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Recherche menée par Bettina EngelsThis project examines how labour unions deal with precarity. Specifically, it examines the large segment of the working class that works for low and intermittent wages, has hardly any job security, whose access to social security and workers’ rights is severely restricted, and that, as a consequence, faces a high risk of social exclusion and suffering from welfare cuts, and a high cost of living.The existence of precarious, informal, seasonal, dailyand marginal labour points to essential questions of labour unionism: whichsegments of the working classes are organised, how and by whom? Whose interestsdo labour unions represent? Who participates in labour union activities andstruggles, and who benefits from their achievements? The project explores these questions using the cottonsector in Burkina Faso, West Africa, as a case study, specifically theparastatal cotton company SOFITEX. With roughly 5000 employees, SOFITEX is thelargest company in the country, and accounts for 80 percent of all cottonproduction. Of its 5000 employees, a little over 1500 are permanently appointed;the others are seasonal labourers, employed for less than six months a year. Seasonallabourers can be divided into two categories: the saisonniers are hiredevery year for the season (more or less from November to April) and are compensatedby a social security fund for the rest of the year. The occassionels arehired on a monthly or weekly basis; they do not have access to the socialsecurity fund and are denied basic workers’rights, including the right to vote for the work councils. As a consequence,they are, thus far, not represented by the labour unions. 