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The impact of cultural diversity on workand management

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Outline

Context Aim Approach: Conceptual framework The case study Analysis Conclusion Questions

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Context - Recent Findings

2004 Wendy McCarthy noted few railway employees ‘could imagine working alongside women and people from Non-English-Speaking Backgrounds as equals.’

Such views were coupled with ‘close to unbearable’ levels of verbal harassment, and frustrating obstacles to career progression for qualified migrants.

‘a culture of keeping out diversity, argued McCarthy, formed an important ‘part of the problem’.

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2005 van Barneveld and Jowett show a continuing high ‘…incidence of workplace violence, harassment, and bullying, gender-based or otherwise’ in the rail industry.

Forms of violence identified include: physical, verbal and nonverbal communication, intimidation and bullying, exclusion, sexual harassment, and stalking.

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Context – Equal Employment Opportunity and the Railways

1977 NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1980 NSW Anti-Discrimination

(Amendment) Act NSW Public Sector EEO Program

established under Part 9(A) 1980 Act David Hill appointed as CEO of State

Rail Authority June 1980 Hill launches EEO program in SRA in

1981 by appointing Director of EEO

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Key question:

Why have EEO and diversity-related initiatives implemented in the NSW railways since the early 1980s failed?

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Aims identify the problems associated with

the implementation of EEO and diversity-related initiatives in the early 1980s

explain how employees responded to the diversity initiatives implemented by management at that time

provide lessons from the past that can inform future policy direction

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Why ACDEP? From opening in 1968 ACDEP was among

the most culturally diverse of SRA’s worksites with around 90% of employees were from NESB

problems related to sexual harassment and cultural diversity exposed publicly and formally investigated

first SRA site where these problems were addressed through introduction of EEO strategies in the form of English Language classes and Cultural Awareness Training

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Approach Adopt a multi-disciplinary approach to

investigate the historical case of the Eveleigh Railway Workshops Train Cleaning Depot (ACDEP)

draw on the concept of social capital to show how horizontal relationships among migrant employees and vertical relationships between them and their supervisors and managers shaped the way EEO and related initiatives were implemented and received.

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Conceptual Framework Rationale for Social Capital Definition of concept: networks, norms, sanctions, trust, spontaneous co-operation for

mutual benefit Bonding and Bridging Social capital

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Bonding

horizontal networks usually evident in strong family,

friendship, occupation ties that sustain multi-faceted support

sustain norms and sanctions that ‘reinforce exclusive identities and homogenous groups’

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Bridging

vertical networks ‘encompass people across diverse

social cleavages’ and therefore tend to be more outward looking

promote the development of ‘self-interested norms’ between ‘relative strangers’ (Halpern, 2005)

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Linking

a ‘special form of bridging social capital that specifically concerns power’

‘a vertical bridge across asymmetrical power and resources’, which involves ‘norms of mutual respect’ (Halpern, 2005: 25)

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For our purposes, this distinction makes it possible to construe:

(i) shared language, cultural values, norms of reciprocity, and informal, personal/sub-cultural networks as the constituent elements of ‘bonding’ social capital; and

(ii) the SRA’s EEO initiatives as investment in ‘bridging’/’linking’ social capital because English Language Classes & Cultural Awareness Training sought to improve communication and collaboration across cultural groups, occupations and hierarchies.

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The ACDEP Case 2 April 1981 allegations of racial discrimination,

sexual harassment, physical and verbal abuse, bullying, intimidation, theft, graft and standover tactics at ACDEP made during industrial dispute before the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission

10 April 1981, Commissioner Walker appointed a Special Industrial Board Inquiry into ACDEP.

ACDEP workforce consisted of 203 women (102 on day shift and 101 on night shift) and 66 men (36 on day shift and 30 on night shift) from 16 different countries (Jobson, Buckland, Shirlaw, 1981: 10-11, 38-39).

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Inquiry Findings: demographic profileWomen - day shift

Greek 56 English 10 Yugoslav 8 Italian 6 Russian 6 Polish 6 Arabic 4 Lebanese 2 Spanish 2 Cypriot 1 Ukranian 1

TOTAL 102

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Women Night Shift

Greek 47 Arab 19 Lebanese 1 Yugoslav 7 Macedonian 1 Croatian 7 English 8 Spanish 5 Polish 5 German 1

TOTAL 101

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Male Day Shift

Greek 13 Lebanese 3 Arabic 8 Italian 6 English 3 Romanian 1 Macedonian 1 Tripoli 1

Total 36

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Male Night Shift Arabic 14 Iranian 1 Greek 4 Lebanese 1 Italian 4 Macedonian 3 Turkish 3 Total 30

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Inquiry Findings no common language or culture

between management, union officials and shopfloor workers.

Other than the Head Cleaner on Night Shift all managers were Australian-born and spoke only English

management provided instructions and directions relating to overtime and rosters only in English.

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Findings

there were extremely strong sub-cultures and members ‘tended to stay in their own groups’ (Marks nee Jobson, 2004)

employees confirmed that they sat in segregated cultural groups in the meal room.

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SRA’s response: immediate & unilateral

New centralised administrative recruitment policies/processes & culturally-sensitive codes of conduct

Training and Development Supervisor program for Head and Leading Cleaners in English, Greek, Polish and Italian

Cultural Awareness Training program: provided for senior and middle managers and first line

supervisor cleaners at ACDEP, 7-21 Dec. 1981; Sidetrack Theatre company engaged to present a play

on migrant issues 3 female ‘development officers’ for 3 months. multilingual induction programmes introduced for all

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A Language Resource Centre was completed at ACDEP in February 1982,

• an Adult Migrant Education Service (AMES) teacher was engaged

• classes were launched 29/6/1982

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Outcomes/responses

1. Across the SRA: ‘hostility’ at Eveleigh ‘to the whole

Equal Opportunity program’ 2. At ACDEP: Mixed response to various elements

of CAT program Cynicism about the value of

Development Officers Low attendance of English classes

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Bonding in practice Resistance to CAT from migrant leading

cleaners and English classes by majority According to the English teacher (Hitchen,

1996)a. Most women from the largest ethnic

cohorts preferred going ‘up in the Tea Room’ after their work was completed, where they could ‘sit and talk to friends’

b. women who attended classes were harassed by the Head Female Cleaner and ‘her minions’

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Conclusion

applying the bonding/bridging framework highlights how investment in EEO and related management strategies that seek to build bridges ‘across diverse social cleavages’ can be undermined by bonding social capital (dense horizontal networks, strong cultural norms and sanctions)