D'Arcy Martin

Mondays and Wednesdays, 7:00 - 10:00 p.m.
May 5-June 18, 2003
Classroom: BSB-318

Instructor: D'Arcy Martin *Office hours: Wednesdays, 5:00-6:30pm (except May 14 & 28)
Ext. 27781 - Email: darcymartin@sympatico.ca

KTH-720, or by appointment

Course Text:James W. Rinehart, The Tyranny of Work: Alienation and the Labour Process
Fourth edition. (Toronto: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 2001).


Monday, May 5- Session #1
Theme: Course assumptions and expectations, work experiences

Key concepts: Learning and education; Work and labour
Core readings:(1) John Godard, Industrial Relations: The economy and society
(Toronto: McGraw-Hill, 1994), p.38-51.
(2) Elaine Bernard, "Why Unions Matter: Bringing democracy to the workplace",
Our Times, September/October, 1996.
(3) Anne Forrest, "What do Women Want from Union Representation?",
in Hecate, Australian journal of women's liberation. Brisbane, Australia, 2001. p.47-61.
Web sites: Quiz on youth rights at www.ofl-fto.on.ca
www.thinkingunion.net


Wednesday, May 7 - Session #2
Theme: How unions work

Key concept: Culture (working-class, workplace, union, academic, corporate)
Core readings: (1) Michael Newman, The Third Contract: Theory and practice
in trade union training, second edition (Sydney: Stewart Victor Publishing,1993), p.15-20.
(2) Canadian Labour Congress, Notes on Unions (Ottawa: CLC, 1997).

Video: "Kim's Grievance"
Web site:www.clc-ctc.ca


Monday, May 12 - Session #3
Theme: Work process
Guest: Jorge Garcia-Orgales

Key concept: Alienation
Core readings: Rinehart, pp. 1-21 and pp.71-118.
Broad, D. "The Casual Labour Market Today, in Hollow Work, Hollow Society"
Globalization and Casual Labour (Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, 2000).

Video: Don Bouzek, "What's New? Facing Management Over the Years"
Web site: "Know Your Rights" at www.yorku.ca/crws



Wednesday, May 14- Session #4
Theme: Labour arts and heritage
*Class at Workers Arts and Heritage Centre, 51 Stuart Street, not on campus*
(For directions, phone 905-522-3003)

Key concept: Constructing social imagery
Core readings:(1) Rinehart, pp.22-70.
(2) Ontario Federation of Labour, "Towards a Living Culture",
(Document 6, 2nd Biennial Convention, November 1993).
(3) Worklines, newsletter of the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre.
Web site: www.web.net/~owahc
Video: WAHC, "All We Worked For"


NOTE MAY 19 CLASS IS CANCELLED FOR VICTORIA DAY HOLIDAY


Wednesday, May 21 - Session #5
Theme: Equity in labour life
*Interview assignment due at start of class*

Key concept: Anti-oppression framework
Core readings:(1) Barb Thomas, "Learning from Discomfort: A letter to my daughters", in Adrienne Shadd and Carl E. James eds., Talking About Identity: Encounters in Race, Ethnicity and Language (Toronto: Between the Lines Publishing, 2001).
(2) Winnie Wun Wun Ng, "Power and Difference" Our Times, 2002.
Video: "Workplace Discrimination"
Web site: Human rights/ anti-racism section of www.clc-ctc.ca


Monday, May 26 - Session #6
Mid-term exam
(75 minutes)
Video: Independent Media Center, "This is What Democracy Looks Like", 2000.
Core reading: McNally, D. "Globalization: It's not about free trade", in Another World is Possible (Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 2002).


Wednesday, May 28 - Session #7
Theme: Economic Re-structuring
Guest: Jorge Garcia-Orgales

Core concepts: User-driven design, downsizing and outsourcing
Core readings: (1) John Anderson and Chris Schenk, Re-Shaping Work (Toronto: Ontario Federation of Labour, 1996), p.9-28.
(2)Rinehart, pp.119-174.
(3)"The Great Privatization Grab" and Privatization: The Facts, in New Internationalist, 2003.
Web site:www.labourstart.org


Monday, June 2 - Session #8
Theme: Learning for solidarity and globalization
Guest: Jorge Garcia-Orgales

Core concepts: Corporate-led globalization, globalization from below
Core readings:(1) Public Services International, Democracy or Dominance in the Americas' The FTAA vs. Public Services (France: PSI, 2001).
(2) Naomi Klein, "IMF go to hell: The people of Argentina have tried the IMF approach; now they want it their way", Globe and Mail, March 16, 2002. (Print edition, page A19).
Web sites: www.Rabble.ca.


Wednesday, June 4 - Session #9
Theme: Occupational Health and Safety

Core concept: Politics of the body
Core readings: (1) Matthew Firth, James Brophy and Margaret Keith, Workplace Roulette: Gambling with Cancer (Toronto: Between the Lines, 1997), pp. 76-90.
(2) Canadian Labour Congress, Solidarity and Pride Working Group, Transgender Discussion Paper, 2001.
Video: "Occupational Stress: The Hazard and the Challenge"
Web site: www.whsc.on.ca


Monday, June 9 - Session #10
Theme: Action on alienation
*Book reports due*

Core concepts: Workers' control, Third sector
Core reading: (1) Rinehart, p.175-217.
(2) D'Arcy Martin, Thinking Union: Activism and Education in Canada=s Labour Movement (Toronto: Between the Lines, 1995), pp.124-140.
(3) Heather Grigg, Tina Puchalski and Don Wells, "Ethical Trade and University Purchasing Policies: McMaster University's 'No Sweat' and 'Fair Trade'" Purchasing Codes. (Hamilton, not published, 2003).


Wednesday, June 11 - Session #11
Theme: Political debates within labour

Core concepts: Syndicalism and socialism
Core reading: "Unions and politics in Canada", in Errol Black and Jim Silver, Building a Better Society: An introduction to unionism in Canada. (Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, 2001), chapter 5.
Canadian Auto Workers, "Working Class Politics in the 21st Century" Report of the CAW task force on working class politics.
Web sites: www.ndp.ca
www.caw.ca


Monday June 16 - Session #12
Theme: Closing the gap and course review

Core concepts: Labour studies and labour relations; political economy and public education
Web site: www.socialjustice.org


Wednesday June 18
Final Exam (2 hours)

Course Grades

1. All assignments will be marked with regard to your grasp of lectures and discussion, and your use of reading material and web sites. The criteria for evaluation are clarity, relevance, depth and originality.
   
2. Interviews on work experience. You will be given an interview schedule at the second class, to be conducted with two acquaintances outside the course, and a summary handed in by the start of the May 21 class. This will be worth 15%. Late summaries will be penalized by 1% per weekday.
   
3. Mid-term exam. This will be held in class on May 26. It will be worth 25%.
   
4. Book report. You are to read one of the books listed below, and write a 2,000 word paper on its relation to key concepts of the course. This is to be handed in by the start of class on June 4. It will be worth 25%. Late reports will be penalized by 1% per weekday. See essay guidelines below.
   
5. Final exam. This will be held at the final class on June 18, and will deal with material covered in the second half of the course. It will be worth 35%.
   
   
   Books for review:
   

• 1.Franca Iacovetta, Such Hardworking People: Italian Immigrants in Postwar Toronto (Montreal/Kingston: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1992).
  
• 2.Catherine Macleod, Waking Up in the Men's Room (Toronto: Between the Lines, 1998).
  
• 3.D'Arcy Martin, Thinking Union: Activism and education in Canada's labour movement (Toronto: Between the Lines, 1995).
  
• 4.Makeda Silvera, Silenced. (Toronto: Williams-Wallace Publishers, 1983).
  
• 5.Jamie Swift, Wheel of Fortune: Work and life in the age of falling expectations
  (Toronto: Between the Lines, 1995).
  
• 6.Julie White, Sisters and Solidarity: Women and Unions in Canada
  (Toronto: Thompson Educational Publishing, 1993).
  
• 7.Ousmane Sembene, God's Bits of Wood (New York: Doubleday, 1970).
  
  
  Essay Guidelines (adapted from Professor Greg McElligott)
  
  1. FOLLOW THE TWO ?CARDINAL RULES? OF ACADEMIC WRITING
  i.Demonstrate; don't simply assert your points.
  Evidence is required for most claims.
  ii.Analyze, don't just describe.
  Try to put together all the pieces. Don't just repeat what somebody else has said - use it to support your own argument and answer your question.
  
  2. WRITE CLEARLY (from George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language")
  i.Never use a long word where a short one will do.
  ii.If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
  iii.Never use the passive where you can use the active.
  iv.Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
  v.Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.
  
  3. GIVE YOUR SOURCES THE CREDIT THEY DESERVE
  Use any standard citation method, but use it consistently and make sure it leads clearly to the page and source of every word or idea taken from someone else. The only exceptions here are matters of "common knowledge," which require no citation. (See "Plagiarism" below.)
  
  4. SAFEGUARD YOUR WORK
  
• Defend yourself against computer or printer failures by regularly saving your file to an external disk.
  
• You must keep a copy of all work you submit. If essays are lost you must replace them immediately.
  
• Hand your essay to me in class.
  
• Do not submit essays by fax or e-mail.
  
• Do not slip your essay under any door, anywhere.
  
• Take late essays to the Labour Studies Office - 7th floor KTH.
  
  5. AVOID PLAGIARISM
  
• Use of someone else's words or ideas without proper citations is plagiarism.
  
• Plagiarism can ruin your career at University, and your prospects outside it.
  
• If you are in desperate circumstances the night before a deadline, ask for an extension; don't plagiarize (e-mail works day or night).
  
• Purchased essays are easily spotted and particularly offensive.
  
• Speak to me if you need clarification, or refer to the Statement of Academic Ethics and the Senate Resolution on Academic Dishonesty as found in the Senate Policy Statements. These were distributed at registration, and are available at http://www.mcmaster.ca/senate/academic/academic.htm
  
  6. RESEARCH CAREFULLY
  
• paper is informed by relevant sources from the reading list, lectures and class discussions
  
• other journal articles or books were consulted (if required)
  
• recent, related news was considered
  
  7. ORGANIZE YOUR PRESENTATION
  
• Introduction, body, and conclusion are clear, and clearly linked together
  
• "Signposts" guide the reader through the argument ("This relates to my thesis because...," "Next I will discuss a in order to show b.")
  
• Paragraphs focus on one point, which is clearly linked to the central argument
  
• There is a logical order of ideas and no excessive repetition
  
• Words are used correctly, thesaurus has not been used to excess
  
• The writing is not too wordy, arguments are sharp and punchy
  
• Meanings are clear - there is no need to "read between the lines"
  
• Essays are typed, double-spaced, on white paper, and stapled together
  
• No duo-tangs, plastic or colored covers of any kind have been used
  
  Statement of Academic Ethics
  Academic dishonesty is a serious offence. Any student uncertain about the meaning of academic ethics should consult the Statement of Academic Ethics in the Senate Policy Statements (Office of the Dean of Social Sciences, KTH-120).
  
  Office for Ability and Access
  Arrangements may be made for students with special needs. Students who are registered with the Office of Ability and Access and who require special arrangements for the purpose of tests and examinations should advise the Instructor as early as possible.