Negotiating labour insecurity : a case study of temporary off-farm workers in the deciduous fruit sector in Ceres

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis develops a socio-economic profile of temporary off-farm workers and examines how they negotiate labour insecurity in a context of high unemployment and casualisation of work. This is realised through a case study of temporary off-farm workers in the deciduous fruit sector in Ceres.The study followed a three-phase exploratory sequential mixed methods research strategy. This meant that exploratory interviews informed semi-structured interviews, the findings of which were verified in focus groups before forming grounded indicators in a questionnaire interviewing 200 temporary off-farm workers employed in peak season. The findings are analysed drawing on Marx's theory of the division of labour (1978a), social consciousness (1978c) and mechanisation of labour (1978d), which are further developed though the work of other theorists.The thesis illustrates that the socio-economic profile of farm workers has changed dramatically and that the majority of temporary farm workers are black African. This is attributed to the abolishment of influx control in 1987 and subsequent market deregulation and the flexibilisation of labour in the early 1990s. This meant that new relations of production were incorporated into the existing mode of production and flexibilisation led to a fragmentation of skills into racial categories. Having greater knowledge and skills of farm work, coloured workers accessed higher skilled jobs, permanent or temporary, whilst black African workers were incorporated as feminised workers, in accordance with increased employment of unskilled temporary workers in the sector.Labour insecurity is negotiated by drawing on formal and informal incomes, including support from household members, co-workers and social assistance grants. Drawing on a wider range of these resources, coloured women negotiate labour insecurity more successfully. Further, considerations in partaking in work are not only informed by labour insecurity but also reproductive insecurity and social relationships in the workplace.In conclusion, considerations depend on socio-historical contexts, which have led to unequal economic and social conditions of workers. This has meant that workers experience labour insecurity unevenly and make dependent choices in their considerations around work. There is, thus, a complex interplay of considerations between productive and social reproductive work.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University