Producing self-commitment at work. Organisational practices in a growing start-up
Marion FLÉCHER
While an increasing number of companies are drawing inspiration from the organizational model of start-ups to modernize their managerial practices, little is known about how work is concretely organized within these young innovative companies. Based on an ethnographic fieldwork conducted in start-up in hypergrowth, this article aims to open the black box of these companies observe organizational work and its effects on work and workers. The investigation shows how the emphasis placed on relational proximity, well-being at work, self-management and responsibility of the workers produces forms of commitment to work that are all the more effective because they come from the self-constraint of the workers. This article also highlights the consequences of the financialization of these companies on managerial practices, which become more formal, more hierarchical and more focused on productivity, which tends to worsen working conditions, but also working relationships.
Keywords: start-up, organisation, commitment at work, independence, project, financialisation, growth
Multi-tasking work in retail trade and services. The re-forming of division of labour and increased subordination
Cyrine GARDES
This article seeks to tackle multitasking work, the role versatility characteristic of a number of service occupations, through a study of low cost distribution, in which it plays a major part in pursuit of reducing costs. The text is based on two ethnographic studies, in low cost DIY/hardware and hard discount food retail. First, the phenomenon is understood through a comparison with practices and division of labour in the large retailer sector: in the low cost sector, a multitude of activities with divergent operational mindsets, implying movement between departments, are to be found, which distinguishes it from classic shops. Multitasking work is then analysed in terms of its effect on employees, a combination of overspill and adjustment. Finally, a number of different modes of adoption of multitasking work may be observed, according to the social and professional characteristics of employees.
Keywords: work, organisation of work, polyvalence, service, retailers, low-cost, customer.
Temporary workers excessively vulnerable to work accidents
Benoit SCALVINONI, Laurence MONTCHARMONT and Rachid BELKACEM
This article is based on the results of two exploratory studies on the working conditions of temporary workers. It shows that deployment practices and the nature of their assignments account for the high level of vulnerability of these workers to workplace accidents and work-related illnesses. These workers, often assigned on an urgent basis, must cope with varied and ever-changing work contexts and be operational in short order. The article goes on to show the difficulties faced by temporary workers to carve out some degree of freedom in their work to guard against the risk of workplace accidents. The short duration and intermittency of temporary assignments are indeed not conducive to learning, and prevent or hinder the accumulation of experience needed to protect oneself against those risks.
Keywords: temporary worker, workplace accident, work-related illness, degree of freedom, working conditions, health.
Union renewal in search of an alternative: ambivalence about resorting to union organising in the cleaning sector in France
Saphia DOUMENC
This article reviews an original experiment in union development born out of a partnership between a non-representative union strongly established in the cleaning sector, and an association created through community organising. Through an empirical investigation, this work takes a new look at the advantages for trade unions in engaging with other organisations offering apparently effective turnkey solutions to attract new membership in highly precarious sectors. In doing so, it reveals the discrepancies and tensions aroused by the divergent activist traditions and underlines the existence of genuine competition in the arena of union solutions for precarious workers in France.
Keywords: union renewal, union organising, cleaning, competition, activism.
The paritarian social agenda: a plan for independent interprofessional regulation
Jacques FREYSSINET
The national interprofessional agreement of 14 April 2022 on paritarianism provides for “the construction of an autonomous economic and social agenda”. For the signatories, this means distancing themselves from a social agenda imposed on them by the government. While the adoption of such an agenda is not a new phenomenon, previous experiments were born of specific conditions; they were planned for a limited period. The idea of adopting this procedure on a permanent basis is being considered for the first time. By learning the lessons of previous experiments, it is possible to identify the conditions and the limitations of an autonomous regulatory capability, which are linked to the content of the agreements, to the recognition of the legitimacy of the signatories’ representative status and to the dynamics of cooperation, competition or conflict with state regulation.
Keywords: Social agenda, collective bargaining, national interprofessional agreement (ANI), bosses, unions, representation.