, Austerity, and Crises in Care Work / Donna Baines
14 Reform or Erosion? The Challenges Facing Canada’s Health Care Workforce / Colleen Fuller
15 Permanent Precarity? Racial Exclusion, Discrimination, and Low-wage Work among Canada’s First Nations / Yale Belanger
Part 4: Better Futures
16 Canadian Labour and Climate Change / John Calvert
17 Organizing for Better Work / Don Wells
18 In Search of a New Politics of Labour: Democratic Futures / Stephanie Ross and Larry Savage
Index
Unions in Court
Organized Labour and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
By Larry Savage and Charles W. Smith
Rising Up
The Fight for Living Wage Work in Canada
Edited by Bryan Evans, Carlo Fanelli, and Tom McDowell
Shifting Gears
Canadian Autoworkers and the Changing Landscape of Labour Politics
By Stephanie Ross and Larry Savage
