Moira Calveley

Towards a Bourdieusian analysis of the social composition of the UK film and television workforce

The social composition of the workforce of the UK film and television industries does not reflect the diversity of the population and the industries have been described as white, male and middle class. While the lack of specific demographic representation in employment (for example gender or ethnicity) has been highlighted by both industry and academic commentators, its broader social composition has rarely been addressed by research. This article draws on the work of Bourdieu, particularly the concepts of field, habitus and capitals, to explore perceptions of the barriers to entry into these industries and the way in which individuals negotiate these by drawing on the various capitals to which they have access.

Political Activism and Workplace Industrial Relations in a UK 'Failing' School

The paper draws on a qualitative case study of workplace industrial relations in an inner–city secondary school identified as ‘failing’ and subsequently closed. It considers the way unionized teachers and their representatives interpret, influence and resist the impact of centralized managerial and educational change. The local implementation of such change leads to an engagement with the debates on union renewal. In particular, the paper explores the dynamic interrelationship between political and trade union activism and the tension between workplace relations and formal union organization.

Miners' identity and the changing face of the labour process within the UK coal mining industry

Purpose - Much current academic writing focuses on the changing nature of work in the services sector, particularly with regard to the implementation of new technological processes. Bringing attention back to a traditional industry, coal mining, the paper aims to consider the impact of technology upon the labour process and identity of coal miners. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on qualitative research undertaken by an ex-coal miner and draws upon interviews with workers in five of the UKs remaining deep coal mines. Findings - The paper demonstrates how the introduction of new technology in the mining industry has intensified workplace monitoring and surveillance. Despite this, we identify how complete management control over the labour process has not been possible. As the paper will show, miners draw upon their identity as autonomous workers in order to mediate the impact of technology on their working practices. The underlying belief of miners is that the capabilities of new technological working practices do not extend to replacing them at the coal face and that their unique identity as coal miners, combined with the unusual nature of the job, provides them with a force for mediating management control. Originality/value - The paper offers a unique insight into the impact of technology upon the identity and labour process of a group of workers from a traditional heavy industry.

Labour strategies, cross-border solidarity and the mobility of health workers: Evidence from five New Member States

Shortages of health workers in Western Europe have been addressed, in part, by recruitment from New Member States. In addition to concerns regarding social dumping and cohesion, the loss of human capital and subsequent deleterious impact on services poses a new challenge for trade unions. The aim of this article is to examine the strategies and interventions of health worker trade unions in five countries: Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Union capacity is analysed through the dimensions of structural power (ability to cause disruption through industrial action); institutional power (lobbying and negotiating with appropriate bodies); and coalitional power (mobilizing support across borders with labour and non-labour organizations). While structural power is generally weak, the deployment of institutional and coalitional power has been more varied across the five countries.

Scaling the mobility of health workers in an enlarged Europe: An open political-economy perspective

The enlargement of the European Union in 2004 and 2007 and the marketisation of health care are increasing the mobility of workers and driving a scalar transformation of the sector across Europe. Drawing on questionnaires and interviews in 17 European Union countries, and focusing on two case study New Member States, we analyse inter- and intra-country drivers and impacts of health care labour mobility. The data are analysed from an open political-economy perspective underpinned by an understanding of scale as a socially constructed material entity mediated by national and supranational state institutions, and the collective agency of workers. We emphasise the contradictory and contested nature of rescaling health care and the complex micro-dynamics of mobility. Although absolute outward migration across borders is relatively small, the movement of health care specialists is having a disproportionate effect on sender countries and regions within them.

Book Review: Gender Democracy in Trade Unions

A research into gender in trade unions was a relatively neglected topic in the past, there has been a recent upsurge of work in this area. Anne McBride’s in-depth and captivating study of gender democracy in UNISON, the largest UK public sector union, is a significant addition to this literature. Indeed, the book also raises issues of concern with regard to union representation for black and lesbian and gay union members whilst also inter-relating these with working class members of all groups, including white men. The book begins by reminding us of the changing face of British trade unions; that women now make up around 44 per cent of the workforce and about 40 per cent of trade union members, and that a key strategy of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) is to recruit more women. It describes how the merger of three public sector unions––the National and Local Government Officers’ Association (NALGO), the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE) and the Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE)––made the new union UNISON the largest union in Britain, with almost one million female members (72 per cent) and with approximately 10 per cent of its members black workers. Within a union where it was anticipated that, following the merger, it ‘would represent one in 18 of all workers in the country, one in six trade unionists and one-third of all women union members’, the quest for equality of representation and participation is clearly of major consequence, particularly to women members of UNISON and potentially to women members of other unions. By implementing proportionality in a union with such a high percentage of women members, UNISON is arguably changing the dominant (male) values of trade unionism; the power and authority in decision making previously held by men perceivably shifts towards the women members. This enlightened approach by UNISON to union organisation is given thoughtful and balanced consideration by the author, providing us with insight into tensions that exist between and within the various representative groups in the quest for the appropriate structures to support union aims. Central to the book is the complex notion of democracy. The author draws upon, and develops, Bachrach and Baratz’s analytical framework of power and decision making in order to help us through this intricate concept. As McBride takes us through the literature on democracy and power, she builds up, step by step, a powerful analysis of gender democracy in trade unions. This analysis explores the extent to which the ‘rules of the game’ within trade unions tend to favour white male interests. The book critically appraises different prescriptions