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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation explores the dynamics of workers’ collective political engagement through organized labour in an authoritarian environment and a regime in transition. While the literature on social movements and organized labour in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has captured the characteristics and impact of repression and corporatist systems on a union structure and elite strategies, this research contributes to a body of work that position the activities, networks and calculations of unionized workers at the centre of analysis. Using the Tunisian General Labour Union as an in-depth case-study, it will show that to fully comprehend the important role of a labour union as a vehicle for political engagement, one must pay close attention to the networks, strategies, and tactics of its militant base. By adopting a conceptual framework that gives attention to interactions of structures and agents, and therefore not privileging one over the other, it shows how in a region in which unions were conventionally labelled as “inconsequential” and “empty shells,” unionized workers, particularly those belonging to more militant sectors, have repeatedly seized on their personal networks and relationships, while drawing on systems of meaning making and shared collective memory to engage in various forms of activism. By doing so, it underscores the limitations of cooptation as a political strategy for ensuring obedience and compliance. Moreover, to better understand workers’ activism and political engagement in MENA, this dissertation calls for a change in how “successful mobilization” is measured and assessed. In particular, it draws attention to the objectives and goals of workers’ collective action, aims that cannot always be equated with the pursuit of a standardized path to democracy developed largely by institutions located in the West.

Arbetsmiljölagen ger anställda och deras representanter, skyddsombuden, rätt att delta i det systematiska arbetsmiljöarbete som arbetsgivaren har skyldighet att arrangera. Forskning om deltagande har i stor utsträckning varit fokuserad påstrukturella och organisatoriska förutsättningar för anställdas deltagande. Mycket tyder dock på att anställda inte utnyttjar sina starka rättigheter. Avhandlingens analyserar arbetsmiljödeltagandet genom en fallstudie på ett pappersbruk med väl etablerade organisatoriska strukturer för deltagande i syfte att förklara deltagandets grunder bortom de strukturella villkoren. Syfte är att förstå varför anställda inte i avsedd omfattning utnyttjar de möjligheter till arbetsmiljöinflytande som lagstiftning och goda strukturella villkor ger. Avhandlingen visar hur anställda i stor utsträckning handskas med arbetets risker och belastningar genom sin kollektivt utvecklade kompetens, förståelse och ansvar för varandra och i mindre utsträckning genom att interagera med arbetsgivaren genom arbetsmiljödeltagande. Etienne Wengers begrepp ”praktikgemenskaper” används i avhandlingen tillsammans med Paavo Bergmans analys av lagarbete och betydelsen av processpecifik kompetens för att klarlägga de sociala processer för meningsskapande som betingar anställdas deltagande i arbetsmiljöarbetet. Med Lysgaards begrepp ”arbetarkollektivet” visar också avhandlingen på betydelsen av maktrelationerna mellan operatörer och arbetsgivare för möjligheterna att etablera en gemensam kunskapsprocess kring arbetsmiljö genom de former för arbetsmiljödeltagande som var etablerade på pappersbruket. / Swedish law gives employees, and their representatives, rights to participate in the employer’s systematic occupational health and safety management. Research  on worker participation in OHSM has mainly focused on structural conditions for participation such as organisational arrangements, industrial relations, or union support. There are however indications that employees do not use their strong legal rights. The aim of the present thesis is to understand the prerequisites and conditions for worker OHSM participation, seen here as a joint knowledge process for work environment issues. More precisely, the thesis aims to analyse the significance of workers’ local and situated knowledge, the construction of participative practices, and the problems and advantages of representative participation. The thesis also aims to explain the paradox that favourable structural conditions for participation are only partly used by the workers, despite evident risks at work. The empirical basis is a case study at a paper mill. The mill was chosen as its OHSM to a large extent fulfils what research claims are necessary structural conditions for effective participation. To understand the possibilities and problems of such participation, the analysis uses a combination of three theoretical perspectives on work and (situated) knowledge: Etienne Wenger’s (1998) approach to communities of practice; Paavo Bergman’s (1995) analysis of teamwork in the process industry; and Sverre Lysgaard’s (1961) theory of the workers’ collective.

This thesis presents a product development project done at Scania Ferruform in Luleå. The process that was used is called Stage-Gating which means that the project is divided into gates. The gates used in this project were the following: Planning, Concept development, Ergonomic analysis, Analysis of culture and work environment, Refinement & Documentation. The purpose was to generate concepts that lowers the overall load on the operators at the crossmember painting lines unloading station, to better the production. The subsystems investigated in this project were the following: Trolley, Hooks, Lifting table (+Control panel) & Pallets (Packaging). The mission from Scania was to analyse, concept generate, find tools and solutions to the crossmember painting line. The aim was to deliver: Foundation of product development regarding the unloading station, Ergonomic evaluations of the chosen concept towards today’s station, Analysis of work environment and culture & Report. The project was started by interviewing operators and leaders to get a clear picture of the current situation and what has been done so far. The method to reach the desired solutions consists mainly of concept generation. To evaluate and choose concept, Screening and Scoring was used which ensures that the best possible concept is chosen. The chosen concept that is called Concept 3 includes 14 new functions where some functions are more important than others. The results show that Concept 3 will perform 30–60 % better regarding ergonomics than today’s station. It also shows that at the average of the amount of lifts per takt, the ergonomic evaluation get a red evaluation in the zones where the operators work the most. Culture and work environment shows that skepticism towards the management is deeply rooted in the culture which leads to a worker collective to form. In turn, this leads to that unhealthy working conditions is enforced by the culture itself. More results can be seen in the section Results & Discussion. One of the most important conclusions is that even if the chosen concept improves the ergonomics, it does not eliminate the extreme loads and the extent of beams the operators are lifting daily. Even with proof of improvement, it is impossible to eliminate the immense load — which leads to that something else than the operator have to take up the force of the beams. Manual handling is therefore not an option to consider.

Bakgrund och problem: Att organisationers medarbetare beskrivs som den viktigaste resursen utgör idag mer regel än undantag, på samma sätt som hållbarhet är en självklar del av de organisatoriska praktikerna – åtminstone enligt den retorik som används. Tillsammans utgör begreppen essensen i framtidens hållbara personalpraktiker, där anställningsbarhet, engagemang och anknytning väntas skapa fördelar för organisation, medarbetare och samhälle enligt principen mutual gains i en harmonisk verklighet. Men är det så enkelt och självklart som det låter? Vad betyder det egentligen att vara en mänsklig resurs i nutida organisationer, för den arbetande människa som befinner sig i rollen av medarbetare? Är det enbart positivt, och är det positivt för alla? Om inte – vilka möjligheter till gemensam påverkan finns i ett allt mer individualiserat och flexibelt arbetsliv i den svenska kontexten? Syfte och metod: Studiens syfte är att utifrån ett kritiskt management-perspektiv granska uppfattningen om organisationer som harmoniska, neutrala och ömsesidigt fördelaktiga, genom att relatera nutida HRM till den arbetande människans situation i ett förändrat arbetsliv och belysa en fördunklad konflikt. För att besvara studiens frågeställning har en genomgång av tidigare litteratur genomförts utifrån den skandinaviska klassikerna Arbetarkollektivet i kombination med en empirisk undersökning i form av djupintervjuer med skyddsombud inom fackförbundet Byggnads. Resultat och slutsats: Nutida strategier för personalstyrning som inom litteraturen presenteras som ömsesidigt fördelaktiga har även en skuggsida, då praktikerna även kan förstås som indirekta kontrollmetoder som vidtas i syfte att öka inflytandet över personalen. I praktiken förekommer även andra mer destruktiva HRM-praktiker som är mer inriktade på nedskärning och lydnad än utveckling och trivsel. Dessa två sidor förefaller utgöra två sammanhängande sidor av ett och samma problem – brist på respekt för den arbetande människans demokratiska rätt att påverka arbetslivets utformning. De styrningspraktiker som vidtas riskerar att på olika sätt att försvaga människors möjligheter till att gemensamt påverka arbetslivets förändring. Det nyliberala samhällsklimat som idag råder med fokus på individualitet och flexibilitet riskerar dessutom att förstärka sådana tendenser. / Background and problem: The common notion that the employees are an organizations most valued resources, is today more of a rule than an exception, in the same way that sustainability is a natural part of the organizational practices – at least from a rhetoric perspective. If combined, the two concepts are described as the essence of the sustainable HR practices of the future, there employability, work engagement and affective commitment are expected to generate benefits for organization, employees, and society according to the principle of mutual gains. But is it as simple and obvious as it sounds? What does it really mean to be a human resource in a contemporary organization, for the working human that inhabits the role of employee? Is it just positive and is it positive for everyone? If not – how can employees actively and collectively influence work in an increasingly individualized and flexible working life? Purpose and method: From a critical management perspective the purpose of this study is to question the notion of organizations as harmonious, neutral and mutually beneficial by relating contemporary HRM to the working persons situation in a changed working life and open up an obscured conflict. To answer the problem being studied here, previous literature has been studied from the Scandinavian classic The Workers Collective which has been combined with an empirical investigation which has been conducted by deep interviews with safety representatives from the trade union Byggnads. Results and conclusion: Contemporary strategies for people management presented in the literature as mutually beneficial also have a darker side, that can be understood as indirect forms of control undertaken to increase influence over the staff. In practice, other forms of more destructive HRM practices appear, that are more focused on downsizing and obedience than development and well-being. These two sides seem to constitute two connected sides of the same problem – the lack of respect for the working humans democratic right to influence the design of the working life. The people management strategies that are undertaken risk weakening peoples opportunities to collectively influence changes in their working life. The prevailing neo-liberal social climate with its focus on individuality and flexibility may also risk reinforcing such tendencies.