The geography of skill: Mobility and exclusionary unionism in Canada’s north

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 724-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Mills
Keyword(s):  
Market Segmentation ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Land Claims ◽  
Spatial Politics ◽  
Worker Mobility ◽  
Labour Market Segmentation ◽  
Labrador Inuit ◽  
Construction Trades ◽  
Impact And Benefit Agreements

This paper explores the spatial politics of racism and inter-worker competition through a case study of Indigenous employment during the construction of the Voisey’s Bay mine in northern Labrador. Over the course of construction, the building and construction trades unions (BCTUs) sought to restrict the hiring of local Inuit and Innu workers by challenging the legitimacy of place-based entitlements to work. Inuit and Innu workers had preferential access to employment as a result of unresolved land claims and the ensuing Impact and Benefit Agreements (IBA) between the Voisey’s Bay Nickel Company and both the Innu Nation and the Labrador Inuit Association. IBA provisions that local Inuit and Innu be hired preferentially ran counter to the unions’ organizational structures and cultures, which privileged worker mobility and skill. The BCTUs used the geographic incompatibility between the scale of Indigenous claims and that of construction worker organization to justify a competitive approach to unionism and to veil racist portrayals of Innu and Inuit workers. By drawing out the relation between skill, racism and beliefs about entitlements to work, this paper explores how workers selectively use place-based and mobile identities to participate in inter-worker competition, reifying colonial patterns of labour mobility and labour market segmentation.

scholarly journals Segmentation Theory and the New Zealand Labour Market

1970 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandra Dixon
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Market Segmentation ◽  
Restaurant Industry ◽  
Theoretical Base ◽  
Market Conditions ◽  
Doctoral Thesis ◽  
Labour Market Segmentation ◽  
Plastics Industry

Segmented Labour Market (SLM) analysis by no means enjoys a unified or clearly structured theoretical base. Analysts emphasise a variety of factors in their explanations of the existence of inequalities in the labour market. This paper uses an industry approach to evaluate inequalities. A case study of two industries is used -the plastics industry and the hotel/ restaurant industry- on the assumption that each will exhibit characteristics defining them as primary and secondary sectors respectively. The paper focuses on indicative findings of both inter-industry and intra-industry labour market segmentation. The approach taken is part of a broader doctoral thesis, which seeks to establish a viable SLM paradigm within the context of post-ECA New Zealand labour market conditions.

Labour Market Segmentation, Flexibility, and Recession: A British Columbian Case Study

1992 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-353 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Hayter ◽  
T J Barnes
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Market Segmentation ◽  
Employment Change ◽  
Fourth Section ◽  
Producer Service ◽  
Labour Market Segmentation ◽  
Occupational Gender ◽  
Service Sectors

The purpose in this paper is to examine theories of labour market segmentation within the context of the early 1980s recession, and its immediate aftermath, in British Columbia, Canada. In particular, the conclusions are based on a large sample of firms in the manufacturing, wholesale, and producer service sectors for the period 1981–86. The paper is divided into four parts: First is a review of Doeringer's and Piore's classic presentation of segmentation theory focusing on the Fordist firm, and a comparison of it with more recent statements on labour markets made by Atkinson in connection with his work on the flexible firm. Second is a brief description of the recent changes affecting the economy in British Columbia over the last decade or so. Third, employment change and labour segmentation are examined in terms of occupational, gender, and industry characteristics for manufacturing, wholesaling, and producer service sectors in British Columbia. Last, given that the authors's evidence is in terms of aggregate trends, the fourth section provides three case studies, one drawn from each sector.

Cutting to the Bone

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bjarke Refslund ◽  
Ines Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Market Segmentation ◽  
Production Costs ◽  
Multinational Company ◽  
Collective Agreements ◽  
Power Resources ◽  
Labour Market Segmentation ◽  
Social Custom ◽  
Fragmentation Of Production

The chapter scrutinizes how German and Danish unions are navigating the increasingly integrated slaughterhouse industry, based on a case study of a large Danish multinational slaughterhouse company with operations in both Denmark and Germany. The German slaughterhouse industry is highly affected by increasing fragmentation of production and the widespread use of low-paid workers often posted from Eastern Europe, which the Danish multinational company utilizes to lower its production costs. The Danish slaughterhouse workers’ union was more successful in safeguarding workers’ wage and working conditions and preventing labour market segmentation, while their German peers faced much more precarious work. These differences are explained by the vast differences in the unions’ power resources in the two systems. Danish unions were in a much stronger position in terms of membership, where unionization remains a social custom, with stronger collective agreements and local representation compared with the German union.

The socio-spatial politics of royalties and their distribution: A case study of the Surat Basin, Queensland

2021 ◽  
pp. 0308518X2110266
Author(s):  
Neil Argent ◽  
Sean Markey ◽  
Greg Halseth ◽  
Laura Ryser ◽  
Fiona Haslam-McKenzie
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effective ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Energy Extraction ◽  
Grant Application ◽  
Coal Seam Gas ◽  
Spatial Politics ◽  
Developmental Needs ◽  
Development Fund ◽  
Effective Use

This paper is concerned with the socio-spatial and ethical politics of redistribution, specifically the allocation of natural resources rents from political and economic cores to the economic and geographical peripheries whence the resource originated. Based on a case study of the coal seam gas sector in Queensland's Surat Basin, this paper focuses on the operation of the Queensland State Government's regional development fund for mining and energy extraction-affected regions. Employing an environmental justice framework, we critically explore the operation of these funds in ostensibly helping constituent communities in becoming resilient to the worst effects of the ‘staples trap’. Drawing on secondary demographic and housing data for the region, as well as primary information collected from key respondents from mid-2018 to early 2019, we show that funds were distributed across all of the local government areas, and allocated to projects and places primarily on a perceived economic needs basis. However, concerns were raised with the probity of the funds’ administration. In terms of recognition justice, the participation of smaller and more remote towns and local Indigenous communities was hampered by their structural marginalisation. Procedurally, the funds were criticised for the lack of local consultation taken in the development and approval of projects. While spatially concentrated expenditure may be the most cost-effective use of public monies, we argue that grant application processes should be open, transparent and inclusive, and the outcomes cognisant of the developmental needs of smaller communities, together with the need to foster regional solidarity and coherence.

Identifying Enablers and Barriers to Successful Platform-Based Product Development: A Case Study From Business-to-Business Products

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Jorgensen ◽  
David Havens ◽  
Paul Salvatore ◽  
Alvaro J. Rojas Arciniegas ◽  
Marcos Esterman
Keyword(s):  
Product Development ◽  
Systems Engineering ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Current State ◽  
Development Teams ◽  
Phase Gate ◽  
Different Cultures ◽  
Business To Business

Product development teams are facing continued pressure to develop more products in less time and with fewer resources. Platform-based developed is commonly seen as a solution to increase capacity of the product development pipeline. This research identified enablers and barriers to successful platform-based product development. This was achieved through a comprehensive literature review of the current state of the art and an exploratory case study of product development practices within a business-to-business environment from companies with significantly different cultures and experiences with platform-based product development. Key enablers identified in this research include institutionalizing systems engineering, development and communication of product development roadmaps, augmentation of phase gate review process and critical parameter characterization. Operational recommendations from this research are considered to be possible to implement without significant changes to existing processes and organizational structures.

Social work mobility in Europe: a case study from Ireland

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trish Walsh ◽  
George Wilson ◽  
Erna O’Connor
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Global Financial Crisis ◽  
Mobility Patterns ◽  
Worker Mobility ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Global Financial Crisis ◽  
The Uk ◽  
National Governments

Social work has been viewed as one of the most nation-specific of the professions, ‘being closely tied up with national traditions, mentalities and institutions’ (Kornbeck, 2004, p 146). In addition, the political imperatives of national governments, austerity measures and managerialism drive approaches to service delivery which may supersede social work’s professional priorities. This militates against an automatic or easy transfer of professional knowledge from one country to another. In spite of this, there has been an enduring interest in developing international forms of social work that transcend national borders (Gray and Fook, 2004; Lyons et al, 2012). In this chapter, we present a case study of social worker mobility as it has evolved from the establishment of the first national social work registration body in the Republic of Ireland in 1997 with a particular focus on data from 2004-13 capturing the years leading up to, and in the aftermath of, the global financial crisis of 2008. We contrast this with the situation in Northern Ireland (NI), part of the UK and a separate and distinct political and legal entity with its own policies and practices. We draw on statistical and descriptive data provided by Irish social work registration bodies (NSWQB 1997-2011; CORU established in 2011 and NISCC, the Northern Ireland Social Care Council established in 2001) to illustrate (i) how sensitive contemporary mobility patterns are to changing economic and political factors; (ii) how rapidly patterns of mobility change and (iii) how much more mired in complexity European social work mobility is likely to be if the European project itself fractures, as is possible following the Brexit referendum vote in the UK.

Blended learning

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 207-215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce Keisling
Keyword(s):  
Blended Learning ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Organizational Restructuring ◽  
Organizational Resources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Organizational Learning Culture ◽  
Learning Programs ◽  
Online Distance

Purpose Because many colleges and universities have growing numbers of students in online and blended programs, libraries should adapt their services and adjust their organizational structures to support them. Students have adopted blended learning programs whether or not the programs are officially designed as blended programs. Libraries need to change their service orientation in response and learn to scale services using available technologies. Scaling services and personnel resources also requires developing a scalable organizational learning culture. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach Using a change in support for online/distance students and organizational restructuring in Ekstrom Library at the University of Louisville as a case study, this paper examines the review process, organizational restructuring, and focus on scaling services that resulted in a new service model. Findings This study found that scaling services as applied to IT and business organizations is also valuable as an approach in enhancing library services to online students. Changing user needs must be correlated with available organizational resources and technological solutions to deliver appropriate services. Modifying and building services with a goal of scaling them to appropriate levels will enhance library outcomes. Research limitations/implications Other case studies concerned with responding to changing student expectations and scaling services and organizational resources would be useful to add to these findings. Originality/value The perspectives and approach described in this case study will be instructive for adapting library services to changing user environments.

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