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Labour Studies

Reference

Dictionaries, Directories, Handbooks, Encyclopedias, etc. - Reference works are useful when you need to obtain quick facts, define the terms and scope of your search, or get a broad overview of a topic. Best Bets! are marked with aBest Bet!.
Products available to registered McMaster Students/Staff/Faculty Only are marked with a McMaster Use Only.

Biographical Dictionary of American Labor. 2nd ed.
Contains over 700 biographical entries on men and women closely associated with the labour movement in the United States. Entries include significant details of the person's life including relevant family information, trade union affiliation and public and private offices held. Entries include bibliographical references.
Location: MILLS Reference (2nd floor) HD 8073 .A1B56 1984

Dictionary of Labour Biography, v.1(1790)- present
Includes brief biographical entires on deceased individuals who were involved in the labour movement in Britain. Entries include bibliographical references. Includes an index.
Location: MILLS Reference (2nd floor) HD 8393 .A1B43

Dictionary of Marxist Thought. 2nd.ed.
Defines and describes the basic concepts of Marxism. Entries include references for additional reading. A bibliography and index are included.
Location: MILLS Reference (2nd floor) HX 17 .D5 1991

Employment Relations Abstracts / Work Related Abstracts, 1967-1996 (ceased)
Extracts significant and informative material from over 250 management, labour, government, professional, and academic periodicals. Abstracts are divided into 20 broad subject areas with a detailed index to specific subjects, organizations, and individuals in the back of each volume.
Location: MILLS Reference (2nd floor) ZHF 5549 .A2E4 (1967-1996)

Encyclopedia of the American Left
A thorough, comprehensive work on the history of the American Left, "that segment of society which has sought fundamental changes in the economic, political and cultural systems". There is strong emphasis upon radicals, socialists, and communists. Index included.
Location: MILLS Reference (2nd floor) HX 86 .E58 1990

Hamilton Working Class 1820-1977: A Bibliography
Includes: The Workingmen In a Frontier Town: Hamilton, 1820-1850; The Railway City, 1850-1870; Researching the Hamilton Working Class, 1870-1900; The Working Class of Hamilton, 1900-1930; The Labour Movement of Hamilton, 1930-1956; and a Selected Bibliography of Hamilton Labour, 1956-1977.
Location: MILLS Bookstacks HD 8106 .R63

Historical Dictionary of Organized Labor. 2nd ed.
Contains 277 entries on individual countries, international labour organizations, major labour unions, leaders, ideas, political parties and other aspects related to the history of organized labour. Appendices include a glossary of terms, chronology, union membership statistics, and a bibliography.
Location: MILLS Reference (2nd floor) HD 4839 .D58 2004
Primary Sources in Canadian Working Class History, 1860-1930.
Contains over 3000 items related to working class history in "English Canada". Items have been organized under four broad categories: manuscripts, newspapers, pamphlets and government documents. Includes an index.
Location: MILLS Research Collections Reference (lower level) ZHD 8106 .P7
St. James Encyclopedia of Labor History Worldwide : Major Events in Labor History and Their Impact. 2004. 2 v.
In-depth analysis of more than 300 key events in labour history over the last 200 years, focussing on the relevance of these events to both the labour movement as a whole and to societal changes around the world.
Location: MILLS Reference (2nd floor) HD 4839 .S74 2004
Trade Unions of the World. 1989/90.
Provides descriptions of trade union organizations from around the world. Includes an index.
Location: MILLS Reference (2nd floor) HD 6483 .T675 1989/90
Also available at: INNIS Reference HD 6483.T675

 

Books

Use McMaster's Library Catalogue to find books on your topic. Click the Help link for searching tips & strategies.

Some basic subject headings for labour studies include:
 
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Think Tanks

Note:  A think tank is an organization that conducts research pertaining to issues such as social policy, science and technology, and business policy.  Think tanks often engage in advocacy.  As a result, the findings produced by think tanks may reflect particular political viewpoints.  Researchers should be aware of such biases when using these sources.

Websites

Hillwatch.com:  Think Tanks
This site produced by Hillwatch, a government relations firm, provides a thorough listing of national and international think tanks.  This web page is a good starting point for research involving think tanks

Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
An institute concerned with issues pertaining to social, economic, and environmental policy. 

Canadian Economics Association
An organization consisting of "Academic Economists."  The association is responsible for the publication of The Canadian Journal of Economics.

The C.D. Howe Institute
A non-profit organization interested in the Canadian standard of living.  The institute is concerned with social and economic policy.

Centre for the Study of Living Standards
This non profit organization is primarily interested in trends relating to economic and social well being.

Conference Board of Canada
Specializes in economic trends, organizational performance, and public policy.

The Fraser Institute
Studies a broad range of topics including taxes, immigration, health care, and education.

 

 

 

Data and Statistics

Databases

BestCase
McMaster Users Only
Contains law reports including Labour Arbitration Cases, British Columbia Labour Arbitration Decisions, British Columbia Labour Relations Board Decisions, and Canadian Labour Arbitration Summaries.

BusinessWorks
McMaster Users Only
Includes Canadian Labour Law Cases.

LexisNexis
McMaster Users Only
Features Canadian statutes, regulations, and cases in addition to U.S. federal and state legal materials.

Reference Materials and Periodicals

Brown and Beatty's Canadian Labour Arbitration
Innis Reference KE 3206. B7
Includes materials relating to collective labour agreements, and grievance arbitration in Canada.

The Canadian Abridgment
Mills Periodicals (3rd Floor) KE 173. C35
A multi-volume research tool that provides digests of cases, citations, and legal commentary.

The Canadian Charter of Rights:  Annotated
Mills Reference (2nd Floor) KE 4381. A29C36
Annotated version of the charter in six volumes.

Canadian Labour Relations Board Reports
Mills Periodicals (3rd Floor) KE. C4
Includes labour notes.

Websites

Judgments of the Supreme Court of Canada
Contains oral and written judgments along with a summary of their reasons.  Coverage dates back to 1876.

Ontario Labour Relations Board
Includes decisions by the Ontario Labour Relations Board.  Continuous coverage since 2000 with some partial coverage prior to 2000.

Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal
Contains decisions relating to pay equity disputes.

Public Service Labour Relations Board
Full text decisions of the Public Service Labour Relations Board and the Public Service Staff Relations Board.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal
Includes decisions and their reasons.

Case Law

Databases

BestCase
McMaster Users Only
Contains law reports including Labour Arbitration Cases, British Columbia Labour Arbitration Decisions, British Columbia Labour Relations Board Decisions, and Canadian Labour Arbitration Summaries.

BusinessWorks
McMaster Users Only
Includes Canadian Labour Law Cases.

LexisNexis
McMaster Users Only
Features Canadian statutes, regulations, and cases in addition to U.S. federal and state legal materials.

Reference Materials and Periodicals

Brown and Beatty's Canadian Labour Arbitration
Innis Reference KE 3206. B7
Includes materials relating to collective labour agreements, and grievance arbitration in Canada.

The Canadian Abridgment
Mills Periodicals (3rd Floor) KE 173. C35
A multi-volume research tool that provides digests of cases, citations, and legal commentary.

The Canadian Charter of Rights:  Annotated
Mills Reference (2nd Floor) KE 4381. A29C36
Annotated version of the charter in six volumes.

Canadian Labour Relations Board Reports
Mills Periodicals (3rd Floor) KE. C4
Includes labour notes.

Websites

Judgments of the Supreme Court of Canada
Contains oral and written judgments along with a summary of their reasons.  Coverage dates back to 1876.

Ontario Labour Relations Board
Includes decisions by the Ontario Labour Relations Board.  Continuous coverage since 2000 with some partial coverage prior to 2000.

Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal
Contains decisions relating to pay equity disputes.

Public Service Labour Relations Board
Full text decisions of the Public Service Labour Relations Board and the Public Service Staff Relations Board.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Appeals Tribunal
Includes decisions and their reasons.

Articles/Databases

Use article databases to find out which journals, magazines, and newspapers have published articles on your topic. Most useful when recent information is required, or when the topic is too specific to be covered in a book. Best Bets! are marked with aBest Bet!.
Products available to registered McMaster Students/Staff/Faculty Only are marked with a McMaster Use Only.

Article Databases / Indexes

 

 

Geographic Info Systems

 

Data and Statistical resources are available from various sources such as Statistics Canada, Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR), SourceOECD, IMF etc. The links below will help you to identify data and statistical resources available for your research.

           
Statistics
Data
...facts or figures
...raw material used to calculate statistics
...proves a point using totals, sums or averages
...used with software like SAS or SPSS
- Canadian
- US & International
 

Statistics:

Canadian
 
CANSIM II (Canadian Socio-Economic Information Management System): provides access to time series statistics on a broad variety of subject areas including Economic Accounts, Labour, Income, Health etc.
 
E-STAT: offering Census profile data for 1986 - 2006 at various levels of geography. Historical Census data is also available for 1665-1871 censuses. CANSIM time series tables are available on a broad variety of subject areas including Economic Accounts, Labour, Income, Health etc.
 
Canadian Census Analyzer: provides access to Census Profile Data for 1981-2006 at Enumeration Area level and Census Tract level; 1991 – 2006 at Provincial and Federal Electoral District level; and the 1971 - 2006 Individual Microdata Files.
 
Labour Force Historical Review: monthly and annual data on a wide range of subjects, including labour force status by demographics, education and family characteristics, trends in the labour markets of metropolitan areas, employment and unemployment levels by economic regions, data by industry and occupation, wages and union membership.
 
Canadian Statistics - Summary Tables: these summary tables provide an overview of statistical information on Canada's people, economy and governments.
 
Statistics Canada Publications: Full text access to more than 300 Statistics Canada publications listed by subject and Statistics Canada catalogue number.
 
US and International 
 
SourceOECD: access OECD publications and statistical databases online and build your own tables in real time.
 
US Census of Population and Housing: data ranges from most recent census to the historical decennial census conducted throughout the decades.
 
United States Historical Census Data Browser (1790- 1960): access to extensive collection of numeric and geospatial data files, computing facilities and software for data manipulation, research, and instruction; and a suite of Internet-accessible data extraction tools.
 
American Factfinder: a source for population, housing, economic and geographic data from Census 2000, the 1990 Decennial Census, the 1997 Economic Census, the American Community Survey, and the Population Estimates Program.
 
Bureau of Labor Statistics: the principal fact-finding agency for the US Federal  Government in the broad field of labor economics and statistics.
 
US Census Bureau: provides access to a wide variety of social, demographic, economic and geographic data for US.
 
FedStats: access to statistics and information produced by more than 100 U.S. Federal Government agencies on variety of topics such as labor, income, national accounts, education etc.
 
World Development Indicators: provides direct access to more than 600 development indicators, with time series for 208 countries and 18 country groups from 1960 to 2008. Available on CD-ROM network from Mills Library.

Data:

Canadian
 
Labour Force Survey (LFS): household survey carried out monthly. Data provide information on major labour market trends such as shifts in employment across industrial sectors, hours worked, labour force participation and unemployment rates. 1976 – 2008.
 
Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID): household survey to provide national data on the fluctuations in income that a typical family or individual experiences over time. 1996 – 2005.
 
Survey of Financial Security (SFS): data on income, expenses, assets, debts and wealth from more than 5200 family units residing in private households in Canada. 1999 and 2005.
 
Labour Market Activity Survey: contain information about the jobs people held: type of activity, schedules, wages, earnings, unionization, pension coverage, and self-employment. There is also information about unemployment spells, unpaid absences, training and schooling, sources of income and some family characteristics. 1986 – 1990.
 
Worplace and Employee Survey: aims to shed light on the relationships among competitiveness, innovation, technology use and human resource management on the employer side and technology use, training, job stability and earnings on the employee side. Synthetic Files only. 1999 – 2005.
 
Survey of Work Arrangements: information on the main and second jobs of paid workers related to: work schedule (days of week, hours of work), amount of control over schedule ("on call", flexible schedules), number of home-based workers and reasons for home-based work, number of "moonlighters" and reasons for having another job, pay, overtime, and unionization. 1991, 1995.
 
Survey of Volunteer Activity: information on the activities of volunteers and the organizational settings in which they work, the reasons for being volunteers, the  amount and pattern of time spent volunteering through organizations, the cost of volunteering, and the opinions of volunteers on various aspects of their voluntary experience. 1987.
 
Survey of Union Membership: survey looked at how many workers had their wages and other conditions of work determined by a collective agreement?, among those employees who were covered by collective agreements, how many were actually union members?, which industries and provinces were actually the most unionized?, did the wages and pension plans of union members and non-union workers differ significantly? 1984.
 
Survey of Self-Employment: data on the socio-demographic characteristics of the self-employed, as well as the hours they work, previous work experience, participation in dental, health and disability plans, income security, and their attitudes towards self-employment. 2000.
 
Survey of Persons not in the Labour Force: information on the activities of persons not presently active in the labour force, their past and future (planned)attachment to the labour force, current non-labour market activities and financial resources. 1992.
 
 Canadian Census Microdata Files: Census data and microdata from 1901; 1961; 1961 – 2006 reference years of the Census.
 
US and International
 
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR): provides access to a vast archive of social science data on a variety of subject areas such as Education,  Health Care and Facilities, US Censuses, Consumer Spending etc.
 

More Data and Statistics Resources:

Please visit “Odesi”, which houses Statistics Canada datasets, data files from Gallup Canada and other polling companies, public-domain files such as the Canadian National Election Surveys and selected files from the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR).

The files can be searched, browsed, analyzed and downloaded in various formats. You must be currently registered student, staff and faculty at McMaster University.

 

Associations & Organizations

Professional, academic, advocacy and other types of associations and organizations involved in your subject area.

 

Government Sources

Governments (national, provincial, local and regional) and inter-governmental organizations (like the United Nations) publish documents, reports, articles and books relevant to many fields of study.
Use McMaster's library catalogue and/or consult our guides to government publications to find government sources.
  • Canada Industrial Relations Board (Canada)
    Contains reports, decisions, forms, speeches, and information circulars.
  • Canada Labour Code (Canada)
    This Act was developed by parliament in order to consolidate various statutes regarding labour.
  • Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (Canada)
    Includes reports, research skills, social policy, and labour policy produced by the department.
  • Ministry of Labour (Ontario)
    Resources provided by the Ontario Ministry of Labour include publications, plans, and reports.  The website also includes legislation and information about employment benefits.
  • Monthly Labor Review (United States)
    Contains research produced by the Bureau of Labour Statistics, an agency of the U.S. Department of Labour.
  • U.S Federal Labour Relations Authority (United States)
    The website for this federal agency provides access to the Federal Service Labor-Management Relations Statute, which allows some non-postal federal employees to organize, bargain, and participate in labour organizations of their choosing.
  • U.S. Department of Labour (United States)
    Includes a number of resources notably information regarding state labour laws, wages by area and occupation, consumer price index, and current employment statistics.
  • U.S. National Labour Relations Board (United States)
    Contains manuals, guides, and reports pertaining to the National Labour Relations Board, an agency responsible for the administration of the National Labor Relations Act.
  • Women's Bureau (United States)
    Formed as part of the United States Department of Labor.  The site includes statistics and data, speeches, and reports.
  • Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 1943- 
    International source of labour force data for over 190 countries, areas or territories. Includes statistics on labour disputes, hours worked, unemployment, occupational health and safety, consumer prices, household income and expenditure surveys.
    Location: MILLS Gov Pubs (2nd floor) UN9L3-Y21