The dissertation research is financed by personal resources and funding from University of Vienna (KWA, KT, Förderstipendium), Austrian Academy of Sciences (Dissertation Award in Migration Studies 2007) and Austrian Research Association ÖFG (MOEL-Plus).

Vakhtoviki is the Russian term for long-distance commuter  (LDC)* in the Russian Federation who work at remote places such as extraction sites for mineral resources, construction sites for railroads and motorways, timber harvesting a. s. f. Vakhtovyj metod (Russian term for this particular form of labour organisation) is regulated in the labour code of the Russian Federation N 90-ф3 from 2006 and refers to the labour code of the Soviet Union from 1987. My dissertation research focuses on Vakhtoviki working in the north-western Siberian oil and gas industries in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District (YNAO). Two different ways of vakhtovyj metod are employed in the region: inter-regional LDC (mezhregionalnyj vakhtovyj metod) and intra-regional LDC (vnutregionalnyj vakhtovyj metod). Whereas the first group commutes over distances up to several thousands of kilometres from southern and central parts of Russia, the latter refers to permanent residents of base-towns near oil and gas-fields who still commute several hundreds of kilometres to extraction sites in the Tundra. Sending regions of inter-regional LDC are towns throughout central and southern Russia like Belgorod, Krasnodar or Samara and regions like the Republic of Bashkortostan, the Republic of Chuvashia, the Republic of Mari El and many others. Shift roster vary throughout companies and depend on commute distance, requirements of operation procedure, profession etc. Common rosters are: 30/30 which is one month at work-place followed by one month recreation at home; other schedules are 7/7, 14/7, 45/30, 60/30. Longer shift-roster regards inter-regional LDC and intra-regional LDC who work on oil and gas fields far away from base towns or zones where helicopter and special vehicles only provide access. The latter is usually the case in areas where infrastructure and drilling is just in preparation stage. Inter-regional LDC travel first to base towns such as Novyj Urengoj in YNAO by aeroplane or train, picked up there and further transported by companies.

A lot of differences are obvious among Vakhtoviki e. g. between white and blue collar workers, professional status, salaries and career opportunities of man and women. Inter-regional LDC are less costly for companies since legally regulated supplementary payment for work in the North and Far North must be paid only during their factual stay in the North. Intra-regional workers are entitled for that particular transfer payment the whole year round since they live there permanently. Furthermore, inter-regional LDC are likely easier satisfied with lower salaries and challenging working conditions. This is because first, income average at home is likely five times lower than in YNAO. Second, competition for these jobs is intense. Purchasing power of inter-regional Vakhtoviki from southern and central Russian regions on the other hand is higher than in comparison to intra-regional LDC who indeed earn more but face enormously higher prices for everyday commodities. The extent and shape of changing and degrading working conditions in the last years through restructuring and marketisation processes of the whole hydrocarbon sector varies among companies. Especially contemporary sub-contracting systems affect negatively employees of smaller and non-state companies since labour rights are easier bypassed. Far-reaching social transfers and benefits (sozpaket) are partly Soviet legacy. High quality sozpaket is primarily only still provided in big corporative companies with high state shares. Efforts for cost reduction in a liberalised market provoked differences also among workers in the same company and same profession and refer to differences between those who were employed during Soviet times and early transformation period unlike those who joined only in recent years. These differences regard, amongst many other examples, provision of housing for intra-regional shift-workers and their families outside the Far North after retirement.
A life on a circular move is common to all Vakhtoviki and characterised by three meaningful places: Home (doma) – Journey (doroga) – Shift (vakhta). The Russian terms are of particular relevance since they imply symbolic meaning when used by Vakhtoviki. Their relation to these denominated places is the starting point for the exploration of the constitution as well as construction of social spaces among Vakhtoviki. Some shift-workers describe their lives as “split into two halves” and others as “doubled lives”. The reason for that is not the mere territorial separation of a life at Home and a life on Shift. Workers are involved also into different social settings with own rules and customs, joys, hardships, expectations, obligations and hierarchies. This particular setting is here theoretically conceived as “social space”. With that tool we may not only identify the differences between these spaces. We can see also overlapping and, that these spaces exist for the individual also simultaneously. This social simultaneity of Vakhtoviki´ s meaningful places could hardly be identified if we would think of space just in a physical and territorial sense. The same counts for the social space of Journey.

*Terms used for this particular form of shift-labour organisation: Fly-in/Fly-out ( FIFO), long-distance commute employment

JOURNEY

Journey is not only a physical activity of connecting distant places. It matters, if the company pays for the trip or not. It also matters, if the train is crowded or one has to wait three days in the queue to catch a ticket. Workers who previously were provided with flight tickets by employers may be nowadays forced to use the train. One-way from Moscow to YNAO takes 3 days on the train and 4 hours on the aeroplane, what reduces recreation time substantially. Furthermore, journey is an emotional shift from one social sphere to another and an activity of connecting meaningful places. It is an act of integrating spaces. Journey has a social dimension resulting from an individual´ s position in the work context, which is vice versa substantially influencing his or her private context. On the way back home, recreation from hard work is a main issue. The journey to work may also mean celebration of being away from duties and life at home or from the second or third job one does during recreation period. Journey is a time to switch gradually from one life to another. #

HOME

A life characterised by constant presence and absence of one family member or the partner raises the question whether private life arrangements and gender relations differ substantially from societal mainstream ideas and if gender arrangements are challenged. Due to long absence, Vakhtoviki may encounter pressure at home: e. g. expectations from wives or husbands and children that cannot be fulfilled. Also those who stay behind may feel pressure from partners such as expectation of classic household organisation or particular marriage conduct. In cases of domestic violence, when women “sit out” the presence of a violent partner, one may look forward to the moment of the perpetrator` s departure and fearfully await again his arrival. Journey implies in the context of departure and arrival therefore a social spatial dimension for those who stay and those who move. Spouses may also appreciate mutual absence since there is space to follow individual interests according to an individual rhythm. For both, either for the one on Shift or the one at Home, absence from family and spouse may provide space to get personal fulfilment through being a member of a different social network he or she can join when alone. One may feel own talents, deeds and ones personality more appreciated outside family what may provide important self-affirmation. Long-term presence of the partner during his or her leisure may provide also space for intensifying relationship with the spouse and for undertaking common activities which would be more difficult if both work from “nine to five”.  Furthermore, household and family duties may be shifted from the wife´ s part to the husband´ s when he is at home – walking the dog, accompanying children to kindergarten, doing shopping or cooking etc. Vakhtoviki´ s particular family arrangements also influence children´ s ideas on vakhtovyj metod as well as on family and gender organisation in general.

SHIFT

Male inhabitants in vakhtovye poselki (workers´ villages at the oil and gas fields) outreach substantially the number of women. Jobs and duties are characterised by vertical and horizontal gender division. This provokes particular gender constellation. Switching monthly from a rather soft climate of Russia´ s southern areas to harsh climate in oil and gas-fields close the Polar Circle is enormously challenging for human physical condition. Difference in temperature between home region and work-place in the North can make up to 60° C when a worker leaves home at  + 15° C and arrives north the polar circle at minus 45 ° C. Workers experience darkness in winter and permanent daylight in summer as enormously challenging. Working conditions during Vakhta on oil and gas fields are generally described as hard. Millions of midges inhabit marshy Tundra and Taiga in summer time and make the workers looking forward to winter, even if work processes are usually stopped only at around minus 50° C. Quality of accommodation differs a lot. Vakhtovye poselki provide hostels with single, double or more-bed rooms, small shops, canteen and gym. The term vakhtovye poselki refers to fixed housing for workforce and may comprise a few dozen up to several thousands of rotating inhabitants. The biggest camp is Yamburg, owned by Gasprom, and provides high quality infrastructure including pool, hotel for visitors, museum and a hospital. Another housing standard applies to mobile trailer-settlements, called vagon gorodok, which are in use for mobile worksites such as construction of drillings and pipelines etc. Not in rare cases standards of vagonchiki (trailers) have not changed much since 30 years. However, even in modern mobile housing facilities space is tiny. Usually 8 workers live in one trailer on a rotating system: four of them are 12 hrs outside at work while others have their rest. Hygienic conditions are often perceived as unsatisfying; especially when the walk to the next toilet trailer is accompanied by a 150 km/h snow storm. Housing-standards differ for blue collar and white collar workers to whom are provided single or double rooms with bathroom inside the trailer. Reliable heating systems, food and pure water provision, communication-networks and transport are of crucial importance in terms of safety and social wellbeing. Workers villages are closed areas, controlled by security staff and accessible for visitors such as family members only with permission of the company. Alcohol is strictly prohibited, even if often illegally consumed. Privacy can only hardy be enjoyed. Living and working together day and night on a closed area for a rather long period may provoke serious tensions; especially when it comes to personal competition and hierarchal conflicts, which are reported to be often connected with denunciation. At the same time those circumstances create social relationships often lasting for decades and described as helpful like family-relations. Mutual support and friendship are regarded as most important in order to cope with a wide range of difficulties during shift such as psychological pressure or dangerous working conditions. 

DISSERTATION
My aim of this dissertation is ethnography of Vakhtoviki mobile livelihoods. The narrative qualitative empirical approach provides on the one hand comprehensive insight to the manifold practices of making a livelihood on the move. My theoretical task is to explore the social spatial dimension of the practice of integration of meaningful places to a social space that structures lives of Vakhtoviki.

Novyj Urengoj is my research region in the North. The other field-sites are the Republic of Chuvashia and the Mari El Republic in central Russia, which are sending regions of inter-regional Vakhtoviki. My third field-site is “moving” with the workers: the commuter trains from the Russian South to the North.

During the course of my research I was lucky to meet Florian Stammler from the Arctic Centre in Rovaniemi who introduced me to his field-site in Novyj Urengoj and became my doctoral co-supervisor. Together with him and my partners in the dissertation project from the Novyj Urengoj Branch of the Tyumen State University, we organised the conference on “Life, Labour and Socialisation in a Northern Industrial City” in December 2008.  Aside from scientific success, the conference provided a wonderful opportunity for MOVE collaborators to exchange ideas and intermediate results face to face. See Florian Stammler´ s conference and field report LINK to his SITE   Peter Schweitzer has been already my inspiring supervisor for my master thesis on the topic “Systems of Inequality – Life-plans of Students at Universities in Moscow” in 2004. He is again the supervisor of my dissertation project. Thanks to him, I was introduced to the research groups of BOREAS-MOVE what provides to me indispensible scientific exchange.
Basing on insights from my dissertation project, a three years research project was designed and planned to be based at the Department of Geography and Spatial Research at the University of Vienna, Austria. The project is in the application stage. It is supervised by migration expert Heinz Fassmann. Scientific collaborator will be Elena Aleshkevich who devotes her research to the young history of inter-regional shift work in the Russian North. Together we are members of the A.A.S Working Group Arctic and Sub-Arctic

Impressions from the field: http://www.yamburg.ru/press/photo/photoarchive/?gallery=7