Commuters and communities: the social and economic impacts of labour mobility on source communities

Barrett, Joshua (2017) Commuters and communities: the social and economic impacts of labour mobility on source communities. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

During the past two decades, great emphasis has been put on social and cultural patterns of movement within the social sciences, leading to the establishment of what has been called the ‘mobilities turn’. One type of mobility is known as Employment-Related Geographical Mobility (E-RGM), which involves situations where workers consistently cross municipal, provincial, and/or national boundaries to get to their place of employment and back to their place of residence. The purpose of this Masters research is to study the social and economic impacts of E-RGM on source communities. The particular focus is on workers employed at Vale’s nickel processing facility in Long Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador who commute there from various communities across the province and beyond, and how these workers spend their time and money in their source communities. Results of this research indicate that while many Vale processing workers have less time to participate in community activities since starting their employment, certain work schedules and commute arrangements allow more time for workers to engage in their communities. Further, many workers involved with extended daily commutes are more inclined to purchase goods and services locally than to travel to nearby urban centres. Overall, the way a worker engages with their community depends on a variety of circumstances, including their particular commute and work arrangement.

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