labour mobility and participation in the extractive...

PROPOSED RESDA SUB-PROJECT

LABOUR MOBILITY AND PARTICIPATION IN THE EXTRACTIVE

INDUSTRIES

DR. GERTI EILMSTEINER-SAXINGER,UNIVERSITY OF VIENNA, AT TARA CATER, MA, CARLETON UNIVERSITY, CA

Remoteness of mining sites requires mobility: fly-in / fly-out and shift work operations (FIFO)

also on local level (intra-regional FIFO)

long-distance commuting (LDC)

Qualification and vocational training (educational mobility) Transport infrastructure

Labour force: highly flexible, mobile, multi-local

Requires a mobile and multi-local life-style comprising camp-life

Limited mobility and inequality (inter-regional mobility?) Mining not for everybody (disparities in communities)

How to cope and make sense out of MOBILITY and MULTILOCALITY

PROPOSED RESDA SUB-PROJECT LABOUR MOBILITY AND PARTICIPATION IN THE EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES

CONTEXT

Gertrude Eilmsteiner-Saxinger , University of Vienna Tara Cater, Carleton University


MY RESEARCH BACKGROUD

FIFO research in Russian North Motivation for long-distance commuting Qualification for the petroleum industry Coping with multi-locality (home <-> on site) Mobility patterns: commuting or out-migration Transport conditions

FIFO as challenge: absence, „too much leisure time“, doubled life, outmigration FIFO as opportunity: job, increased social life etc, outmigration opportunity

FIFO not necessarily negative, if facilitated and people aware of challenges and

informed about coping strategies

Spatial integration and negotiation of spaces is a gradual process (over generations…)

No everyone wants to be a miner/a FIFO keeping choice in mind



KEY RESEARCH QUESTIONS changing social fabrics of communities where workforce is mobile workforce out‐migrates permanently to larger urban centers in order to FIFO back

Mobility: perception, practices and motivation

Who defines mobility regimes? interaction of incoming FIFO workforce and local aboriginal workforce and entrepreneurs

Might include research on regional centres as receiving points of community outmigration

Shortcomings in contemprary Canadian mining -> e.g. gender disbalance



PROJECT AIMS

Comparative research: „old“ and „new“ mining regions: Yukon <-> Baffin Island (Mary River Project) Understanding FIFO related community processes and individual coping Understanding interaction of inter- and intra-regional commuters

Learning from good and negative examples (communication via community meetings, Mobile Companion Guide. others? E.g. excursions of community members Yukon <-> Baffin etc



RESEARCH TEAM & METHODS 3-stages of community meetings Community research assistant as communicator

Interviews with current and future workforce Interviews with stakeholders -> awareness activities of HR dept./companies Ethnographic long-term study in communities -->transfering stories and experience through science communication Gerti Eilmsteiner-Saxinger : Yukon Tara Cater: Baffin Island Community research assistant each site MA student



APPLIED AND SCIENTIFIC RESULTS

RAISING AWARENESS FOR MOBILITY ASPECT! The Mobility Companion Guide variety of ways of taking up a life on the move and making sense out of it

Collaboration with colleges and mining companies: prep for live in mobility Science Communication activities: media, others? (posters,

stickers,….), story-book (collaboration with local language writer?)

Community engagement and outreach (workshops, excursion between sites, peer to peer training workshops)

Publications (incl.low-threshold report), contribution to dissertation, MA thesis,…


labour mobility and participation in the extractive...

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