Abstract

This paper considers the particular challenges faced by overnight workers in Montreal. These include limited access to public childcare and public transportation, problematic shopping hours as well as safety issues. Overnight employment can also complicate social relationships, whether by preventing parents from attending their children's recitals or by preventing high school students from attending a school dance. This paper will discuss mechanisms such as shift-sleeping and rotational shifts employed by overnight employees to cope with their nocturnal schedule. An initial expectation that the focus of my analysis would be on the social exclusions faced by overnight workers, shifted to a focus on issues of inclusion, specifically how the overnight workers were able to achieve integration into a society organized principally in terms of daytime routines. Building upon existing theories of the city by Setha Low, such as the divided city and the contested city , this thesis looks at the ways in which overnight workers negotiate their experiences within the city of Montreal. Key Words: (1) Non-Standard Employment/ Shift Work (2) Security (3) Overnight Work (4) Wellness at the Workplace (5) Anthropology of Work (6) Integration/ isolation (7) Urban Spaces (8) Job Satisfaction