This thesis focuses on trade union responses to casualisation of labour in the Eastern Cape. In the context of increased globalization, some employers have attempted to achieve high production outputs while saving on operational costs. The ‘flexible firm’ model is used as but one theory to explain increased flexibility in the workplace. In an effort to achieve increasingly flexible firms that may swiftly respond to subsequent challenges such as increased international competition, employers have been seen incorporating more non-standard workers in the form of casual, temporary, part-time, and seasonal workers. This has been a matter of concern for the unions for numerous reasons: some nonstandard workers are subjected to sub-standard working conditions, irregular working hours and little or no benefits; casual work is arranged in such a way that it is virtually impossible for these workers to join a union – a predicament which bears a high possibility of a decline in the typically standard worker–based membership of trade unions; and non-standard workers are often faced with the representation gap predicament which entails that they are not adequately protected by labour legislation. The thesis explores the responses of trade unions to these challenges, and the proposals that they have made in this regard, by focusing on the sectoral dynamics of non-standard labour in the province. It further discusses the regulation of non-standard labour, as poor representation of some non-standard workers bears consequences for the regulation of the practice of non-standard work. The research adopted qualitative research techniques in the form of semi-structured interviews, and used purposive and snowball sampling in accessing relevant data for analysis purposes.

Submitted by Mario Mesquita (mbarroso@fiocruz.br) on 2014-11-05T17:32:40Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana_Claudia_Mello_EPSJV_Mestrado_2012.pdf: 6388953 bytes, checksum: bea0df0196a6c04c8013562c7b67c45b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Mario Mesquita (mbarroso@fiocruz.br) on 2014-11-05T19:02:46Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana_Claudia_Mello_EPSJV_Mestrado_2012.pdf: 6388953 bytes, checksum: bea0df0196a6c04c8013562c7b67c45b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2014-11-05T19:02:46Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Ana_Claudia_Mello_EPSJV_Mestrado_2012.pdf: 6388953 bytes, checksum: bea0df0196a6c04c8013562c7b67c45b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Politécnica de Saúde Joaquim Venâncio. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Educação Profissional em Saúde. / Aborda a diferença nos discursos e nos fatos, tomando como recorte a política de recursos humanos viabilizada na prática pela Secretaria Estadual de Saúde do Rio de Janeiro, através da manutenção dos “temporários permanentes” com o argumento de sanar os problemas dos hospitais do Rio de Janeiro, para implantar a Fundação Estatal de Direito Privado e posteriormente as Organizações Sociais na gestão dos serviços estaduais de saúde, como estratégia que visa abolir o instituto da estabilidade no serviço público e adaptá-lo à lógica mercantil privada da flexibilização da mão de obra. Utiliza como método revisão bibliográfica da produção teórica e da análise de documentos publicados concernentes à saúde do estado do Rio de Janeiro, editais dos processos seletivos, legislações, notícias e entrevistas divulgadas pela mídia, experiência pessoal das formas fragmentadas e precárias de contratação, particularmente o contrato por tempo determinado, as fundações estatais e as organizações sociais como projetos para extinção do vínculo estatutário. Desenvolve uma reflexão sobre a complexificação das relações entre Estado e sociedade, com base em Gramsci e Nicos Poulantzas, contemplando as novas configurações do capitalismo neste novo contexto histórico. Discute o controle social, na forma de Conselhos e Conferências de Saúde como instâncias de participação social do SUS, por um lado, a conquista de uma instância de participação popular reconhecida, por outro, a formalização de uma única instância representativa da sociedade como lugar de discussão e proposição das políticas de saúde o que burocratiza e limita as ações da sociedade civil nas suas formas de luta, expressão, participação e controle sociais. / Discussion about the gap between speeches and facts, based on the human resources policy currently applied by Rio de Janeiro State Department of Health, marked by the continued use of temporary workforce. Under the allegation of solving Rio de Janeiro hospitals troubles, in fact, this practice just prepares to establish Private State Health Foundation to be gradually substituted by Social Organizations to manage all Rio de Janeiro State health services. It is an strategy that aims to abolish permanent public workforce, in accordance with the private-market logic of more flexible public employment terms. The methodology used is based on bibliographic review of theoretical studies along with analysis of published documents related to Rio de Janeiro State Health practices, public selection processes for recruitment documents, laws, news and interviews published on media, personal experience on precarious and temporary contracts of employment, mainly fixed terms agreements, and, moreover, Station Foundation and Social Organization projects that intend to extinguish public permanent employment relationships. Presents a reflection on the complexity of the relationships between State an society, based on Gramsci and Nicos Poulantzas, that contemplate the news capitalism configurations in our present historical context. Discusses the social control mechanisms in the form of Health Counsels and Conferences, as social participation instrument in Brazilian Health Unified System (SUS): on one hand, the achievement of a recognized social participation forum, on the other hand, the formalization of an unique social participation forum to discuss and propose health policies, that tends to bureaucratize and limit civil society in their different forms of struggling, expressing, participating and preserving social control.

Dans ce mémoire, nous nous intéressons à la portée effective de la protection offerte par le droit du travail au Québec dans le contexte actuel du marché de l’emploi. Pour approfondir cette question, nous avons choisi d’explorer l’application du droit dans une industrie où les conditions de travail se révèlent bien souvent difficiles et contraignantes, voire carrément précaires. Ce mémoire traite de l’industrie de la restauration. Plus précisément, notre analyse porte sur les difficultés que pose, dans ce secteur d’activité, l’application des normes juridiques destinées à encadrer la relation employeur-salarié. Le présent ouvrage s’articule autour des facettes de l’industrie de la restauration à l’égard desquelles l’application de ces normes est susceptible de connaître des ratés, à savoir l’identification de l’employeur dans les franchises de restauration, le contrôle du salarié sur son horaire de travail, la sécurité d’emploi et l’accès à la syndicalisation. Notre étude tend à démontrer que, dans leur forme actuelle, les lois du travail accentuent l’instabilité qui caractérise les conditions auxquelles sont soumis les salariés de l’industrie de la restauration. Ce mémoire met en lumière les raisons pour lesquelles la protection dont jouissent ces salariés se révèle dans bien des cas insuffisante. Bien qu’elle se cantonne à un seul secteur d’activité économique, la présente étude s’inscrit dans un phénomène global en ce que les problèmes qui y sont abordés affectent le marché du travail dans son ensemble. / This thesis focuses on the ability of Quebec labour laws to fully exert their protective role in the current context of the labour market. To explore this question in depth, we have chosen to analyze the application of the law in an industry where working conditions are often difficult and restrictive, even downright precarious, namely the restaurant industry. Specifically, this analysis focuses on the difficulties posed by the application of legal standards intended to regulate the employer-employee relationship. We look at the facets of the restaurant industry where the application of these standards is likely to fail, namely the identification of the real employer in restaurant franchises, the employee control over working hours, job security and access to unionization. This study is meant to show that, in their current form, labour laws worsen the instability that characterizes the working conditions to which employees in the restaurant industry are subjected. This thesis sheds light on the reasons why the protection enjoyed by these employees is in many cases insufficient. Although it is confined to a single sector of economic activity, this study is part of a global phenomenon in the sense that the dynamics causing the difficult working conditions in the restaurant industry affect the whole labour market.

Underbyggd av ett teoretiskt ramverk inom livsloppssociologin undersöker föreliggande studie effekterna av Sense of Control (SoC) och framtidsutsikter på den teoretiska relationen mellan psykiskt välbefinnande och arbetsmarknadsposition (LMP) hos unga studenter på högskolenivån. Materialet består av enkätsvar från totalt 155 studenter, i åldrarna 19-30, boende på olika platser i Sverige. En multipel regressionsanalys genomfördes där välbefinnande, LMP, framtidsutsikter och Sense of Control (SoC) ingick. Tvärtemot hypotesen förmådde LMP inte predicera välbefinnande. SoC, däremot, förmådde måttligt predicera välbefinnande (β = .237). Multivariat analys visade även på ett måttligt samband mellan LMP och SoC (r = 0.226, p = 0.005), samt mellan SoC och framtidsutsikter (r = 0.275, p < .001). / Underpinned by a theoretical framework within life course sociology, this study examines the effects of Sense of Control (SoC) and future expectations on the theoretical relationship between psychological well-being and labour market position (LMP) among young students within the academia. The data consists of survey responses from a total of 155 students, aged 19-30, living in various parts of Sweden. A multiple regression analysis was conducted in which well-being, LMP, future expectations and Sense of Control (SoC) were featured. Contrary to the hypothesis, LMP was unsuccessful at predicting well-being. SoC, on the other hand, was found to modestly predict well-being (β = .237). Multivariate analysis also showed a modest relationship between LMP and SoC (r = 0.226, p = 0.005), as well as between SoC and future expectations (r = 0.275, p < .001).

This thesis explored the fathering practices of precariously employed African men with the study objectives including understanding: (1) how precariously employed men construct fatherhood; (2) the fathering practices considered important to them; (3) in what way precarious employment impacts on their fathering practices; and (4) how precariously employed men negotiate between their children’s economic as well as socio-emotional needs. This research focused particularly on the experiences of roadside work-seekers in Parow, Cape Town, seeking to understand how they construct fatherhood within their precarious working conditions. What these men think about fatherhood is important particularly in South Africa where not only unemployment is high, but also the rates of children growing up without their fathers. An ethnographic study was conducted during which data was collected using both participant observation and semi-structured interview methods. This thesis reports on interviews conducted with 46 men over a period of seventeen weeks. The findings reveal that the majority of roadside work-seekers are migrants (both internal and cross border) who have families to provide for. This study also revealed having children as one of the main reasons men engage in precarious work activities. Also highlighted is the extent to which precarious work impact the lives of those involved to the extent that it affects their relationships with their children, families and intimate partners. The majority of day labourers, due to being unemployed also do not live with their children, with many being denied access as a result of a breakdown in their relationship with the mother of the child, but also as a result of being unable to fulfil certain traditional requirements expected of men who impregnate women out of wedlock in some African cultures. Finally, this study confirmed the various ways in which men engaged in precarious employment are exposed to high levels of poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, violence and crime, and racism, discrimination and exploitation. / Psychology / D. Phil. (Psychology)

This thesis explored the fathering practices of precariously employed African men with the study objectives including understanding: (1) how precariously employed men construct fatherhood; (2) the fathering practices considered important to them; (3) in what way precarious employment impacts on their fathering practices; and (4) how precariously employed men negotiate between their children’s economic as well as socio-emotional needs. This research focused particularly on the experiences of roadside work-seekers in Parow, Cape Town, seeking to understand how they construct fatherhood within their precarious working conditions. What these men think about fatherhood is important particularly in South Africa where not only unemployment is high, but also the rates of children growing up without their fathers. An ethnographic study was conducted during which data was collected using both participant observation and semi-structured interview methods. This thesis reports on interviews conducted with 46 men over a period of seventeen weeks. The findings reveal that the majority of roadside work-seekers are migrants (both internal and cross border) who have families to provide for. This study also revealed having children as one of the main reasons men engage in precarious work activities. Also highlighted is the extent to which precarious work impact the lives of those involved to the extent that it affects their relationships with their children, families and intimate partners. The majority of day labourers, due to being unemployed also do not live with their children, with many being denied access as a result of a breakdown in their relationship with the mother of the child, but also as a result of being unable to fulfil certain traditional requirements expected of men who impregnate women out of wedlock in some African cultures. Finally, this study confirmed the various ways in which men engaged in precarious employment are exposed to high levels of poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, violence and crime, and racism, discrimination and exploitation. / Psychology / D. Phil. (Psychology)

It is widely acknowledged that poverty has declined globally over the last few years. In fact, this idea has become so ingrained in our society that it is almost taken for granted and assumed as an incontestable fact. The question that remains unanswered is where all the poor are now. Are they living a prosperous life or are they tinkering on the edge of poverty? This research study focuses on the precarious non-poor, who are the people surviving just above Upper Bound Poverty Line used by Statistics within South Africa. Although they are not ‘officially poor’ they are still a group that is often overlooked or ignored within the global development community since they are not poor enough to warrant intervention yet not secure enough to demand action. As the research study will show through using a mixed-method approach, they are far from being prosperous and in fact, still struggling to survive. The quantitative findings are based on a statistical analysis of the General Household Survey (2011) that overlaps with the latest Income and Expenditure Survey (2011). It gives valuable background to the problem that was also used during the qualitative phase of the research study to inform the sample choice and interview guide. The quantitative analysis shows that the precarious non-poor is not a unique problem, and as a group, they are found across South Africa. The qualitative findings are based on in-depth interviews conducted in Cape Town, Western Cape and Newcastle, KwaZulu Natal. Framed by the capability approach, set out by Amartya Sen, and a focus on basic capabilities such as employment, education and housing, the results show that the precarious non-poor lack access and choice in terms of capabilities and the opportunity to realise them into functionings. The precarious non-poor in this study are mostly employed within insecure, uncertain or underpaying jobs, underpinned by a social support program, living in neighbourhoods where they feel unsafe while trying to secure a better future for themselves and especially their children. In fact, they are probably no better off than their poor counterparts with prosperity remaining out of reach. / Sociology / Ph. D. (Sociology)

L’expansion de l’organisation de la production des biens et services sous forme de réseau, découlant de la recherche de flexibilité face à une concurrence économique accrue, soulève des enjeux importants pour les relations industrielles. Notre thèse s’intéresse au processus de précarisation des emplois dans les segments externalisés des réseaux de production. Elle se base sur trois études de cas portant sur les réseaux de services publics et privés d’aide à domicile au Québec. Les études en droit critique ont montré que le droit du travail, fondé sur le modèle de l’entreprise intégrée et de la relation d’emploi bipartite, ne parvient pas à identifier comme employeurs certaines organisations dont l’action a pourtant un effet déterminant sur les conditions de travail dans les réseaux. Notre thèse visait donc à mettre en lumière la réalité empirique des relations de pouvoir qui traversent les réseaux et leurs effets et ce à partir d’un modèle analytique transdisciplinaire intégrant les dimensions juridiques et sociologiques. Les résultats nous amènent d’abord à constater que l’employeur juridique des travailleuses employées par les prestataires privés intégrés aux réseaux – une majorité de femmes – est le plus souvent une agence de location de personnel, une entreprise d’économie sociale ou même l’usager-ère des services d’aide à domicile. Cet employeur est rarement identifié aux organismes publics, donc sous l’égide de l’État, qui exercent un pouvoir prépondérant dans ces réseaux. Le décalage entre la régulation juridique du travail et la réalité empirique du pouvoir intra-réseau entraîne une précarisation de la protection sociale et des conditions de travail de ces travailleuses. Ainsi, la faible protection de leurs droits de représentation et de négociation collectives facilite l’imposition de la « disponibilité permanente juste-à-temps », combinant les logiques du lean et du travail domestique, ainsi qu’une déqualification sexuée et racialisée de leurs emplois par rapport à la situation dans le secteur public. Notre étude montre néanmoins que certaines pratiques innovatrices d’action collective réticulaire ont pu influencer la dynamique de pouvoir, en particulier celles portées par des associations locales de personnes handicapées recourant aux services et par un syndicat de travailleuses d’agence. / The increasing trend towards organizing the production of goods and services into networks as a result of the quest for flexibility in the face of fierce economic competition raises critical issues for industrial relations. Our thesis examines the precarization of jobs in the externalized segments of production networks. It is based on three case studies focusing on the networks of public and private homecare services in Quebec. Critical law studies have shown that labour law, based on the model of the integrated firm and the binary employment relationship, fails to identify as employers some organizations whose action nevertheless has a decisive impact on working conditions in these networks. Our thesis thus aimed to shed light on the empirical reality of the power relations prevailing throughout the networks and their effects, using an interdisciplinary analytical model that integrates the legal and sociological dimensions. Results indicate that the legal employer of workers – most of them women – employed by private service providers integrated into the networks is most often an employment agency, a social economy enterprise or the individual using the homecare services. This employer is rarely identified as being among the public organizations which, under the aegis of state, exercise predominant power over these networks. The gap between the legal regulation of labour and the empirical reality of intra-network power leads to a precarization of the social protection and working conditions of these women workers. Thus, the weak protection of their rights to collective representation and collective bargaining facilitates the imposition of “just-in-time permanent availability”, combining lean management logic with domestic work logic, and leads to a gendered and racialized deskilling of their jobs compared to the situation prevailing in the public sector. Our study nevertheless shows that some innovative practices involving reticular collective action – in particular practices implemented by local associations of disabled persons using the services and by a union of female agency workers – have had an influence on these power dynamics.

El denominado proceso de "globalización" ha propiciado nuevos patrones de desarrollo en las relaciones económicas a nivel mundial, que no sólo se han traducido en una nueva organización del trabajo y cambios generales en la producción sino que, a su vez, han modificado las relaciones de poder entre el capital y el trabajo. Como consecuencia de esta profunda reorganización social y económica, la denominada "flexibilización" laboral se ha convertido en una de las características dominantes del mercado laboral que ha tenido diversos efectos negativos para los trabajadores en cuanto a su estabilidad, seguridad laboral, y pérdida de poder. En este contexto, surge la precariedad laboral que ha comportado profundos cambios en el empleo, transformando las relaciones de reproducción social y de las relaciones en el ámbito de la producción, acrecentando la vulnerabilidad de los trabajadores. Al mismo tiempo, la emergencia de la precariedad laboral ha coincidido históricamente con el aumento de los flujos migratorios de carácter principalmente económico.La precariedad laboral no afecta de la misma manera al conjunto de la fuerza de trabajo sino que perjudica especialmente a ciertos grupos vulnerables, entre los que se encuentran los inmigrantes. Así, la precariedad está estrechamente relacionada con los ejes de la desigualdad, que permiten explicar cómo las desigualdades sociales se traducen en distintos niveles de salud. No obstante, existe escasa evidencia que permita entender, con la profundidad suficiente, la relación entre los factores estructurales que configuran la precariedad laboral y su relación con la salud de los trabajadores. Aún menor es la evidencia disponible que analice específicamente la situación de los trabajadores inmigrantes. Esta tesis se propone conocer las características y dimensiones de la precariedad laboral específicas de los trabajadores inmigrantes y analizar su relación con la salud y bienestar de los mismos. Para conseguirlo, propone una metodología cualitativa, con dos orientaciones en el análisis. En una primera parte, el método de análisis utilizado fue la inducción analítica, a partir del marco teórico desarrollado por Amable (2006) sobre la precariedad laboral en asalariados españoles.La segunda parte del análisis es descriptiva e interpretativa siguiendo el método de la teoría fundamentada, utilizado para describir la relación de la precariedad con la salud y bienestar percibidos por los informantes. Los trabajadores inmigrantes caracterizan la precariedad laboral describiendo la elevada inestabilidad del empleo, escaso poder para negociar las condiciones de empleo, indefensión y una intensificación de la carga de trabajo. Perciben también, que sus ingresos son insuficientes para cubrir sus necesidades y que poseen escasos beneficios sociales que limitan su capacidad de ejercer derechos. Los trabajadores en situación irregular, comparten las características descritas de la precariedad, aunque perciben mayor indefensión y peores condiciones laborales. En la relación de la precariedad laboral con la salud, los informantes describieron no sólo problemas sobre su salud general (musculoesqueléticos, problemas alimentación, etc.) sino también problemas como la insatisfacción laboral, estrés, factores psicosociales, malas condiciones de vida y también hábitos poco saludables, como consumo de alcohol y medicamentos.A partir de este estudio hemos observado que la principal diferencia entre el colectivo de trabajadores españoles y el de inmigrantes reside en la extensión de la precariedad laboral. Entre los inmigrantes, la precariedad se presenta en niveles muy altos o incluso extremos, que exceden el ámbito laboral e incluyen aspectos de precariedad social, relacionados a sus condiciones de vida, marginación y exclusión. En el caso de los trabajadores en situación irregular necesariamente entran en la precariedad lo que los ubica como un colectivo muy vulnerable.Finalmente, si se considera que el trabajo es uno de los principales mecanismos de inserción en la sociedad, los inmigrantes que se hallan en situación de precariedad laboral podrían quedar expuestos a una inserción social igualmente precaria. Desde la perspectiva de Salud Pública es necesario considerar que aún y cuando la situación de la inmigración represente un impacto pequeño sobre la salud de los trabajadores, la magnitud de la inmigración a nivel mundial es muy elevada, por lo que el potencial impacto que ésta podría tener sobre la salud global de la población podría ser enorme.

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