P eca ious o ganizing and beyond: he
case o a s and cons uc ion indus y
Joana Ma ques & Luísa Veloso
A3S & CIES-Isc e
This p ojec has ecei ed unding om he Eu opean Union’s Ho izon 2020 esea ch and
inno a ion p og amme unde he Ma ie Sklodowska-Cu ie g an ag eemen No 841164
Me hodology
•Seconda y da a analysis
•Eu os a (Labou Fo ce Su ey; Cul u al Employmen ; Indus y, ade and se ices)
•INE – Po uguese Na ional S a is ics Ins i u e
•Unions Repo s
•In e iews wi h key in o man s
•Digi al E hnog aphy
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The Cons uc ion indus y
•
Labou -in ensi e
sec o
•P o iding “employmen o hose wi h
li le educa ion o skill
, many o hem om he poo e
sec ions o socie y” (ILO 2001)
•
Highly agmen ed p oduc ion p ocess
, based on "long and complex
subcon ac ing chains
as
well as o he use o agency wo ke s, sel -employmen and ansien employmen ” (Danaj &
Sippola 2015)
•Unskilled, low-wage and and physically demanding/ insecu e jobs
•High
labou mobili y
in ace o immobile p oduc s
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The Cons uc ion indus y in Po ugal
•
Mobili y as amode o egula ion
(Ma ques e al 2021): in e nal mobili y h ough daily o
weekly commu ing & c oss-bo de mobili y (o en al e na ing wi h o he ac i i ies
pa icula ly ela ed o amily a ming) – associa ed o a ce ain kind o “nomadism” (Pin o
and Quei oz, 1996)
•Inc eased agmen a ion and lexibiliza ion o he cons uc ion indus y, h ough a
di ision
o labou based on subcon ac ing chains
, esul ing in inc easingly empo a y, mobile and
insecu e employmen
•
Labou sho age
:“Po ugal is in need o 100.000 wo ke s since a la ge pa o i s
wo k o ce is ab oad” (in e iew wi h Po uguese Cons uc ion Union, Sep embe 2020)
•
Illegali y
:“In he ield o cons uc ion in Po ugal, we hink ha 40%o wo ke s a e illegal,
i is no p eca ious, i is illegal!” (in e iew wi h Po uguese Cons uc ion Union,
Sep embe 2020).
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The A s sec o
•
Highly quali ied
p o essionals
•Labou
hype - lexibili y
, “as i he a was a e men ing p inciple o capi alism” and he a is an
exempla y igu e o he new wo ke , unc ional o he global economy (Menge 2003)
•
P eca i y as a mode o egula ion
: a ious a ypical o ms o pe o ming a is ic wo k – sel -
employmen , eelancing, pa - ime, lexible wo k a angemen s, unwaged wo k – associa ed
wi h ins able, insecu e, in e mi en wo k and he
absence o social p o ec ions
•exis ence o a ese e a my o a is ic labou
•widesp ead image o he ‘a is ic sel ’ and a is s’ belie ha hey consciously choose unce ain and
unde paid wo king condi ions, o o e ing au onomy, eedom and sel - esponsibili y (Loacke
2013)
• he p ocess o di e en ia ion o he a is ic labou ma ke , wi h eno mous inequali ies in e ms o
success and emune a ion, leading o an apology o in e -indi idual compe i ion
•
Lack o adi ional o ms o wo ke s’ o ganiza ion
(unions)
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The A s sec o in Po ugal
•
S uc u al p eca i y
has been ch onically exposed, including
“in isible” non-c ea i e
p o essionals in he a wo lds
(media o s, ope a o s, echnicians) - absence o
go e nmen esponse and illegali y ela ed o bogus sel -employmen
•Re e ence p i a e cul u al ins i u ions ook ad an age o he c isis o ad ance
neolibe al
agendas o cu s and dismissals.
•
G ow h o collec i e s uc u es
(union, social mo emen s, associa ions, collec i es),
which ela es o:
•The p ocess o decen alizing esponsibili ies in he a is ic domain ha we e
adi ionally assumed by he public sec o
•P eca i y and lack o op ions in e ms o wage labou .
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Compa a i e mac o Ou look
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Mobili y and abscence o a s able wo kplace
WORKPLACE
ECONOMIC
ACTIVTY Employe 's
P emises o
Own P emises
Home Clien s' Place No Fixed o
O he No Response
To al
-All Nace Ac i i ies
78,0
2,3
8,3
7,3
4,0
Cons uc ion
23,9
-
54,3
15,7
5,6
A s, En e ainmen and Rec ea ion
; O he Se ice
Ac i i ies; Ac i i ies O Household And Ex a
-Te i o ial
O ganiza ions And Bodies
79,4
3,7
10,7
3,2
3,0
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Sou ce: Eu os a
▶Li e a u e shows he impo ance o ha ing a s able wo kplace o he de elopmen o
solida iees and he o maeon o poliecal subjec s.
Table 1. Pe sons in in Cons uc ion, A s and To al Employmen by main Place o Wo k (%, Po ugal 2019)
Independen wo k and bogus au onomy
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0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
To al - all NACE ac i i ies Cons uc ion A s, en e ainmen and ec ea ion
Sou ce: Eu os a ; INE
Fig. 1. Sha e o he Sel -employed in Cons uc ion, A s and To al Employmen (%, Po ugal 2011-2019)
Concluding Rema ks
•Despi e ep esen ing wo dis inc sec o s o he wo k o ce, hey p esen a se o
simila i ies ha challenge he possibili ies o wo ke s’ o ganisa ion and mobilisa ion:
• he empo a y, p ojec -based na u e o wo k,
• he p eca ious employmen a angemen s, o en in o mal/ illegal;
• he mobile na u e o wo k ac i i ies, no linked o a ixed wo kplace.
•associa ed o p eca ious o ganizing
•These wo ke s and hei o ganiza ions make a dense case o obse ing simul aneously
he
ongoing ans o ma ions and p eca iza ion p ocesses in he wo ld o wo k
and, on he
o he hand,
con empo a y o ms o wo ke s’ collec i e o ganiza ion
, as well as he
challenges and cons ain s hey ace.
•
Nex s eps:
In-dep h analysis o collec i e o ms wo ke s’ o ganiza ion.
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Thank You!
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Joana Ma ques
Luísa Veloso
[email p o ec ed]
h ps://a3s.webnode.p