Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations
RI/IR is a bilingual publication whose mission it is to be the foremost site in Canada for the publication of high calibre research papers from both established and new researchers in the industrial relations field. At the same time, the Journal serves as an international forum for contributions and research debates for both Canadian and international researchers. RI/IR is fully not-for-profit. The Journal’s mission includes the promotion of a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach as applied to the study of work and employment, the major fields involved in industrial relations, which traditionally includes human resource management, public policies and labour relations. As a scientific journal, RI/IR contributes to the furthering of knowledge in the industrial relations field both in Canada and abroad, and also contributes to the development of theoretical and methodological approaches applied in this field. RI/IR is an essential resource for academics, students, human resources and labour relations managers, union officials, policymakers and observers. The Journal is distributed in more than twenty countries (paper) and all around the world (online). It is officially recognized by the Canadian Industrial Relations Association.
Université Laval. Département des relations industrielles
Making Territories Inclusive. Which Actors Are Mobilized in the Process of Cross-Sector Collaboration for Sustainable Employment ?
Enabling people to access all the resources and systems they need is the main challenge of inclusive territories. One priority is access to sustainable employment. Public authorities have tried to support this priority by encouraging the development of partnerships between actors from a variety of sectors (private, public, hybrid and third sectors). Supporting sustainable employment is a complex societal problem that makes such projects necessary. These projects pose real challenges for collaborative work at the territorial level. It is thereby necessary to examine the nature and specificities of this collaborative work, which aims to create inclusive territories and which involves actors from different sectors. It is interesting to ask which actors are involved in this process of cross-sector collaboration for sustainable employment and what challenges are facing this CSC in creating an inclusive territory. Through an exploratory study of two projects that were launched as part of the call for “100 % inclusion projects,” we describe the efforts of cross-sector collaboration in two distinct French territories and examine their specific features. The results portray the concept of “inclusive territory” as a collaborative linear path and furthermore show divergent and revealing conceptions of tensions within the various sectors, some of which are under-represented.
Telework in Canada : Who Is Working from Home during the COVID-19 Pandemic ?
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a new reality in the world of work. Employers are realizing that to continue business operations during the pandemic they need to think differently about work : how it is organized, who does what and where the work is done. This paper addresses the question of whether there are differences in demographic and human capital characteristics between those who work from home during the pandemic and those who worked from home previously. Thus, this study takes advantage of the natural conditions of a pseudo experiment to identify the sociodemographic (i.e., sex (female/male), immigrant status, age) and human capital factors (i.e., education level, health) of those with access to telework to better understand the impact of the shutdown on these subgroups. This study uses Statistics Canada’s Canadian Perspectives Survey Series (CPSS) first survey data on the Impacts of COVID-19, and an analytic sample whose n = 2,653 ; further, the 2016 General Social Survey cycle 30 was used to provide pre-pandemic estimates for descriptive comparisons. We find that females are not less likely than males to participate in telework and that immigrant status is negatively related to work from home during the pandemic. Generally, there is support for an age relationship, with the odds of telework being relatively lower as age increases. Education level is positively associated with telework during the pandemic (e.g., having a bachelor’s or higher university degree is positively associated with telework). Finally, there is no relationship between physical or mental health and telework. This study contributes to the literature by quantifying the impact of a brief mass telework event and its implications for access to telework across sociodemographic and human capital characteristics. In a post-pandemic world, will we carry forward the lessons learned through this ‘experiment’ imposed by the pandemic ?
Dissimuler et révéler : l’impact du stigmate sur la gestion du handicap de la dyslexie en contexte organisationnel
In this article, we will describe the impacts of dyslexia on the behaviours of dyslexic workers within their organization. The learning disabilities associated with the invisible disability of dyslexia can lead to situations of stigmatization in childhood, causing wounds, or stigmas, in the individuals concerned, which remain open throughout their lives and which, when revived in an organizational environment, will lead to a response of concealing the disability. To carry out this research, we used life story methodology (Bertaux, 1997) to analyze the results of a 4-year study of 21 people. A research protocol was adapted to this sensitive topic to facilitate the interviewees’ testimony. The results show that dyslexic workers can develop several types of tactics to hide their disability in order to avoid new suffering induced by the revival of their stigma. Thus, our article focuses on how this stigma impacts dyslexic workers in their tactics of disability concealment and disclosure. These tactics have been discussed by Clair et al. (2005) and Jones and King (2014). Our analysis enriches that literature by demonstrating the existence of tactics other than those described by the above two studies, such as the one we call the tactic of disability transfiguration. Our analysis also offers keys to understanding the consequences of having a stigma, for dyslexic workers, with regard to the process of disclosing this disability.
The Post-Rana Plaza Regime : Multi-level labour regulation in Bangladesh’s RMG sector
Following the Rana Plaza tragedy, two private institutional regulation initiatives, the Accord and Alliance, emerged to address ready-made garment workers’ safety in Bangladesh, alongside the public National Initiative. These three initiatives constitute multi-level regulation with vertical and horizontal layering. Employing this governance framework, this qualitative study analyzes these initiatives using interviews (N=41) and archival data. Our findings suggest an effective vertical flow of private institutional regulation but reveal significant horizontal challenges. We also examine the power dynamics during implementation and in negotiating international regulation after the expiration of the Accord and Alliance, in the absence of a legal basis for international labour regulation. This research contributes to the debate among policy makers and scholars over how to improve workers’ safety in globally dispersed production networks.
Les technologies numériques comme source de revitalisation démocratique : une étude auprès des responsables des communications d’organisations syndicales
This article is about the way unions are using digital information and communication technologies (DICTs) for experiments in new practices of representative, participatory and deliberative democracy within their organizations. We rely here on the theory of the experimentalist approach and the literature on digital democracy. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with the communications managers of thirteen union organizations in Quebec. Our research findings show that DICTs are not replacing traditional practices but are instead being superimposed on older practices. Our findings also highlight the limits to such experiments, these limits being due not to the intrinsic characteristics of DICTs but to the way these technologies are mobilized and used by actors in the union movement.
Prohibiting Use of Recreational Cannabis by Safety-Sensitive Workers in Canada : A Legal Evaluation of the New Workplace Policies
Informed by labour arbitration and Supreme Court decisions, this paper proposes a custom-made test and uses it to assess the enforceability of the new cannabis workplace policies, which prohibit legal consumption for safety-sensitive workers. The analysis identifies two main challenges facing employers. Establishing that a problem exists in the workplace. Consumption of cannabis must have an impairing effect during the period of prohibition. Demonstrating that the policy has sufficient benefits to justify the consequences. The improvements in workplace safety must outweigh the breech of employee privacy. To identify a problem in the workplace, employers will rely on the strongest available evidence linking cannabis to impairment during the entire period of prohibited consumption. Medical research is helpful in this regard. A substantial body of evidence points to significant motor and cognitive deficiencies immediately following consumption (first eight hours). Although some studies indicate a prolonged period of impairment, the evidence is less compelling as a user approaches 30 days of abstinence. At the same time, employers must contend with the difficulty of establishing the benefits of a workplace policy that relies on existing cannabis testing technology and which, at best, identifies an unspecified level of consumption at some time during the preceding 30 days. The employer thus faces a conundrum. On the one hand, the period of prohibited consumption can be shortened to align with current scientific evidence on the length of impairment. The policy will then be more difficult to enforce because existing testing technology cannot prove that the consumption took place during the shorter period. On the other hand, the period can be lengthened to 30 days to align with the limitations of existing testing technology. The policy will then be criticized because the longer period is not justified by current scientific evidence.
Editor foreword: Forward for Historic Edition 76-4
This missive is something of an executive summary of our annual report for your perusal. The team and I are committed to being transparent and encourage external scrutiny. Notwithstanding such commitment, we want to strike a balance between bogging readers down with copious superfluous data and having them unaware of what is going on. In short, we want all involved with the journal to feel ownership of – and get involved in – the work we are doing. I start by making a few philosophical observations and overarching comments. First, as you will see from the tone of this report, more than in the past, we are setting goals for the journal and measuring our performance against these. Second (and relatedly), I have come to believe that it is possible to run a bilingual journal and not have to make excuses for sub-standard performance on the more orthodox success metrics. Third, the key to being effective – broadly speaking – is having a large and diverse network of competent and committed international collaborators. Fourth (and relatedly), very little that Yves and I do impacts greatly the journal’s success – it is who we bring together that counts. Fourth, the field of industrial relations matters – more than ever.
The 21st Century Cometh: The Toughest Mission is Before Us
A new era dawns for Relations industrielles/Industrial Relations. Commencing with 77(1), the journal is now online. This is a seismic shift that comes at the right time – and on the back of two years of solid achievement and reconfiguration. The next phase of development will be about content and universal access – about using the expertise of our contributors to tackle the 21st century`s pressing labour, work and employment-related problems. The difficulties we face are mostly universal challenges. They are tough – but our refurbished journal and its world-class authors are ready for the challenge. To repeat, it is now only content that matters. Appropriately, to start the new era, the focus will be on global matters that impact all of us who work for others for a livelihood, or depend on someone who works for others.
Examining Talent Management Practices in a Canadian Not-for-Profit Context: A Theory-Driven Template Analysis
Despite significant interest in the field of talent management (TM), research has been largely confined to talent management in large corporations. Recent reviews have identified two significant gaps in the literature: 1) excessive focus on large for-profit organizations in North American, Asian and European private sectors; and 2) lack of consensus on TM definitions and activities in organizations. This article examines how TM is perceived and practised in a Canadian context. We used a theory-based approach and drew on previous conceptualizations of TM to examine the perspectives of 30 Canadian decision-makers. Using a conceptual model based on Bolander, Werr, and Asplund (2017), we observed that non-profit organization (NPO) decision-makers have a unique inclusive and competitive view of TM. Their view is defined predominantly by humanistic (acquired talent, inclusive, inputs and outputs) and competitive factors (recruitment dependence and skill development). They felt that talent should be inclusive and acquired, and many indicated that they were looking for people who could be trained. Their emphasis was on cultural fit, motivation and ability to grow intellectually and professionally, rather than on just acquiring the key skills needed for certain roles. The results indicate that TM is an organizational activity and needs to be understood and supported by the whole organization. Specifically, an inclusive view of TM requires adaptable organizational systems, such as collective agreements and accounting systems, which record how value is created in the organization. Future research could compare and contrast the views of those undertaking other functions in the organization, such as accounting, with the views of HR managers.
Le no code et les effets organisationnels de la démocratisation logicielle : du mythe aux pratiques
This article focuses on the no-code movement, which offers the promise of a software creation democratization and more broadly of society. Here we will try to go beyond this deterministic technophile myth by adopting a co-evolutionary perspective to apprehend the recursive relationships between technical objects and organizational forms and specify the opportunities and constraints that carries these technologies in terms of quality of work and quality of life at work. The article is based on an exploratory study conducted in a consulting firm specializing in digital transformations that reflect important organizational changes following the integration of no-code tools: technical and creative professions are hybridizing, promoting intra- and inter-business collaborations. But if these organizational effects manage to be actualized within this company, it is also because the company represents a favorable social ground where organizational silos are voluntarily unstructured, management is barely present, and where the organization promotes the autonomy of employees. The example of this particular structure reveals the profound co-evolution of technical objects and organizational forms, which shape each other more than they are unilaterally determined. On the other hand, these positive organizational effects are also joined by other unwanted and destabilizing effects for the organization and the actors in place. The deployment of no-code platforms may first of all encounter the reluctance of developers that perceive these tools as a threat, compared to the power they traditionally have in the creation of software. The potential of reconfiguration of these tools disrupts business cultures and the games of actors in place. However, no-code tools are not available to everyone : they are primarily used by curious “hackers”, with a strong appetite for digital technology and a minimum of technical skills, with the risk of creating a division between designers and simple users.
Digitaliser le notariat, entre évolution de l’identité professionnelle et maintien du monopole
Since the beginning of the 2000s, the notarial profession is going through a process of modernization, which is today reflected in the digitalization of many activities and services. This article shows how the digitalization of activities has gradually become an opportunity for notaries to assert their added value towards citizens, while strengthening their position in the Belgian judicial system. Based on qualitative research within Belgian notary’s offices, we analyze the implementation of two digital applications (eRegistration and Biddit). Such applications modify two important activities of the profession: the registration of authentic acts and the public sales of real estate. Based on a socio-ergonomic analysis of the activities and discourses of multiple notaries involved in digitalization, we show how such digital applications have contributed to the evolution of the professional identity of notaries. At the institutional level, we discuss the central role played by the notaries’ professional federation (Fednot) in the digitalization of the profession. Our results show that the digitalization of the profession reinforces an already existing tension between two roles related to the notarial activity in Belgium: the role of state officer and that of entrepreneur.
L’analyse des usages de technologies digitales dédiées à la synchronisation : intérêts pour l’étude d’une transformation organisationnelle dans l’ingénierie de conception automobile
This article, which is the result of ongoing ergonomic research, aims to shed light on the activity of design workers in the French automotive industry through the organisational uses of digital technologies. These technologies have been integrated into the activity of these workers for several decades and aim to organise the collective activity deployed throughout a design project within distributed and virtual teams. At the same time, this industrial sector is subject to multiple constraints of an economic and ecological nature, leading it to make its organisational methods more flexible in order to innovate while shortening its design times. This context of digitalisation and organisational transformation questions the individual and collective activity of synchronisation of these populations, particularly with regard to the resources and means at their disposal to preserve their room for manoeuvre and regulation strategies. Thus, two case studies were constituted through the analysis of two automotive design projects taking place in different circumstances. Indeed, one of the two projects took place during the Covid-19 health crisis, leading us to adapt our data collection methods but also to reconsider the digitalisation of this design activity, in which interactions between workers could only take place through the use of digital technologies. Thus, these two case studies address the links between the flexibilisation of individuals and organisations, on the one hand, and regulation strategies on the other, through the use of digital technologies. The results of these case studies show that the use of digital technologies, as a resource or constraint for the activity, is linked to the characteristics of the organisation in which they are deployed at two levels; these forms of organisation in projects create specific uses of these technologies and could not exist as they are without them.
Des outils numériques au service de… ou contre le travail et la relation d’aide ? L’ambivalence liée à l’introduction d’outils numériques dans l’aide aux personnes âgées
In activities to help the elderly, digital tools are more and more present in nursing homes and home care services. Most structures are equipped with computers or even tablets, and home workers increasingly have smartphones. These tools have two main functions: the transfer of information and the capture of information. The objective of this article is to understand how the introduction of new digital tools can modify work relations and service relations. This contribution is based on a qualitative survey conducted, as part of a research program funded by the Ministry of Labor, and carried out in France. 41 interviews were conducted in 6 nursing homes, an aftercare and rehabilitation establishment and a home help service with employees and managers. The employees interviewed identify positive aspects related to the introduction of digital tools in particular for the improvement of working conditions highlighting the time savings brought by these tools, but also the quality of the service provided. However, many risks are also highlighted, which underlines the importance of the context in which these tools are introduced. Indeed, the sector is today characterized by a progressive deterioration of working conditions. It is then a question of understanding the role of the tools in this context, and of identifying the conditions to be met so that the tool uses can develop in the service of the quality of work and service for the elderly.
A Social Design Approach: Enhancement of Local Social Dialogue on the Transformation of Work by Digital Technology
The world of work is undergoing major transformations (teleworking, new technologies, Industry 4.0, social reform in some countries) in which labour relations are likely to play a central role. In this context, our case study presents an alternative approach to local social dialogue: “Social Design.” The specific aim was to mobilize stakeholders to deal with the introduction of digital technology at a large industrial company in France. Within the theoretical and methodological framework of activity-centred ergonomics, we analyzed the process of co-design and the process of design “in use.” We conducted interviews, work activity observations and simulations of future working conditions. We identified “fruitful possibilities” (e.g., more extensive participation by stakeholders and collective discussions about the transformation of work) and “real-life resistance” (e.g., difficulties in finding common agreement). We report on the quality of local social dialogue and provide an epistemology of the action of social dialogue on the theme of the transformation of work. In sum, we describe an original initiative to transform local social dialogue in the context of a changing workplace.
Autonomy and Control in Mass Remote Working during the COVID-19 Pandemic. A Cross-Occupational Comparison
The global COVID-19 pandemic acted as an exogenous shock that forced organizations to adopt homeworking as a common form of work for many occupations. By that time researchers had been stressing the gap between technical feasibility of homeworking – reaching on average one third of employment in both the US and EU28 (Dingel and Neiman 2020, Sostero et al. 2020) – and its practical adoption in organisations. The massive shift to homeworking during the pandemic – especially in countries such as France and Italy, which both experienced a widespread lockdown during the first wave – has been an opportunity to study homeworking across a large and heterogeneous cross-section of occupations and sectors. To that end, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission (in Seville) funded real-time cross-occupational qualitative research on which this paper is based. First, drawing on studies that attribute the delayed spread of homeworking to the dialectic between workers' self-latitude and managerial control, we examined how compulsory homeworking affected workers’ self-latitude to define and perform their tasks. We identified two different phases and temporary arrangements of the worker self-latitude/managerial control dialectic during the time under study. Second, we analyzed how different forms of control developed under the new organization of work. Specifically, we studied how the outcomes varied by occupation and along the vertical division of labour. Our results suggest an ongoing hybridization of personal, technical and bureaucratic forms of control. Accordingly, we agree with labour process theorists who argue that personal, bureaucratic and technical forms of control complement each other, rather than being stages of a linear and functionalist succession.
Accompagner le déploiement d’une nouvelle technologie par la prise en compte des risques et des opportunités
Today, technologies are essential to the life and future of organizations. For example, they contribute to improving the quality of their services or to increasing productivity (Barlatier, 2016). Their emancipating virtue is even often evoked since technologies are sometimes brought to replace humans in certain tedious or low-valued tasks (e.g., Kleinpeter, 2015). At the same time, several studies highlight the internal difficulties encountered by organizations in their deployment projects (e.g., Jørgensen, 2014). These difficulties could be explained by a lack of consideration of users and/or by the deleterious effects sometimes observed following the deployment of technologies. To guarantee success, it seems necessary to think differently about these deployments by considering the potential changes likely to be caused by the technologies as opportunities and threats for its users and more broadly for the organization. With this in mind, the objective of this article is to present a support method that allows us to identify the obstacles and levers to deployment in order to remove the obstacles while relying on the levers. This method is based on the three steps proposed by Weick and Quinn (1999) to support the continuous changes that can be caused by the deployment of a new technology in an organization (freeze, rebalance and unfreeze). The method was tested in the Scoop project and the deployment of Cooperative Intelligent Transport Systems (C-ITS) at the Direction Interdépartementale des Routes Ouest (DIRO) in France. The first results of its implementation have shown its interest in identifying the levers and barriers to the deployment of these technologies and thus issue recommendations adapted to promote the integration of Scoop systems in DIRO's activities. Beyond the sole framework of the technological deployment, this coaching also allowed to identify opportunities for the organization to evolve.
Cross-disciplinary perspectives on the duality of digital technologies
Outline of the thematic issue Digital transformation – and the Covid crisis – have impacted workers and work organization but often unfold in a harsh and uncoordinated manner, and are accompanied by messages about that technology that oscillate between two contradictory poles: in a discourse that is sometimes fraught with technological determinism, the empowering virtues of technological progress which offers alternatives to the prevailing productivist model, (Rumpala, 2014; Hoc & Darses, 2004; Barbrook & Cameron, 2000). its adverse impacts on working conditions, employees’ tasks, development and wellbeing. In particular, digital technologies come with organizational transformations that are likely to affect both psychosocial and physical health (Reboul, & al. 2020; Bigi & al., 2018, Müller-Thur & al., 2018; Prunier-Poulmaire, 2000).
Dynamics of Mobilizing and Unionizing Mobility Platform Workers. A Cross-Country, Cross-Industry Analysis
Over the past decade, many services have been greatly transformed by the rise of digital platforms, innovative actors who deploy disruptive digital technologies through market-conquest strategies. The global expansion of these "lean platforms" is rooted in an economic model characterized by the “hyper-externalization” (Srnicek, 2016) of physical capital and labor, the use of officially self-employed workers and the ability to bypass work and employment regulations that have traditionally been based on the triple unity of place, time and collective organization (Brugière, 2020; Degryse, 2020). To study these trends, we focus, in this special issue, on location-based mobility workers in urban settings i.e., app drivers and home meal couriers. They have become prominent in the public space and eye due to their market visibility, through their protests and the controversies they have engendered. They embody new workforce figures who are emerging in institutional, social and territorial grey areas (Carelli et al. 2022; Azaïs, 2019).
Dynamiques de mobilisation et de syndicalisation des travailleurs de plateforme. Approche comparative transnationale et intersectorielle au sein des activités de mobilité
Depuis un peu plus d’une décennie, des transformations d’ampleur ont affecté divers secteurs de services en raison de l’essor d’un nouveau type d’acteurs économiques se distinguant par leur usage extensif des technologies numériques au service d’une stratégie « disruptive » de conquête des marchés. L’expansion de ces « plateformes allégées » sur une échelle globalisée s’est en effet appuyée sur un modèle économique caractérisé par l’« hyper-externalisation » (Srnicek, 2016) du capital physique et de la main-d’oeuvre. Le recours majoritaire à l’emploi non salarié qui en découle leur a permis de contourner les régulations du travail et de l’emploi fondées sur une unité de lieux, de temps et d’organisation collective (Degryse, 2020), selon une logique de réduction des coûts du travail (Brugière, 2020). Parmi toutes les sphères de cette économie – désignée par diverses recherches sous les termes de « capitalisme de plateforme » (Srnicek, 2016 ; Abdelnour & Bernard, 2018) ou d’« économie des petits boulots » (gig economy) (Huws et al., 2017 ; Vallas & Schor, 2020) –, nous avons choisi de concentrer notre attention sur les activités professionnelles ayant trait à la mobilité (chauffeurs sur réservation, livreurs à domicile de repas et de courses). Celles-ci y occupent en effet une position centrale compte tenu de leur poids économique, de leur visibilité dans l’espace et dans les débats publics du fait des controverses et mobilisations suscitées par l’essor de nouvelles figures de travailleurs dans des zones grises institutionnelles, sociales et territoriales (Carelli et al. 2022 ; Azaïs, 2019).
Les instances centralisées de représentation collective dans l’entreprise éclatée : une ressource de pouvoir?
La représentation traditionnelle de l’entreprise a été mise à mal par des processus de désintégration productive (sous-traitance et dispersion géographique) et de concentration économique et financière (filialisation). Ce mouvement a été accompagné de droits collectifs nouveaux prenant la forme d’instances au niveau « centralisé », c’est-à-dire celui censé prendre en compte l’ensemble du collectif de travail. En se référant aux spécificités du cadre institutionnel français, cet article articule la théorie des ressources de pouvoir au concept de modelage institutionnel pour faire apparaître que les ressources de pouvoir des directions leur permettent de s’appuyer sur des lacunes institutionnelles limitant la portée de ces instances comme ressources de pouvoir pour les salariés. Il utilise l’enquête REPONSE 2017 (DARES) pour quantifier les entreprises « éclatées » ainsi que les instances de représentation collective qui s’y déploient. Six monographies d’entreprises éclatées sont mobilisées pour illustrer la diversité des stratégies de modelage institutionnel des directions dans la mise en place d’instances centralisées. La prégnance de trois formes d’éclatement (sous-traitance, groupe, multisites) et le peu de place qu’y prennent les instances centralisées sont d’abord mis en évidence. Les limites institutionnelles des instances centralisées sont ensuite analysées à partir des ressources de pouvoir dont disposent les directions et de la diversité des stratégies mises en oeuvre pour configurer ces instances. L’éclatement des entreprises est alors analysé comme un instrument d’altération des ressources de pouvoir des salariés en ce qu’il réduit leur intérêt et leur capacité à participer au dialogue social et qu’il divise et met en concurrence une main-d’oeuvre fragmentée. Des ressources d’association permettant de surmonter les divisions que fait naître l’éclatement et des ressources institutionnelles pour rééquilibrer la capacité à fixer le cadre de consultation des salariés sont finalement discutées pour restreindre les marges de manoeuvre des directions.
Behind-the-scenes: vers l’égalité de genre au sein des présidences syndicales locales?
Cet article porte sur l’expérience des présidences impliquées dans les organisations syndicales locales au regard de l'égalité de genre. Dans un contexte où l’équité, la diversité et l’inclusion de la main-d’oeuvre sont plus que jamais d’actualité, cet écrit contribue aux réflexions entourant le déficit démocratique de la représentation des femmes au sein des organisations syndicales. Les résultats reposent sur une étude de cas qualitative menée auprès des membres de deux comités syndicaux de la condition féminine et de 16 présidences syndicales locales travaillant dans le secteur de l’éducation du Québec. En recueillant le point de vue de ces femmes et de ces hommes, notre recherche fait valoir une avancée quant à la place longtemps délaissée des femmes siégeant localement comme présidentes au sein de l’organisation syndicale étudiée. Ce sont les efforts déployés par les syndicats eux-mêmes qui ont permis peu à peu aux femmes d’accéder à l’univers syndical traditionnellement masculin. Derrière cette percée sans précédent, il en ressort néanmoins que cette avancée demeure lacunaire pour atteindre l’égalité de genre. Outre un certain déficit numérique des femmes qui résiste au temps qui passe, la difficulté d’articuler une « triple tâche », la persistance de stéréotypes de genre, la prégnance d’une culture syndicale masculine, le manque de formation et de mentorat ainsi que le recours à la sollicitation sont des freins importants qui empêchent les femmes d’accéder aux postes syndicaux locaux. De plus, la représentation de la diversité des identités sociales (âge, situation familiale, race, etc.) est encore peu présente au palier décisionnel local de l’organisation syndicale étudiée, et ce, même parmi les femmes élues. La diversité et la représentation de l’égalité de genre demeurent des défis à prioriser pour assurer une organisation syndicale pérenne et démocratique.
La capture des travailleurs à l’ère du travail précaire : réduire le taux de roulement en l’absence de l’engagement et de la sécurité d’emploi des employés
La littérature sur le travail précaire s’est jusqu’ici concentrée sur la fréquence accrue des licenciements et des mises à pied, ainsi que sur la transformation du rapport salarial au cours des dernières décennies. Cet article soutient toutefois que la rétention des employés reste une priorité essentielle pour de nombreux employeurs, même si ceux-ci offrent de moins en moins d’emplois stables. La recherche a montré que, face à cette insécurité croissante, les travailleurs adoptent des stratégies individuelles de progression professionnelle axées sur leur mobilité entre entreprises, lesquelles viennent renforcer les inquiétudes des employeurs en ce qui concerne le roulement du personnel. Cet article passe donc d’abord en revue l’état de la littérature sur les pratiques organisationnelles qui répondent à ces préoccupations des employeurs en matière de rétention du personnel. Il défend ensuite l’importance pour les chercheurs d’étudier de plus près les pratiques organisationnelles qui restreignent la mobilité, nommées ici « stratégies de capture des travailleurs ». Ces stratégies se traduisent notamment par des clauses de non-concurrence et de non-sollicitation dans les contrats de travail, par des accords de non-débauchage entre entreprises et par des clauses « TRAP ». Ces pratiques en matière de mobilité se distinguent par le fait qu’elles semblent profiter unilatéralement aux employeurs et qu’elles visent une réduction du roulement du personnel sans nécessairement chercher à favoriser un sentiment d’engagement ou de loyauté chez les employés.
Cycles de risque, capitalisme et avenir du travail
Pour comprendre l’avenir du travail, nous devons intégrer deux aspects de la théorie et de la recherche en matière de relations industrielles : 1) les enquêtes empiriques approfondies sur la croissance de la précarité de l’emploi; et 2) le rôle du contrôle et de la résistance dans la théorie du procès de travail. Le « cycle du risque » est au coeur de cette intégration. Dans un « cycle de risque », la direction saisit d’abord une occasion de réduire les coûts en transférant le risque du capital au travail par le biais d’un certain « mode de flexibilité ». Le mode choisi est de plus en plus utilisé jusqu’à ce que l’expansion soit bloquée par la nécessité de vaincre la résistance, d’obtenir le consentement et/ou d’exercer un contrôle. Alors que la volonté de transférer les risques et de réduire les coûts est toujours présente, le succès de la direction est variable. Lorsque chaque mode atteint sa limite, la direction recherche un nouveau mode, qui peut être une version modernisée d’un ancien mode. Cet article examine les tendances internationales en matière d’emploi temporaire. Selon les données de l’OCDE, le taux d’emploi temporaire n’augmente pas inexorablement. Au contraire, dans la plupart des pays, il atteint un sommet puis diminue, ou présente d’autres caractéristiques plus complexes. Dans la majorité des pays de l’OCDE, il a culminé bien avant la fin des années 2010, le niveau le plus élevé étant le plus souvent atteint en 2011. Les modèles de cycles de risques varient d’une industrie à l’autre et d’une entreprise à l’autre reflétant les circonstances spécifiques de chaque situation.
Comprendre les conflits liés à la réglementation du travail sur plateforme numérique : une revue critique de la littérature sur le rôle des institutions, des réseaux et des cadres cognitifs dans l’élaboration des politiques
Dans cet article, une analyse critique de la littérature identifie les acteurs et organisations étatiques et non étatiques qui influencent et créent le conflit réglementaire sur le travail sur plateforme numérique ainsi que les ressources qui leur permettent d’intervenir. C’est en analysant les différentes formes d’intégration qui interagissent et façonnent le processus réglementaire que ces questions sont abordées. En s’inspirant du cadre proposé par Beckert (2010) pour expliquer les changements dans les domaines du marché du travail, cette revue de la littérature identifie trois dimensions de la recherche qui soulignent les rôles respectifs des institutions, des réseaux sociaux et des cadres cognitifs. Elle examine également dans quelle mesure la littérature abordant le travail sur plateforme numérique a développé une perspective intégrée sur la réglementation et comment le domaine des relations industrielles peut bénéficier de l’incorporation de différentes dimensions de la recherche. La recherche documentaire a été effectuée à l’aide des principales bases de données disponibles et a été regroupée selon les trois dimensions principales du cadre. L’article comprend également des rapports politiques influents et la littérature grise du domaine d’étude. Au total, 149 documents ont fait l’objet d’un examen approfondi. La littérature s’est principalement concentrée sur la portée et l’applicabilité des cadres réglementaires existants en matière de travail et sur le rôle de plus en plus important des litiges stratégiques. Le pouvoir réglementaire des entreprises de plateformes et les nouvelles formes de gouvernance ont également fait l’objet d’un remarquable volet de recherche. Beaucoup moins de recherches critiques ont été effectuées sur le rôle de l’État dans l’expansion de l’économie à la demande et sur la manière dont les différents acteurs légitiment le processus de réglementation. Cet article applique un cadre tridimensionnel à la littérature pour faciliter le dialogue sur trois structures sociales qui influencent la réglementation du travail [...]
Droit du travail et relations industrielles : Vers une refondation?
Les relations industrielles et le droit du travail ont tous deux connu un déclin relatif au cours des dernières décennies du 20e siècle et du début du 21e siècle. À travers un examen historique comparatif de ces deux domaines d’études, cet essai explore les efforts passés et actuels des chercheurs en relations industrielles et en droit du travail pour interroger leurs héritages communs afin de transcender les limites de leurs domaines d’études et d’identifier des voies éventuelles de renouveau. Les relations industrielles et le droit du travail partagent depuis longtemps un objet commun, le travail et l’emploi, qu’ils ont abordés souvent, toutefois, dans un superbe isolement. Or, les deux champs d’études bénéficieraient sans nul doute d'une intégration systématique de leurs démarches et résultats. Cette intégration ne peut réussir sans un élargissement réciproque de leurs perspectives analytiques. Ni le juriste travailliste, ni le spécialiste des relations industrielles ne devraient limiter leur compréhension du droit aux règles formelles de la sphère étatique, mais plutôt se tourner vers l'analyse du "droit vivant", ce qui nécessite des études empiriques de sa nature et de son efficacité. L'étude des relations industrielles, qui se concentre sur l'avenir du travail et de la société, nécessite un engagement plus substantiel avec les sciences sociales et, comme pour le droit du travail, un projet normatif visant à promouvoir la citoyenneté au travail et la démocratie. En s'appuyant sur les observations d'Harry Arthurs (2011) concernant le droit du travail, un tel renouveau nécessite également de comprendre comment ces domaines d’études peuvent être utilisés pour remettre en question les paradigmes hégémoniques et initier des approches alternatives.
Différences irréconciliables : conceptualisation du conflit en relations industrielles et en comportement organisationnel
Dans les dernières décennies, les spécialistes en relations industrielles (RI) n’ont cessé de préconiser une meilleure intégration de leurs théories et de leurs recherches empiriques sur le conflit à celles de leur discipline voisine, le comportement organisationnel (CO). La réalisation d’un tel objectif s’est néanmoins révélée un défi constant. Le présent article offre une nouvelle perspective sur la quête de cette intégration par l’entremise d’une catégorisation des normes conceptuelles distinctes et dissemblables du conflit en RI et en CO : en RI, le conflit est normalement spatial et son existence est généralement déterminée par l’observateur (c.-à-d. les chercheurs), tandis qu’en CO le conflit est approché de manière temporelle et déterminé par le sujet observé (c.-à-d. les parties du milieu de travail, tels les individus, les équipes ou les organisations.) En outre, cet article soutient que les normes conceptuelles du conflit en RI et en CO reposent sur des logiques distinctes et inconciliables. En RI, la norme est associée à une logique spatiale axée sur l’observateur (SO), tandis qu’en CO, la norme se caractérise par une logique temporelle axée sur les parties (TP). L’approche conceptuelle SO conçoit le conflit de manière spatiale en tant que situation ou état de fait qui peut être déterminé par un chercheur ou un autre observateur. Le conflit en tant que tel se conceptualise comme une réalité existant spatialement entre des intérêts, des valeurs ou des objectifs opposés. Parallèlement, la logique TP, qui constitue la norme pour la recherche en CO, conçoit le conflit comme un processus temporel entre des parties opposées qui en déterminent le commencement et la fin. Bien qu’une conceptualisation unifiée du conflit apparaisse impossible face à ces logiques divergentes, une meilleure compréhension de leur caractère inconciliable pourrait faciliter un renforcement du dialogue et, à terme, mener à un dialogue fructueux [...]
Qu’ont à se dire l’économie du travail et les relations industrielles ?
L’économie du travail, qui se centrait autrefois sur les institutions et l’analyse descriptive à l’instar des relations industrielles, se concentre aujourd’hui sur une théorisation et des techniques empiriques rigoureuses comme le fait la science économique. Cet article relève des critiques courantes formulées à l’égard de l’économie du travail, qui sont illustrées par des exemples tirés des relations industrielles. Ces critiques dénoncent notamment que l’économie du travail formule des hypothèses irréalistes ; présume que tout un chacun est rationnel et parfaitement informé ; compte sur la défection (exit) comme moyen pour discipliner le marché et ignore la prise de parole (voice) ainsi que la loyauté (loyalty) ; adopte une approche quantitative selon laquelle tout est quantifiable et analysable, de sa cause jusqu’à son effet ; fait preuve d’impérialisme et croit que l’économie s’applique à tous les éléments du comportement humain ; ignore les déséquilibres de pouvoir, le déterminisme historique et les institutions ; s’entête à décrire les conséquences involontaires d’initiatives politiques bien intentionnées ; néglige les marchés internes du travail des entreprises ; se concentre sur l’efficacité au détriment d’importants enjeux de répartition et d’équité ; considère uniquement les effets sur les parties du secteur privé et ne tient pas compte des effets globaux sur la société dans son ensemble ; et fonctionne en vase clos et ignore les autres disciplines. Tout en défendant l’économie du travail contre ces critiques, l’article adopte une perspective prospective pour faire avancer la réflexion théorique et empirique sur les aspects actuels et futurs du travail et de l’emploi en soulignant les gains mutuels qui pourraient provenir d’une intégration en économie du travail de principes bien établis en relations industrielles, tels que l’inégalité du pouvoir de négociation, l’importance de la prise de parole (voice) et de la loyauté [...]
Introduction du numéro spécial sur la contribution des relations industrielles à la compréhension de l’avenir du travail et de l’emploi
Pour célébrer le 60e anniversaire de l’Association canadienne des relations industrielles (ACRI), Relations industrielles-Industrial Relations (RI-IR) et l’ACRI ont convenu de publier un numéro spécial afin de faire progresser et de consolider les connaissances dans notre domaine. Depuis plus d’un siècle en Amérique du Nord, les chercheurs et les praticiens des relations industrielles étudient les problèmes liés au travail et à l’emploi, qui se perpétuent dans le cadre des modèles de production capitalistes, mais qui deviennent de plus en plus diversifiés et complexes. Par exemple, alors que le travail précaire, la santé et la sécurité au travail et les changements technologiques ont toujours posé des défis aux travailleurs, la pandémie mondiale de COVID-19 a montré que nous n’avons pas fait tout ce que nous pensions pour créer des systèmes d’emploi ou des politiques du travail qui facilitent l’équilibre entre la vie professionnelle et la vie privée, protègent les revenus des travailleurs contre les risques sociaux, permettent d’atteindre l’équité en matière d’emploi, retiennent les personnes et les compétences nécessaires au bon fonctionnement des organisations et respectent l’exercice des droits fondamentaux par les travailleurs. De plus en plus, les praticiens doivent faire face à ce que certains appellent une « polycrise », c’est-à-dire plusieurs crises simultanées (par exemple, le vieillissement de la population, l’inflation, l’évolution des préférences des travailleurs, le travail à distance et/ou le retour au travail en personne, les changements démographiques générationnels). Ces crises se combinent et s’exacerbent les unes les autres, rendant ainsi les problèmes classiques de main-d’oeuvre plus imprévisibles et plus complexes.
Introduction to the Special Issue on the Contribution of Industrial Relations to Understanding the Future of Work and Employment
To commemorate the Canadian Industrial Relations Association’s (CIRA-ACRI) 60th anniversary, Relations industrielles-Industrial Relations (RI-IR) and CIRA have agreed to publish a special issue to advance and consolidate knowledge in our field. For more than a century in North America, industrial relations scholars and practitioners have been studying work and employment problems, which remain age-old under capitalist models of production but are becoming more diverse and complex. For instance, while precarious work, occupational health and safety and technological change have always challenged workers, the global COVID-19 pandemic has shown that we have not come as far as we think in creating employment systems or labour policies that facilitate work-life balance, protect worker incomes against social risks, achieve employment equity, retain the people and skills required for effective operation of organizations and respect workers’ exercise of fundamental rights. More and more, practitioners must deal with what some call a “polycrisis”—several crises happening at once (e.g., population aging, inflation, changing worker preferences, remote work and/or a return to face-to-face work, generational demographic shifts). These crises combine with and exacerbate each other, thus making classic labour problems more unpredictable and complex.
The role of job crafting in the professional transition to a new religious identity: supporting identity reconciliation?
The expression of religious identity in the workplace has long been a neglected topic, but is now the subject of growing interest in the literature. It is often studied through the prism of types of expression, managerial behavior and regulatory practices. This research responds to the call for a more dynamic vision of the subject, in particular to understand how people reconcile religiosity and professionality in more or less constraining contexts. We address this objective by considering the case of workers who convert to a new religion - in this case, Islam - during the course of their careers. Using a qualitative, longitudinal methodology, we focus on the experience of a new religious identity, interviewing 22 converts to Islam working in large French companies, through 3 interviews over the course of a year, for a total of 66 interviews. To study this transitional process, and understand the iterations at work, we identify the role of job crafting and its consequences on professional choices after religious conversion. The results highlight a wide variety of forms of identity-based job crafting, in line with the literature, leading to four main strategies for reconciling religious and professional identities: reinforcement, realignment, separation and abandonment. The research addresses a very rarely studied population and thus makes an original and unexpected link between the literature on identity transitions, religious identity and job crafting.
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