Vulnerable Workers Research Articles

Shoring up economic refugees: Venezuelan migrants in the Ecuadoran labor market

Abstract Ecuador became the third largest receiver of the 4.3 million Venezuelans who left their country in the last five years, hosting around 10 per cent of them. Little is known about the characteristics of these migrants and their labor market outcomes. This article fills this gap by analyzing a new large survey (EPEC). On average, Venezuelan workers are highly skilled and have high rates of employment, compared with Ecuadorans. However, their employment is of much lower quality, characterized by low wages, and high rates of informality and temporality. Venezuelans have experienced significant occupational downgrading, relative to their employment prior to emigration. As a result, despite their high educational attainment, Venezuelans primarily compete for jobs with the least skilled and more economically vulnerable Ecuadoran workers. Our simulations suggest that measures that allow Venezuelans to obtain employment that matches their skills, such as facilitating the conversion of education credentials, would increase Ecuador’s GDP between 1.6 and 1.9 per cent and alleviate the pressure on disadvantaged native workers. We also show that providing work permits to Venezuelan workers would substantially reduce their rates of informality and increase their average earnings.

Hepatitis A Outbreak in a Facility for the Disabled, Gyeonggi Province, Korea: An Epidemiological Investigation.

Objectives:The number of cases of hepatitis A virus (HAV) infections has sharply increased in Korea, especially among young adults. In this study, an HAV outbreak in a facility for disabled people was investigated, and we found epidemiological differences both between 2 different generations and between generally abled and disabled groups.Methods:We analyzed the incubation period and attack rate of an HAV outbreak and investigated the prevalence of HAV antibodies among the staff and residents of a facility for the disabled. We performed a retrospective cohort study during the HAV outbreak, which lasted from February 8 to 25, 2019, including examinations of HAV antibody tests and post-exposure HAV vaccination for the staff or residents of the facility.Results:There were 9 confirmed cases in 2 staff members and 7 residents. Among 53 people (30 staff and 23 residents), except for the 9 confirmed cases and 1 staff member with a known history of HAV infection, HAV seroprevalence was seen in 16.7% of the staff under 40 years of age and 95.2% of those over 40 years of age, while the corresponding rates in the residents were 0.0% and 58.8%, respectively.Conclusions:This result implies that it is necessary to prioritize HAV vaccination for vulnerable groups and workers of residential care facilities.

COVID-19 and global clothing retailers' responsibility to vulnerable workers: NGO counter-rhetoric

PurposeThis article aims to examine how non-governmental organisations (NGOs)' narratives portray the vulnerability of workers in global clothing supply chains during the COVID-19 crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe research analyses the rhetoric in global clothing retailers' and NGOs' counter-rhetoric during the first seven months of 2020.FindingsDuring this period, retailers employed rhetorical strategies to legitimise irresponsible actions (corporate hegemony prevailed), while NGOs embraced forms of counter-rhetoric trying to delegitimise the retailers' logic, stressing the role of neoliberalism in worsening the situation.Originality/valueThe authors contribute to the literature by providing new insight into the consequences of COVID-19 for retailers' neoliberal practices and the livelihood of workers in global supply chains. Findings of this study extend authors’ knowledge about retailers' COVID-19 measures: These have contributed to the plights of workers working for their supply factories in the global South.

Case Report: Gold Miner’s Lung: A Case of Chronic Hypersensitivity Pneumonia in Amazonian Forest

The hostile conditions at informal and illegal mining sites in the Amazonian forest erode the miner’s health, exposing workers to a broad range of diseases because most of the gold is extracted using mercury (Hg). The Hg vapor used daily at gold panning sites presents an environmental threat to the ecosystems and human health. We report the case of a 58-year-old man who has worked in gold panning for over 30 years, presented with diffuse interstitial pneumonia characterized by bilateral images of ground glass and mosaic opacities on the chest CT scan. Based on the negative differential diagnosis (cardiovascular, infectious, autoimmune or cancer), the context of chronic exposure to Hg in a patient who has been working for decades on illegal gold panning sites, we concluded to a chronic form of heavy metal hypersensitivity pneumonia. This hypothesis was supported by high levels of mercury in blood and urine. Mercury hypersensitivity pneumonia might be more frequent than presently thought with thousands of workers chronically exposed to high mercury concentrations among others pollutants. Medical practitioners should systematically seek for chronic respiratory illnesses associated with pollutants exposure in these vulnerable workers with poor health.

A critical analysis of vulnerability in informal sector employment in India: Protective mechanisms and adequacy of protection

AbstractThe measure of a civilized society, is how well it is able to protect its weakest and most vulnerable members. Vulnerable workers typically comprise very young and elderly workers, and disabled, indigent, and sick workers, usually employed in unregulated informal sector jobs. This study seeks to study the prevalence of vulnerability among workers in India, both physical and economic, occasioned by informality of their employment. It looks into the kind and degree of vulnerability faced by workers in informal sector occupations, in part by comparing with similar workers in formal employment, and checks whether protective mechanisms and safety nets are required, mandated, and in place, in the form of food transfers, medical treatment, income support, or subsidies. Relying on primary data, this study seeks to assess the actual availability and adequacy of social protection in terms of access and enforceability, gaps and reasons thereof, including barriers to take‐up, and concludes that gaps in implementation and targeting are the primary reasons for the prevalence of vulnerability in informal employment.

The Management and Oversight of Human Rights Due Diligence

The COVID-19 pandemic showed how vulnerable workers in global supply chains are to adverse human rights impacts. Protecting such workers must be a primary policy goal in the efforts to “build back better” from the crisis, and businesses conducting human rights due diligence (HRDD) is a primary means to do so. In Europe, there is a fast-moving trend towards legislatively mandating HRDD and there is potential for similar movement in the United States. Whether HRDD will significantly improve human rights conditions, however, is an open question. Based on our experience with corporate compliance programs, it is clear that the management and oversight of HRDD is an essential factor in ensuring meaningful implementation, as opposed to corporations focusing on form over substance. This article identifies those key internal governance issues and provides advice on how best to ensure effective implementation. This article argues that for most corporations, the day-to-day management of HRDD best fits with the compliance function—not the legal function—and this new role could be part of the next step in the evolution of the compliance function. This article also discusses the role of the board of directors and how HRDD combined with recent developments in the law of fiduciary duties can push directors to engage in more rigorous oversight. In addition, this article discusses the types of information that are essential for supporting the management and oversight of HRDD.

Heat-health vulnerabilities in the climate change context—comparing risk profiles between indoor and outdoor workers in developing country settings

Occupational heat stress is a crucial risk factor for a range of Heat-Related Illnesses (HRI). Outdoor workers in unorganized work sectors exposed to high ambient temperatures are at increased risk in developing countries. We aim to compare HRI, Productivity Loss (PL), and reduced renal health risk between workers from outdoor unorganized (N = 1053) and indoor organized (N = 1051) work sectors. Using descriptive methods and a large epidemiological cross-sectional study using mixed methods, we compared risk patterns between the two groups. We analyzed the risk of self-reported HRI symptoms, Heat Strain Indicators (HSIs), PL, and reduced kidney function using Multivariate Logistic Regression (MLR) models. Although Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) exposures were high in both the outdoor and indoor sectors, significantly more Outdoor Unorganized Workers (OUWs) reported heat stress symptoms (45.2% vs 39.1%) among 2104 workers. OUWs had a significantly higher share of the heavy workload (86.7%) and long years of heat exposures (41.9%), the key drivers of HRIs, than the workers in indoor sectors. MLR models comparing the indoor vs outdoor workers showed significantly increased risk of HRI symptoms (Adjusted Odds Ratio) (AORoutdoor = 2.1; 95% C.I:1.60–2.77), HSI (AORoutdoor = 1.7; 95% C.I:1.00–2.93), PL (AORoutdoor = 11.4; 95% C.I:7.39–17.6), and reduced kidney function (Crude Odds Ratio) (CORoutdoor = 1.4; 95% C.I:1.10–1.84) for the OUWs. Among the heat-exposed workers, OUW had a higher risk of HRI, HSI, and PL even after adjusting for potential confounders. The risk of reduced kidney function was significantly higher among OUWs, particularly for those with heat exposures and heavy workload (AORoutdoor = 1.5; 95% C.I: 0.96–2.44, p = 0.073) compared to the indoor workers. Further, in-depth studies, protective policies, feasible interventions, adaptive strategies, and proactive mitigation efforts are urgently needed to avert health and productivity risks for a few million vulnerable workers in developing nations as climate change proceeds.

The Psychology of Sustainability and Sustainable Development: Advancing Decent Work, Inclusivity, and Positive Strength-Based Primary Preventive Interventions for Vulnerable Workers.

This study discusses the contribution of the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development to the wellbeing of vulnerable workers. The psychology of sustainability and sustainable development is a current area of the research study in the field of sustainability science. It deals with sustainability as a framework to recognize and integrate the value of the psychological approach in the construction of processes linked to sustainable development. Accordingly, the psychology of sustainability and sustainable development could provide sustainable development processes for the employment of vulnerable workers. The contribution starts with the definition of the coordinates of a sustainable development process for vulnerable workers, anchoring it to the principles of decent work and inclusivity. Subsequently, positive variables involved in the sustainable development processes and their relationship with decent work and inclusivity are discussed. Moreover, positive healthy organizations are introduced as work environments capable to take care of the wellbeing, also, of vulnerable workers. Lastly, the applications of positive strength-based primary preventive interventions for vulnerable workers are analyzed. Perspectives for further research studies and interventions are also examined.

The international governance of refugee work: reflections on the Jordan compact

For the past 70 years, separate international regimes have governed the economic lives of refugees and labor migrants. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) oversees all aspects of refugee resettlement, including livelihoods, while the International Labor Organization (ILO) is charged with addressing the labor rights of migrants. This division has become increasingly problematic as international actors have sought to move refugees into employment arenas from which they have been largely excluded since the end of WWII. This article uses a case study of the 2016 EU-Jordan Compact to illustrate the risks inherent in positioning refugees as workers in the absence of a commitment to a rights-based approach. The Compact was negotiated between the European Commission, the World Bank, and the Government of Jordan, in consultation with the UNHCR; the ILO played no role in crafting the agreement. It sought to place 150,000 Syrians in Jordanian garment export manufacturing jobs, replacing an existing migrant workforce in an industry notorious for low pay and poor conditions. This effort quickly foundered. Instead, large numbers of Syrian refugees have been channeled into informal employment in construction and agriculture in Jordan, where they and migrant co-workers face pervasive violations of labor standards. Without decent work as a central goal, the Compact ultimately concentrated some of the world’s most vulnerable workers in some of its least desirable jobs. To protect refugees and others alongside whom they labor, the article argues, refugee employment initiatives must be accompanied by attention to decent work from the outset. At the international level, this should include a critical role for the ILO, in recognition of its extensive expertise with the establishment and enforcement of labor standards for all workers.

Apprise: inclusive innovation for enhancing the agency of vulnerable populations in the context of anti-trafficking responses

ABSTRACT This paper examines the design, development and implementation of an anti-trafficking intervention in Thailand, focusing on its context, supportive mechanisms, and outcomes. It reflects on a three-year engagement with government, NGOs and vulnerable workers to determine if there was a role for technology to support the initial screening phase of labour inspections. As part of this engagement we developed Apprise, a mobile app to enable proactive and robust screening of vulnerable populations for indications of labour exploitation and forced labour. The paper analyses the value sensitive and inclusive innovation process we undertook, aimed at empowering workers by enhancing their freedom to live the lives they have reason to value. We argue that, through prolonged engagements and higher levels of inclusive innovation, it is possible to uncover more of stakeholders’ underlying motivations and tensions for using digital technology. We also draw from amplification theory that posits that digital technology serves an amplifier of institutional and human intent and capacity. We argue that even with the most carefully designed systems, users will (mis)use technology to serve their original purposes. We discuss critical implications on the human welfare and privacy of vulnerable workers in the use of digital tools such as Apprise.

Falling through the Cracks: Digital Infrastructures of Social Protection in Ecuador

ABSTRACTWhile cash transfers gain prominence as a response to the COVID‐19 pandemic, there is a strong impulse to regard them as a stepping‐stone towards the formalization of employment and universalization of social protection. This contribution problematizes how populations in informality are included in narrowly targeted social assistance interventions, which are heavily reliant on targeted schemes and fail to make informality legible to programme administrators. The focus of the article lies in the politics of exclusion and inclusion that permeate digital infrastructures, particularly data infrastructures such as social registries, that are used to target Ecuador's most prominent social assistance programme, Bono de Desarrollo Humano, and the COVID‐related programme Bono de Protección Familiar. The article is based on ethnographic work, interviews and narrative analysis. It finds that social registries compiled for proxy means testing weaken the link between eligibility and informal employment and obscure the processes that perpetuate precarity. More recent data innovations, such as machine learning, are also insufficient to locate vulnerable workers as they learn from historical social registries data and replicate their biases, for example by overlooking non‐poor areas where informal employment also occurs. Data infrastructures have shifted attention to the technicalities of the selection of beneficiaries and away from power imbalances in the design of social assistance, despite their selectivity and politics.

The Distribution and Consequences of Part-Time Underemployment in the US

Despite some attention devoted to part-time employment with insufficient or inadequate work hours, research is still too limited on how the burden of underemployment is distributed disproportionately on vulnerable workers and its implications for financial well-being and work-family balance. Furthermore, scarce research considers the role of control over work hours in the context of worker underemployment. Using unique data and measures constructed from a nationally representative survey of the 2006 and 2016 US General Social Survey, we find that being part-time underemployed is concentrated toward workers who are minority, lower income, and employed in certain service occupations. Multivariate analysis reveals that, relative to both part-time workers satisfied with their hours and to full-time workers, the part-time underemployed endure significantly greater risks of facing lower financial status and financial dis-satisfaction. Part-time underemployed workers also experience more frequent work-to-family conflict, compared to other part-time workers, and no less than otherwise comparable full-time workers. Their elevated work-family conflict is intensified when having limited control over their work hours. We derive implications of these findings for preventative public policies that would help curb both the extent and the harms of underemployment, recently rendered even more necessary by its rise during the 2020 recession.

Vulnerability to COVID-19 unemployment in the Portuguese tourism and hospitality industry

PurposeThis paper aims to address the immediate effects of the COVID-19 crisis in the Portuguese tourism and hospitality industry by examining whether some specific characteristics make people more vulnerable or more immune to unemployment.Design/methodology/approachUsing an extensive micro-level data set of personal and job-related attributes containing all unemployed individuals in the Portuguese tourism and hospitality industry, a logit model with 56,142 observations is estimated to assess how each characteristic contributed to the unemployment odds during the COVID-19 crisis (until the end-July 2020), relatively to the pre-COVID period.FindingsThe most vulnerable workers to COVID-19 unemployment seem to be older, less educated, less qualified, women and residents in regions with a higher concentration of people and tourism activity. Moreover, the COVID-19 crisis is generating a new type of unemployment by also affecting those who were never unemployed before, with more stable jobs and more motivated at work, while reducing voluntary disruptions.Practical implicationsPublic effort should be made not only to increase workforce education but especially to reinforce job-specific skills. The COVID-19 crisis has broken traditional protective measures against unemployment and separated workers from their desired occupations, which justifies new and exceptional job preservation measures. Policy recommendations are given aiming at strengthening worker resilience and industry competitiveness in the most affected sub-sectors and regions.Originality/valueThis study extends the current understanding of worker vulnerability to economic downturns. Herein, this paper used a three-level approach (combining socio-demographic, work-related and regional factors), capturing the immediate effects of the COVID-19 crisis and focussing on the tourism and hospitality industry (the hardest-hit sector worldwide).

The Influence of Masculinity and the Moderating Role of Religion on the Workplace Well-Being of Factory Workers in China.

This paper explores how the intersection of masculinity and religion shapes workplace well-being by focusing on Christianity and the social construction of masculinity among factory workers in a city in China. While existing work on public and occupational health has respectively acknowledged masculinity’s influences on health and the religious and spiritual dimensions of well-being, there have been limited efforts to examine how variegated, and especially religious, masculinities influence people’s well-being in the workplace. Drawing on ethnography and in-depth interviews with 52 factory workers and 8 church leaders and factory managers, we found that: (1) Variegated masculinities were integrated into the factory labor regime to produce docile and productive bodies of workers. In particular, the militarized and masculine cultures in China’s factories largely deprived workers of their dignity and undermined their well-being. These toxic masculinities were associated with workers’ depression and suicidal behavior. (2) Christianity not only provided social and spiritual support for vulnerable factory workers, but also enabled them to construct a morally superior Christian manhood that phytologically empowered them and enhanced their resilience to exploitation. This paper highlights not only the gender mechanism of well-being, but also the ways religion mediates the social-psychological construction of masculinity.

Reemployment Needs and Barriers of Users of Workforce Development Programs: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Employment is an important social determinant of health, and supporting individuals' return to the workforce is likely to have robust impacts on their health and well-being. The aim of this study was to identify (a) the self-perceived employment needs and expectations of users of community employment services; (b) the assets, needs, and barriers to reemployment among users of community employment services; and (c) areas of priority for programmatic development, including implications for patient-worker needs assessment and care coordination in clinical settings. We conducted structured interviews with 71 adults recruited from three workforce development programs located in the Chicago metropolitan area serving vulnerable workers. Topics of discussion included job histories, financial and social assets, and the respondents' motivation and expectations for their return to the workforce. We used descriptive statistics to analyze quantitative responses and performed content analysis for qualitative data. Users reported discrimination, legal barriers, family responsibilities, physical or mental health concerns, and needs related to transportation and housing as common challenges to reemployment. Concerns regarding navigating complex social support programs to meet individual and family needs, as well as uncertainty regarding what would qualify as sufficient employment in order to not be reliant on these programs in the future, were expressed. Health care providers have opportunities to identify those that may benefit from comprehensive referrals to reemployment programs and social services. Occupational health providers are also in a unique position to enhance workforce development programs through collaborations to better educate and support workers.

Covid-19 and social care: Union strategies to reshape a dysfunctional sector

In volume 120 of Theory and Struggle (pp. 124-33), I described Unison North West’s Care Workers for Change campaign and how our multidimensional approach to organising in the care sector was informed by the work of John Kelly (Rethinking Industrial Relations: Mobilization, Collectivism and Long Waves, 1998) and Jane McAlevey (No Short Cuts: Organizing for Power in the New Gilded Age, 2016). The Covid-19 pandemic has subsequently brought unprecedented catastrophe and human suffering to vulnerable people and workers in our dysfunctional social care system. This contribution first describes the impact of Covid-19 on social care and union responses to it. The focus then turns to competing ideas about how the social care system might be reshaped and the role of unions in pursuing meaningful structural and institutional change that could win lasting improvements for care workers.

Making collective bargaining more inclusive: The role of extension

AbstractUsing data on collective bargaining coverage for 80 countries, the authors analyse the merits of using the extension of collective agreements as a policy tool for creating a floor for conditions of work and employment. Issued by public authorities, this regulatory instrument is distinctive in that it is based on agreement between independent, autonomous and representative organizations. This gives it some of the advantages of a contract as well as those of a statute. The extension of collective agreements by public authorities can provide coverage for vulnerable workers who may not otherwise have access to social protection, while offering a highly responsive form of regulation that can be adapted to particular circumstances.

5·16 쿠데타와 ‘서비스’의 젠더정치

This study focuses on how the military coup used female service workers to support their political rhetoric during the power transition. Since their authoritarian and corrupt predecessors had exhausted Koreans, the coup group insisted on courteous and self-sacrificial attitudes as virtues for workers in public service. As the easiest way to visualize those virtues, Park Chung-hee’s group changed workers in face-to-face service sectors to females, saying that women could give better “service”. Cases of bus attendants or hospitality workers show how vulnerable female workers had to cover cost and risk in the field, under the name of “service”. Even when the value of “feminine” service drew significant attention, however, positions or roles given to women were basically still limited and homogeneous. In many cases, women in service sectors were hired based only on the value of their biological gender, where career or specialty did not matter. Just like the subsequent industrialization plans, the politics of the military coup also managed to work by exploiting workers’ femininity in the field.

Biological risk assessment: A challenge for occupational safety and health practitioners during the COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic.

The COVID-19 global pandemic brought several challenges to occupational safety and health practice. One of these is the need to (re)assess the occupational risks, particularly, biological risks. The purpose of this work is to promote guidance to occupational safety and health practitioners when conducting a biological risk assessment in this context. The main steps of the biological risk assessment are explained with some inputs regarding the novelty posed by SARS-CoV-2 and an example of a qualitative risk assessment method is presented. Also, its application to two different activities was exemplified. In both cases, the assessment considered that vulnerable workers were working from home or in medical leave. The results showed low or medium risk level for the assessed tasks. For medium risk level, additional controls are advised, such maintain social distancing, sanitize instruments/equipment before use, use proper and well-maintained PPE (when applicable), and promote awareness sessions to spread good practices at work. Employers must be aware of their obligations regarding biological risk assessment and OSH practitioners must be prepared to screen and link the abundance of scientific evidence generated following the outbreak, with the technical practice. This paper could be an important contribution to OSH practice since it highlights the need to (re)assess occupational risks, especially biological risk, to ensure a safe return to work, providing technical guidance.

Job Crafting: A Challenge to Promote Decent Work for Vulnerable Workers.

In recent years, the decent work agenda has called upon vocational psychologists to advance psychological research and intervention to promote work as a human right. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic is having disproportionate consequences on vulnerable workers, such as unemployment and underemployment, highlighting the need to enhance access to decent work for these workers. As a response, the present perspective article advances job crafting as a promising way to shape decent work for marginalized workers. To this end, the article deals with decent work and job crafting, starting with the definition of decent work according to the psychology of working theory (PWT) and examining the evolution of the construct of job crafting. Subsequently, the literature on job crafting is discussed, focusing on variables related to the PWT model of decent work and their effect on vulnerable workers. Finally, possibilities for further research and intervention aimed at promoting decent work through job crafting are discussed.