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Full-Text Articles in Law
Solving The Problem From Hell: Tripartism As A Strategy For Addressing Labour Standards Non-Compliance In The United States, Janice Fine
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The crises of wage theft and industrial accidents in low-wage America reflect erosion of the social contract but they also reflect a crisis in labour standards enforcement. This article draws upon archival material, case studies, and interviews to make the case for tripartism—an enforcement regime that partners workers’ organizations with government inspectors to patrol workers’ industries and labour markets for unfair competition. It extends to the federal level previous work in which Jennifer Gordon and i have documented dynamic contemporary examples of tripartism at the state and local levels. The article explores historical precedents for tripartist collaboration on the federal …
Attacks On Public-Sector Bargaining As Attacks On Employee Voice: A (Partial) Defence Of The Wagner Act Model, Joseph Slater
Attacks On Public-Sector Bargaining As Attacks On Employee Voice: A (Partial) Defence Of The Wagner Act Model, Joseph Slater
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The attacks on public-sector union rights in the United States that began in 2011 are one of the most important developments in labour law in recent memory. These events shed light on employee voice issues, and on the continuing viability of the “Wagner Act” model. While declining union density rates in the private sector have prompted some to question this model, high-density rates in the public sector show that unions can flourish under it. This article gives an overview of public-sector unions in the US and summarizes the recent attacks on their rights. It then addresses rulings in both Missouri …
Employee Self-Representation And The Law In The United States, Matthew W. Finkin
Employee Self-Representation And The Law In The United States, Matthew W. Finkin
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Collective representation has been a legal focal point in the United States for nearly a century. Little attention has been paid to the law in the obverse situation: individual self-representation. This essay explores how, on some issues, the law supports a regime of individual bargaining while, on others, is antithetical to it. In other words, US law is incoherent on the matter. By reference to law in Australia and New Zealand, this paper argues that more legal space can be created for employees to represent themselves.
Flexibilization, Globalization, And Privatization: Three Challenges To Labour Rights In Our Time, Katherine V. W. Stone
Flexibilization, Globalization, And Privatization: Three Challenges To Labour Rights In Our Time, Katherine V. W. Stone
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
Three dynamics are coalescing to reshape labour relations in the twenty-first century in the United States: They are flexibilization, globalization, and privatization. Flexibilization refers to the changing work practices by which firms no longer use internal labour markets or implicitly promise employees lifetime job security, but rather seek flexible employment relations that permit them to increase or diminish their workforce, and reassign and redeploy employees with ease. Globalization refers to the increase in cross-border transactions in the production and marketing of goods and services that facilitates firm relocation to low labour cost countries. And privatization refers to the rise of …
Antidiscrimination And Affirmative Action Policies: Economic Efficiency And The Constitution, Edward M. Iacobucci
Antidiscrimination And Affirmative Action Policies: Economic Efficiency And The Constitution, Edward M. Iacobucci
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
This article assesses the economic efficiency of race-based antidiscrimination and affirmative action policies with a view to assessing relevant Canadian and American constitutional law. The article reviews economic arguments about why antidiscrimination laws may be efficient in addressing externalities, in hastening the exit of bigoted employers from the market, and in preventing the potentially inefficient use of race as a proxy for information; affirmative action may be efficient in accounting for differential signaling costs across race. The article concludes that economic analysis supports the approach in section 15 of the Charter which generally bans discriminatory government action, but recognizes that …
Spacing Out: Towards A Critical Geography Of Law, Nicholas K. Blomley, Joel C. Bakan
Spacing Out: Towards A Critical Geography Of Law, Nicholas K. Blomley, Joel C. Bakan
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The authors analyze the interconnections between space, law, and power and forge links between critical studies in law and geography. Analytical categories of space-for example, the divide between public and private space, or the concept of national citizenship-are all politically constructed. The authors analyze Canadian and American concepts of federalism and their impact on regulating worker safety. A common judicial mapping of work, local space, and state regulation determines whether local officials have enforcement authority in contexts where national worker safety regulations apply. Through this analysis, the authors illustrate the potential for future studies in critical legal geography.
Administrative And Criminal Penalties In The Enforcement Of Occupational Health And Safety Legislation, R. M. Brown
Administrative And Criminal Penalties In The Enforcement Of Occupational Health And Safety Legislation, R. M. Brown
Osgoode Hall Law Journal
The sanction for occupational health and safety offences in Ontario is a regulatory prosecution in provincial criminal court. In contrast, regulatory officials assess administrative penalties in British Columbia and the United States. A larger proportion of offenders are punished under these administrative processes than in the Ontario criminal justice system, and the average administrative penalty generally is higher than the average criminal fine. In addition, a system of administrative penalties is better able to identify employers who warrant punishment because regulators apply the civil standard of proof, attach great weight to a firm's compliance history, and do not reserve penalties …