The union is the message: messenger work and messenger organizing in the same-day courier sector

Work in the same-day courier sector is a precarious form of employment. Workers in this sector are also treated as self-employed and hired as independent contractors. The relationship with the firm for which they work, however, is hardly distinguishable from an employment relationship. Messengers are among a growing number of workers in Canada who can be labeled as disguised employees. To explore the phenomenon of disguised employment, I use a case study approach informed by critical political economic theory and a purposive approach to labour and employment law to examine work in the same-day courier sector in Toronto with a focus on a subpopulation of workers in this sector: bike messengers. I examine the causes and consequences of self-employment in the same-day courier sector, analyze messengers' work and argue that their employment status entails misclassification. In an increasingly market-mediated society we are witnessing a proliferation of unprotected work relationships with disguised employment being one manifestation of this development. Fortunately, some unions are trying to organize workers in disguised employment relationships. In this dissertation, I also examine an attempt by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers to organize workers in Toronto's same-day courier sector. I explore the processes and implications of organizing disguised employees and examine how organizing these workers relates to and can inform the project of union renewal in Canada. Gaining employee status, however, is no guarantee of successful organizing. The same-day courier sector is highly competitive and is dominated by small, decentralized employers. Organizing in such a sector is a formidable task. Under the collective bargaining regime, unions have to organize workers workplace by workplace. However, this is proving to be ineffective in highly competitive sectors dominated by small employers, and organizing efforts will likely only result in limited success. As I argue, unions can develop innovative strategies and tactics to organize workers. However, with the many structural obstacles unions face, these strategies and tactics can often fall short of their goals. To facilitate unionization in the same-day courier sector, the collective bargaining regime needs to be overhauled to mandate, or at least promote, multi-employer bargaining

Английский для таможни

Special course «English for Customs» is the textbook for students of law faculties who study customs business and for practical people who are eager to develop their knowledge of English to improve their careers and to climb the ladder in the field of customs activities. Special course «English for Customs» consists of following topics: Customs office, kinds of Customs houses, Customs duties, Customs formalities, duties of Customs officials, Customs services, Customs control, passport control, Customs declaration, personal examination, visa regime, Customs administration, Custom regulations, Customs revenue, Customs rules of values transportation. There are a great deal of original texts in English, are given various recommendations & comments on them, variety of dialogues and exercises to fasten knowledge of special vocabulary. Special course gives the opportunity in a short time to improve greatly your language basis, what is the main aim of successful career in future.Спецкурс «Английский для таможни» предназначен для студентов юридических факультетов, изучающих таможенное дело и для практиков, которые хотят усовершенствовать свои знания английского языка для своей карьеры в сфере таможенной деятельности. Спецкурс «Таможня» включает такие темы: Таможня (учреждение); Виды таможен; Таможенные пошлины; Таможенные формальности; Должностные обязанности таможенника; Таможенные службы; Таможенный контроль; Паспортный контроль; Личный досмотр; Таможенная декларация; Визовый режим; Таможенное управление; Таможенные инструкции; Контрабанда, Правила провоза ценностей. В книге приводятся оригинальные тексты на английском языке, даются всевозможные комментарии к ним, разнообразные диалоги и упражнения для закрепления специальной лексики. Спецкурс позволяет в короткие сроки значительно усовершенствовать свою языковую базу, что является первостепенным условием успешной карьеры в будущем

20th Annual Conference on Legal Issues for Financial Institutions

Program and materials from the 20th Annual Legal Issues for Financial Institutions Conference held by UK/CLE in April of 2000