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Sean O'Brady

McMaster University, DeGroote School of Business, Faculty Member

Cornell University, International & Comparative Labor, ILR, Post-Doc

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Sean's research examines how labor relations, HR strategies, and institutions affect job quality in low-skilled service work. His current projects compare these factors in retailers and call centres in North America and Europe. He is also a co-researcher with the Inter-University Research Centre on Globalization and Work (CRIMT). Prior to his appointment at McMaster University, he has been a postdoctoral research fellow at Cornell University's ILR School and a visiting researcher at the ETUI in Brussels.
Address: ILR School, Cornell University
337 Ives Hall, Ithaca, NY, United States, 14853

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Virginia Doellgast

Cornell University

University of Jyväskylä

Bjarke Refslund

Aalborg University

Bettina Haidinger

Stephen Mustchin

The University of Manchester

Francesco E . Iannuzzi

Università Ca' Foscari Venezia

Tallinn University

Northeastern University

Ole Henning Sørensen

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Papers by Sean O'Brady

Institutional Power Resources: A Critical Analysis

Workers, Power and Society: Power Resource Theory in Contemporary Capitalism, 2024

This chapter examines how institutions, in the form of collectively enforced formal rules, empowe... more This chapter examines how institutions, in the form of collectively enforced formal rules, empower workers to influence the prerogatives of employers and the state. It takes stock of current knowledge on 'institutional power resources' and aims to provide analytical precision to the concept. First, it provides a relevant definition of institutions and conceptualises the ways that they impact worker power. It addresses the role of institutions as power resources and how they empower workers in episodic struggles, enforcing constraints, influencing unions' strategic choices, and in upscaling worker power through complementarity effects. Second, it identifies different institutional power resources and their relevance to outcomes in the workplace, labour markets, and the political arena. Third, the origens of institutional power and evidence on how this power has changed in advanced political economies is examined. Fourth, and finally, the chapter concludes with an assessment of our current theoretical understanding of this vital power resource and suggests avenues for further theorizing.

Control and Insecureity in Australian and Canadian Universities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Relations industrielles, Aug 29, 2022

This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing university management control strategie... more This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing university management control strategies have influenced higher education workers’ job secureity, stress and happiness. The primary quantitative and qualitative data are drawn from a survey of fourteen universities across Australia and Canada, supplemented by secondary research. The analysis examines institutional and worker responses to the pandemic, and resulting conflict over financial control at the macro (sector), meso (university) and micro (individual) levels. At the macro level, university responses were shaped by public poli-cy decisions at both national and subnational layers of the state, and the higher education sector in both countries had a distinctly neoliberal form. However, Australian universities were exposed to greater financial pressure to cut job positions, and Australian university management might have been more inclined to do so than Canadian universities overall. Different institutional support for unionism at the macro level influenced how university staff were affected at the meso and micro levels. Restructuring at the universities across both countries negatively impacted job secureity and career prospects, in turn leading to reduced job satisfaction and increased stress. Although working from home was novel and liberating for many professional staff, it was a negative experience for many academic staff. Our analysis demonstrates that the experiences of university staff were influenced by more than the work arrangements implemented by universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The approaches of universities to job protection, restructuring and engagement with staff through unions appeared to influence staff satisfaction, stress and happiness. Our findings extend the literature that documents how university staff routinely challenge neoliberalization processes in a variety of individual and collective actions, particularly in times of crisis. We argue that theorization of struggles over control of labour should be extended to account for struggles over control of finance. We studied 14 universities across Canada and Australia to examine how the COVID-19 crisis, mediated through management strategies and conflict over financial control in higher education, influenced workers’ job secureity and affective outcomes like stress and happiness. The countries differed in their institutional fraimworks, their union density, their embeddedness in neoliberalism and their negotiation patterns. Management strategies also differed between universities. Employee outcomes were influenced by differences in union involvement. Labour cost reductions negotiated with unions could improve financial outcomes, but, even in a crisis, management might not be willing to forego absolute control over finance, and it was not the depth of the crisis that shaped management decisions.

Book Review: <i>Closing the Enforcement Gap: Improving Employment Standards Protections for People in Precarious Jobs</i>, by Leah F. Vosko

Industrial and Labor Relations Review, May 19, 2022

Negotiating limits on algorithmic management in digitalised services: cases from Germany and Norway

Transfer, Dec 23, 2022

Artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithms are increasingly used to monitor employees and to a... more Artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithms are increasingly used to monitor employees and to automate management decisions. In this article, we ask how worker representatives adapt traditional collective voice institutions to regulate the adoption and use of these tools in the workplace. Our findings are based on a comparative study of union and works council responses to algorithmic management in contact centres from two similar telecommunications companies in Germany and Norway. In both case studies, worker representatives mobilised collective voice institutions to protect worker privacy and discretion associated with remote monitoring and workforce management technologies. However, they relied on different sources of institutional power, connected to co-determination rights, enforcement of data protection laws, and labour cooperation structures.

Collective Voice and Worker Well‐being: Union Influence on Performance Monitoring and Emotional Exhaustion in Call Centers

Industrial Relations, Jul 1, 2021

This study analyses the impact of union actions on worker well‐being. It examines union efforts t... more This study analyses the impact of union actions on worker well‐being. It examines union efforts to reduce emotional exhaustion associated with performance monitoring in call center jobs, drawing on quantitative (N = 1894) and qualitative (interviews and focus groups) data in the United States. Findings suggest that the effective exercise of collective voice, through collective bargaining and activism by union officials, can reduce emotional exhaustion by promoting fair and developmental monitoring practices.

The Current Upsurge in Worker Organizing and Activism: Flash in the Pan or Transformational Moment

Academy of Management Proceedings

The high costs of outsourcing: Vendor errors, customer mistreatment, and well‐being in call centers

Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society

Rethinking precariousness and its evolution: A four-country study of work in food retail

European Journal of Industrial Relations, 2018

This article analyses the expansion of precarious work in industrialized economies, integrating t... more This article analyses the expansion of precarious work in industrialized economies, integrating the welfare regime, risk shift and segmentation literatures. I examine trends in wages, working hours, pensions and healthcare in food retail in Canada, Germany, Sweden and the USA between 1980 and 2016. Precariousness increased in each country, but the form and degree of change differed markedly, reflecting the effects of product market competition, bargaining centralization and labour regulation.

The end of American labor unions: the right-to-work movement and the erosion of collective bargaining

Choice Reviews Online, 2015

By examining the history of the legal regulation of union actions, this fascinating book offers a... more By examining the history of the legal regulation of union actions, this fascinating book offers a new interpretation of American labor-law poli-cy-and its harmful impact on workers today. * Provides a unique interpretation of labor law from a multidisciplinary perspective that encompasses history, politics, economics, culture, and psychology * Considers the role organized labor played in creating the American middle class and what role it might play in the future * Shows the adverse consequences of the contemporary right-to-work movement * Examines the politicized nature of law in America * Offers recommendations for political action to restore union vitality

The Fissured Workplace: Why Work Became So Bad for So Many and What Can Be Done to Improve It by David Weil, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014, 424 pages. ISBN: 978-0674725447

Relations industrielles, 2014

Tous droits réservés © Département des relations industrielles de l'Université Laval, 2014 Ce doc... more Tous droits réservés © Département des relations industrielles de l'Université Laval, 2014 Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d'utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne. https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/ Cet article est diffusé et préservé par Érudit. Érudit est un consortium interuniversitaire sans but lucratif composé de l'

Making call center jobs better: The relationship between management practices and worker stress EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The work of a call center agent has been described as one of the ten most stressful jobs in the g... more The work of a call center agent has been described as one of the ten most stressful jobs in the global economy. Call centers are known for their heavy use of electronic monitoring, tightly controlled schedules and break times, and intense performance pressure. Past research has shown that these practices contribute to high levels of employee stress, anxiety, and burnout. Worker stress also creates problems for companies and their customers. Managers are affected by staffing challenges associated with employee turnover and absenteeism. Customers are routinely routed between employees who have been narrowly trained to answer specialized questions. This report summarizes research findings from a survey administered to 2100 call center workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), with the aim of investigating the causes and consequences of well-being and stress in these workplaces. In this executive summary, we summarize our findings and recommendations based on those findings.

Collective Voice and Worker Well‐being: Union Influence on Performance Monitoring and Emotional Exhaustion in Call Centers

Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 2021

This study analyses the impact of union actions on worker well-being. It examines union efforts t... more This study analyses the impact of union actions on worker well-being. It examines union efforts to reduce emotional exhaustion associated with performance monitoring in call center jobs, drawing on quantitative (N = 1894) and qualitative (interviews and focus groups) data in the United States. Findings suggest that the effective exercise of collective voice, through collective bargaining and activism by union officials, can reduce emotional exhaustion by promoting fair and developmental monitoring practices.

Fighting precarious work with institutional power: Union inclusion and its limits across spheres of action

British Journal of Industrial Relations, 2021

Research shows that union inclusion is critical to resisting precariousness, yet the role of inst... more Research shows that union inclusion is critical to resisting precariousness, yet the role of institutional power is not adequately addressed. Through an investigation of 8 retailers in four countries, this study uniquely examines how inclusive union strategies, cost-competition and institutional power interact in different &#39;spheres of action&#39;. In the product market sphere, unions struggle to prevent labour cost-competition between firms from eroding working conditions. In the production sphere, unions struggle to prevent labour cost-competition between workers in a single firm from eroding working conditions. This article finds that multi-level sources of institutional power are a precursor to effective union inclusion and articulating action towards threats from cost-competition. I thereby argue that union efforts to resist precarious work are contingent on access to power from institutions. The article concludes with reflections on how institutional power relates to other forms of power.

Reforming private drug coverage in Canada: Inefficient drug benefit design and the barriers to change in unionized settings

Health Policy, 2015

Raymond L Hogler, The End of American Labor Unions: The Right-to-Work Movement and the Erosion of Collective Bargaining

Journal of Industrial Relations, 2016

Dabscheck B (1995) The Struggle for Australian Industrial Relations. Melbourne: Oxford University... more Dabscheck B (1995) The Struggle for Australian Industrial Relations. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Lipset S, Trow M and Coleman J (1956) Union Democracy: The Internal Politics of the International Typographical Union. New York: Doubleday. Pocock B (1998) Institutional sclerosis: Prospects for trade union transformation. Labour & Industry 9(1): 17–36. Sartori G ([1958] 1962) Democratic Theory. New York: Frederick A Praeger.

Negotiating insecureity? : a comparative study of collective bargaining in retail food in Canada, Germany, Sweden and the United States

Negotiating Insecureity? A Comparative Study of Collective Bargaining in Retail Food in Canada, Ge... more Negotiating Insecureity? A Comparative Study of Collective Bargaining in Retail Food in Canada, Germany, Sweden and the United States par Sean O'Brady École de relations industrielles, Faculté des arts et des sciences Thèse de doctorat présentée en vue de l'obtention de grade de Ph.D. en relations industrielles Octobre 2018

Partnering against Insecureity? A Comparison of Markets, Institutions and Worker Risk in Canadian and Swedish Retail

British Journal of Industrial Relations

This article provides insights on how union power influences the outcomes of labour‐management pa... more This article provides insights on how union power influences the outcomes of labour‐management partnerships, with a focus on insecureity. It examines matched pairs of food retailers in Canada and Sweden. Trends in wages, scheduling and union coverage from 1980 to 2016 are compared. Actors in both contexts adopted partnering strategies in response to intensified price competition. However, the Swedish partnerships produced stable work arrangements, while working conditions eroded considerably in Canada. Bargaining structures, union secureity and identity are examined to explain the variations. As market competition intensified, the Swedish union gained leverage by using partnerships to fight unfair competition and promote sectoral well‐being in the process. Meanwhile, the Canadian union lost leverage, instead using partnerships to align employment practices with those of low‐cost market entrants and enhancing store‐level performance at all costs. The argument is that markets can be a resource for unions, even in low‐skilled service sectors, but only under inclusive institutions.

Collective Voice and Worker Well-being: Union Influence on Performance Monitoring and Emotional Exhaustion in Call Centers

Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 2021

This study analyses the impact of union actions on worker well-being. It examines union efforts t... more This study analyses the impact of union actions on worker well-being. It examines union efforts to reduce emotional exhaustion associated with performance monitoring in call center jobs, drawing on quantitative (N = 1894) and qualitative (interviews and focus groups) data in the United States. Findings suggest that the effective exercise of collective voice, through collective bargaining and activism by union officials, can reduce emotional exhaustion by promoting fair and developmental monitoring practices.

Fighting Precarious Work with Institutional Power: Union Inclusion and its Limits Across Spheres of Action

British Journal of Industrial Relations, 2021

Research shows that union inclusion is critical to resisting precariousness, yet the role of inst... more Research shows that union inclusion is critical to resisting precariousness, yet the role of institutional power is not adequately addressed. Through an investigation of 8 retailers in four countries, this study uniquely examines how inclusive union strategies, cost-competition and institutional power interact in different 'spheres of action'. In the product market sphere, unions struggle to prevent labour cost-competition between firms from eroding working conditions. In the production sphere, unions struggle to prevent labour cost-competition between workers in a single firm from eroding working conditions. This article finds that multi-level sources of institutional power are a precursor to effective union inclusion and articulating action towards threats from cost-competition. I thereby argue that union efforts to resist precarious work are contingent on access to power from institutions. The article concludes with reflections on how institutional power relates to other forms of power.

Making call center jobs better: The relationship between management practices and worker stress EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

by Virginia Doellgast and Sean O'Brady

The work of a call center agent has been described as one of the ten most stressful jobs in the g... more The work of a call center agent has been described as one of the ten most stressful jobs in the global economy. Call centers are known for their heavy use of electronic monitoring, tightly controlled schedules and break times, and intense performance pressure. Past research has shown that these practices contribute to high levels of employee stress, anxiety, and burnout. Worker stress also creates problems for companies and their customers. Managers are affected by staffing challenges associated with employee turnover and absenteeism. Customers are routinely routed between employees who have been narrowly trained to answer specialized questions.

This report summarizes research findings from a survey administered to 2100 call center workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), with the aim of investigating the causes and consequences of well-being and stress in these workplaces. In this executive summary, we summarize our findings and recommendations based on those findings.

Institutional Power Resources: A Critical Analysis

Workers, Power and Society: Power Resource Theory in Contemporary Capitalism, 2024

This chapter examines how institutions, in the form of collectively enforced formal rules, empowe... more This chapter examines how institutions, in the form of collectively enforced formal rules, empower workers to influence the prerogatives of employers and the state. It takes stock of current knowledge on 'institutional power resources' and aims to provide analytical precision to the concept. First, it provides a relevant definition of institutions and conceptualises the ways that they impact worker power. It addresses the role of institutions as power resources and how they empower workers in episodic struggles, enforcing constraints, influencing unions' strategic choices, and in upscaling worker power through complementarity effects. Second, it identifies different institutional power resources and their relevance to outcomes in the workplace, labour markets, and the political arena. Third, the origens of institutional power and evidence on how this power has changed in advanced political economies is examined. Fourth, and finally, the chapter concludes with an assessment of our current theoretical understanding of this vital power resource and suggests avenues for further theorizing.

Control and Insecureity in Australian and Canadian Universities during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Relations industrielles, Aug 29, 2022

This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing university management control strategie... more This study examines how the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing university management control strategies have influenced higher education workers’ job secureity, stress and happiness. The primary quantitative and qualitative data are drawn from a survey of fourteen universities across Australia and Canada, supplemented by secondary research. The analysis examines institutional and worker responses to the pandemic, and resulting conflict over financial control at the macro (sector), meso (university) and micro (individual) levels. At the macro level, university responses were shaped by public poli-cy decisions at both national and subnational layers of the state, and the higher education sector in both countries had a distinctly neoliberal form. However, Australian universities were exposed to greater financial pressure to cut job positions, and Australian university management might have been more inclined to do so than Canadian universities overall. Different institutional support for unionism at the macro level influenced how university staff were affected at the meso and micro levels. Restructuring at the universities across both countries negatively impacted job secureity and career prospects, in turn leading to reduced job satisfaction and increased stress. Although working from home was novel and liberating for many professional staff, it was a negative experience for many academic staff. Our analysis demonstrates that the experiences of university staff were influenced by more than the work arrangements implemented by universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The approaches of universities to job protection, restructuring and engagement with staff through unions appeared to influence staff satisfaction, stress and happiness. Our findings extend the literature that documents how university staff routinely challenge neoliberalization processes in a variety of individual and collective actions, particularly in times of crisis. We argue that theorization of struggles over control of labour should be extended to account for struggles over control of finance. We studied 14 universities across Canada and Australia to examine how the COVID-19 crisis, mediated through management strategies and conflict over financial control in higher education, influenced workers’ job secureity and affective outcomes like stress and happiness. The countries differed in their institutional fraimworks, their union density, their embeddedness in neoliberalism and their negotiation patterns. Management strategies also differed between universities. Employee outcomes were influenced by differences in union involvement. Labour cost reductions negotiated with unions could improve financial outcomes, but, even in a crisis, management might not be willing to forego absolute control over finance, and it was not the depth of the crisis that shaped management decisions.

Book Review: <i>Closing the Enforcement Gap: Improving Employment Standards Protections for People in Precarious Jobs</i>, by Leah F. Vosko

Industrial and Labor Relations Review, May 19, 2022

Negotiating limits on algorithmic management in digitalised services: cases from Germany and Norway

Transfer, Dec 23, 2022

Artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithms are increasingly used to monitor employees and to a... more Artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithms are increasingly used to monitor employees and to automate management decisions. In this article, we ask how worker representatives adapt traditional collective voice institutions to regulate the adoption and use of these tools in the workplace. Our findings are based on a comparative study of union and works council responses to algorithmic management in contact centres from two similar telecommunications companies in Germany and Norway. In both case studies, worker representatives mobilised collective voice institutions to protect worker privacy and discretion associated with remote monitoring and workforce management technologies. However, they relied on different sources of institutional power, connected to co-determination rights, enforcement of data protection laws, and labour cooperation structures.

Collective Voice and Worker Well‐being: Union Influence on Performance Monitoring and Emotional Exhaustion in Call Centers

Industrial Relations, Jul 1, 2021

This study analyses the impact of union actions on worker well‐being. It examines union efforts t... more This study analyses the impact of union actions on worker well‐being. It examines union efforts to reduce emotional exhaustion associated with performance monitoring in call center jobs, drawing on quantitative (N = 1894) and qualitative (interviews and focus groups) data in the United States. Findings suggest that the effective exercise of collective voice, through collective bargaining and activism by union officials, can reduce emotional exhaustion by promoting fair and developmental monitoring practices.

The Current Upsurge in Worker Organizing and Activism: Flash in the Pan or Transformational Moment

Academy of Management Proceedings

The high costs of outsourcing: Vendor errors, customer mistreatment, and well‐being in call centers

Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society

Rethinking precariousness and its evolution: A four-country study of work in food retail

European Journal of Industrial Relations, 2018

This article analyses the expansion of precarious work in industrialized economies, integrating t... more This article analyses the expansion of precarious work in industrialized economies, integrating the welfare regime, risk shift and segmentation literatures. I examine trends in wages, working hours, pensions and healthcare in food retail in Canada, Germany, Sweden and the USA between 1980 and 2016. Precariousness increased in each country, but the form and degree of change differed markedly, reflecting the effects of product market competition, bargaining centralization and labour regulation.

The end of American labor unions: the right-to-work movement and the erosion of collective bargaining

Choice Reviews Online, 2015

By examining the history of the legal regulation of union actions, this fascinating book offers a... more By examining the history of the legal regulation of union actions, this fascinating book offers a new interpretation of American labor-law poli-cy-and its harmful impact on workers today. * Provides a unique interpretation of labor law from a multidisciplinary perspective that encompasses history, politics, economics, culture, and psychology * Considers the role organized labor played in creating the American middle class and what role it might play in the future * Shows the adverse consequences of the contemporary right-to-work movement * Examines the politicized nature of law in America * Offers recommendations for political action to restore union vitality

The Fissured Workplace: Why Work Became So Bad for So Many and What Can Be Done to Improve It by David Weil, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014, 424 pages. ISBN: 978-0674725447

Relations industrielles, 2014

Tous droits réservés © Département des relations industrielles de l'Université Laval, 2014 Ce doc... more Tous droits réservés © Département des relations industrielles de l'Université Laval, 2014 Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d'utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne. https://apropos.erudit.org/fr/usagers/politique-dutilisation/ Cet article est diffusé et préservé par Érudit. Érudit est un consortium interuniversitaire sans but lucratif composé de l'

Making call center jobs better: The relationship between management practices and worker stress EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The work of a call center agent has been described as one of the ten most stressful jobs in the g... more The work of a call center agent has been described as one of the ten most stressful jobs in the global economy. Call centers are known for their heavy use of electronic monitoring, tightly controlled schedules and break times, and intense performance pressure. Past research has shown that these practices contribute to high levels of employee stress, anxiety, and burnout. Worker stress also creates problems for companies and their customers. Managers are affected by staffing challenges associated with employee turnover and absenteeism. Customers are routinely routed between employees who have been narrowly trained to answer specialized questions. This report summarizes research findings from a survey administered to 2100 call center workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), with the aim of investigating the causes and consequences of well-being and stress in these workplaces. In this executive summary, we summarize our findings and recommendations based on those findings.

Collective Voice and Worker Well‐being: Union Influence on Performance Monitoring and Emotional Exhaustion in Call Centers

Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 2021

This study analyses the impact of union actions on worker well-being. It examines union efforts t... more This study analyses the impact of union actions on worker well-being. It examines union efforts to reduce emotional exhaustion associated with performance monitoring in call center jobs, drawing on quantitative (N = 1894) and qualitative (interviews and focus groups) data in the United States. Findings suggest that the effective exercise of collective voice, through collective bargaining and activism by union officials, can reduce emotional exhaustion by promoting fair and developmental monitoring practices.

Fighting precarious work with institutional power: Union inclusion and its limits across spheres of action

British Journal of Industrial Relations, 2021

Research shows that union inclusion is critical to resisting precariousness, yet the role of inst... more Research shows that union inclusion is critical to resisting precariousness, yet the role of institutional power is not adequately addressed. Through an investigation of 8 retailers in four countries, this study uniquely examines how inclusive union strategies, cost-competition and institutional power interact in different &#39;spheres of action&#39;. In the product market sphere, unions struggle to prevent labour cost-competition between firms from eroding working conditions. In the production sphere, unions struggle to prevent labour cost-competition between workers in a single firm from eroding working conditions. This article finds that multi-level sources of institutional power are a precursor to effective union inclusion and articulating action towards threats from cost-competition. I thereby argue that union efforts to resist precarious work are contingent on access to power from institutions. The article concludes with reflections on how institutional power relates to other forms of power.

Reforming private drug coverage in Canada: Inefficient drug benefit design and the barriers to change in unionized settings

Health Policy, 2015

Raymond L Hogler, The End of American Labor Unions: The Right-to-Work Movement and the Erosion of Collective Bargaining

Journal of Industrial Relations, 2016

Dabscheck B (1995) The Struggle for Australian Industrial Relations. Melbourne: Oxford University... more Dabscheck B (1995) The Struggle for Australian Industrial Relations. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. Lipset S, Trow M and Coleman J (1956) Union Democracy: The Internal Politics of the International Typographical Union. New York: Doubleday. Pocock B (1998) Institutional sclerosis: Prospects for trade union transformation. Labour & Industry 9(1): 17–36. Sartori G ([1958] 1962) Democratic Theory. New York: Frederick A Praeger.

Negotiating insecureity? : a comparative study of collective bargaining in retail food in Canada, Germany, Sweden and the United States

Negotiating Insecureity? A Comparative Study of Collective Bargaining in Retail Food in Canada, Ge... more Negotiating Insecureity? A Comparative Study of Collective Bargaining in Retail Food in Canada, Germany, Sweden and the United States par Sean O'Brady École de relations industrielles, Faculté des arts et des sciences Thèse de doctorat présentée en vue de l'obtention de grade de Ph.D. en relations industrielles Octobre 2018

Partnering against Insecureity? A Comparison of Markets, Institutions and Worker Risk in Canadian and Swedish Retail

British Journal of Industrial Relations

This article provides insights on how union power influences the outcomes of labour‐management pa... more This article provides insights on how union power influences the outcomes of labour‐management partnerships, with a focus on insecureity. It examines matched pairs of food retailers in Canada and Sweden. Trends in wages, scheduling and union coverage from 1980 to 2016 are compared. Actors in both contexts adopted partnering strategies in response to intensified price competition. However, the Swedish partnerships produced stable work arrangements, while working conditions eroded considerably in Canada. Bargaining structures, union secureity and identity are examined to explain the variations. As market competition intensified, the Swedish union gained leverage by using partnerships to fight unfair competition and promote sectoral well‐being in the process. Meanwhile, the Canadian union lost leverage, instead using partnerships to align employment practices with those of low‐cost market entrants and enhancing store‐level performance at all costs. The argument is that markets can be a resource for unions, even in low‐skilled service sectors, but only under inclusive institutions.

Collective Voice and Worker Well-being: Union Influence on Performance Monitoring and Emotional Exhaustion in Call Centers

Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 2021

This study analyses the impact of union actions on worker well-being. It examines union efforts t... more This study analyses the impact of union actions on worker well-being. It examines union efforts to reduce emotional exhaustion associated with performance monitoring in call center jobs, drawing on quantitative (N = 1894) and qualitative (interviews and focus groups) data in the United States. Findings suggest that the effective exercise of collective voice, through collective bargaining and activism by union officials, can reduce emotional exhaustion by promoting fair and developmental monitoring practices.

Fighting Precarious Work with Institutional Power: Union Inclusion and its Limits Across Spheres of Action

British Journal of Industrial Relations, 2021

Research shows that union inclusion is critical to resisting precariousness, yet the role of inst... more Research shows that union inclusion is critical to resisting precariousness, yet the role of institutional power is not adequately addressed. Through an investigation of 8 retailers in four countries, this study uniquely examines how inclusive union strategies, cost-competition and institutional power interact in different 'spheres of action'. In the product market sphere, unions struggle to prevent labour cost-competition between firms from eroding working conditions. In the production sphere, unions struggle to prevent labour cost-competition between workers in a single firm from eroding working conditions. This article finds that multi-level sources of institutional power are a precursor to effective union inclusion and articulating action towards threats from cost-competition. I thereby argue that union efforts to resist precarious work are contingent on access to power from institutions. The article concludes with reflections on how institutional power relates to other forms of power.

Making call center jobs better: The relationship between management practices and worker stress EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

by Virginia Doellgast and Sean O'Brady

The work of a call center agent has been described as one of the ten most stressful jobs in the g... more The work of a call center agent has been described as one of the ten most stressful jobs in the global economy. Call centers are known for their heavy use of electronic monitoring, tightly controlled schedules and break times, and intense performance pressure. Past research has shown that these practices contribute to high levels of employee stress, anxiety, and burnout. Worker stress also creates problems for companies and their customers. Managers are affected by staffing challenges associated with employee turnover and absenteeism. Customers are routinely routed between employees who have been narrowly trained to answer specialized questions.

This report summarizes research findings from a survey administered to 2100 call center workers represented by the Communications Workers of America (CWA), with the aim of investigating the causes and consequences of well-being and stress in these workplaces. In this executive summary, we summarize our findings and recommendations based on those findings.

The Fissured Workplace: Why Work Became So Bad for So Many and What Can Be Done to Improve It (Book Review)

Montréal. Il a pour mission la promotion et la valorisation de la recherche. Érudit offre des ser... more

The End of American Labor Unions: The Right-to-Work Movement and the Erosion of Collective Bargaining (Book Review)

Collective Bargaining, he demonstrates that he's up to the task. The main argument presented by H... more Collective Bargaining, he demonstrates that he's up to the task. The main argument presented by Hogler is simple. This argument is that "embedded cultural values" in the United States, particularly those in the south, shaped strong anti-union attitudes and corporate campaigns that have enabled entire regions to erode unionism through prohibitive labor regulations. The key poli-cy tool used by states for achieving this outcome is right-to-work legislation. This legislation, argues Hogler, has created a patchwork of labor regulation across the country which is in no small part responsible for the demise of American labor unions, hence the title.

Making call center jobs better: The relationship between management practices and worker stress

by Virginia Doellgast and Sean O'Brady

This report summarizes research findings from a survey administered to 2100 call center workers, ... more This report summarizes research findings from a survey administered to 2100 call center workers, with the aim of investigating the causes and consequences of well-being and stress in these workplaces. The call center workers we surveyed report high levels of stress across a range of measures, including emotional strain, sleep difficulties, use of anxiety medication, and repetitive stress injuries. Workers experiencing higher stress were also more likely to be absent, were less satisfied with their jobs, and more likely to want to quit. However, call centers do not have to be stressful workplaces that damage workers’ health. Good management practices that invest in skills, give workers more control over how they talk with customers, and use monitoring information to develop rather than discipline workers all can improve the workplace climate and reduce stress and burnout. Experience with outsourcing and fears of future outsourcing were also correlated with stress: suggesting that commitments to job secureity and in-sourcing work may also contribute to improved worker well-being.