Que la population canadienne vieillisse à un taux accéléré ne fait aucun doute. Parallèlement à ce phénomène, plusieurs organisations ont choisi une stratégie qui vise à faire plus avec moins. Elles peuvent réduire leur personnel de plusieurs façons : les mises à pied, les licenciements et les fermetures. Ici, nous examinons comment réagissent les travailleurs âgés aux fermetures d'usines.Les travailleurs qui perdent leur emploi suite à une fermeture d'usine sont considérés comme licenciés. Ils peuvent réagir à un licenciement de plusieurs façons. Premièrement, un tel événement peut les inciter à se retirer du marché du travail (« effet de découragement »). L'effet de découragement décrit ces personnes sans emploi, qui accepteraient un emploi disponible mais qui ont cessé d'en chercher un croyant qu'il n'y en a aucun. Deuxièmement, les travailleurs licenciés peuvent travailler pour un autre employeur tout en gardant envers les employeurs en général une attitude négative. Essentiellement, c'est l'« effet poison » qui décrit ces individus qui rejettent sur les autres employeurs leur mauvaise expérience de fermeture. Cet effet poison peut causer des dommages permanents aux relations d'emploi d'un individu. Pour certains, surtout ceux en période de mi-carrière tardive, la perte d'un emploi représente une perturbation permanente de carrière dont ils ne se relèveront jamais. Ceci se traduit par des sentiments d'incertitude eu égard à leur situation d'emploi, par une moindre implication dans leur travail et du cynisme qu'on conservera au moins jusqu'à l'emploi suivant. Troisièmement, l'« effet de croissance de la carrière » réfère à ces individus qui, ayant perdu leur emploi, se retrouvent dans une relation d'emploi plus intéressante et satisfaisante. La perte d'un emploi est sans aucun doute une source de stress. Mais de tels événements peuvent être une cause de croissance amenant les individus à considérer de nouveaux chemins, à acquérir de nouvelles compétences et à restructurer leur vie dans des directions positives. La croissance de la carrière vue sous cet angle signifie plus que survivre à un licenciement et trouver un autre emploi. Cela signifie trouver un autre emploi psychologiquement satisfaisant et conclure que les gains résultant de cette transition d'emploi sont plus grands que les pertes.Notre thèse est à l'effet que les travailleurs âgés s'ajustent aux fermetures d'usines de façon différente des plus jeunes tant en termes d'effet de découragement, d'effet poison que d'effet de croissance de carrière. Selon les théories structurelles de l'inégalité, les caractéristiques démographiques, telles l'âge, la race et le sexe sont des critères importants sur le marché du travail. Et pour plusieurs raisons, les chances d'emploi sont plus limitées pour les travailleurs âgés. Les barrières à l'emploi pour les plus vieux sont dues tant à ceux-ci qu'aux employeurs. Par exemple, les employeurs font preuve d'attitudes qui affectent négativement les chances d'emploi des plus vieux : ils sont moins productifs que l...

The purpose of our study is to examine the economic and social correlates of re-employment following job displacement. Our data are taken from 247 workers who were displaced as a result of plant closures in Ontario (Canada). Human capital did not affect reemployment. Economic need positively affected re-employment. Discrimination negatively affected re-employment, and social networks positively affected re-employment. Our conclusion falls squarely within the field of economic sociology, in that an economic outcome can have both an economic and a sociological explanation.

Using a comprehensive collective bargaining data set, we examine dispute resolution patterns of all bargaining units in the province of Ontario over a 10-year period. A central finding is that bargaining units covered by legislation requiring compulsory interest arbitration arrive at impasse 8.7 percent to 21.7 percent more often than bargaining units in the right to strike sectors. Even after controlling for legislative jurisdiction, union, bargaining unit size, occupation, agreement length, time trend, and part-time status, strong evidence was found that compulsory arbitration has both chilling and dependence effects on the bargaining process. The problem of failure to reach negotiated settlements is particularly acute in the health care sector, especially among hospitals. Our results also call into question the use of interest arbitration in a central bargaining context. The centralized structure appears to exacerbate the negative effects of interest arbitration.

During the last decade, researchers have developed new theoretical approaches to human resources. The growing preoccupation with the human resource function in the organization has been praised publicly by practitioners. Over the years, this preoccupation has been responsible for changing behavioral patterns as well as human resource management activities. In 1978, the author conducted a study investigating the human resource function, based on the perceptions of directors and human resource managers. The present study considers the following question: "Have the human resource function in the workplace and the general and specific perceptions of directors and human resource managers evolved over the last decade?" Three specific dimensions stand out here: the notion of the evolution of human resource in itself; the evolution in the perceptions of the participants; and the time-lag between theory and practice. From these dimensions emerge three hypotheses which revolve around three elements: participants, time and space. This study focuses on the participants' perceptions of the importance of the HR function and covers a period of ten years, 1978-1989. The study establishes a link between the theoretical evolution of the HR function and its applications. The results of this study are based on the comments of directors and human resource managers in organizations with 200 or more employees. These organizations are located in the province of Quebec and belong to the private secondary sector. The participants completed a questionnaire on general variables, such as the period of time devoted to human resources activities, the influence-authority of the parties involved, interdepartmental communication, the participants' involvement in organizational activities, the right to information and consultation. Questions were also asked on specific variables such as planning of personnel, recruitment in human resources, training and development of human resources. In our 1978 study, as in that of 1989, information was collected from workplaces representative of the population studied. The profiles of both directors and human resource managers have developed at the same rate as the organizations which employ them. In the 1989 study, however, participants are slightly younger and the academie level of the human resource manager is superior to that of his predecessors. Statistical analysis of the collected data allows us to assert that the human resource function in Quebec, including both general and specific characteristics, has progressed very slowly during the last decade. If both structure and activities of this function have increased, it has not, for all that, become more integrated in the evolution of the organization. The analysis also shows that the perception of all participants is more or less the same in 1989 as it was in 1978. Moreover, integration of the human resource function theoretical concepts did not follow the growth rate expected by both researchers and administrators. Does this mean that, in the last decade, actual developments in human resources lagged behind the level of discourse? An affirmative answer to this question would be too simple since there has nonetheless been some evolution of the human resource function. We are more concerned with the rate of its evolution. In conclusion, the author is considering the possible causes of this reality, and is looking for means to accelerate the evolutionary processes of this function.

Using a large data set of large and small bargaining units, this paper examines the implications for collective bargaining disputes of the evolution toward small bargaining units and the move to nontraditional forms of representation. It is found that smaller bargaining units, as well as independent unions in both the public and private sectors, are less likefy to reach an impasse. This finding supported those hypothesizing the cooperative nature of these organizations. These two sets of results suggest that the movement to smaller bargaining units, and towards more independent representation, will result in a higher proportion ofdirectly negotiated settlements in the future. However, a reduced incidence of impasse does not necessarily mean a reduction in industrial conflict. We found evidence of a shift away from a collective expression of conflict such as strikes, to more individual expressions. Thus, in the future, there may be a greater need for internal conflict resolution Systems.