Working Lives Research Institute
2004 was a fantastic year for Working Lives. The institute secured many new projects and the number of staff grew to 30. Due to our rapid expansion we have relocated to London Metropolitan University's Jewry Street site. We are located very close to Aldgate tube, right in the heart of the City.
The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) has commissioned the first piece of comprehensive research to identify the skills of migrant workers in the East of England. The study by the Working Lives Institute at London Metropolitan University aims to find out the scale, geography and the characteristics of the current migrant workers in the region. The research is believed to be the first of its kind as it aims to detail the skill base of migrant workers within the region.
Dr Sian Moore and Dr Sonia McKay of the Working Lives Research Institute were recently published in the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Employment Relations Research Series (NO.26) with their report entitled 'The content of new voluntary trade union agreements 1998-2002'. The report forms Volume 1 of a two part series and provides an analysis of new agreements and case studies.
^ topCongratulations to Jane Holgate who has been awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Economic and Social Research Council for the 2004/2005 academic year. Jane will be based at the Working Lives Research Institute at London Metropolitan University and the Geography Department at Queen Mary, University of London, with the aim of developing joint interdisciplinary research projects.
Jane’s application to the ESRC, entitled 'Black and minority ethnic workers in the labour market: challenges for trade union organisation', will allow Jane to continue the research she began while completing her PhD.
Jane’s PhD focused on the changing nature of the labour market in the south-east and its effect on black and minority ethnic groups in the context of trade union organisation. The nature of London as a global city both economically and demographically, makes it an important topic of local, national and international research. The Postdoctoral Fellowship will allow Jane to develop this area of research and throughout the year, Jane will be disseminating her findings through research papers, conferences, seminars and teaching.
Women refugees - from volunteers to employees
Launch of summary report and workshop for those with an interest in the voluntary sector, refugee and women’s issues and employment, refugee community organisations, as well as the refugee women who participated in the research to hear about our findings.
Click link below for full report:
Employment Law Seminar Series
The Working Lives Research Institute is pleased to host a new series of employment law seminars focusing on legal developments and current legal problems. Many of the topics run in parallel to the current research portfolio of the Institute and all speakers are leading authorities on their topic areas.
Workplace Learning:Who Controls the Agenda? A Conference for Union Learning Representatives.
Following a very successful inaugural seminar in February, the second in the two-year series will take place in London in November. The theme of the seminar will be The Impact of Economic Change and Restructuring on Working Class Communities, Identities and Organisation in Place.
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This year's Annual Peace Lecture is being given by Professor Mary Davis, Deputy
Director of Working Lives, on 26th October. The title of the lecture is"The
changing nature of Nationalism and the effect of a Unipolar World Order on
regional conflict: Israel and Palestine: Politics and History". This event
is to be held in St. Mary's Guildhall, Coventry.
Tim Strangleman and Steve Jefferys from Working Lives along with Jane Martin
from Education at London Metropolitan University have won funding for a major
three-year research project from the Economic and Social Research Council under
its Identities and Social Action programme. The project, ‘Does work still shape
social identities and action?’, was one of 25 successful applications from an
initial 330 bids. The study questions the extent to which employment has and
still does shape identity formation and acts to inform social action.
The project combines theoretical and methodological innovation with detail empirical research. It will be based on extensive study of three occupational groups - teachers, bank workers and railway labour- in four periods going back to the early 20th century and will also develop theoretical analysis of work identity and meaning more generally. The project will start in early 2005 and will be recruiting a research fellow shortly. More details of the programme can be found at http://www.identities.org.uk/ .
Ten individuals nominated by WLRI attended the European Summer University on
Work in Nantes, France at the end of August. The group included several
Researchers from the institute as well as a representative from both the TUC and
GMBU. This first time event was attended by 250 researchers and social actors
from across Europe. It was part-funded by the French government, the Nantes
municipality and the European Union. The Working Lives Research Institute is one
of the ten sponsoring partners. For further information on this event please
visit the UET web site [editor: web site no longer active].
Article by WLRI researchers who attended the UET:
The European Summer University of Work was a stimulating exchange of ideas among policy makers, trade union representatives and academics from across Europe. During the sessions on ‘New Corporate Management’, for example, it was possible to hear a number of first-hand accounts from the proponents of what one might call ‘Brave New Trade Unionism’. Various contributions emphasised that whilst neo-liberalism euphemises growing attacks on labour by the mantra of global competitiveness, it denies workers’ right to have a say in corporate management, and hence, in their own working lives. Union delegates, from France and Germany in particular, discussed their own recent efforts to change this situation within the frame of ‘social dialogue’. A broad agreement emerged among many participants about the existence of ‘substantial differences’ between continental social dialogue and the partnership project in Britain ‘as a capital-biased initiative’.
Due to time-constraints it was not possible to discuss all the issues raised
in the conference as fully as they deserved. Further debate would help to assist
a fuller account of social dialogue with regard to its implications for
international labour movements. Organising a European Conference of Work on an
annual basis would provide much needed opportunities for the cross-fertilisation
of ideas among trade unionists and academics on this issue. Moreover, it would
be useful to include research-based contributions on the ‘Third World’ as the
other side of the globalisation-coin. Addressing the under-representation of
participants from ethnic minorities at future events would also help to inform
debates about their ‘dual’ experiences from within and outside the European
Union.
Surhan Cam and Hannah Wood, WLRI.
The European Summer University on Work included an exhibition of work imagery such as the photograph above taken by Gerad Dalla Santa
Employment Law Seminar
The public sector duty to promote
equality
Colin O'Cinneide, University College of London
Working Lives Research Institute hosted the launch of Tim Strangleman's book: Work Identity at the End of the Line? Privatisation and Culture Change in the UK Rail Industry. Published by Palgrave Macmillan
The Working Lives Research Institute is pleased to announce the launch of Tim Strangleman's much awaited book.
‘Producing’ social divisions: intersectional approaches to researching ethnicity, gender and work - seminar series
Encarnación Gutiérrez-Rodriguez, Hamburg University:
Gouvernementality and the Ethnification of the Social. On Work, Migration
and Bio-Politic.
Working Lives Research Institute held the first event in its new series of employment law seminars focusing on legal developments and current legal problems.
Tribunal procedures - their impact on access to
justice
Rebecca Tuck, Old Square Chambers
On June 3, WLRI doctoral student Louise Raw gave her first
public lecture on her research into the important links between two groups of
courageous ‘Eastenders’, the women of the 1888 Bryant and May strike and the men
of the Great Dock Strike of 1889. Appropriately enough the venue, the Museum in Docklands, is situated
on the former West India Dock, where the dock strike began. Louise was delighted
with the attendance and response to her lecture ‘A Match to Fire the Docks’,
which curator Dr Tom Wareham said was one of the most successful and interesting
yet given at the museum.
In what might be an important breakthrough for Louise, a descendant of one of the matchwomen who was among the audience thought she recognised her grandmother in the famous photograph, above, used in the lecture. Louise had been trying for some time to find descendants of the women, whose strike she believes was far more self-organised and historically significant than is generally recognised.
‘Producing’ social divisions: intersectional approaches to researching ethnicity, gender and work - seminar series
Julia O'Connell Davidson, Nottingham University: Moral Dilemmas of the Global Sex Trade
A European Union Network meeting of social researchers met with sociologists from China in Brussels on May 5-7 2004. The conference was called ‘Globalisation seen from Europe and China’, and was organised by Mateo Alaluf of the Sociology and Work Department of ULB (Free University Brussels).
Steve Jefferys speaking in Brussels, May 7th 2004
Speakers included Jean Claude Barbier of the Centre d’Études de l’Emploi, Paris, Bernard Friot of Nanterre University (Paris X) and Jacky Fayolle of the Institut de Recherches économiques et sociale (IRES), Paris. From Bulgaria came Vasil Kirov, who is also involved in the SMALL project, and two other colleagues, while Working Lives Research Institute Director, Steve Jefferys, gave an analysis of British migration policy towards Chinese migrants called ‘Between Welcome and Rejection’. Speakers from China came from Biejing and Shanghai.
One of the positive outcomes of the meeting was an agreement by the two directors of IRES (France) and the Working Lives Research Institute (UK) to organise a joint meeting of researchers involved in common parallel projects in the two countries.
WORKS (Work organisation & restructuring in the knowledge society), the
research bid inspired by Visiting Professor Ursula Huws, and submitted by her
colleagues at HIVA in Belgium, has just been evaluated top of the class for a
Framework 6 European Project. The project focuses on changes in work and
society, and involves 19 partners across the new Europe. This success brings a
substantial grant to the WLRI and means that Ursula will join the team as a
permanent staff member for the duration of the 4 year project. Congratulations
Ursula!
‘Producing’ social divisions: intersectional approaches to researching ethnicity, gender and work - seminar series
Nirmal Puwar, University of Northampton: Space Invaders At Work: Race, Gender & of course Class
Tony Benn was guest of honour at a reception held at Congress House on Monday 2nd February 2004 to mark the completion of The Union Makes Us Strong: TUC History Online, a partnership initiative between London Metropolitan University and the TUC to open up access to the TUC Library Collections.
more »
‘Producing’ social divisions: intersectional approaches to researching ethnicity, gender and work - seminar serie
Prof. Mirjana Morokvasic, CNRS and Université de Paris X: "Being your own Boss" - Documentary and Talk about Self- Employed Filippina Migrants in Tokyo
Professor Sherry Linkon & Professor John Russo of The Center for Working Class Studies, Youngstown State University Ohio gave a talk on the development of the new interdisciplinary field of working class studies.
After securing new funding to study trade union recognition agreements and the effectiveness of trade union use of Union Learning Funds, the Working Lives Research Institute advertised to fill a one-year post.
‘Producing’ social divisions: intersectional approaches to researching ethnicity, gender and work - seminar series
Eleonore Kofman, Nottingham Trent University: Gender, Migration and Knowledge Economies/ Societies
