New Forms of Day Labour Work?
An international workshop on the historical
development of temporary work agencies from a global perspective
15 March 2012, Stockholm
It is with great pleasure that the Research Committee of
the Labour Movement Archive and Library and the
Centre for Labour History, Landskrona wish to
announce a workshop on the history of temporary work agencies. The workshop
will take place on 15 March 2012 in Stockholm, Sweden.
The aim of the proposed workshop is to explore relations between unions,
employers and temporary work agencies as well as the consequences of temporary
work for workers’ power from a historical perspective. The workshop
is intended to bring together union activists and researchers, in the hope
that this will inspire future research while also addressing a topic of
great relevance for the trade union movement.
The issue of temporary work agencies has become very prominent in union
debates during recent years. However this debate is not a new one. Different
forms of hired labour have threatened job security and have therefore been
a union issue from the very beginning. The global division of labour has
gone through profound changes during the last decades and recent development
is characterized by buzzwords such as flexibility and efficiency, but also
global competition. Companies in the north Atlantic region have reduced
their permanent workforces and temporary work agencies have become important
suppliers of labour. Both permanently employed workers and agency employed
workers have experienced threatened job security accompanied by a loss of
union power. Moreover it is more difficult to organize both groups of workers
in local unions, although they are doing the same job. In other words, the
growth of temporary work agencies as a global phenomenon raises questions
about job security, solidarity and the development of union strategies.
Historians have not yet tackled these questions in any depth.
Papers analysing the historical development of relations between unions
and temporary work agencies or their predecessors with a focus on one of
the following issues are welcome:
• Local, national and international union strategies towards temporary
work agencies and their predecessors
• Local, national and international laws, agreements or conventions
concerning temporary work agencies
• Mobilization and organisation of agency employees by unions
• Temporary work agencies as a global phenomenon
Submission schedule and other information
Abstracts should be no longer than 400 words and sent no later than 10
November 2011 to silke.neunsinger@arbark.se.
Authors will be informed whether their paper has been accepted no later
than the end of June 2012. Proposals for full panels including chair and
commentator are welcome, as are individual papers. We would also very much
like to hear from researchers working in this field who know already at
this stage that they will not be able to attend the conference. Final drafts
of workshop papers are due by 10 February 2012. The conference language
is English.
Contact
If you have further questions, comments or ideas, please contact:
Silke Neunsinger: silke.neunsinger@arbark.se
Lars Berggren: lars.berggren@hist.lu.se