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Workers at Enbridge Gas Storage and Transmission Operations (formerly Union Gas) went on strike early this morning across Southern Ontario. I worked for Union Gas for seventeen years before transitioning into academia. I was the crew leader at Lobo Compressor Station and a member of the Communication, Energy, and Paperworkers’ Union Local 999 executive (now … More Enbridge Gas Storage and Transmission Operations Strike

Routledge has very kindly provided free reading access to my new book for the next couple of months.  It can be accessed here:  https://rdcu.be/4fsR

I am very pleased to announce the publication of my new book Making Managers in Canada, 1945 – 1995: Companies, Community Colleges, and Universities (Routledge, 2018).  My thanks to the editors and staff at Routledge for their kind assistance over the past three years.  From the publisher site: Making Managers in Canada, 1945 – 1995 … More Making Managers in Canada, 1945 – 1995: Companies, Community Colleges, and Universities

I am pleased that an article that I co-authored with Stephanie Ross (McMaster University Labour Studies) is in the latest issue of Labour/Le Travail:  NEW ISSUE NOTICE Please see the Table of Contents for Volume 81 (Spring/Printemps 2018) of Labour/le Travail La grève générale des charpentiers-menuisiers de Montréal, 1833-1834 :réévaluation d’un acte fondateur autour du … More Electromotive Closure Article in Labour/Le Travail 81

This is me presenting the CBHA conference in Toronto this past September:  

There was considerable media scrutiny of the five-week long strike by Ontario community college faculty.  The conditions for this work stoppage had been gestating for many years, if not decades.  There is huge amount of precarious employment in higher education, especially at community colleges.  The overwhelming majority of teaching is done by instructors who are … More The Ontario Community College Strike

I recently presented two papers at the Association of Business Historians Conference in Glasgow (one co-authored with Kevin Tennent and Andrew Smith) and one at the Critical Management Studies Conference in Liverpool.  Both conferences revealed considerable depth and breadth when it comes to critiquing the role of business and capital in society.  What is particularly … More Critical Management Studies and Association of Business Historians conferences

This recent article in the New York Times critiques the increasingly common use of non-competition agreements by American employers.  Workers, even those in low-paid service work, are being required to sign agreements that open them to litigation if they leave their current employment and go to a competing organization.  Here is a link to the article: … More Indentured Servitude?

This is a link to an MSN/Wall Street Journal article about the impact that the gaming industry is having on the labour market:  Why a $75 Billion Industry Is Powering Down on Employees.  Interestingly, someone from placement firm Accenture refers to the idea of a “liquid workforce” that can be turned on and off like … More The Video Gaming Industry and Casualization

Ruskin College in England is one of the originators of worker education in the world. Generations of trade unionists from many countries traveled to Ruskin to become better activists and citizens. The college played a key role in advancing social justice through its trade union programs. This included making important contributions to the South African … More Friends of Ruskin College