"The Influence of
ethnicity on the Labor Market opportunities.
A
test case of accepting multicultural diversity in
Interim Activity Report
Present interim report covers activities
relating to the research undertaking between March and August 2003 and the main preliminary findings.
A.
Re-evaluation of and amendments
to the initial project proposal.
Theoretical Aspects
During March-April the initial project proposal
have been re-evaluated. The discussions
with the group mentors and the reading materials of the first IPF seminar led
me to the critical re-appraisal of the scope and the purpose of my policy
research. During the subsequent work on
the project the minor modifications have been
made as well.
The major changes to the initial project
proposal have been the following:
1.
The research area of the
project has become more defined and narrow in scope i.e. Labor Market discrimination.
The initial project proposal included the
proposal to evaluate the following issues
-
language policy formation
-
representation of minorities
in the state institutions and political organs of the state
-
implementing agencies
-
possibility of minority
groups on an equal footing to participate in the process of developing and
evaluating plans and strategies addressing their needs
-
role of the international
organizations and donors
-
impact of the language
policy in the situation on the labor market
Although the above mentioned issues of the
great importance they will be outside the direct investigation of the present
research paper.
The revised project proposal limited itself to
the detailed discussion of the following issues:
·
Analysis of the Estonian
employment and anti-discrimination policy in the light of the European
Employment Strategy and Social Policy Agenda ((EU instruments) as specifically
related to the protection of ethnic minorities on the labour market.
·
The situation on the labor
market from ethnical point of view (statistical data) as relates to the access
to employment, occupational representation and remuneration.
·
The analysis of the possible
causes of the statistical differences (language and citizenship policies) and
the lack of interest on the side of the state to address the issue through the
state policies.
Thus, the situation of the ethnic minorities is
approached 1) trough the obligations of the state as relates to the membership
in the European Union (European Employment Strategy) and the
anti-discrimination policy (Race Directive) and 2) through discussing the
consequences to the development of
2.
At the same time the revised
approach became more broad in defining the basis of discrimination. The underlining cause of discrimination
language policy (as initially have been thought) has been expanded to the
concept of ethnicity. In
addressing the situation of ethnic minorities in
B. Re-evaluation of and
amendments to the initial project proposal.
As have been stated above the significant consideration that the present research had to address was the approach to the issue of ethnic minorities on the labour market. It is why a considerable amount of time and attention have been devoted to the library and Internet research.
In more details activities included the
following:
March
-
Re-evaluation of the project
proposal
-
meeting with the local
mentors
-
developing of the web-page
April- May
2.
Collection of materials on
the European studies on labor discrimination of immigrants and minorities.
3.
Review of legal acts of
4.
Review of decisions of the
courts on discrimination
5.
Review of studies on the
labor market in
6.
Continuous meetings with the
group mentors
7.
Meetings with
representatives of local municipalities from Ida-Virumaa Region, NGOs and state
officials working in the Ministry of Social Affairs.
8.
Visit to
1.
Second IPF Seminar.
2. Participation in the conference organized by the European Commission
“Civil Dialog and Social Policy in an Enlarged European Union”. During the Conference I have met
representatives of the EC Directorate-General on Employment and Social Affairs
as well as representatives of the leading NGOs in EU and accessing countries
working on the issues related to the discrimination of minority groups on the
labor market.
3. Review of the collected literature
4. Meeting with the former Minister of Education and present Member of the
Parliament (on the language issues).
5. Meetings with the representatives of the minority organizations and
minority academia.
6. Developing of the Questioners (as have been envisaged in the initial
project proposal) to be send In October, 2003.
7. Developing of the Initial Research Paper.
It should be noted, that initially planned
visit to
-
The National Action Program
on Employment does not address the issue of ethnic minorities on the labour
market although it is encouraged by the European Employment Strategy which is a
part of the common EU acquie communitaire
-
At the same time the
statistical differences among ethnic groups exists in particular in
unemployment rate, the remuneration level and the sectoral distribution of work
-
The citizenship and language
policies providing a discretionary wide scope for the interpretation. This gives a possibility to the employer to
express the discriminatory preferences that are not based on objectives
factors.
-
The challenge of
discrimination on national level is extremely difficult. There is no definition of discrimination in
legal acts and there is no anti-discrimination policy in
-
There is a lack of academic
research on the topic of discrimination relating to the access to employment,
work related promotion and dismissal from work.
-
There are very few studies
that look at some aspect of the labor market from the ethnic perspective
(differences in wage) and more economical analysis should be undertaken;
- All of the above
is coupled with the lack 1) of interest on the side of the government to
recognize that problem of differential treatment of ethnic minorities exists (explicitly
reflected in the statistical differences between the ethic groups) and of
initiative to conduct any further research or evaluations on the topic.