On Saturday January 7, 2012, IRC post-doctoral fellow Brendan Sweeney will present a portion of his dissertation research at the Labor and Employment Relations Association's (LERA) annual conference at the Palmer House Hilton Hotel in Chicago, Illinois. Brendan's research addresses the lack of consensus amongst researchers regarding the processes and extent of cross-national convergence and divergence of employment relations in the global political economy. According to Brendan, these studies are increasingly problematic, as economic activity is at the same time becoming increasingly cross-national and increasingly regionalized within specific nations. Drawing inspiration from the work of his former instructor and School of Policy Studies colleague, Tom Courchene, Brendan argues that comparing employment relations in cross-border regions is an apt and appropriate strategy considering the concomitantly international and regionalized nature of economic activity in North America and abroad.

Cross-border regions are a prominent aspect of contemporary political economies. These regions are constructed according to a variety of criteria, including economic, socio-cultural, ecological, and historical factors. One need only look as far as the southern Great Lakes for a prime example of a Canada-US cross-border region based on economic activity (the automotive industry!) and investment patterns, socio-cultural similarities such as a shared media environment, and historical immigration and settlement patterns.

Another prominent cross-border region exists on the West Coast; specifically, this region is comprised of British Columbia and the states of Washington and Oregon. Often referred to as 'Cascadia,' this region is known for a shared urban corridor between Vancouver and Portland, its orientation towards the Pacific Rim, a similar distance—both literal and figurative—from national capital regions, and its majestic forests. These forests are a source of great ecological pride for Cascadia's residents, and for many more, are the basis of their employment.

Brendan's research compares the restructuring of employment relations in the forest industry in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon since the 1980s. His research focuses on the effects of a shift from a highly vertically-integrated supply chains with significant amounts of cross-border ownership to a more horizontally-integrated supply chain with a highly concentrated pulp and paper sector and a more differentiated wood products sector on employment relations. Through research conducted between June 2007 and August 2008, Brendan found that while employment relations in the highly concentrated and capital intensive pulp and paper industry were increasingly similar and relatively stable, those in wood product manufacturing were persistently differentiated across national boundaries. This was the result of British Columbia's forest policy, which provides a stable supply of locally-sourced raw material to sawmills, and of the relevance and strength of forest industry workers' unions in British Columbia when compared to those in Washington and Oregon.

Brendan is the first employment relations researcher to refine comparative analysis to the cross-border region. His work highlights the impacts of policy, resource availability, technology, supply chains, and union structures and strategies on employment relations in different national contexts, and is of particular use for unions, firms, and governments that seek helpful alternatives to current economic and labour relations challenges from their international counterparts.

http://leraweb.org/meeting/64th-lera-annual-meeting/64th-lera-annual-meeting-program

For further information please contact Brendan Sweeney (sweeneyb@queensu.ca).