Pages: 16

The introduction presents the main questions that will be addressed in the book. The book is organized into acknowledgments, an introduction, four chapters, a conclusion, and a bibliography. The introduction also provides an overview of interaction between workers and employers in what is now the United States and Canada from the time of European colonization to the 1920s. The formation of nineteenth-century unions in Canada and the United States is described as the rise of modern corporations and management.

Pages: 20

This chapter focuses on the pivotal 1930s and 1940s. It explains the rise of industrial unions and the creation of the legal framework in which American and Canadian unions and employers operated in subsequent decades. The impact of electoral politics on unions and management is described, along with the roots of modern anti-union sentiment in the United States. The impact of World War II on labor and management is described, as is how unions interacted with women and workers of color. The meaning of the post-war labor relations framework is considered in this chapter. This was a period of convergence between Canada and the United States.

Pages: 23

This chapter examines labor and management interaction during the prosperous 1950s and 1960s. These were decades of social and economic change in the United States and Canada, and unions became significant institutions in both countries. Unions demonstrated less militancy during these decades and, particularly in the United States, were usually purged of leftist members. Corporations and management practices became more complex and sophisticated during the 1950s and 1960s. Public sector workers in both countries gained the right to unionize and that right had a particularly profound impact on unionization in Canada. This was a period when labor and management interaction in the two countries began to diverge.

Pages: 23

This chapter describes pivotal changes in the 1970s and 1980s in the United States and Canada that led to greater divergence when it came to the strength of unions and how they interacted with management. The New Deal policy order that had been dominant in the United States since the election of President Franklin Roosevelt began to come apart, and the political right became stronger and more opposed to organized labor. Keynesian economics fell out of favor in the United States but continued to shape public policy in Canada. There was conflict between unions, employers, and governments over economic policies including wage and price controls. Union membership fell further in the United States but remained vibrant in Canada, with Canadian public sector unions expanding their memberships. The 1980s began with the election of Ronald Reagan as American president, and a major strike by air traffic controllers that ended with the striking workers being fired.

Pages: 22

This chapter focuses on major changes that happened in labor and management interaction in the 1990s and 2000s. Neo-liberal economic theory was ascendant during those decades. The Cold War drew to a close in the early 1990s and the global economy altered. Management in both countries – public and private – engaged in significant conflicts with unions. The labor movements of both countries principally became public sector movements as private sector union density continued to decline. New technology, particularly the rise of the Internet, led to profound changes in how people work, and those developments were reflected in labor and management interaction. Canadian labor was in a stronger position in relation to management when compared with its American counterpart.

Pages: 14

The conclusion summarizes the arguments made in the preceding chapters and also describes key events and themes that developed in the 2010s and early 2020s. This includes discussing divergence between how courts in the United States and Canada have ruled on labor law cases. The challenges posed by the Gig Economy are explained. The impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on labor and management interaction is also discussed. Some possible future directions for labor and management interaction and conflict in coming years are presented, and the book concludes by noting that some conflict has always occurred between management and labor and likely will in the future.