Comparamos trabajadores formales e informales en el comercio minorista, el mayor sector de empleo... more Comparamos trabajadores formales e informales en el comercio minorista, el mayor sector de empleos formales e informales en Mexico. Dado a que la rotacion esta alta en el comercio, utilizamos un pequeno muestreo pequeno (inclusive de tres encuestas a traves de dos anos) para seguir experiencias y trayectorias laborales a traves del tiempo). Los trabajadores en el comercio formal ganan mas y reciben mayores aumentos que los trabajadores informales. Sin embargo, buena parte de la ventaja desaparece cuando excluimos a los supervisores y gerentes. Hubo poco movilidad de empleo a traves del muestreo. Los trabajadores tenian aspiraciones relativamente modestas – la mas comun siendo abrir o expandir su propio negocio. La mayoria tomo alguna iniciativa para avanzar sobre esas aspiraciones, pero el progreso solia ser muy limitado y varios trabajadores iban en direccion contraria. Enfrentando realidades estancadas, muchos bajaron incluso sus expectativas.
How to Work Things OutWorlds of WorkCotton, Coal, and ClinicsAn Analytical FrameEmployers at Work... more How to Work Things OutWorlds of WorkCotton, Coal, and ClinicsAn Analytical FrameEmployers at WorkWorkers and Other ActorsHow Work Has Changed, How Work ChangesVaried Work, Segmented WorkInequality at Work: HiringInequality at Work: Wages and PromotionContention at WorkConclusions
The U.S. diagnostic imaging equipment industry stands astride several of the most noteworthy tren... more The U.S. diagnostic imaging equipment industry stands astride several of the most noteworthy trends in the current U.S. economy. Diagnostic imaging equipment, which includes such machines as x-ray machines, CT (computed tomography) scanners, and MR (magnetic
Continuity and Change in Low-wage Work in U.S. Retail Trade Françoise Carré, Ph.D. and Chris Till... more Continuity and Change in Low-wage Work in U.S. Retail Trade Françoise Carré, Ph.D. and Chris Tilly, Ph.D.
In settings where most workers have full-time schedules, hourly wages are appropriate primary ind... more In settings where most workers have full-time schedules, hourly wages are appropriate primary indicators of job quality and worker outcomes. However, in sectors where full-time schedules do not dominate— primarily service-producing activities—total hours matter, in addition to hourly wages, for job quality and worker outcomes. In this paper we employ a sector-focused, comparative framework to further examine hours levels—measured as average weekly hours—and trends in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. We analyze the retail sector, which is of interest because of its high rate of part-time employment in the U.S. Based on our fieldwork in the United States and Mexico and qualitative literature on Canadian retail work, we argue that the combination of business strategies and very different institutional constraints will lead U.S. retailers to a greater extent and Canadian retailers to a lesser extent to shorten hours and expand part-time jobs, whereas in Mexico it will lead retaile...
Resumen La informalización del mercado de trabajo ha provocado contra-movimientos en muchos paíse... more Resumen La informalización del mercado de trabajo ha provocado contra-movimientos en muchos países, a pesar de la debilidad económica de trabajadores informales. En México y en los Estados Unidos (donde los migrantes latinoamericanos ocupan gran parte de los empleos informales) los ejemplos los más exitosos de tales contra-movimientos son movimientos de auto-organización en el espacio público: los comerciantes informales en México y los jornaleros urbanos en los EEUU. Este estudio investiga, por medio de estudios de caso en los dos países, las formas y estrategias de estas organizaciones, examinando las fuentes de su éxito, y las similitudes y distinciones entre los dos. Con límites estrechos en su fuerza económica, estos trabajadores prosiguen estrategias políticas que se conforman a los orígenes distintos de cada movimiento y a los sistemas políticos de los dos países. Abstract Informalization of the labor market has provoked counter-movements in many countries, despite the econom...
In Latin America over the last twenty-five years, as armed left movements have declined and left-... more In Latin America over the last twenty-five years, as armed left movements have declined and left-populist electoral parties have come to flourish, a “Third Left” has also emerged, combining bottom-up decision making, autonomy from the state, and pursuit of claims on territory via direct action. Examples range from the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra (MST) (Landless Workers Movement) in Brazil to workercontrolled businesses in Argentina. This approach finds U.S. parallels in housing rights movements over a similar period, and more recently in the Occupy movement. However, this approach has been little explored in the U.S. workplace, with the exception of worker ownership strategies that largely remain marginal. We consider what legal and social movement steps could facilitate the expansion of such an approach in the U.S. workplace, and the possible implications for worker protection.
In the light of his essay “Cities, States and Trust Networks,” contributors to this collection we... more In the light of his essay “Cities, States and Trust Networks,” contributors to this collection were asked to consider ways of building on or departing from the late Charles Tilly’s work. The authors in this collection addressed four major themes: (1) historicism and historical legacies, (2) trust networks and commitment, (3) city– state relations, and (4) democracy and inequality. Authors concentrating on historicism examined how, despite unanticipated consequences, social action nonetheless produced systematic, durable, social structures; they particularly focused on processes of identity formation and cultural reproduction. In regard to trust networks, contributors discovered a striking variety of forms and relationships and they investigated their origins and their relationship to institutions and culture. Looking at city–state relations, authors uncovered the richness and intricacy of the ties linking cities and states and showed that city–state relations were important not simp...
Comparamos trabajadores formales e informales en el comercio minorista, el mayor sector de empleo... more Comparamos trabajadores formales e informales en el comercio minorista, el mayor sector de empleos formales e informales en Mexico. Dado a que la rotacion esta alta en el comercio, utilizamos un pequeno muestreo pequeno (inclusive de tres encuestas a traves de dos anos) para seguir experiencias y trayectorias laborales a traves del tiempo). Los trabajadores en el comercio formal ganan mas y reciben mayores aumentos que los trabajadores informales. Sin embargo, buena parte de la ventaja desaparece cuando excluimos a los supervisores y gerentes. Hubo poco movilidad de empleo a traves del muestreo. Los trabajadores tenian aspiraciones relativamente modestas – la mas comun siendo abrir o expandir su propio negocio. La mayoria tomo alguna iniciativa para avanzar sobre esas aspiraciones, pero el progreso solia ser muy limitado y varios trabajadores iban en direccion contraria. Enfrentando realidades estancadas, muchos bajaron incluso sus expectativas.
How to Work Things OutWorlds of WorkCotton, Coal, and ClinicsAn Analytical FrameEmployers at Work... more How to Work Things OutWorlds of WorkCotton, Coal, and ClinicsAn Analytical FrameEmployers at WorkWorkers and Other ActorsHow Work Has Changed, How Work ChangesVaried Work, Segmented WorkInequality at Work: HiringInequality at Work: Wages and PromotionContention at WorkConclusions
The U.S. diagnostic imaging equipment industry stands astride several of the most noteworthy tren... more The U.S. diagnostic imaging equipment industry stands astride several of the most noteworthy trends in the current U.S. economy. Diagnostic imaging equipment, which includes such machines as x-ray machines, CT (computed tomography) scanners, and MR (magnetic
Continuity and Change in Low-wage Work in U.S. Retail Trade Françoise Carré, Ph.D. and Chris Till... more Continuity and Change in Low-wage Work in U.S. Retail Trade Françoise Carré, Ph.D. and Chris Tilly, Ph.D.
In settings where most workers have full-time schedules, hourly wages are appropriate primary ind... more In settings where most workers have full-time schedules, hourly wages are appropriate primary indicators of job quality and worker outcomes. However, in sectors where full-time schedules do not dominate— primarily service-producing activities—total hours matter, in addition to hourly wages, for job quality and worker outcomes. In this paper we employ a sector-focused, comparative framework to further examine hours levels—measured as average weekly hours—and trends in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. We analyze the retail sector, which is of interest because of its high rate of part-time employment in the U.S. Based on our fieldwork in the United States and Mexico and qualitative literature on Canadian retail work, we argue that the combination of business strategies and very different institutional constraints will lead U.S. retailers to a greater extent and Canadian retailers to a lesser extent to shorten hours and expand part-time jobs, whereas in Mexico it will lead retaile...
Resumen La informalización del mercado de trabajo ha provocado contra-movimientos en muchos paíse... more Resumen La informalización del mercado de trabajo ha provocado contra-movimientos en muchos países, a pesar de la debilidad económica de trabajadores informales. En México y en los Estados Unidos (donde los migrantes latinoamericanos ocupan gran parte de los empleos informales) los ejemplos los más exitosos de tales contra-movimientos son movimientos de auto-organización en el espacio público: los comerciantes informales en México y los jornaleros urbanos en los EEUU. Este estudio investiga, por medio de estudios de caso en los dos países, las formas y estrategias de estas organizaciones, examinando las fuentes de su éxito, y las similitudes y distinciones entre los dos. Con límites estrechos en su fuerza económica, estos trabajadores prosiguen estrategias políticas que se conforman a los orígenes distintos de cada movimiento y a los sistemas políticos de los dos países. Abstract Informalization of the labor market has provoked counter-movements in many countries, despite the econom...
In Latin America over the last twenty-five years, as armed left movements have declined and left-... more In Latin America over the last twenty-five years, as armed left movements have declined and left-populist electoral parties have come to flourish, a “Third Left” has also emerged, combining bottom-up decision making, autonomy from the state, and pursuit of claims on territory via direct action. Examples range from the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra (MST) (Landless Workers Movement) in Brazil to workercontrolled businesses in Argentina. This approach finds U.S. parallels in housing rights movements over a similar period, and more recently in the Occupy movement. However, this approach has been little explored in the U.S. workplace, with the exception of worker ownership strategies that largely remain marginal. We consider what legal and social movement steps could facilitate the expansion of such an approach in the U.S. workplace, and the possible implications for worker protection.
In the light of his essay “Cities, States and Trust Networks,” contributors to this collection we... more In the light of his essay “Cities, States and Trust Networks,” contributors to this collection were asked to consider ways of building on or departing from the late Charles Tilly’s work. The authors in this collection addressed four major themes: (1) historicism and historical legacies, (2) trust networks and commitment, (3) city– state relations, and (4) democracy and inequality. Authors concentrating on historicism examined how, despite unanticipated consequences, social action nonetheless produced systematic, durable, social structures; they particularly focused on processes of identity formation and cultural reproduction. In regard to trust networks, contributors discovered a striking variety of forms and relationships and they investigated their origins and their relationship to institutions and culture. Looking at city–state relations, authors uncovered the richness and intricacy of the ties linking cities and states and showed that city–state relations were important not simp...
Introduction The following is a discussion document for Experiences in Organizing Informal Worker... more Introduction The following is a discussion document for Experiences in Organizing Informal Workers: A Comparative Investigation 1 (EOIW), a transnational collaborative research project led by the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. The project's principal object of analysis is organizational forms and strategies used by informal workers to increase political voice, economic leverage, and social standing. To create a common language and context for this discussion, we must also specify what we mean by both informal work and informal worker organizing. We examine the former topic in Section 1, providing a brief history of the terms " informality " and " precarity, " a discussion of associated conceptual problems, and proposals for how to address them. We address the latter topic in Section 2 through a discussion of the history, forms, and strategies of informal worker organizations, and the relations of such organizations to the state, political parties, and formal worker labor unions. This is intended as a living, iterative document that will evolve based on EOIW participants' suggestions and findings.
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