Workers In France Research Articles

Taking Trade Union Discrimination to Court: A Sociology of Support and Resources for Legal Action

This article examines the rise in the number of court cases related to discrimination against trade union workers in France since the late 1990s. It identifies the sources of support for victims of discrimination that allow them to file complaints in court. The judicialization of union-related cases of discrimination has been made possible by a new discourse linking the recognition of individual merit to the common cause of re-unionizing. Developing a special method of bringing evidence and the specialization of certain union actors and lawyers have helped make legal action against discrimination routine. But the historical roots of this strategy leave the question open as to how it can be applied to workers in secondary labor markets, particularly precarious workers.

The revenge of the bra. Seamstresses’ bodies in the lingerie industry (1968-2012)

The body of female lingerie workers in France between 1968 and 2012 offers a heuristic vantage point to address several levels of analysis and temporalities. As producers as well as potential consumers, these women workers are at the heart of a double movement: on the one hand, their bodies at work deconstruct the intimate nature of the bra; on the other hand, they are exposed on a daily level to the brand image, which they eventually incorporate. Indeed, the internal press as well as business strategies vaunt the bodies of female workers and often use them in the conception of products, as well as using their feedback as potential consumers. The intimate nature of the object produced may explain the attention female workers pay to their bodies, some even turn to plastic surgery. Nevertheless, in the protests against industrial plant closures, women workers sought to reduce fetishism surrounding bras through actions that involved rending visible the products of their work.

Hazing amongst blue-collar workers in France in the contemporary period

Up until the 1970s in the working classes, informal practices of ragging existed among both male and female workers to celebrate young people’s entry into factories. They served a variety of functions: as rites of passage, as brutal manifestations of domination or violence, or as pranks intended to make others laugh. Because of their obvious sexual dimension, they contributed to the association of workers’ masculinities with manhood.

Labor Politics and Organizing Strategies in Immigrant‐Owned SMEs: The Case of the Confédération Générale du Travail and Chinese Migrant Workers in France

This article focuses on the evolution of the interaction between Chinese migrant workers in France and the Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), France's second largest labor union. My central question is: what can the case of Chinese migrants in France tell us about the relationship among trade unions, migrant workers, and their respective ethnic economies? Analyzing the CGT's changing strategies for mobilizing Chinese workers demonstrates the main tensions between the organization strategies and the employment relationship in family‐based small‐medium enterprises. This article will show the importance of intersectional analysis in the study of the structure of ethnic economies and how, in this case, the employer–employee relationship is a source of domination rather than a mechanism for mobilization. Moreover, while it is possible to include legislative change as a union movements' goal, it also demonstrates how a political goal, in this case the legalization of workers, can undermine the traditional goal of pursuing improvement to working conditions.

0155 Use of a prediction model of asthma with antiasthma drug claims for epidemiological surveillance of asthma in self-employed workers in France

ObjectivesTo estimate prevalence and risk of current asthma among affiliates to the health insurance for self-employed workers according to economic activities.MethodWe defined current asthma using a prediction model developed in...

Organizational Downsizing and Depressive Symptoms in the European Recession: The Experience of Workers in France, Hungary, Sweden and the United Kingdom

BackgroundOrganizational downsizing has become highly common during the global recession of the late 2000s with severe repercussions on employment. We examine whether the severity of the downsizing process is associated with a greater likelihood of depressive symptoms among displaced workers, internally redeployed workers and lay-off survivors.MethodsA cross-sectional survey involving telephone interviews was carried out in France, Hungary, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The study analyzes data from 758 workers affected by medium- and large-scale downsizing, using multiple logistic regression.Main ResultsBoth unemployment and surviving layoffs were significantly associated with depressive symptoms, as compared to reemployment, but the perceived procedural justice of a socially responsible downsizing process considerably mitigated the odds of symptoms. Perception of high versus low justice was assessed along several downsizing dimensions. In the overall sample, chances to have depressive symptoms were significantly reduced if respondents perceived the process as transparent and understandable, fair and unbiased, well planned and democratic; if they trusted the employer’s veracity and agreed with the necessity for downsizing. The burden of symptoms was significantly greater if the process was perceived to be chaotic. We further tested whether perceived justice differently affects the likelihood of depressive symptoms among distinct groups of workers. Findings were that the odds of symptoms largely followed the same patterns of effects across all groups of workers. Redeploying and supporting surplus employees through the career change process–rather than forcing them to become unemployed–makes a substantial difference as to whether they will suffer from depressive symptoms.ConclusionsWhile depressive symptoms affect both unemployed and survivors, a just and socially responsible downsizing process is important for the emotional health of workers.

Older age at retirement is associated with decreased risk of dementia

To test the hypothesis that age at retirement is associated with dementia risk among self-employed workers in France, we linked health and pension databases of self-employed workers and we extracted data of those who were still alive and retired as of December 31st 2010. Dementia cases were detected in the database either through the declaration of a long-term chronic disease coded as Alzheimer's disease and other dementia (International Classification of Disease codes G30, F00, F01, F03) or through the claim for reimbursement of one of the anti-dementia drugs. Data were analyzed using Cox proportional hazard model adjusting for potential confounders. Among the 429,803 retired self-employed workers alive on December 31st 2010, prevalence of dementia was 2.65 %. Multivariable analyses showed that the hazard ratio of dementia was 0.968 [95 % confidence interval = (0.962-0.973)] per each extra year of age at retirement. After excluding workers who had dementia diagnosed within the 5 years following retirement, the results remained unchanged and highly significant (p < 0.0001). We show strong evidence of a significant decrease in the risk of developing dementia associated with older age at retirement, in line with the "use it or lose it" hypothesis. Further evidence is necessary to evaluate whether this association is causal, but our results indicate the potential importance of maintaining high levels of cognitive and social stimulation throughout work and retiree life.

Retirement, Early Retirement and Disability: Explaining Labor Force Participation after 55 in France

We analyze the influence of health and financial incentives on the retirement behavior of older workers in France, building upon Stock and Wise (1990) option value approach. The model accounts for three main retirement routes: the normal retirement, disability insurance (DI) and unemployment/preretirement pathways, and is estimated with a combination of microeconomic datasets that include the French data of the European SHARE survey. The estimates confirm that a decrease in the generosity of the pension and DI schemes induces people to stay longer in the labor market, and that people with better health tend to retire later. We present extreme situations simulating what individual's retirement behavior would have been if only one retirement route had existed and in the absence of constraints on work capabilities. We show that average years of work between 55 and 64 are nearly 14% greater when regular retirement incentives are applied to the whole population than when it is DI rules that are systematically applied.

189 Medical surveillance and epidemiologic studies of engineered nanomaterials (enm) workers in France

ObjectivesTo depict the present situation regarding ENM-workers medical and epidemiological surveillances in France and discuss its advancement.MethodsDuring 2008–2010 the InVS conducted an exploratory study based on in site visits of...

Pesticide Exposure and Depression Among Agricultural Workers in France

Pesticides are ubiquitous neurotoxicants, and several lines of evidence suggest that exposure may be associated with depression. Epidemiologic evidence has focused largely on organophosphate exposures, while research on other pesticides is limited. We collected detailed pesticide use history from farmers recruited in 1998-2000 in France. Among 567 farmers aged 37-78 years, 83 (14.6%) self-reported treatment or hospitalization for depression. On the basis of the reported age at the first such instance, we used adjusted Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for depression (first treatment or hospitalization) by exposure to different pesticides. The hazard ratio for depression among those who used herbicides was 1.93 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.95, 3.91); there was no association with insecticides or fungicides. Compared with nonusers, those who used herbicides for <19 years and ≥19 years (median for all herbicide users, 19 years) had hazard ratios of 1.51 (95% CI: 0.62, 3.67) and 2.31 (95% CI: 1.05, 5.10), respectively. Similar results were found for total hours of use. Results were stronger when adjusted for insecticides and fungicides. There is widespread use of herbicides by the general public, although likely at lower levels than in agriculture. Thus, determining whether similar associations are seen at lower levels of exposure should be explored.

Dénoncer en justice les discriminations syndicales : contribution à une sociologie des appuis conventionnels de l’action judiciaire

This article examines the rise in court cases relating to discrimination against trade union workers in France since the late 1990s. It seeks to identify sources of support for victims of discrimination to help them file complaints before the Courts. The judicialization of union-related discrimination cases was made possible by a new discourse that links the recognition of individual merit and the common cause of re-unionization. The development of a special method of proof and the specialization of certain union actors and lawyers have helped make legal action against discrimination routine. But the historical roots of this strategy raise the question of how it can be applied to workers in secondary labor markets, particularly precarious workers.

Understanding career experiences of skilled minority ethnic workers in France and Germany

Human resource management literature pays little attention to the agency of skilled ethnic minorities in Europe in terms of explaining their career choices and outcomes. As a step towards addressing this gap, we draw on two field studies based on qualitative interviews. One of these studies draws on interviews with 49 participants in France, and the other is based on interviews with 30 participants in Germany. Through a Bourdieuan analysis, we contribute to the human resource management literature, and demonstrate the varied forms that the agency of highly skilled ethnic minorities takes, in terms of their work experiences, in the context of structures of inequality in both countries.

Well-Behaved Workers Seldom Make History: Re-viewing Insubordination in French Factories during the Long 1968

Xavier Vigna has argued that from the late 1960s until the early 1980s female, immigrant and unskilled workers in France practiced a variety of forms of insubordination in confronting rationalization of labor and increased insecurity in employment. Though this insubordination of workers was of central importance to leftist intellectuals after 1968, it has gotten little attention in recent accounts of the intelligentsia. However, these acts of insubordination were chronicled in a number of films made of workers then and later and has an important place in a novel commissioned by workers of one factory to tell their story. If the bourgeois bohemians today need reminding of workers' insubordination then it is in part because, as Luc Boltanksi and Eve Chiapello have shown, in the 1970s capitalism learned from critiques of capitalism which shared a great deal with the culture of workers' insubordination to craft a new capitalist ideology that managers embraced in revitalizing capitalism.

The Path Not Taken: French Industrialization in the Age of Revolution, 1750–1830, Jeff Horn, Cambridge, MA.: MIT Press, 2006

AbstractEschewing a Marxist interpretation of the French Revolution, Jeff Horn’s work is nonetheless interesting in stressing the widespread prevalence of machine-breaking by workers in France as compared to England during industrialisation. Likewise notable is Horn’s argument that the resultant state-intervention forced France onto a path of industrialisation which differed from England’s and which has been underestimated. Breaking with the revisionist consensus, Horn further demonstrates that the effect of the Revolution was positive for French economic development. Refreshing in its stress on working-class militancy, Horn’s work nonetheless exaggerates the influence of machine-breaking on French economic change as compared to other forms of working-class struggle, the slow pace of primitive accumulation and the resistance to industrialisation by small-scale urban producers.

British Workers in France, 1815-1848*

British Workers in France, 1815-1848*

PROFESSIONAL PESTICIDE EXPOSURE AND DEPRESSION

Background and Aims: Limited evidence suggests a possible association between pesticide exposure and risk of depression. We explored this association within a Parkinson’s disease (PD) case-control study among agricultural workers in France (1998-2000) characterized by a high prevalence of exposure. Methods: Pesticide exposure was assessed among 177 PD cases and 567 controls all of whom were farmers or farm workers participating in Mutualité Sociale Agricole (France). Self-reported treatment or hospitalization for depression and year of first instance were reported. Exposure classification was based on occupational history, and detailed in-person and on-farm interviews by occupational physicians. Time-dependent exposures were determined on a year-by-year basis from year of first agricultural work to date of interview or year of first depression report, whichever occurred first. Hazard ratios (HR) for depression were estimated using Cox proportional hazards models, stratified by region, adjusted for PD status, age, sex, smoking, education, and history of head trauma. Multiple imputation was used to impute missing values of pesticide families. Analyses based on complete-data and imputed datasets were performed. Results: Depression was reported by 83 subjects with a mean age of onset of 49 years (standard deviation=14; range=15-77). Ever exposure to herbicides was strongly associated with depression (HR: 2.83; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.15-6.97), but exposure to insecticides or fungicides were not. Results were similar when restricted to PD controls or men only. Compared to those never exposed to herbicides, the HR among those exposed for &lt;137 hours (median) was 2.0 (95% CI: 0.8-5.2), and among those exposed ≥137 hours was 3.5 (95% CI: 1.3-9.9). Among specific herbicide families, only dinitrophenol herbicides were significantly associated with depression in both complete-data (HR: 3.35; 95% CI: 1.47-7.65) and imputed (HR: 2.36; 95% CI: 1.04-5.36) datasets. Conclusions: Our results support an association between depression and professional pesticide exposure, in particular to herbicides.

Biomechanical and Psychosocial Work Exposures and Musculoskeletal Symptoms among Vineyard Workers

This study explored the associations between biomechanical and psychosocial work factors and musculoskeletal symptoms in vineyard workers. This cross-sectional study was based on a random sample of 2,824 male and 1,123 female vineyard workers in France. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Neck/shoulder, back and upper and lower extremity symptoms were evaluated using the Nordic questionnaire. Biomechanical exposures included 15 tasks related to vineyard activities. Psychosocial work factors included effort-reward imbalance and overcommitment, measured using the effort-reward imbalance model, and low job control and insufficient material means. Statistical analysis was performed using logistic regression analysis, and the results were adjusted for age, body mass index, educational level, work status and years in vineyard. Pruning-related factors increased the risk of upper extremity pain for both genders, of back pain for men and of neck/shoulder and lower extremity pain for women. Driving increased the risk of neck/shoulder and back pain among men. Psychosocial work factors, which were insufficient material means, overcommitment (both genders), effort-reward imbalance (men) and low job control (women), were associated with musculoskeletal symptoms, back and upper extremity pain for both genders and neck/shoulder and lower extremity pain for men. These results underlined that both biomechanical and psychosocial work factors may play a role in musculoskeletal pain among vineyard workers. Prevention policies focusing on both biomechanical and psychosocial work exposures may be useful to prevent musculoskeletal symptoms.

Prediction model of asthma using antiasthma drug claims for epidemiological surveillance of asthma in self-employed workers in France

ObjectivesTo develop a prediction model of asthma based on antiasthma drug claims among affiliates to the health insurance for self-employed workers in France.MethodsA random sample of the affiliates, stratified on...

Rethinking the Lawrie-Blum Doctrine of Subordination: A Critical Analysis Prompted by Recent Developments in Italian Employment Law

This paper takes as its starting point the European Court of Justice (ECJ) case law dealing with the concept of ‘worker’ for the purposes of Article 39 of the EC Treaty (free movement of persons). In particular, the leading case, Lawrie-Blum v. Land Baden-Württemberg, provides the classic definition of worker, based on the criterion of the ‘performance of services for and under the direction of another person’, in short ‘subordination’, a concept that appears to have no parallel in English labour and employment law. It is argued that a general, standard EU-law notion of employed persons or workers, based on the concept of subordination, is lacking. The paper examines the connections between para-subordinate workers in Italy and employee-like persons in Germany (Arbeitnehmerähnliche Personen), with comparable workers in the UK, para-subordinate workers in France, Portugal and Spain and dependent contractors in Sweden, in support of the view that everywhere in Europe there is a sort of middle category. In the UK it is a statutory category including both employees and certain self-employed workers, whereas in Germany, Italy and France the middle category consists of self-employed workers and replaces personal subordination with a test based on the economic dependence of the worker on the enterprise. To conclude, the author puts forward the view that Lawrie-Blum is an insufficient basis for the notions used in EU-law dealing with self-employed persons, contracts of employment and salaried workers.

Factors associated with psychoactive drug initiation in a sample of workers in France: results of the VISAT cohort study

To identify which psychosocial factors at work are associated with the initiation of psychoactive drug use in a cohort of healthy French workers. This study used data collected from the VISAT ('Vieillissement, Santé, Travail') cohort which included workers aged 32, 42, 52 and 62 years in 1996 with follow-ups conducted over the following 5 years. Data were collected through interviews and five standardized questionnaires in annual occupational medical examinations in 1996, 1999 and 2001. We defined new consumers of psychoactive drugs according to their answers during the follow-ups and compared their psychosocial and working characteristics to non-consumers. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate factors related to a psychoactive drug initiation. Among 1533 subjects, 5.4% began consuming psychoactive drugs during the follow-up with a twofold rate for women than for men. Factors related to psychoactive drug initiation were different according to gender. In men, initiation was mainly found in participants who were separated, showed high emotional reaction scores and were members of the white-collar working class. We did not find any other occupational factors associated to psychoactive drug initiation in men. By contrast, among women, drug initiation was more frequent in participants who were 52 years old and over, and whose job control-reward level was lower. Psychoactive drug initiation concerned 5.4% of workers within the 5-year interval in this study. The pressure of psychosocial environment was more important in men, whereas age and work-related psychosocial factors were the main factors associated with new consumption among women.