Three Important Industrial Relations Conferences Coming Up

Industrial relations and work law is booming these days in the academy and the ‘real world’.  Hardly

a day goes by without some issue related to our field being debated on the front pages of the newspapers. There are new centres for the study and practice of work law and industrial relations at Ryerson and Queens. At York, the new School of Human Resource Management has quietly grown to become the largest of its kind in Canada, offering undergraduate, Masters, and Ph.D degrees in HRM and industrial relations-related subject matter.
So its an exciting time to be in this field.  Reflecting the diversity and vibrance of the community, there are three upcoming conferences in the field covering a range of subject matter.
HEC Montreal, October 25-27, 2012: Union Futures: Innovations, Transformations, Strategies

The first takes place in a couple of weeks (October 25-27) at HEC in Montreal, presented by Gregor Murray and the people at CRIMT, who always put on a great show.  This conference is titled “Union Futures  Innovations, Transformations, Strategies.  Some of North America’s top academics and union leaders will be there.  Lots of talk about the state of the public sector labour relations scene at this one. Here is the program information.

Queens University, November 9-10, 2012:  Adjudicating Human Rights in the Workplace:  After Ontario’s Pinto Report, Where Do We Go Next?

Next in line is Queens’ workshop looking at the Pinto Report, a report prepared by my old friend Andrew Pinto on the future of human rights adjudication.  Some of Canada’s leading scholars and human rights practitioners will be there.  Here is the flyer for that program.

University of Toronto & Ryerson University, May 28-31, 2013:  Canadian Industrial Relations Association, 50th Anniversary Conference, From Theory to Research to Policy and Practice in Work and Employment

Finally, next spring Toronto and Ryerson will jointly host a big event, the 50th Anniversary proceedings of the Canadian Industrial Relations Association.  I’m on the organizing committee of this one, and can leak the fact that we will have Professor Harry Arthurs opening the conference with a talk reflecting on industrial relations and work law, past, present, and future.  But that is just one of many hilights in what promises to be a great exchange of ideas.  There is still time to submit paper and panel proposals for this one.  Here is the announcement and call for papers.

See you there.