INTERSECTIONALITY MEET SEASONAL AGRICULTURAL WORK: THE CASE OF HUELVA IN TIMES OF COVID-19

The COVID-19 has made the structural deficiencies of the global agri-food system more visible than ever. The agricultural enclave of Huelva is no exception. Departing from the pre-COVID scenario and adding the effects of the pandemic, this paper analyses the processes of discrimination and abuse embedded in the rationale and modus operand/' of the Spanish temporary workers' programme (GECCO). In particular, it examines how such processes of discrimination are reflected in three key aspects of the programme: recruitment, working conditions and living conditions. Thanks to the intersectional perspective and the feminist contributions to the world-ecology capitalism, the analysis sheds light on the mutual constitution of different axes of inequality (e.g. motherhood, ethnicity, rural origin) in the practices of discrimination and exploitation suffered by Moroccan women. In turn, it examines how such intersecting inequalities are geographically located in a specific temporal and spatial context that plays a role in the construction of power relationships at a structural level. The paper is fed by recent fieldwork based on in-depth interviews with stakeholders as part of a European research project on schemes of governance and circular migration (ADMIGOV). Copyright © 2022 CSIC.

COVID-19 vaccination coverage and associated factors in seasonal fruit workers in Lleida

Objectives: Seasonal fruit workers are a high-risk group for SARS-COV-2 infection. We aimed to estimate vaccination coverage and factors associated with vaccination in seasonal fruit workers. Methods: We carried out an anonymous survey of seasonal fruit workers in the 2021 campaign in Baix Segria region and Lleida city (Spain) on vaccination, knowledge and attitudes about the COVID-19 vaccine. Univariate and bivariate descriptive analyses were performed comparing vaccinated versus non-vaccinated. Multivariate analysis was performed using to assess factors associated to vaccination uptake. Results: We included 286 seasonal workers. The prevalence of confirmed COVID-19 background was 39.5% and overall vaccination coverage was 78.7%. Factors associated with vaccination were age (aOR = 0.96;95% CI: 0.94–0.99), good knowledge of disease (aOR = 1.87;95% CI : 1.01–3.47) and having a high-perceived vaccine effectiveness (aOR = 2.94;95% CI : 1.50–5.73). High vaccination coverage in workers was associated to knowledge (OR = 3.69;95% CI: 1.61–8.48), safe transport (OR = 2.84;95% CI: 1.40–5.76) and appropriate housing (OR = 2.62;95% CI: 1.25–5.46) as important non-pharmacological measures to reduced transmission. Conclusion: The study confirms the high prevalence of COVID-19 history and moderate vaccination coverage in seasonal fruit workers. Health education programs to improve knowledge about COVID-19 and its vaccination can help improve vaccination uptake.

Moderate wage increases and flexible labour contracts to protect employment in Colombian manufacturing

Based on conditional and unconditional demands for labour, we exploit the variations of real minimum wage across manufacturing subsectors to present evidence that this variable affects formal employment. The long-term elasticity of labour demand to the minimum wage is around –0.7. Accordingly, increases in the minimum wage lead to job losses for unskilled labour, mainly in plants with fewer than 100;thus, small increases in the minimum wage are desirable to protect employment. Labour demand is highly cyclical: the output elasticity is about 1.7. Thus, some flexibility in labour contracts is desirable to reduce the link between employment and variation of plants’ sales. Open-ended labour contracts might allow reductions of the nominal wage rather than inducing job losses during periods of severe slumps, as has happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. © 2022 The Society for Policy Modeling

The rhetorics of ‘agile’ and the practices of ‘agile working’: Consequences for the worker experience and uncertain implications for HR practice

The various rhetorics of ‘agile’, ‘agility’, and ‘agile working’ (AW) set an agenda for new ways of working and have recently gained traction in popular management discourse, particularly in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet conceptually, these rhetorical varieties of ‘agile’ are underdeveloped in the academic literature. In this article we examine the stream of AW as being a particularly influential rhetoric. AW is critically evaluated by first identifying separate streams and rhetorics of ‘agile’ in the literature, and AW is then situated within this typology. To understand the particular version of reality being mainstreamed by the AW rhetoric, we then examine AWs conceptualisation as ‘a new way of working’, as promoted by dominant actors within the UK work context. We then consider existing studies of worker experiences under different employment arrangements that can be subsumed under the heading of ‘AW practices’. Our analysis highlights voids between what may be considered as mainstream HR practice when applied to standard employees compared to a spectrum of ‘non-standard’ workers. The implications for the role of HR in the implementation of AW and in managing the worker experience are discussed and future avenues for this under-researched area are offered. © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Migration and Dependency: Mexican Countryside Proletarianization and the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program.

This article addresses the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) between Mexico and Canada by examining the forms of disposability and job insecurity of Mexicans employed in Canadian agribusiness. We argue that the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program has exacerbated the precarity and disposability of Mexican workers by restructuring family dynamics and care chains. This article represents a critique of the SAWP as a model of regulated labor migration, serving as a basis for analyzing the consequences of the proletarianization of the Mexican peasantry and its use as disposable labor for export.

COVID-19 vaccination coverage and associated factors in seasonal fruit workers in Lleida.

Objectives: Seasonal fruit workers are a high-risk group for SARS-COV-2 infection. We aimed to estimate vaccination coverage and factors associated with vaccination in seasonal fruit workers. Methods: We carried out an anonymous survey of seasonal fruit workers in the 2021 campaign in Baix Segria region and Lleida city (Spain) on vaccination, knowledge and attitudes about the COVID-19 vaccine. Univariate and bivariate descriptive analyses were performed comparing vaccinated versus non-vaccinated. Multivariate analysis was performed using to assess factors associated to vaccination uptake. Results: We included 286 seasonal workers. The prevalence of confirmed COVID-19 background was 39.5% and overall vaccination coverage was 78.7%. Factors associated with vaccination were age (aOR = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.94-0.99), good knowledge of disease (aOR = 1.87; 95% CI : 1.01-3.47) and having a high-perceived vaccine effectiveness (aOR = 2.94; 95% CI : 1.50-5.73). High vaccination coverage in workers was associated to knowledge (OR = 3.69; 95% CI: 1.61-8.48), safe transport (OR = 2.84; 95% CI: 1.40-5.76) and appropriate housing (OR = 2.62; 95% CI: 1.25-5.46) as important non-pharmacological measures to reduced transmission. Conclusion: The study confirms the high prevalence of COVID-19 history and moderate vaccination coverage in seasonal fruit workers. Health education programs to improve knowledge about COVID-19 and its vaccination can help improve vaccination uptake.

Objetivos: Los trabajadores temporales de la fruta son un grupo de alto riesgo de infección por SARS-COV-2. El objetivo fue estimar la cobertura vacunal y los factores asociados a la vacunación en los trabajadores temporales de la fruta. Métodos: Se realizó una encuesta anónima a los temporeros de la campaña de la fruta 2021 en la comarca del Baix Segrià y en la ciudad de Lleida sobre la vacunación, y los conocimientos y actitudes sobre la vacuna de la COVID-19. Se realizaron análisis descriptivos y bivariantes comparando los vacunados con los no vacunados y se realizó un análisis multivariante para evaluar los factores asociados a la vacunación. Resultados: Se incluyeron 286 trabajadores temporales. La prevalencia de haber sido COVID-19 confirmado previamente fue del 39,5% y la cobertura global de vacunación fue del 78,7%. Los factores asociados a la vacunación fueron la edad (ORa = 0,96; IC 95%: 0,94-0,99), el conocimiento correcto de la enfermedad (ORa = 1,87; IC 95% : 1,01-3,47) y tener una alta percepción de la eficacia de la vacuna (ORa = 2,94; IC 95% : 1,50-5,73). Se observó una alta cobertura vacunal en los trabajadores manifestaron que los conocimientos de la enfermedad (OR = 3,69; IC 95%: 1,61-8,48), el transporte seguro (OR = 2,84; IC 95%: 1,40-5,76) y el alojamiento adecuado (OR = 2,62; IC 95%: 1,25-5,46) son importantes medidas para reducir la transmisión. Conclusiones: El estudio confirma la alta prevalencia de haber pasado la COVID-19 y la moderada cobertura de vacunación en los trabajadores estacionales de la fruta. Los programas de educación sanitaria para mejorar el conocimiento sobre el COVID-19 y su vacunación pueden ayudar a mejorar la aceptación de la vacunación.