Labor and Employment Law Commons^™

Somethings Old, Somethings New And A Lot That’S Blue: Political Economic Reflections On Worker Subordination And The Law In Contemporary Capitalism, Eric Tucker

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Debates over worker subordination are central to discussions of the efficacy of protective labour and employment law whose central mission in a capitalist political economy, after all, is to reduce but not eliminate subordination. When protective labour and employment law seems to be fulfilling its mission discussions of worker subordination seem to ebb, but the topic becomes more urgent as the efficacy of the law declines. Not surprisingly, as labour law’s efficacy has been declining over the past several decades, we are in the midst of a revival of debates over worker subordination, the premise of this special issue. While …

Labour, Labour Law And Capitalist Rent-Seeking: Rentier Capitalism And Labour In Historical Perspective, Eric Tucker

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The rise of rentier capitalism in advanced capitalist countries has detrimentally affected large numbers of worker and impaired the efficacy of protective labour and employment laws. However, capitalist rent-seeking is not unique to rentier capitalism, but rather has taken a variety of forms over time. This chapter begins by exploring the evolving meaning of rent and changing practices of capitalist rent-seeking. It then considers the ways in which workers responded to those practices in both rent-rich and rent-poor sectors of the economy, including through the enactment of labour and employment laws appropriate to, but only partially successful in addressing labour …

Workers’ Boards: Sectoral Bargaining And Standard-Setting Mechanisms For The New Gilded Age, Sara Slinn

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This article explores the potential of sectoral standard-setting models (often referred to as “wage boards” or “workers’ boards”) as a solution for contemporary workplace issues, which existing labor relations and minimum standards regulatory systems continue to struggle to address. This argument, the article examines three historical statutory systems of sector-based minimum workplace standard-setting established in the early 20th century as a response to unacceptable wages and working conditions: the British Wages Council system, the Canadian Industrial Standards Act, and the US Fair Labor Standards Act. The article applies the conceptions of fairness identified in Seth Harris's study of the origins …

Regulating Health And Safety In Capitalist Workplaces: History, Practices And Prospects, Eric Tucker

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The chapter provides a broad overview of occupational health and safety (OHS) regulation in advanced capitalist countries with a focus on the English-speaking world. It views OHS regulation through a political economy lens in which protective legislation is enacted and implemented against the imperative of a profit-driven system of production. The chapter provide examines the historical development of OHS regulation beginning with the rise of industrial capitalism leading up to modern OHS regimes that increasing embrace mandated partial self regulation. It then considers contemporary debates over the efficacy of these regimes, focusing on the scope of self regulation, the practice …

Essential Jobs, Remote Work And Digital Surveillance: Addressing The Covid-19 Pandemic Panopticon, Antonio Aloisi, Valerio De Stefano

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An unprecedented COVID-19-induced explosion in digital surveillance has reconfigured power relationships in professional settings. This article critically concentrates on the interplay between technology-enabled intrusive monitoring and the augmentation of 1

managerial prerogatives in physical and digital workplaces. It identifies excessive supervision as the common denominator of “essential” and “remotable” activities, besides discussing the various drawbacks faced by the two categories of workers during (and after) the pandemic. It also assesses the adequacy of the current European Union legal framework in addressing the expansion of data-driven management. Social dialogue, workers’ empowerment and digital literacy are identified as effective solutions to promote …

Bargaining Sectoral Standards: Towards Canadian Fair Pay Agreement Legislation, Sara Slinn, Mark Rowlinson

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This paper considers the recently introduced New Zealand Fair Pay Agreement (FPA) sectoral bargaining framework and offers a preliminary series of ideas and proposals setting out how an FPA model for bargaining sectoral standards could work in Canada. It is intended as the beginning of a more detailed discussion on the development of an FPA regime culminating in model legislation that could be adapted to different Canadian jurisdictions. Guided by principles of accountability, integration, and inclusivity, this proposal is intended to apply to all workers in an employment relationship – including dependent contractors and gig and platform workers. The proposed …

Broader-Based And Sectoral Bargaining Proposals In Collective Bargaining Law Reform: A Historical Review, Sara Slinn

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Labour legislation regulating Canada’s private sector has incorporated forms of broader-based or sectoral certification and bargaining (BBB) in varying degrees for decades, particularly in British Columbia and Quebec. However, BBB had not been the subject of significant post-war labour law reform discussion until the 1990s. This decade saw a wave of interest in introducing BBB arise across several jurisdictions. Originating in Ontario in the late 1980s, it spread to British Columbia as a key part of labour law reform discussions in the early and late 1990s and became a minor issue in the federal labour law reform review process later …

Maximizing Opportunity, Minimizing Risk: Aligning Law, Policy And Practice To Strengthen Work-Integrated Learning In Ontario, Joseph F. Turcotte, Leslie Nichols, Lisa Philipps

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A broad consensus is emerging in Ontario and at the federal level in favour of expanding postsecondary students’ access to experiential or “work-integrated learning” (WIL) opportunities. One of the challenges in implementing this vision is navigating the complex legal status of students as they leave campus and enter workplaces in a wide range of industries and roles. This study aims to support these efforts by mapping the current legal landscape for WIL to identify both risks and opportunities for students, post-secondary institutions (PSIs) and placement hosts alike (referred to collectively in this study as “WIL participants”). It makes recommendations to …

Employment Standards Enforcement: A Scan Of Employment Standards Complaints And Workplace Inspections And Their Resolution Under The Employment Standards Act, 2000, Leah F. Vosko, Andrea M. Noack, Eric Tucker

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No abstract provided.

Cinquante Ans D’Analyses Des Mutations Des Normes Du Travail En Amérique Du Nord: Voyage Comparatiste Autour De La Pensée De Harry Arthurs, Marie-Ange Moreau

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La pensée de Harry Arthurs permet de parcourir les changements intervenus dans l’analyse des protections des travailleurs depuis 50 ans en Amérique du Nord en raison du développement de la « nouvelle économie » qui sape les constructions anciennes du droit du travail élaborées à l’époque fordiste. Ses analyses construites à partir d’une approche de relations industrielles, et du « socio legal pluralism », conduisent au-delà de l’approche comparatiste à poser des questions centrales, autour des transformations normatives, de leurs causes, de leur sens, de leur avenir, autour de la citoyenneté sociale dans le monde post-moderne, autour des frontières du …

The "Majestic Equality" Of The Law: Why Constitutional Strategies Do Not Produce Equality, Harry Arthurs

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Paper Presented at a workshop on Equality, at the Institute for Advanced Studies, Nantes, France, in June, 2014. Two epidemiological studies — the Whitehall Studies of 1967 and 1988 — famously demonstrated that socio-economic status is a primary determinant of health outcomes. By locating a large cohort of British civil servants on a social-class gradient, researchers were able to show that individuals at successively lower levels on that gradient experienced diminishing prospects of good health and longevity. This conclusion was complemented by subsequent studies that concluded that degrees of inequality in a society — rather than absolute levels of wealth …

Employment-Related Geographic Mobility In Canada And Collective Bargaining: A Report Prepared For The On The Move Partnership Research Team, Eric Tucker, Brendan Breckman Jowett

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Report prepared for: On the Move, Policy Component, July, 2014.