Experimenting in a State of Polycrisis: A Pathway to Better Work?
Session proposal
Mathieu Dupuis, Laval University
Mélanie Laroche, University of Montréal
Multiple disruptions are reshaping the world of work. These disruptions - such as the acceleration of climate change, the rise of digital technologies and major demographic changes, flexibilization and fissuring strategies – are deepening asymmetries of power between workers and their representatives, on the one hand, and firms and supply chains, on the other.
In this polycrisis context, world-of-work actors experiment a variety of actions and strategies. Approaches vary with national, industry, and organizational contexts as well as the political orientations and resources of the actors themselves. Within this context, the “better work’ framework focuses on the dimensions of risk, autonomy, and expressiveness to capture these multiple dimensions and levels of better and worse work.
Negotiated, co-constructed or imposed, experimentation stems from the various initiatives and strategies that actors put forward. While in some cases experimentation may have a positive impact on one or more dimensions of work quality, others produce no tangible results, or even lead to a general deterioration in work quality. Some experiments also produce contradictory effects, with some aspects of work improving while others deteriorate.
For example, for some employers, experimentation will be driven by the urge to increase productivity, their flexibility or even reduce their dependency on labour. For unions, experimentation for better work is a way of broadening bargaining and policy agendas and connecting with the concerns of those they represent or seek to represent. For policy makers, preoccupied by labour shortages and the impact of growing inequalities on populism and democracy, such experimentation offers an opportunity to embrace favourable working conditions as more than just an economic trickle-down effect.
The aim of this session is to better understand the effects of different disruptions the world-of-work is facing and the challenges they pose, as well as the actions and experiments deployed by actors to address them. The key is to gain a better understanding of how these strategies or any other approach to these disruptions develop and, when applicable, are institutionalized. It is also crucial to comprehend why these actions and strategies sometimes make work better and sometimes make work worse, on one or more of its dimensions.
This session will build on the CRIMT International Partnership Project on Institutional Experimentation for Better or Worse Work, which is an interuniversity, inter-disciplinary and international collaborative research network bringing together researchers from around the world to look at the challenges of institutional experimentation and renewal for work and employment.
This session aims to contribute to the debate on the capacity of institutions to deal with the polycrisis context facing labour market actors (track 3). More specifically, we are analysing the resilience of actors in the face of various crises and their ability to implement innovative solutions to enable a more equitable and inclusive world of work. We are proposing 4 papers in this session, which will address various crises, including the climate crisis, the digital revolution, Covid-19, labour shortages and even the public finance crisis. Our aim is to gain a better understanding of the factors that enable actors to better respond to these crises and ensure better work.
Presentations of the Special Session
Collective Bargaining as an Instrument for Worker Participation in the Just Transition: Lessons from Quebec's Metallurgical Sector
Jonathan Michaud
Université de Montréal
Faced with the various manifestations of the ecological crisis, Quebec’s unions dispose of a wide range of institutions to protect workers’ interests. Mechanisms for national and sectoral social dialogue enable labour to define the transition’s requirements in terms of workforce skills and training (Laroche, 2013) within state policies (Michaud et Laroche, 2024). However, at the local level, where collective bargaining takes place, the articulation between these levels offers a more contrasting interpretation of workers’ participation in a just transition guaranteeing decent work. Based on three qualitative case studies (n=140) in the metal sector, this presentation highlights the main levers of action and factors of inertia for local union action. We contribute to power resource approaches (Refslund and Arnholtz, 2022) as mobilized to understand just transition union strategies (Kalt, 2022) by nuancing territorial anchoring of production for workers as well as the power of non-decision which, in the Quebec institutional framework.
The Capacity of Management and Labour to Adapt to Recent Disruptions: Illustrative Vignettes from Quebec (Canada)
Patrice Jalette, Mélanie Laroche
Université de Montréal
The aim of this paper is to highlight the ability of collective bargaining parties to respond to various disruptions impacting the world of work through social dialogue. This polycrisis context involves going beyond traditional repertoires to deal with uncertainty brought by these disruptions through strategies and practices that will take different forms, and which will be deliberate or emergent, permanent or temporary. Drawing on three vignettes of parties dealing with Covid-19 crisis, labour shortages and climate crisis, we provide some lessons from the field on the parties’ capacity to adapt - and sometimes their incapacity and tardiness to - and demonstrate the resilience of the industrial relations system. Methodologically, our results are based on a content analysis of the collective agreements in force in Quebec. We also present the findings of an in-depth interview campaign with experienced negotiators in a variety of sectors, to gain a better understanding of the compromises negotiated by the parties in response to these different fault lines.
Workplace Regimes Under Digitalization: Markets, Technology and Power in Three Manufacturing Industries
Mathieu Dupuis
Université Laval
Digitalization has been depicted as an inherently disruptive factor reconfiguring employer-workers relations in a variety of fora. In this paper, I analyze whether the adoption of digital technologies affects work processes on the shopfloor and how social relations between workers and managers influence different aspects of the labour process. In line with recent critical contributions on technologies and work, I argue that these changes are modified to suit specific contexts, often through negotiation and contestation in the workplace. My core argument is that the nature of workplace compromises emerging from these dynamics depends on the conjunction of two main factors: the material aspects of workplaces (markets, production and technologies) and the power resources that shape relationships between workers, their unions and management. Empirically, this paper is based on multiple case studies of workplaces in three manufacturing segments, all located in the province of Québec (Canada): aluminum, rubber, and lumber production.
Has the Labor Shortage Allowed Immigrants to Improve their Working Conditions? Yes, but
Émilie Genin1, Walid Kaddour2
1Université de Montréa, 2Université de Montréal
To improve working conditions and amplify workers' voices, it is crucial to address the unique challenges faced by immigrant workers, whose working conditions are often overlooked. Immigrant workers are known to suffer more during economic crises than native workers (Boudarbat & Adom, 2023). However, the impact of labor shortages on these workers is less understood. Using quantitative data from over 2,000 workers in Quebec, this research compares the employment conditions of native and immigrant workers. The findings show that while immigrant workers’ conditions improved, the labor shortage had mixed effects, benefiting both groups in some ways but also posing challenges. Immigrants who changed jobs experienced the greatest improvements, likely due to their previously worse conditions, indicating a "catch-up" effect. Findings also suggest that the improvements perceived by respondents are less a result of employers' actions and more due to workers' ability to find better jobs.
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