Employment and Romani culture

sitting fltr: Wim BROUNS (OBD Consent Heerlen, NL), Toon MACHIELS (Vroem vzw, B), Mr. Paul KONINGS (Alderman, Woensdrecht NL)
standing fltr: Imer KAJTAZI (Romani Dzuvdipe, Sint Niklaas, B), Caroline STEENSELS (project manager, Interreg, EU), Jozef HERTSENS (Refugee Reception, Sint-Niklaas, B),
Liesbeth DESCHEEMAEKER (ODiCe, diversity management, Gent B), Fiet MURIS (Roma and Sinti Restitution Fund, NL), René VERHAGEN (Foundation Working Together, Noord-Brabant NL), Brecht GOUSSEY (Public Welfare Centre, Leuven, B), Niek IVERSEN (Center for Employment and Income, NL), Luk BRUSSELAERS (Social Centre, Zeeland NL), Danielle DEMEULEMEESTER (Employment Mediation, Waasland B), Tine VAN REGENMORTEL (professor University Leuven B, Eindhoven NL), Nik BOONS (Refugee Reception, Sint-Niklaas B), Denie DE JONG (Foundation Working Together, Noord-Brabant NL), Henk VAN BEURDEN (WSD group, Noord Brabant NL)

16 June 2007, Provinciehuis Hasselt.

Sidekick results
Positive effects of failures
We found out that project aimed at guiding Roma/Sinti to the labour market might fail, when looking only to the figures (e.g. number of people having found a job). But when we explore the attitude of people towards “going out working for a boss” we can discover that it changed a lot for the good.

New ambitions
Very soon after a project of accompanying to the labour market has been started you can observe a vast range of ambitions, far beyond the car mechanic stereotype about Roma/Sinti.

Every career starts with a dream. By confronting the dream to reality we learn to strive for realistic goals.

A good project has to offer opportunities to the people to try out their dreams. This can be done by periods op apprenticeship. Learning what turns out to be a unrealistic dream also is a step ahead.

Value of challenge
Stopping a non productive project can be an extra challenge for the trainees to take an own initiative and find a job.

Harvesting feed back
In Leuven we had a bad experience in trying to learn some of the Roma/Sinti soul by listening to their evaluations of the day on their way home.

In Mortsel the Roma/Sinti are working in mixed teams: through that channel you can learn a lot about the feed back.

Conclusion ?
When Roma/Sinti get a feeling that outsiders try to push them in a certain direction they tend to drop out. Proof of respect remains crucial

Push and pull
We are rather convinced that both of them (and push, and pull factors) are needed to generate a change of minds in Roma/Sinti communities. A consequent example of this we find in Leuven: from kindergarten to secondary school the OCMW uses the allowances as a handle towards integration.

Which setting ?
Training without practice does not work.

Some interim offices can do a great job in offering temporary jobs (provided they are not discriminating against Roma/Sinti).

Self-employment ?
Some Roma/Sinti could have a different opinion about self-employed work because they often have experience only in the informal circuits. When it comes to taxes and other costs the production has to be very much higher. This makes that self-employment might only be a solution for a small minority amongst Roma/Sinti.

A great help in this could be adapted ways of temporarily combining an allowance with self-employed income, with support in business management.
To organise this for Roma/Sinti we need ear-marked subsidies to local authorities or other accompanying services.

Towards a model ?
We make a distinction between two main different conditions in accompanying Roma/Sinti to employment:

1- there is no faith person between the Roma/Sinti community and the settled society
2- there is such faith person
1- If there is no faith person
The very first step is to start building confidence between the mediator and the Roma/Sinti community. The next elements are crucial in that.

- Profit and respect
The new mediator must give proof of

o some immediate profit to the community

o deep respect for the Roma/Sinti culture: an interested but discrete attitude

- Vision and task
A task gives proof of profit. A vision is needed to select which tasks the mediator can accept and others he can’t
- Employment is the goal
In everything the central theme “employment” has to prominent.
- Group vs Individual
The mediator has to become acquainted with the dynamics within the community. That is to judge if individuals can get the support of the group, the family in starting a trajectory to employment.

2- There is a faith person
To diminish the accompanying time we could take some of these criteria into account

- Young people with sufficient qualifications
- Mixed families (settled-Sinti, Roma- Sinti…)
- Dependency of allowance
In both settings the feed-back management is crucial. This can be facilitated by
- creating mixed employment environments (Roma/Sinti with settled colleagues)
- learn to listen to other community members (without interrogating !)
- learn to listen to the trainee him/herself (without interrogating !)

Self decision
Avoid that the Roma/Sinti are stepping into a trajectory for the mediator’s sake.

Pushing and role models don’t work.

Take good care of relations with the fathers.

Self-employment
We will find out how it can be made possible that Belgian Roma/Sinti can establish a formal self-employment under Dutch law and have their production in Belgium.

Interim
We will try to sign a contract with an Interim bureau to facilitate job finding for Roma/Sinti.

For all that we will enter an application for a project with 4 mediators: 2 in Flanders, 2 in The Netherlands.They should make a coherent team to test the model criteria, to ameliorate them, to publish about them and to negotiate with the political decision makers.

Start: 1.1.2008.

First findings

18 april 2007, Provinciehuis Hasselt (B).

The group and its members
Social control in Roma/Sinti groups can make it difficult for individuals to engage to intensely in participation in “settled society”. To succeed in individual road maps towards employment the peer group (i.e. family, kumpagna) has to support the direction. This consent can be and has to be earned by the accompanying service. How ?
The main tendency is by supporting subgroups in the community in very obvious needs: music production, car repair, language course, social orientation, wagon construction …
Being useful, respectful, consequent and untouchable seem to be two keys to gain confidence .
We observe a mutation towards individualisation within Roma/Sinti communities. The younger generations are not that keen anymore for social control.

Challenging individuals
Groups tend to turn into cocoons. That is why in every project after some time the group activities are stopped and individual trajectories are implemented. Successfully.
Elements in this success were:
- starting from the confidence gained in phase 1, the TA (trajectory assistant) can confront individuals and motivate them to step into professional training, trial jobs and the like
- individuals who become better off than their peers challenge them to choose the same path
Role models
By pushing forward successful individuals as a role model for their peers you risk that the model abandons his/her social participation to choose for a levelling back toward the peers !
Mother-Father
The impact of the parents on participation is very important. In every project the parents are taken into the process.
Their seem to be serious differences in the role of the father within different groups:
Roma (Vlach): the fathers tend to resist against participation: they feel a kind of obligation to preserve traditions.
Sinti and Travellers: the mothers have more impact on the fathers in introducing new customs into the kumpagna.

Off site
We are convinced that is more profitable to organise activities of the road map to participation outside the daily community of the participants. If you stay on the site every member is dropping in or out at random, with the risk that we miss our target group.

National law
The threshold to self-employment is much more lower in the Netherlands than in Belgium. More Roma/Sinti do choose this direction in NL while their Flemish peers also would like to do so but they lack the necessary diplomas.

Push and pull
The surrounding society pushes Roma/Sinti towards a growing individual responsibility: who does not organise his life properly misses a lot of care that could be provided by society.
We, the TA, step into this evolution by turning the strengths of individuals into trump carts to a profession.
We are rather convinced that both of them (and push, and pull factors) are needed to generate a change of minds in Roma/Sint communities

01 april 2007

Vroem vzw is starting a programme to enhance the participation of Roma/Travellers in the labour market in Belgium and The Netherlands.
Starting with a core group of 6 partners we will find out which factors may be essential in the accompaniment of Roma/Travellers towards a steady job or self employment.

As a starter we will explore 4 strands of factors.

1- Individual career vs the group and its culture
How can the (peer/family)group play a stimulating/inhibiting role in participation in labour market

2- Paid job vs self employment
Which of both will be most successful ?

3- Adapted working setting vs regular market
Should we provide special settings for Roma/Travellers as an alternative or as a introduction to regular labour market ?

4- Motivation vs obligation
Can the motivation of Roma/Travellers sufficiently be stimulated without a legal obligation ? E.g. by linking allowances to enhancing participation in the labour market ?