Speaker:

Doris Ruth Eikhof, Stirling Management School, University of Stirling

Title:

Women doing their own thing: Our picture of modern women at work?

Description:

Assuming that "for every woman living the dream, there are 10 more of you sat on the sofa, thinking - wistful sigh - 'I'd like to do that, too.'", the UK-based eve Magazine reports on female entrepreneurs and invites its readers to follow in their tracks. Generally, such encouragement should be welcomed since women are less likely than men to start their own business despite being more likely to succeed at it. However, eve's feature "Women doing their own thing" presents a particular picture of women's work:, one centred around skills and occupations traditionally regarded as female: cooking, baking, entertaining, hosting, decorating or helping others. The protagonists quit well-paid but stressful jobs to start their own business and to, after initially difficult times, achieve fulfilment at work and a much-improved work-life balance. Such portraits are of interest for researchers and practitioners alike as they shape society's perceptions and valuations of women's work. The talk will analyse the picture of modern women at work constructed by eve and discuss its potentially problematic implications.

Doris Ruth Eikhof is Lecturer in Organization Studies at the Stirling Management School, University of Stirling, UK, and Research Associate at the Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Austria. Her research interests include creative industries, changing forms of work and organisation, women and work, work-life boundaries and social theories in organisation studies. She has published in international academic journals and books and is co-editor of Work less, Live more? Critical Analysis of the Work-life Boundary (Palgrave Macmillan, 2008).

Speaker:

Professor Chris Warhurst, University of Strathclyde

Title:

Myths, Drivers and Work-Life Balance

Description:

Work-life balance is an important focus of government, practitioner and academic debate.The general assumption underpinning this debate is that working hours are too long, encroaching upon life, and separation is required. However, reference to what used to be termed 'industrial sociology' from the 1950s onwards as well as current quantitative data on working hours and job satisfaction reveals these assumptions to be flawed. This paper firstly critically examines three issues: that working hours are long; that work is bad; and that work and life are separate/able. Secondly, the paper argues that other explanations are required for the work-life balance debate: one is 'labour market shrinkage'; the second is the 'consumption time squeeze'; the third is the changing nature of the 'chattering classes' managerial and professional labour. The paper concludes by flagging another, better articulation of the relationship between work and life - that of 'boundary' rather than 'balance'. This approach enables a better appreciation of the differing relationship between work and life, and highlights the forms of work-life interpenetration.

Chris Warhurst is Professor of Labour Studies, Director of the Scottish Centre for Employment Research at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, and co-editor of the journal Work, Employment and Society.

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Speaker:

Professor Chris Warhurst, University of Strathclyde

Title:

How to get published in high quality international journals

Description:

This workshop examines the editorial and review process of a leading international academic journal from the perspective of an editor. It draws on the presenter's experience as an editor of the British Sociological Association journal Work, Employment and Society. The workshop reveals the editorial process of high quality international journals, and highlights the common problems and pitfalls facing young academics in trying to get published. It indicates what makes a good submission and what makes a bad submission, and concludes by offering tips and suggestions to help improve the chances of being published.

Chris Warhurst is Professor of Labour Studies, Director of the Scottish Centre for Employment Research at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, and co-editor of the journal Work, Employment and Society.

Speaker:

Peggy Trompf, WOS PhD Candidate

Title:

Fatal judgements: the price of death for construction workers

Description:

Some aspects of the prosecution process for health and safety offences under New South Wales legislation are examined through an analysis of twenty two judgements from the New South Wales Industrial Court in relation to workplace fatalities in the construction industry. The main focus is on the amount of penalties applied in relation to the penalties available, the Court's reasons for penalty discounting and questions around the deterrent effect of prosecutions. The concept of 'pulverisation' is used to explain the ways in which fatal incidents are decontextualised and then redrawn during court proceedings.

Speaker:

Dr Anthony McDonnell, University of Newcastle

Title:

Swimming Against the Tide? Exploring Outward Staffing Flows from Multinational Subsidiaries

Description:

Studies of flows of parent country nationals of multinational enterprises (MNEs) to subsidiary operations has a relatively long tradition. However the study of flows of subsidiary employees to other subsidiaries, as third country nationals, and to the corporate headquarters, as inpatriates, has, empirically, much less pedigree. Drawing on a large scale empirical study of MNEs in Ireland, this paper provides a benchmark of outward staffing flows from the Irish subsidiaries of foreign owned MNEs to both the corporate headquarters and other worldwide operations. Building insights from the resource based view, we develop and test a theoretical model to explain outward staffing flows. The results show that almost half of all MNEs utilise some form of outward staffing flows from the Irish operations. Although the impact of specific variables in explaining inter-organization variation differs between the utilisation of inpatriate and third country national assignments, overall we find that a number of headquarter, subsidiary, structural and human resources systems factors emerge as strong predictors of outward staffing flows.

Speaker:

Dr Johanna McNeil; Professor Mark Bray, University of Newcastle

Title:

Neo-liberalism and award negotiation Australia

Description:

A central element of state regulation in Australian industrial relations since the turn of the 20th century is the award system. It is a system which has intrigued (and mostly mystified) foreigners. Eminent American labour economist, Professor Richard Freeman, for example, recently claimed:

'When I first learned that Australia and New Zealand used an awards system to determine wages, I had the same kind of reaction that early settlers must have had on seeing the platypus or emu - utter disbelief!' (Freeman 2006, p. 200).

Despite their oddity, understanding awards - their role, scope, and coverage as well as the processes by which they are made and enforced - is vital for an understanding of Australian industrial relations in general. This is especially the case because awards are more than an historical curiosity. They survived the Liberal-National Party Coalition governments of the 1990s and 2000s, albeit with significant changes, and they are even regaining some of their iconic status under new laws passed by the Labor government in 2009.

This paper explores the changing form and role of awards in Australia by focusing on the concepts of individualism and collectivism. These concepts are briefly discussed in first major section of the paper, drawing on recent literature.

The second section of the paper presents a (macro) legal and institutional analysis of awards in the national system of industrial relations. This begins with the traditional compulsory arbitration system in Australia before the 1990s, where it is argued that awards performed two important roles. First, awards set legally-binding wages and working conditions for individual employees. In most cases these conditions represented minima, above which improvements could be negotiated, but in other cases (such as 'paid-rates' awards) the provisions were what employees actually received. The substantive provisions of awards thereby gave employees individual, legally-enforceable rights, in much the same way as minimum wage laws in many other countries. Second, awards also served to support unions and a collectivist system of industrial relations. Unions enjoyed a monopoly on employee representation in the making of awards. As well, many procedural provisions in awards gave great institutional support for unions, for example, through preference in employment to union members, leave entitlements for union representatives to attend training, and entrenched union representation in grievance procedures and in the event of redundancies. Unions also played a key role in enforcing compliance with award provisions.

During the 1990s, however, legislative changes implemented by federal (both Labor Party and Liberal-National Party Coalition) governments had the effect of enhancing the individualist role of awards, but diminishing (indeed almost eliminating) their institutional support for unions. As a result of the 1993 Industrial Relations Act, awards became 'safety nets' only, thereby ending their role in determining actual (as opposed to minimum) employment conditions for workers in industries with strong unions. The process of 'award simplification' introduced under the 1996 Workplace Relations Act effectively removed from awards most procedural provisions which had previously supported the role of unions; these features of awards became 'unallowable matters' and were excised. This trend has been partially reversed in 'modern awards' introduced by the new Labor government elected in 2007, in that some collectivist supports have been re-introduced, although these supports are generally modest and contingent, while the individualist character of awards largely remains.

The third section of the paper focuses on more disaggregated (micro) analysis, through illustrative case studies of changes to two individual awards. These awards are not presented as representative of all awards in Australia. Rather, they are different types of awards (one an industry award and the other an enterprise award) from different industries (one being the weakly-unionised hospitality industry and the other the highly unionised aluminium industry). We compare the provisions contained in each of these awards at three periods in time (ie. immediately pre-1993, post 1996/pre 2007, and 2009), revealing trends that support the macro analysis of the previous section.

Overall, the paper makes two main contributions. First, by locating awards in a relatively well known theoretical framework, it allows observers who are unfamiliar with the Australian system to better understand what has often been a peculiar antipodean institution. Second, the recognition of the individualist role of awards before the 1990s and the more systematic analysis of their role in the decline of collective (union) organisations after the 1990s provide novel insights even for those who are more familiar with awards and the Australian system.

Speaker:

Dr Peter Auer, The International Institute of Labor Studies at the ILO

Title:

Labour market and IR reforms: is flexicurity an answer?

Description:

The issue of "flexicurity" that has emerged as a labour market reform paradigm in response to the neo-liberal pressure for labour market flexibility in the EU will be at the core of the presentation. Instead of proposing a market driven "trickle down security" from sufficiently flexible labour markets, flexicurity contends that it needs effective labour market policies and tripartite negotiations for achieving security. While countries that have organized their labour markets in a way that allow flexibility and security show good labour market performance, the concept is not uncontested and a political economy of flexicurity has developed. The present financial and economic crisis is an opportunity to test some of the alleged benefits of flexicurity and although the crisis is not over, some first hypotheses can be presented. It appears also that the concept is relevant in the context of recent Australian labour market reforms.

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Speaker:

Dr Pamela Robinson, BRASS Centre, Cardiff University

Title:

Responsible Retailing: The reality of CSR on banana plantations in Costa Rica

Description:

During the last decade, a plethora of voluntary labour initiatives have been introduced in global supply chains, which attempt to establish minimum conditions for workers employed in the production of goods for export. Many of these initiatives have been introduced under the auspices of corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and include labour codes of conduct and certifiable standards.This paper explores the implementation and effectiveness of such policies in a highly concentrated industry: the banana trade. Banana production is dominated by three American agri-businesses: Chiquita Brands International, Dole Food Company, and Fresh Del Monte Produce, however, these businesses are increasingly being directed by international retailers, particularly in the United Kingdom (UK), where the four major supermarkets Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons command access to the market. The banana is the biggest selling and most profitable food product for UK supermarkets, thus the influence of supermarkets is strong, and as the self-appointed guardian of consumer interests, they are demanding that producers adopt more socially responsible practices.

However, continued pressure to be competitive on the market price of bananas places additional demands on producers to reduce costs. Herein lays the dichotomy: how to ensure workers' rights whilst responding to market pressures for cheaper bananas.The theoretical framework employed in this analysis draws on global chain studies which emphasise shifting relationships and 'drivenness' within the chain.The paper draws on empirical data gathered during a two-month field study conducted on plantations in Costa Rica that included interviews with workers and a series of interviews with representatives from UK supermarkets, trade unions, non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations. It suggests that whilst supermarkets continue to drive down consumer prices, and pressurise producers to reduce costs, a downward spiral of working conditions is created regardless of the CSR policies in place.

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Speaker:

Ms Sarah Kaine, PhD Candidate Work & Organisational Studies

Title:

Regulation Theory: A new way of understanding employment relations in the residential aged care sector

Description:

Discussant: Professor Gabrielle Meagher

This paper will outline the theoretical framework of Sarah's PhD research and her progress in its application to the residential aged care sector. It investigates the forces and pressures that shape employment relations in this sector in NSW. This research develops novel approaches through a synthesis of industrial relations and regulation theory. It considers how various forms of regulation both interact with and shape employment relations strategies in an industry which has been understudied and is poorly understood.

As in most OECD countries, the ageing of the population in Australia is a topic which is increasingly capturing the interest of social researchers and commentators. The associated demographic, economic and labour market challenges position aged care as one of the biggest social and political issues facing Australia now and into the future. The rapidly ageing population is putting financial pressure on the largely publicly funded provision of aged care services. Not surprisingly this has contributed to the debate about the appropriate regulatory context within which to provide aged care services. Central to this study is the question: how does formal and informal regulation impact upon employment relations in residential aged care?

To understand the residential aged care sector and the forces and pressures which shape the conduct of employment relations within it, it is necessary to use a broad conception of regulation which acknowledges not only the importance of formal regulatory mechanisms in the labour market but also instruments which regulate the sector overall, such as the Aged Care Act 1997 and sources of informal regulation. Consequently a definition of regulation is needed that allows for the regulatory role played by factors like the market, social norms and the built and natural environment, all of which have the potential to alter behaviour and decision making and impact on the conduct of employment relations.

This research attempts to understand and describe the relative importance of each of these factors within the context of aged care, by examining their impact on the conduct of employment relations at three residential aged care facilities (a not-for-profit religious provider, a for-profit provider and a not-for-profit community provider) in NSW between 2005 and 2009.

Speaker:

Professor Keith Ewing, Kings College London

Title:

Political, Legal and Industrial Strategies to Rebuild Collective Bargaining - Models from Three Continents

Description:

The Rudd government has introduced radical new legislation which seems designed to support trade union organising and collective bargaining strategies. From the outside, the legislative model looks like an adaptation of a strategy pioneered in the United States by Roosevelt at the time of the Great Depression and adopted in various Canadian provinces after the second world war. A similar strategy has now been adopted by New Labour in the United Kingdom, with two similar initiatives of this kind having failed (in 1971 and 1975).

Yet, it is a striking feature of all three jurisdictions (especially when compared to those of mainland Europe) that collective bargaining density remains very low. What lessons can be learned from the experience of these jurisdictions in assessing the likely prospects of success or failure for the new Australian model? Has the Rudd government been sufficiently innovative to avoid the pitfalls that have challenged the legal route to bargaining in other countries? As they grapple with a reform agenda for their own systems, what lessons can US and UK labour movements learn from Australia?

Speaker:

Mr Stephen Clibborn, PhD Candidate Work & Organisational Studies

Title:

Headquarters Control and Subsidiary Autonomy over Employment Relations: The General Motors Company in Australia

Description:

Discussant: Professor Paul Willman

Overseas based multinational corporations (MNCs) employ a large proportion of the Australian workforce and the locus of control over the working conditions of those employees is subject to change in response to influences both internal and external to the firm. Using qualitative data, this paper examines the extent to which employment relations (ER) practices in Holden Ltd, the Australian subsidiary of the General Motors Company, is controlled by the United States (US) based headquarters and to what extent the local subsidiary exercised autonomy. While subject to multiple influences, headquarters control over local ER practices is found to be increasing, driven largely by production imperatives, and is being exercised using a wider variety of means than expected of a US MNC based on current literature. The analysis is used to highlight areas for future research which are currently being explored in related doctoral study.

Speaker:

Professor Paul Willman, immediate past editor of Human Relations

Title:

Reviewing and Being Reviewed: A community of scholars or a tournament?

Description:

Publications and bibliometrics are becoming more important for individuals and institutions. Peer-review journals are central to increasingly formal evaluative processes. The process of peer review is, however, variable. Both on the evaluative side and for the evaluated, the process has uncertainties. The review process for major journals is about standards but also fit, evaluation but also mentoring, incremental but also innovative processes. The main agents, journal editors, reviewers and authors, often have not only interpersonal but intrapersonal conflicts about objectives. Yet this rather complicated process which is central to academic careers is often treated rather casually. Formalisation carries its usual costs and benefits

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