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Worker centres are community-based mediating institutions that organize, advocate and provide direct support to low-wage workers. Moving into the void left by the decline of labour unions, local political parties and other groups, these centres are addressing issues that low wage, largely immigrant workers face at the workplace. In 1992, there were five such organizations, but by 2003, there were at least 137 worker centres in the United States rooted in communities where immigrant populations had settled. I estimate there to be more than 200 worker centres in 2011. Worker centres attract labourers who are often the hardest-to-organize and, because the organizations are unencumbered by the Wagner Act and subsequent Taft Hartley amendments which stripped unions of some of their most potent tactics, they can sometimes act as “organizing laboratories” creating and testing new and innovative strategies. Centres have had some significant organizing and public policy successes and have placed labour standards enforcement on the public policy agenda at the state and national levels. During their formative years, these organizations displayed important strengths but also exhibited weaknesses that appeared to limit their ability to get to scale. Over the last five years, they have moved into a new phase of development. Centres have shown institutional resilience. Not only have new centres emerged, but there has been a growing trend toward federation in which strong individual centres have joined existing national networks or formed new ones which have in turn helped to establish new organizations or affiliate existing ones. While some early worker centres were rejectionist toward the mainstream labour movement, the over-arching trajectory has been in the opposite direction with worker centres seeking cooperation. In fact, there is a growing trend toward institutional partnerships with unions and government. Finally, centres and their national networks are playing strategic roles in broader movement building around immigrant rights, global justice and the right to organize.

Keywords: worker centres, immigrant worker organizing, hybrid forms, centres d'aide aux travailleurs, syndicalisation des travailleurs immigrants, formes hybrides d'organisation, centros de trabajadores, organización de trabajadores inmigrantes, formas hibridas

This paper aims to examine the subscription of entrepreneurs in the informal sector to the public social protection system in Cameroon. The analysis covers a sample of 4598 promoters of informal production units (UPI), obtained from the 2nd phase of the second survey on employment and the informal sector in Cameroon (INS, 2010). Based on the review of the economic literature, the econometric results obtained using a Probit estimation with selection bias reveal that entrepreneurs in the informal sector will be less inclined to adhere to a system of public social protection offering the following social benefits: old age insurance, invalidity insurance, family allowance and occupational sickness allowance.

Keywords: Protection sociale, Social protection, Secteur informel, informal sector, demande, demand

As part of a research on the application of open science principles to the field of bioeconomy, we conducted a scientometric study of the scientific production of France in this field, for the period 2015 to 2019. The study identified 1,913 publications in the Scopus database. We analysed this corpus under different aspects: types and sources of documents, with volumetry and impact; authors, organisations and institutions; sources of funding; degree of internationality and openness (open access). The discussion focuses on the terminology and sources of such a scientometric study, on the accessibility of publications and on the position of France in this field. The conclusion proposes some recommendations for conducting a similar study, particularly for information professionals.

Keywords: bioeconomy, bioéconomie, open access, libre accès, open science, science ouverte, scientométrie, scientometrics

The participation of victims in international criminal proceedings is a novelty of the International Criminal Court. It now extends to the Extraordinary Chambers in the courts of Cambodia and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. In the ensuing article, the author argues that through this innovation, international criminal law is evolving towards a duplication of the object of the trial. While its primary function remains punitive, the trial now includes a significant restorative dimension. It portends a horizontal effect of the criminal proceedings resulting in a confrontation between the accused and victims. The author analyzes the scope of procedural rights that reflect this confrontation. In the first section, he explores issues relating to victims' access to international tribunals and underlines the reasons why they had not been given an active role in the proceedings of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone. In the second section, the author develops a reflection on the scope of rights of participation effectively granted to victims. Although they are structured and carried out differently in different courts, these rights are, concludes the author, the common trait that reflects a deep concern of the international community to make victims part of establishing the truth about the atrocities suffered in connection with armed conflicts.

Some of the individuals who have engaged in prostitution while receiving social assistance, and then received government claims of overpayment of benefits due to this undeclared “income” have mobilized the law by bringing the matter before Quebec's administrative courts. This paper argues that these government claims can be seen to encourage prostitution, in contradiction of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act and that, as such, many could be characterized as cruel and unusual treatment or punishment under Section 12 of the Canadian Charter, and should therefore be quashed.

AbstractThe increase in non-medical use of prescription drugs and OTCs is becoming a serious public health issue. Non-medical use of medicines is more common among adolescents and young adults and includes practices such as drug diversion, self-medication, drug abuse, and doping. Using the literature published in public health and social sciences, this paper shows that categorizing drug-taking practices can be problematic as the distinction between illicit and licit use of medicines is becoming blurred in contemporary societies. Non medical use of prescription drugs is situated within a broader social context where greater access to prescription drugs and health information is provided and where the use of medicines is integrated into everyday life. It raises issues related to autonomy in healthcare and to the lay-expert relationship.

Keywords: médicaments sur ordonnance, détournement, mésusage, usage hors prescription, abus, dopage, prescription drugs, drug diversion, misuse, non medical use, drug abuse, doping, medicamentos sin receta, uso incorrecto, uso fuera de la prescripción, dopaje

Negative effects on employee well-being as a result of staff cuts are widely hypothesized in the literature, although empirical evidence is still quite limited. This study attempts to determine whether budget cuts and downsizing in the affected departments have had the same impact on Canadian federal public servants' job satisfaction as is suggested in the literature. Budget cuts were rarely added to staff reductions. The results show that budget cuts negatively impact the attitudes of federal employees at a 10 % threshold, but only marginally. Overall, a slight decrease in job satisfaction was observed, whereas the theory predicted more dissatisfaction. In future episodes of austerity, parametric budget or workforce cuts of five percent could be maintained in order to minimize adverse impacts on federal civil servants' job satisfaction.

Keywords: gestion des coupes, réductions budgétaires, réduction de personnel, satisfaction au travail, gouvernement fédéral, cutback management, budget cuts, staff reduction, job satisfaction, federal government

New reproduction techniques have acutely underscored many unprecedented ethical problems and numerous questions have been raised both in Canada and abroad relating to the acceptable or non-acceptable nature of new possibilities offered by science. Yet, these debates raise another even more fundamental issue, that of the balance of power between science and systems of law. Are these totally distinct domains without any relationship between them ? Owing to its object of study, is science outside the purview of systems of law and if so, would it be impossible for the latter to pass legislation pertaining to science ? Are legal systems sheltered from the influence of science ? This article attempts to address these essential questions. The demarcation of the field of law and the confronting of this demarcation with various aspects of science make it possible to determine in which areas laws may be applied. Evidence demonstrates, nonetheless, that sciences tend to influence legal systems by manipulating concepts relating to the fundamental values of our legal system, without this process being noticed. The alteration of the respective place of philosophy and sciences in the universe of values explains the strong influence acquired by sciences and the difficulty that legal systems have in resisting its silent influence.

AbstractBusiness reorganizations have become a common phenomenon. Under reorganization, creditors' rights are restricted and management stays in place. Unsecured debt is the main source of outside financing for many SMEs. With a reorganization, the amount of unsecured debt is revised down by as much as 90% or even more. The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law is one of the two main laws in Canada regarding business reorganizations. It put in place a selection process of businesses to be re-organized. The paper reports an evaluation of this process, which is under the responsibility of trustees. While research on the subject has focused on process outcome in terms of survival rates of selected firms, this research evaluates the informational efficiency of the process. Inspired from financial theory, the research makes a detailed analysis of the use of the reorganization procedure by 3 916 businesses and relates this analysis to the financial data available at selection time.

Keywords: Réorganisation, Insolvabilité, Syndic, Efficacité informationnelle, Reorganization, Insolvency, Trustee, Informational efficiency, Reorganización, Insolvencia, Fiduciario, Eficiencia informacional

The relationship between market structure and performance continues to raise questions among researchers and policy makers. While some evidence supports a positive relationship between market structure and profitability, others seem to confirm that profitability is the result of efficiency. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of market structure on the performance of industrial firms in Cameroon. In order to take into account the endogeneity of the market structure variable, we apply the instrumental variable method on cross-sectional data of industrial firms. The results show that concentration has no effect on firms' profits. On the other hand, profit is positively affected by firm efficiency. Therefore, an anti-concentration (or competition-promoting) policy would be inefficient and unjustified. Instead, the state should implement policies that improve the efficiency of firms.