Union strategies in the era of globalisation: case studies from Chile's large-scale copper mining sector (1982-2009)

Trade unions, workers’ collective organisations, are facing tough times almost everywhere. Research on union strategies of revitalisation has largely focused on advanced industrialised countries thereby overlooking potentially interesting developments elsewhere. This thesis aims at contributing to fill this gap by widening the breath of empirical research and bringing in evidence from Chile’s large-scale copper mining sector. Chile and its copper sector are often heralded as prominent examples of the benefits globalisation can bring to developing countries but much less publicised has been the extent to which neoliberal policy has negatively affected workers and their organisations. The purpose of this thesis is to understand these challenges and to address the issues of in what ways, why, and how far workers and trade unions have effectively confronted their changing environments. More specifically, the thesis aims at analysing and explaining similarities and differences in the emergence, form, and outcomes of union strategy. The research is based on a comparative multi case study of nine union organisations and draws on semi-structured interviews with union leaders, senior managers, state officials, academics, and elite interviewees. This work employs a preliminary framework of analysis that conceives of union strategy as multi-dimensional and aims at explaining its changing nature by elaborating on Frege and Kelly’s (2003) social movement model of union strategic choice, thereby integrating structural determinants with purposeful agency. The thesis shows that since the early 1980s Chile’s labour regulatory regimes have been redesigned to subordinate groups’ disadvantage, severely impacting workers and unions structure of opportunity. It distinguishes three groups. (1) Unions of core workers in union-accepting regimes have stabilised their situation by engaging in different forms of union-management co-operation and membership de-mobilisation. (2) Unions of core workers in anti-union regimes have developed successful organising campaigns and union-building strategies, transforming their original ‘unionfree’ status into a heavily unionised one. (3) Unions of contract workers in harsh anti-union regimes have developed militant ‘direct action’ strategies, becoming prominent nation-wide organisations. At its most general, the thesis argues that meaningful union strategic choice is possible, even in the most difficult of conditions, thereby contradicting claims that unions have become powerless, ineffective, and unnecessary organisations in the era of ‘globalisation’. It acknowledges the relevance of different strategic paths to union effectiveness but suggests that broadly defined militant types of unionism may be better placed to promote union revitalisation. It suggests that structural determinants are insufficient in explaining the form and outcomes of union choices, and that renewed attention must be paid to the social processes of collective action, in particular to the dynamics of micromobilisation

Preliminary use of YieldSAFE model to assess Eucalyptus globulus productivity in Portugal under future climate

Poste

Carbon balance estimation for agroforestry land use alternatives in Portugal

PosterIn 2005, 11% of the anthropogenic greenhouse gases emissions (GHG) were originated from agricultural activities and this value is expected to increase in the future. Besides the contribution for the restoration of soil productivity and for the improvement of conditions in degraded land, Agroforestry is also proposed as one of the main solutions for the mitigation of the GHG emissions and their effect on Climate Change. With European Union’s legislation supporting and promoting the conversion of land into low-carbon-integrated agriculture, new opportunities arise for the implementation of this type of land use in Europe. In Portugal, this type of agriculture is well represented by a traditional Agroforestry system called montado, combining low density cork oak trees (Quercus suber L) with pastoral activities occupying an area of 715,922 ha, with recent studies showing an extra area suitable for its implementation of around 353,000ha. Considering the new policies established by the EU in regard to the measures to be considered in agriculture for the Climate Change mitigation, and the capacity of the Agroforestry systems to act as a low-carbon and highly productive agriculture, two main objectives are proposed for this work: 1) Compare the potential capacity of the montado to mitigate the GHG emissions by quantifying the net carbon balance of activities in comparison to two other land-use alternatives occurring in the same area: dense cork oak forestry and wheat monoculture; 2) Quantify the benefits/consequences in terms of net carbon balance if new areas are converted into Agroforestry systems, as an alternative to current activities and management models. The methodology for the net carbon balance estimation includes the use of the Yield-SAFE model, calibrated for crop components and cork oak and current most used management practices concerning the three land use types and associated activities.AGFORWARD FP7 (contract nº 613520); FCT CorkCarbon Footprint (PTDC/AGR-FOR/4360/2012

A feedback simulation procedure for real-time control of urban drainage systems

This paper presents a feedback simulation procedure for the real-time control (RTC) of urban drainage systems (UDS) with the aim of providing accurate state evolutions to the RTC optimizer as well as illustrating the optimization performance in a virtual reality. Model predictive control (MPC) has been implemented to generate optimal solutions for the multiple objectives of UDS using a simplified conceptual model. A high-fidelity simulator InfoWorks ICM is used to carry on the simulation based on a high level detailed model of a UDS. Communication between optimizer and simulator is realized in a feedback manner, from which both the state dynamics and the optimal solutions have been implemented through realistic demonstrations. In order to validate the proposed procedure, a real pilot based on Badalona UDS has been applied as the case study.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Using the yield-safe model to assess hypothetical eucalyptus silvopastoral systems in Portugal

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Interactive effects of herbivory and substrate orientation on algal community dynamics on a coral reef

Herbivory is a significant driver of algal community dynamics on coral reefs. However, abiotic factors such as the complexity and orientation of the benthos often mediate the impact of herbivores on benthic communities. We experimentally evaluated the independent and interactive effects of substrate orientation and herbivorous fishes on algal community dynamics on a coral reef in the Florida Keys, USA. We created horizontal and vertical substrates, mimicking the trend in the reduction of vertical surfaces of coral reefs, to assess how algal communities developed either with herbivory (open areas) or without herbivory (herbivore exclosures). We found that substrate orientation was the dominant influence on macroalgal community composition. Herbivores had little impact on community development of vertical substrates as crustose algae dominated these substrates regardless of being in exclosures or open areas. In contrast, herbivores strongly impacted communities on horizontal substrates, with upright macroalgae (e.g., Dictyota spp., articulated coralline algae) dominating herbivore exclosures, while filamentous turf algae and sediment dominated open areas. Outside of exclosures, differences between vertical and horizontal substrates exposed to herbivores persisted despite similar intensity of herbivory. Our results suggest that the orientation of the reef benthos has an important impact on benthic communities. On vertical surfaces, abiotic factors may be more important for structuring algal communities while herbivory may be more important for controlling algal dynamics in flatter areas. Thus, the decline in structural complexity of Caribbean coral reefs and the flattening of reef substrates may fundamentally alter the impact that herbivores have on benthic community dynamics

Financial and economic benefits of integrated crop-livestock-tree systems in Europe

•Agricultural monocultures have societal costs •Role for agroforestry •Introducing AGFORWARD •Two case studies on the financial and economic benefits of agroforestry in EuropeEuropean Union’s Seventh Framework Program for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 61352

Modelling holm oak acorn production in south western Iberia

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Innovating tree plantation design: spiralographing agroforestry

PosterMost of forestry or agroforestry artificial plantations either have an orthogonal design, or curvilinear under contour lines to prevent soil erosion. These designs are known to maximize machinery workflow or erosion control respectively. As in many occasions in land use management, what optimizes machinery operation is not what optimizes prevention of soil loss and vice versa. An alternative and intermediate design system such as an Archimedes spiral could offer in one hand, the ability to have equidistant lines to facilitate machinery operation and, in other hand reduce soil loss in comparison to orthogonal designs. Additionally can be an alternative design when aesthetics plays a role in the planting decision. Although the spiral land use design is present in permaculture related literature, scaling up the methodology to forestry is practically absent in literature. This work tries to contribute to the knowledge of planting trees in an Archimedes spiral design. Making a spiral is a trivial command in computer assisted design, but this work envisaged the creation of the spiral in the field without any high technology software (e.g. tractor with laser technology) to enlarge the scope of possible application. We used the spiral equation to explore and define in the spiral: 1) the number of turns, 2) the distance between the arms and 3) the tree density. The widest machinery of the farmer was five meters so, to allow the tractor to move inwards and outwards in the spiral, we opted to design twelve meters between rows to allow 1 meter safety distance to the tree line. The final spiral would have three arms with two meters between trees in the line (240 trees). Part of the challenge was to implement the spiral with the exact dimensions in order to respect the farmer needs. To implement the spiral in the field a “field spiralographer” was made with the following description: an axis with about 1 meter high, where on top was placed a base with six equidistant arms. Each arm was made telescopic to allow different lengths of the arms. At 2 meters from the center the arms were marked and a screw pin was placed on the mark. A rope was rolled up around the screw pins. The number of complete turns is equal to the number of lines existing in the field spiral. Because the union of the screw pins in the arms’ builds a hexagon with 6 x 2 meters perimeter, a full turn has 12 meters length. To mark the spiral in the field, start unrolling the rope and walk at the same time avoiding a loose rope, marking the place for planting the trees. By the end of a full turn around the “spiralographer” there should be 12 meters distance between the first and last tree mark. By keeping unrolling the rope until needed, the spiral keeps being designed in the field depending on the turns needed. In other words, the “spiralographer” could be an hexagon with R radius, being 6xR, the distance between the lines in the spiral. Unrolling and keeping the rope unloose will provide a guide to mark the spiral in the field. Because the description might be unclear, a video was made showing the “making of” this spiral preparation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lzjT1UcJvM The experimental site is being used to survey operational costs to compare with conventional designs

Agroforestry can mitigate environmental problems in european agricultural deficit areas

N/