Questions:

1. Choose an industry (e.g. garment, retail, automobile manufacturing, telecommunications) and assess the ways in which this industry has been reorganized or restructured in the context of globalization. Your essay may consist of a comparative analysis between countries, or it may consist of a country-specific or company-specific study.

2. One of the most significant developments in the organization of work in recent decades is the spread of precarious employment. How has precarious employment affected the quality of work for workers in Canada? How could the problem of precarious employment be countered?

3. Many groups of workers (women, racialized workers, people with disabilities, Indigenous peoples) face discrimination and inequalities in the workplace and the labour market. Governments have attempted to address discrimination and inequality through such strategies as pay equity, employment equity, and human rights codes. Using either a case study or a comparative analysis, critically assess the strengths and limitations of equity policies in the workplace.

4. What are the challenges facing unions and other worker organizations in the contemporary labour market? Choose two worker organizations and compare strategies undertaken by each to address these challenges.

5. You may develop your own topic. Topic proposals should be submitted to the Course Director by email no later than Friday November 1 and are subject to the approval of the Course Director (by email confirmation).

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