1st Edition

Work and Labor Relations in the Construction Industry An International Perspective

Edited By Dale Belman, Janet Druker, Geoffrey White Copyright 2021
    296 Pages 10 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    296 Pages 10 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    The need for a skilled, motivated and effective workforce is fundamental to the creation of the built environment across the world. Known in so many places for a tendency to informal and casual working practices, for the sometimes abusive use of migrant labor, for gendered male employment and for a neglect of the essentials of health and safety, the industry, its managers and its workforce face multiple challenges. This book brings an international lens to address those challenges, looking particularly at the diverse ways in which answers have been found to manage safe and productive employment practices and effective employment relations within the framework of client demands for timely and cost-effective project completions. Whilst context, history and contractual frameworks may all militate against a careful attention to human resource issues this makes them even more deserving of attention.

    Work and Labor Relations in Construction aims to share understanding of best practice in the industries associated with construction and related activities, recognizing that effective work organization and good standards of employee relations will vary from one location to another. It acknowledges the real difficulties encountered by workers in parts of the developing world and the quest for improvement and awareness of some of the worst hazards and current practices. This book is both critical and analytical in approach and seeks to alert readers to the need for change. Aimed at addressing practical issues within the construction industry from a theoretical and empirical standpoint, it will be of value to those interested in the built environment, employment relations and human resource management.

    Chapter 1. Introduction

    Janet Druker, Geoffrey White and Dale Belman

    Chapter 2. Social Dialogue in the Argentinian Construction Industry

    Hernán Ruggirello and Janet Druker.

    Chapter 3. Evolving Employment Relations in the Australian Construction Industry

    Alex Veen and Susan McGrath-Champ

    Chapter 4. The Brazilian Construction Industry: Informality and qualification in question

    Marcella Piccoli and Carlos Diehl

    Chapter 5. The German Construction Industry at the Crossroads

    Gerhard Syben and Christian Beck

    Chapter 6. Formality and Informality in sub-Saharan Africa and the Ghanaian construction industry

    Divine Kwaku Ahadzie, Yaw Debrah and George Ofori

    Chapter 7. Labor Management in the Lebanese Construction Industry

    Samar Kleib, Fida Afiouni and Issam Srour

    Chapter 8. The Russian Construction Sector: Informality, labor mobility and socialist legacies

    Ekaterina Serezhkina, Claudio Morrison and Olga Cretu.

    Chapter 9. Sustaining ‘high road’ Employment Relations in the Swedish and Danish Construction Industries

    Jens Arnholtz and Christian Lyhne Ibsen

    Chapter 10. Self-employment and Labor Relations in the UK Construction Industry

    Janet Druker and Geoffrey White

    Chapter 11. Creating a Sustainable Industry and Workforce in the U.S. Construction Industry

    Dale Belman and Russell Ormiston

    Chapter 12. Conclusions

    Geoffrey White, Janet Druker and Dale Belman

    Biography

    Dale Belman is a Professor in the School of Human Resources & Labor Relations at Michigan State University, USA.

    Janet Druker is Emeritus Professor in the Business School at the University of Westminster London, UK.

    Geoff White is Emeritus Professor of Human Resource Management in the Business Faculty at the University of Greenwich, UK.