Differences that Matter, Social Policy and the Working Poor in the United States and Canada, by Dan Zuberi, Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2006, 230 pp., ISBN-10: 0-8014-7312-8 and ISBN-13: 978-0-80-147312-8

This is a well-researched comparison of how differences in social policy between the United States and Canada affect the economic security and well-being of mainly immigrant, low-wage, service industry workers. Throughout the book, Zuberi first compares social policies between the two countries and then, through the use of structured, but open-ended, interviews, examines how these policies are experienced by the working poor. In order to make the comparisons as close as possible, the sample of 77 workers is drawn from the housekeeping, maintenance engineering and guest services departments of two hotels in Vancouver, British Columbia and two in Seattle, Washington. Two major hotel chains (with pseudonyms Globe Hotel and Hotel Deluxe) are represented, each having one hotel in Vancouver and one in Seattle, one unionized hotel and one non-unionized hotel. Of the sample, 40 were from Asia or the Pacific Islands (Chinese, Filipino, Indian), 26 were of Caucasian origin (either immigrants from Europe or native-born), 6 were Hispanic and 5 were black (Seattle only). Legislation and public attitudes concerning unions and health insurance policies are the main elements analyzed but Zuberi also looks at differences in social welfare policy as well as public investment in urban infrastructures. As Zuberi explains (p. 19), while both countries are classified by Gøsta Esping-Andersen as “neoliberal welfare states”: “The United States and Canada had very similar economies and levels of stratification after the end of World War II. Despite undergoing an almost identical shift from a largely manufacturing-based economy to a service-sector-dominated economy over the past fifty years, Canada has not experienced the rise in relative household policy or inequality that the United States has.” His hypothesis is that the differences in social policy explain the divergence in evolution. Taking inspiration from a number of sociologists and economists such as William Julius Wilson, Zuberi criticizes the dominant view that the poor are responsible for their situation, that they are lazy and incapable of saving. Instead, he ascribes poverty to their economic and social environment. Although there are a significant number of other studies that present micro-analyses of the working and living conditions of the poor, Zuberi claims his research is unique in that it marries a detailed study of real-life experience with a macro-analysis of social policy. In the United States, union coverage fell from about 30% during the 1950-1970 period to under 14 percent in 1999. In Canada it first rose to about 40% and then declined slightly to 35% in 1990. Zuberi attributes the decline in the U.S. to unfavourable legislation and cites a number of studies disproving hypotheses that it is due to more hostile employer attitudes or to greater public disapproval of unions in the United States. In the United States, union certification requires an election after a lengthy campaign that allows employers to mobilize to counter union efforts. In Canada, certification is usually granted if the union has convinced a majority of the workers in the proposed bargaining unit to sign a card. The Service Industry International Union or SIIU (pseudonym for the dominant union in the hotel sector in both Vancouver and Seattle) represents some 145 hotels in Vancouver but only 15 in Seattle although Washington is considered a union-friendly state by U.S. standards. Unionization is so prevalent that even the non-unionized hotels in Vancouver such as the Hotel Deluxe pay wages, but not necessarily benefits, comparable to those of the unionized hotels: close to $15 Can for room attendants, for example. In contrast, wages in both Seattle hotels were significantly lower and wages in the unionized hotel were about 20% higher than in the non-unionized hotel ($10.50 …