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List of contents
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
List of tables and figures
Overview of the book
Chapter One - Historical background
North America
The divergent paths of corporate law and labour law
Brief historical background of the corporation
Winnipeg General Strike
Workers in Developing Countries: Is An Obligation Implied or Imposed?
The Specter of the Specter of Marx
Workers’ Plight
1800s
1900s
2000s
Nike
Arm’s Length exploitation
On the factory floor
Neoliberalism and Ontario laws in the 1990s
Canadian legislation - the Ontario government under Harris
Bill 7 (1995)
Bill 31 (1998)
Bill 139 (2000)
Bibliography for Chapter One
Chapter Two - Current Structure of Labour and Employment Law
Canada
Right to Strike
Framework of Fairness Agreement
Recognition Strikes
The Framework of Fairness Agreement
Criticism of the FFA
Works Councils and the German Model
The German Model
Factory Occupations
U.S.A.
Precarious work
Independent Workers?
Employees, Workers, or something else entirely?
Everyone’s a critic - yet no one is in charge
Let me talk to your manager – wait, you don’t have one?
No manager. Who trained you?
Who is immune?
Wavering Work
Gigging the Economy: What’s Old is New Again
Platform capitalism and the new economy
Labour platforms
Uber and Seattle
Uber loses its license in London
Capital platforms
Workplaces and Work Spaces
Open offices
No workplace and just space
Technology and the ever-lengthening chain
Bibliography for Chapter Two
Chapter Three - How can the law be changed
Legislative framework
Fiduciary duty to workers
Fiduciary Duties
How traditional Corporate governance has failed workers
Corporations as Citizens
‘Good corporate citizen’ to ‘Good Samaritan corporation’
Good Samaritan Corporation
Layering governance
Employer Free Speech
Increasing labour standards on a worldwide level
International Labor Organization
Transportable Law/ Portable Law
Collective agreement as certification scheme
Consumer autonomy
Unifor and Community Chapters
Worker Voice
Governance Models
Codes of Conduct as Tools to Increase Workers’ Rights
Codes of Conduct
Codes versus Certifications *
Codes as corporate reformation
Governance
Ethics Codes
The Gig Economy or the Rig Economy?
Isolation and Inequality
Bibliography for Chapter Three
Chapter Four - Transnational Labour Regulation
Marxism
Marxism and the Law
Marx’s Theory of Alienation
Beyond Marx
Distancing
Compassion fatigue
Enlightened self-interest
Dignity and Respect
Kindness and empathy
Pro-friendly
Collectivity *
My Model Code of Conduct
Model Code of Conduct
1. Forced Labour
2. Child Labour
3. Wages and Benefits
4. Overtime
5. Working Hours
6. Working Conditions
7. Health and Safety
8. Harassment
9. Discrimination
10. Environment
11. Freedom of Association
12. Monitoring
13. Access to Facilities
Monitoring agencies
Worker Rights Consortium
Fair Labor Association
Bibliography for Chapter Four
Chapter Five - Conclusion
Codes of conduct
Disruptor and disruption
Reserve Army of Labour
Emotional Labour
Organizational Justice
There are limits to the law
Expansion of fiduciary duties
Not OK Computer: Automization and the Worker
Luddism
Not just numbers, they are men (and women)
Bibliography for Chapter Five
Index
About the author
Vanisha H. Sukdeo is a Course Instructor of Law at Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, Canada.
Summary
The book shows how workers can have an increased voice by using tools outside of typical law. Without state protection, rights can be less stringent. Working outside the system allows for malleability, catering to individual workers and ensuring better working conditions and benefits, but additionally, civilized treatment which recognizes humanity.
