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Full-Text Articles in Labor and Employment Law

Somethings Old, Somethings New And A Lot That’S Blue: Political Economic Reflections On Worker Subordination And The Law In Contemporary Capitalism, Eric Tucker Jan 2024

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 …


Regulating Health And Safety In Capitalist Workplaces: History, Practices And Prospects, Eric Tucker Jan 2023

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 …


Bargaining Sectoral Standards: Towards Canadian Fair Pay Agreement Legislation, Sara Slinn, Mark Rowlinson Jan 2022

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 …


Collective Representation And Bargaining For Self-Employed Workers: Final Report, Sara Slinn Mar 2021

Collective Representation And Bargaining For Self-Employed Workers: Final Report, Sara Slinn

Commissioned Reports, Studies and Public Policy Documents

This report seeks to identify and discuss feasible models for collective representation and bargaining for self-employed contractors in the federal jurisdiction. The term “self-employed contractors” refers to workers who would be classified as “independent contractors” under the Canada Labour Code (CLC) Part I and, consequently, be excluded from the ambit of CLC collective representation and bargaining provisions. The study utilizes fieldwork, in the form of interviews and focus group discussions, in four sectors of interest, namely, road transportation, broadcast media, technology, and telecommunications, in order to explore and assess potential models for statutory collective representation and bargaining for self-employed workers. …


Class Crimes: Master And Servant Laws And Factories Acts In Industrializing Britain And (Ontario) Canada, Eric Tucker, Judy Fudge May 2020

Class Crimes: Master And Servant Laws And Factories Acts In Industrializing Britain And (Ontario) Canada, Eric Tucker, Judy Fudge

Articles & Book Chapters

This chapter compares the historical development and use of criminal law at work in the United Kingdom and in Ontario, Canada. Specifically, it considers the use of the criminal law both in the master and servant regime as an instrument for disciplining the workforce and in factory legislation for protecting workers from unhealthy and unsafe working conditions, including exceedingly long hours work. Master and servant legislation that criminalized servant breaches of contract originated in the United Kingdom where it was widely used in the nineteenth century to discipline industrial workers. These laws were partially replicated in Ontario, where it had …


Working Time, Dinner Time, Serving Time: Labour And Law In Industrialization, Douglas Hay Jan 2018

Working Time, Dinner Time, Serving Time: Labour And Law In Industrialization, Douglas Hay

Articles & Book Chapters

Many economic historians agree that increased labour inputs contributed to Britain’s primary industrialisation. Voluntary self-exploitation by workers to purchase new consumer goods is one common explanation, but it sits uneasily with evidence of poverty, child labour, popular protest, and criminal punishments explored by social historians. A critical and neglected legal dimension may be the evolution of contracts of employment. The law of master and servant, to use the technical term, shifted markedly between 1750 and 1850 to advantage capital and disadvantage labour. Medieval in origin, it had always been adjudicated in summary hearings before lay magistrates, and provided penal sanctions …


No Right (To Organize) Without A Remedy: Evidence And Consequences Of Failure To Provide Compensatory Remedies For Unfair Labour Practices In British Columbia, Sara Slinn Jan 2008

No Right (To Organize) Without A Remedy: Evidence And Consequences Of Failure To Provide Compensatory Remedies For Unfair Labour Practices In British Columbia, Sara Slinn

Articles & Book Chapters

Employees and unions encounter significant risks during union organizing and often see their efforts thwarted by employers. Labour law regimes attempt to minimize these risks by rendering unlawful a number of unfair labour practices (ULPs) employers can use to prevent unionization. But labour relations boards (LRBs) in Canada often avoid awarding full compensation for the harm ULPs cause, leading employers to still view ULPs as advantageous courses of action with only moderate associated costs.The author argues that this problem can be solved or greatly mitigated without the need for formal reforms, LRBs rather must come to embrace the full range …