"Postdoctoral Researcher Trade Union Access to the (Digital) Workplace"

Are you interested in research on labor rights, worker representation and the digital transformation of workplaces? Join us as a postdoc researcher to study how trade unions access physical and digital workplaces.

This project studies how trade unions and other employee representatives communicate with workers in the modern workplace. In doing so, this project focusses on union access to workers in both traditional physical workplaces as well as in digital and digitally mediated workplaces. Access to workers is an important aspect of union organizing, collective bargaining and worker representation. New EU rules on platform work require that digital labor platforms must enable representatives of these workers to contact or be contacted using the digital infrastructure of the platforms and refrain from accessing or monitoring these contacts and communications. This project studies the experiences of social partners with union communication and access to workers in both digital workplaces (labor platforms) and in traditional physical workplaces. The goal is to uncover the drivers, barriers and outcomes of trade unions’ access. The study involves designing and fielding a survey among (Dutch) social partners (unions and employers) and qualitative interviews. Based on the project outline, the Postdoc is encouraged to shape the project according to his or her own ideas. Also, other methods (e.g., document or content analysis of digital communication) are possible depending on the candidate’s expertise, research interests and data availability.

You will be working on a sub-project of a larger project. In this sub-project you will work in collaboration with prof. Agnes Akkerman and dr. Giedo Jansen. The project further includes prof Jaap van Slooten and Niels Jansen, who carry out normative and comparative legal analysis on union access to the workplace. You will be placed at the interdisciplinary research institute AIAS-HSI, at the University of Amsterdam and participate in the vibrant academic life of our university. The project is also embedded in a larger interuniversity consortium studying platform work (Platwork-R).

Your tasks as a Postdoctoral researcher will include the following: Conducting a literature review on trade union communication and access to (digital) workplaces; Designing, organizing and fielding an online survey among Dutch social partners on their experiences with union access to (digital) workplaces and communication channels; Interviews with social partners and experts; Publishing at least one article in a peer-reviewed journal; Contributing to the development of a roadmap for social partners with guidelines for designing and managing communication channels facilitating union access to workers; Contributing to other outreach activities within the project and consortium; Participating in the intellectual life and contribute to the research profile of AIAS-HSI.

What we expect from you: A PhD degree (or close to completion) in one of the social sciences, such as sociology, communication science, political science or other social science discipline, preferably on a labor-related topic; also, candidates with a background in law who have an interest in (developing their skills regarding) empirical methods are encouraged to apply; Experience in independently conducting research; Proven track record of academic publications and/ or (public) outreach; Experience with qualitative and/or quantitative research. Experience with survey design is considered an advantage; Full professional working proficiency in English (speaking, writing, reading) and working knowledge of the Dutch language.

What can we offer you? We offer you the opportunity to work in an intellectually stimulating and teamwork-oriented environment. We are committed to offering tailor-made and careful supervision with the main aim of allowing you to grow and flourish academically and professionally. We offer a 0.8 fte position (30.4 hours/week) as postdoctoral researcher for 1.5 years. Your salary, depending on your relevant experience on commencement of the employment contract, ranges between €3,881 to €4,728 gross per month on the basis of a full working week of 38 hours. This sum does not include the 8% holiday allowance and the 8.3% year-end allowance. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU) is applicable.

About us: You will work at the AIAS-HSI research center, affiliated to the Amsterdam Law School. AIAS-HSI has the most interdisciplinary group of scientists in the field of industrial relations and employment issues in the Netherlands. There is a scientific staff of approximately 10 FTE, divided over 16 employees with different disciplinary backgrounds, including lawyers, economists, sociologists and political scientists. The University of Amsterdam is the largest university in the Netherlands, with the broadest spectrum of degree programs. It is an intellectual hub with 42,000 students, 6,000 employees and 3,000 doctoral students who are all committed to a culture of inquiring minds.