David Neumark and William L. Wascher
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262141024
- eISBN:
- 9780262280563
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262141024.003.0005
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Econometrics
This chapter examines the effects of the minimum wage on the distribution of family incomes. It first considers the relationship between low-wage workers and low-income families, and then discusses ...
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This chapter examines the effects of the minimum wage on the distribution of family incomes. It first considers the relationship between low-wage workers and low-income families, and then discusses updated evidence on the extent to which minimum-wage workers are concentrated in low-income families. The chapter considers evidence that parallels much of the minimum wage employment literature in terms of empirical methods, but focuses instead on how minimum wages affect family incomes. This analysis considers the question of whether higher minimum wages reduce poverty.Less
This chapter examines the effects of the minimum wage on the distribution of family incomes. It first considers the relationship between low-wage workers and low-income families, and then discusses updated evidence on the extent to which minimum-wage workers are concentrated in low-income families. The chapter considers evidence that parallels much of the minimum wage employment literature in terms of empirical methods, but focuses instead on how minimum wages affect family incomes. This analysis considers the question of whether higher minimum wages reduce poverty.
C. Melissa Snarr
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814741122
- eISBN:
- 9780814788592
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814741122.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
In the early 1990s, a grassroots coalition of churches in Baltimore, Maryland helped launch what would become a national movement. Joining forces with labor and low-wage worker organizations, they ...
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In the early 1990s, a grassroots coalition of churches in Baltimore, Maryland helped launch what would become a national movement. Joining forces with labor and low-wage worker organizations, they passed the first municipal living wage ordinance. Since then, over one hundred and forty-four municipalities and counties as well as numerous universities and local businesses in the United States have enacted such ordinances. Although religious persons and organizations have been important both in the origins of the living wage movement and in its continuing success, they are often ignored or under analyzed. Drawing on participant observation in multiple cities, this book analyzes and evaluates the contributions of religious activists to the movement. The book explores the ways that religious organizations do this work in concert with low-wage workers, the challenges religious activists face, and how people of faith might better nurture moral agency in relation to the political economy. Ultimately, it provides clarity on how to continue to cultivate, renew, and expand religious resources dedicated to the moral agency of low-wage workers and their allies.Less
In the early 1990s, a grassroots coalition of churches in Baltimore, Maryland helped launch what would become a national movement. Joining forces with labor and low-wage worker organizations, they passed the first municipal living wage ordinance. Since then, over one hundred and forty-four municipalities and counties as well as numerous universities and local businesses in the United States have enacted such ordinances. Although religious persons and organizations have been important both in the origins of the living wage movement and in its continuing success, they are often ignored or under analyzed. Drawing on participant observation in multiple cities, this book analyzes and evaluates the contributions of religious activists to the movement. The book explores the ways that religious organizations do this work in concert with low-wage workers, the challenges religious activists face, and how people of faith might better nurture moral agency in relation to the political economy. Ultimately, it provides clarity on how to continue to cultivate, renew, and expand religious resources dedicated to the moral agency of low-wage workers and their allies.
C. Melissa Snarr
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814741122
- eISBN:
- 9780814788592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814741122.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter discusses the role of religious organizations in multiracial and ethnic living wage organizing. Religious activists take on two major racialized functions within the living wage ...
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This chapter discusses the role of religious organizations in multiracial and ethnic living wage organizing. Religious activists take on two major racialized functions within the living wage movement: bridge building and political activation. Bridge building involves the work of ideology translation, relational repair, and inclusion monitoring in coalitions. Political activation involves cultivating the resources necessary to enhance political participation. Through these activities, activists improve the moral agency of low-wage workers and their allies by offering pathways for building a collective identity across difference. They also provide opportunities for more marginalized persons to cultivate key civic skills. Continued meditation on the multiple dimensions of theological solidarity—preferential accountability, structural conscientization, identity recognition, and expansive moral agency—can help religious allies evaluate their work.Less
This chapter discusses the role of religious organizations in multiracial and ethnic living wage organizing. Religious activists take on two major racialized functions within the living wage movement: bridge building and political activation. Bridge building involves the work of ideology translation, relational repair, and inclusion monitoring in coalitions. Political activation involves cultivating the resources necessary to enhance political participation. Through these activities, activists improve the moral agency of low-wage workers and their allies by offering pathways for building a collective identity across difference. They also provide opportunities for more marginalized persons to cultivate key civic skills. Continued meditation on the multiple dimensions of theological solidarity—preferential accountability, structural conscientization, identity recognition, and expansive moral agency—can help religious allies evaluate their work.
C. Melissa Snarr
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814741122
- eISBN:
- 9780814788592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814741122.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter studies the emergence of the contemporary living wage movement in the United States. By conscious political choice, U.S. politicians decided to undermine the original intent of the ...
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This chapter studies the emergence of the contemporary living wage movement in the United States. By conscious political choice, U.S. politicians decided to undermine the original intent of the minimum wage by refusing to raise it adequately over the last half-century. Despite increased worker productivity, the minimum wage remains far below what is necessary for a small family in this country. The increase in working poverty thus signals both the economic and political poverty of low-wage workers. Religious organizations join coalitions for a living wage precisely to counter these intertwined poverties. The reemergence of progressive religious activism and the rebirth of religion–labor–community coalitions for living wages have been mutually reinforcing. The chapter shows how religious activists seek to enhance the economic political agency of low-wage workers and put poverty back on the national agenda.Less
This chapter studies the emergence of the contemporary living wage movement in the United States. By conscious political choice, U.S. politicians decided to undermine the original intent of the minimum wage by refusing to raise it adequately over the last half-century. Despite increased worker productivity, the minimum wage remains far below what is necessary for a small family in this country. The increase in working poverty thus signals both the economic and political poverty of low-wage workers. Religious organizations join coalitions for a living wage precisely to counter these intertwined poverties. The reemergence of progressive religious activism and the rebirth of religion–labor–community coalitions for living wages have been mutually reinforcing. The chapter shows how religious activists seek to enhance the economic political agency of low-wage workers and put poverty back on the national agenda.
Lisa M. Lynch
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226261577
- eISBN:
- 9780226261812
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226261812.003.0010
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Public and Welfare
During the latter half of the 1990s, the unemployment rate in the United States reached a thirty-year low, a major influx of former welfare recipients entered the labor market, and employers in the ...
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During the latter half of the 1990s, the unemployment rate in the United States reached a thirty-year low, a major influx of former welfare recipients entered the labor market, and employers in the high-tech sector demanded immigration reform to import skilled labor in order to meet their hiring needs. The time seemed ripe for increased job training in the United States, yet in spite of increasing returns to education and training over the last twenty years and high skill needs, the United States still seems to invest much less in post-school training than many other advanced industrialized economies. This chapter examines how various labor market intermediaries have intervened in the creation of training programs for low-wage workers to address the so-called “skills gap” of the past two decades. It first summarizes what is known about the need for and supply of skills in the United States. It then presents some examples of how labor market intermediaries in the United States have tried to create a new training system for low-wage workers at the local and national level.Less
During the latter half of the 1990s, the unemployment rate in the United States reached a thirty-year low, a major influx of former welfare recipients entered the labor market, and employers in the high-tech sector demanded immigration reform to import skilled labor in order to meet their hiring needs. The time seemed ripe for increased job training in the United States, yet in spite of increasing returns to education and training over the last twenty years and high skill needs, the United States still seems to invest much less in post-school training than many other advanced industrialized economies. This chapter examines how various labor market intermediaries have intervened in the creation of training programs for low-wage workers to address the so-called “skills gap” of the past two decades. It first summarizes what is known about the need for and supply of skills in the United States. It then presents some examples of how labor market intermediaries in the United States have tried to create a new training system for low-wage workers at the local and national level.
Ruth Milkman and Eileen Appelbaum
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801452383
- eISBN:
- 9780801469503
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801452383.003.0005
- Subject:
- Political Science, Public Policy
This chapter assesses some limitations of the paid family leave (PFL) program's effectiveness. Awareness of PFL remains extremely limited among Californians. Although support for the idea of PFL is ...
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This chapter assesses some limitations of the paid family leave (PFL) program's effectiveness. Awareness of PFL remains extremely limited among Californians. Although support for the idea of PFL is extensive across the state's diverse population groups, the most eligible residents are not even aware that the program exists. Moreover, awareness is lowest among those who would benefit most from the program: Latinos, low-wage workers, younger employees, and immigrants. This has substantially limited the potential of PFL to act as a social leveler by making wage replacement for family leaves universally available, rather than being largely confined to the best-paid segments of the workforce. Unless awareness of PFL grows among the rest of the workforce, the stark economic inequalities that characterize twenty-first century California will be reinforced rather than ameliorated by the program.Less
This chapter assesses some limitations of the paid family leave (PFL) program's effectiveness. Awareness of PFL remains extremely limited among Californians. Although support for the idea of PFL is extensive across the state's diverse population groups, the most eligible residents are not even aware that the program exists. Moreover, awareness is lowest among those who would benefit most from the program: Latinos, low-wage workers, younger employees, and immigrants. This has substantially limited the potential of PFL to act as a social leveler by making wage replacement for family leaves universally available, rather than being largely confined to the best-paid segments of the workforce. Unless awareness of PFL grows among the rest of the workforce, the stark economic inequalities that characterize twenty-first century California will be reinforced rather than ameliorated by the program.
Lisa Phillips
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037320
- eISBN:
- 9780252094507
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037320.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This introductory chapter discusses the story of a group of people who kept a controversial labor union, while going through some of the more tumultuous events of the twentieth century. From the ...
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This introductory chapter discusses the story of a group of people who kept a controversial labor union, while going through some of the more tumultuous events of the twentieth century. From the Great Depression through World War II, the beginnings of the Cold War, the civil rights era, the Vietnam War, and into the 1990s, the men and women of Local 65 focused on improving the lives of the largely “invisible” people who worked in small warehouses and wholesale shops. Throughout the union's history, its members sustained a critique of the ways in which the American dream consistently fell short. A great deal can be learned from Local 65's history as labor unions and worker centers continue to launch campaigns for better pay and working conditions for low-wage workers, migrant farm workers, office workers, and workers in other non-factory-based settings throughout the United States.Less
This introductory chapter discusses the story of a group of people who kept a controversial labor union, while going through some of the more tumultuous events of the twentieth century. From the Great Depression through World War II, the beginnings of the Cold War, the civil rights era, the Vietnam War, and into the 1990s, the men and women of Local 65 focused on improving the lives of the largely “invisible” people who worked in small warehouses and wholesale shops. Throughout the union's history, its members sustained a critique of the ways in which the American dream consistently fell short. A great deal can be learned from Local 65's history as labor unions and worker centers continue to launch campaigns for better pay and working conditions for low-wage workers, migrant farm workers, office workers, and workers in other non-factory-based settings throughout the United States.
Kim Bobo and Marien Casillas Pabellon
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781501704475
- eISBN:
- 9781501705892
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501704475.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
Worker centers are becoming an important element in labor and community organizing and the struggle for fair pay and decent working conditions for low-wage workers, especially immigrants. There are ...
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Worker centers are becoming an important element in labor and community organizing and the struggle for fair pay and decent working conditions for low-wage workers, especially immigrants. There are currently more than 200 worker centers in the United States, and more start every month. Most of these centers struggle as they try to raise funds, maintain stable staff, and build a membership base. For this book, the authors interviewed staff at a broad range of worker centers with the goal of helping others understand how to start and build their organizations. This book is designed to be a practical workbook for staff, boards, and supporters of worker centers. Geared toward groups that want to build worker centers, this book discusses how to survey the community, take on an initial campaign, recruit leaders, and raise seed funds. The book also provides a wealth of advice to help existing centers become stronger and more effective. It compiles best practices from around the country on partnering with labor, enlisting the assistance of faith communities and lawyers, raising funds, developing a serious membership program, integrating civic engagement work, and running major campaigns. The book urges center leaders to both organize and build strong administrative systems. Full of concrete examples from worker centers around the United States, the handbook is practical and honest about challenges and opportunities.Less
Worker centers are becoming an important element in labor and community organizing and the struggle for fair pay and decent working conditions for low-wage workers, especially immigrants. There are currently more than 200 worker centers in the United States, and more start every month. Most of these centers struggle as they try to raise funds, maintain stable staff, and build a membership base. For this book, the authors interviewed staff at a broad range of worker centers with the goal of helping others understand how to start and build their organizations. This book is designed to be a practical workbook for staff, boards, and supporters of worker centers. Geared toward groups that want to build worker centers, this book discusses how to survey the community, take on an initial campaign, recruit leaders, and raise seed funds. The book also provides a wealth of advice to help existing centers become stronger and more effective. It compiles best practices from around the country on partnering with labor, enlisting the assistance of faith communities and lawyers, raising funds, developing a serious membership program, integrating civic engagement work, and running major campaigns. The book urges center leaders to both organize and build strong administrative systems. Full of concrete examples from worker centers around the United States, the handbook is practical and honest about challenges and opportunities.
Dan Zuberi
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801450723
- eISBN:
- 9780801469824
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801450723.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Health, Illness, and Medicine
To cut costs and maximize profits, hospitals in the United States and many other countries are outsourcing such tasks as cleaning and food preparation to private contractors. To examine this ...
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To cut costs and maximize profits, hospitals in the United States and many other countries are outsourcing such tasks as cleaning and food preparation to private contractors. To examine this transformation in the healthcare industry, this book looks at the consequences of outsourcing from two perspectives: its impact on patient safety and its role in increasing socioeconomic inequality. The book argues that outsourcing has been disastrous for the cleanliness of hospitals—leading to an increased risk of hospital-acquired infections, a leading cause of severe illness and death—as well as for the effective delivery of other hospital services and the workers themselves. Interviews with the low-wage workers who keep hospitals running uncover claims of exposure to near-constant risk of injury and illness. Many report serious concerns about the quality of the work due to understaffing, high turnover, poor training and experience, inadequate cleaning supplies, and on-the-job injuries. The book also presents policy recommendations for improving patient safety by reducing the risk of hospital-acquired infection and ameliorating the work conditions and quality of life of hospital support workers. It makes the case that hospital outsourcing exemplifies the trend towards “low-road” service-sector jobs that threatens to undermine society's social health, as well as the physical health and well-being of patients in health care settings globally.Less
To cut costs and maximize profits, hospitals in the United States and many other countries are outsourcing such tasks as cleaning and food preparation to private contractors. To examine this transformation in the healthcare industry, this book looks at the consequences of outsourcing from two perspectives: its impact on patient safety and its role in increasing socioeconomic inequality. The book argues that outsourcing has been disastrous for the cleanliness of hospitals—leading to an increased risk of hospital-acquired infections, a leading cause of severe illness and death—as well as for the effective delivery of other hospital services and the workers themselves. Interviews with the low-wage workers who keep hospitals running uncover claims of exposure to near-constant risk of injury and illness. Many report serious concerns about the quality of the work due to understaffing, high turnover, poor training and experience, inadequate cleaning supplies, and on-the-job injuries. The book also presents policy recommendations for improving patient safety by reducing the risk of hospital-acquired infection and ameliorating the work conditions and quality of life of hospital support workers. It makes the case that hospital outsourcing exemplifies the trend towards “low-road” service-sector jobs that threatens to undermine society's social health, as well as the physical health and well-being of patients in health care settings globally.
David Igler
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520226586
- eISBN:
- 9780520938939
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520226586.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
This chapter describes Miller and Lux's workforce. It notes that in order to fill its constantly changing labor needs, the firm employed migrant, low-wage workers and divided them along racial and ...
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This chapter describes Miller and Lux's workforce. It notes that in order to fill its constantly changing labor needs, the firm employed migrant, low-wage workers and divided them along racial and ethnic lines, adding that the racial and ethnic segmentation reflected the company's attempt to organize a large and potentially unwieldy male population. The chapter explains that Miller and Lux, like industrial employers nationwide, capitalized on immigration trends, and separated their workers as a way to prevent strikes. It narrates that Miller and Lux's largest labouring group had little direct contact with livestock but instead found themselves employed in reclamation activities, and notes that the laborers spent long hours of arduous work for low wages. The chapter explains that human labor was the integral link between resource exploitation and large-scale production, and that the company's power ultimately derived from the ability to tap both human and natural energy for its own ends.Less
This chapter describes Miller and Lux's workforce. It notes that in order to fill its constantly changing labor needs, the firm employed migrant, low-wage workers and divided them along racial and ethnic lines, adding that the racial and ethnic segmentation reflected the company's attempt to organize a large and potentially unwieldy male population. The chapter explains that Miller and Lux, like industrial employers nationwide, capitalized on immigration trends, and separated their workers as a way to prevent strikes. It narrates that Miller and Lux's largest labouring group had little direct contact with livestock but instead found themselves employed in reclamation activities, and notes that the laborers spent long hours of arduous work for low wages. The chapter explains that human labor was the integral link between resource exploitation and large-scale production, and that the company's power ultimately derived from the ability to tap both human and natural energy for its own ends.
Lisa Phillips
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252037320
- eISBN:
- 9780252094507
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252037320.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter illustrates how Local 65, at the time of its Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) affiliation, was predominantly Jewish and had organized people at all skill levels in small ...
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This chapter illustrates how Local 65, at the time of its Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) affiliation, was predominantly Jewish and had organized people at all skill levels in small wholesale shops on the Lower East Side. In 1937 and 1938, the union began to target people who worked in “dead end” jobs, before branching out to other industries in Midtown, Uptown, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Their goal is to bring low-wage male and female workers—including blacks, more Jews, and immigrants—into the union. The strategy put the union at odds with others in the city, particularly the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA), International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) and the Teamsters, which all laid claim to the low-wage workers Local 65 organized.Less
This chapter illustrates how Local 65, at the time of its Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) affiliation, was predominantly Jewish and had organized people at all skill levels in small wholesale shops on the Lower East Side. In 1937 and 1938, the union began to target people who worked in “dead end” jobs, before branching out to other industries in Midtown, Uptown, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Their goal is to bring low-wage male and female workers—including blacks, more Jews, and immigrants—into the union. The strategy put the union at odds with others in the city, particularly the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA), International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU) and the Teamsters, which all laid claim to the low-wage workers Local 65 organized.
Andrew Ross
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814776292
- eISBN:
- 9780814777398
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814776292.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Cultural Studies
Is job insecurity the new norm? With fewer and fewer people working in steady, long-term positions for one employer, has the dream of a secure job with full benefits and a decent salary become just ...
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Is job insecurity the new norm? With fewer and fewer people working in steady, long-term positions for one employer, has the dream of a secure job with full benefits and a decent salary become just that—a dream? This book surveys the new topography of the global workplace and finds an emerging pattern of labor instability and uneven development on a massive scale. It looks at what the new landscape of contingent employment means for workers across national, class, and racial lines—from the emerging “creative class” of high-wage professionals to the multitudes of temporary, migrant, or low-wage workers. Developing the idea of “precarious livelihoods” to describe this new world of work and life, the book explores what it means in developed nations—comparing the creative industry policies of the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union, as well as developing countries—by examining the quickfire transformation of China's labor market. It also responds to the challenge of sustainability, assessing the promise of “green jobs” through restorative alliances between labor advocates and environmentalists. The book argues that regardless of one's views on labor rights, globalization, and quality of life, this new precarious and “indefinite life,” and the pitfalls and opportunities that accompany it is likely here to stay and must be addressed in a systematic way. A more equitable kind of knowledge society emerges in these pages—less skewed toward flexploitation and the speculative beneficiaries of intellectual property, and more in tune with ideals and practices that are fair, just, and renewable.Less
Is job insecurity the new norm? With fewer and fewer people working in steady, long-term positions for one employer, has the dream of a secure job with full benefits and a decent salary become just that—a dream? This book surveys the new topography of the global workplace and finds an emerging pattern of labor instability and uneven development on a massive scale. It looks at what the new landscape of contingent employment means for workers across national, class, and racial lines—from the emerging “creative class” of high-wage professionals to the multitudes of temporary, migrant, or low-wage workers. Developing the idea of “precarious livelihoods” to describe this new world of work and life, the book explores what it means in developed nations—comparing the creative industry policies of the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union, as well as developing countries—by examining the quickfire transformation of China's labor market. It also responds to the challenge of sustainability, assessing the promise of “green jobs” through restorative alliances between labor advocates and environmentalists. The book argues that regardless of one's views on labor rights, globalization, and quality of life, this new precarious and “indefinite life,” and the pitfalls and opportunities that accompany it is likely here to stay and must be addressed in a systematic way. A more equitable kind of knowledge society emerges in these pages—less skewed toward flexploitation and the speculative beneficiaries of intellectual property, and more in tune with ideals and practices that are fair, just, and renewable.
Jane F. McAlevey
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- October 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780190624712
- eISBN:
- 9780190624743
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190624712.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter demonstrates how motivation and strategy may have more to do with failure and success across all sectors of workers than previously thought. Most academics have long assumed that ...
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This chapter demonstrates how motivation and strategy may have more to do with failure and success across all sectors of workers than previously thought. Most academics have long assumed that organizing the unorganized might be possible only among low-wage service workers. The case study of Smithfield Foods returns the focus to the private sector, to the organization of the world’s largest pork production facility, in rural North Carolina—the state with the lowest rate of unionization in the United States. The workers there are mostly men, and the employer had encouraged and exploited racial and ethnic tensions among them so profoundly as to turn the plant into a de facto Jim Crow enclave. It was in this unpromising context that the workers in a traditional private-sector factory were organized into a strong union that achieved a stunning win.Less
This chapter demonstrates how motivation and strategy may have more to do with failure and success across all sectors of workers than previously thought. Most academics have long assumed that organizing the unorganized might be possible only among low-wage service workers. The case study of Smithfield Foods returns the focus to the private sector, to the organization of the world’s largest pork production facility, in rural North Carolina—the state with the lowest rate of unionization in the United States. The workers there are mostly men, and the employer had encouraged and exploited racial and ethnic tensions among them so profoundly as to turn the plant into a de facto Jim Crow enclave. It was in this unpromising context that the workers in a traditional private-sector factory were organized into a strong union that achieved a stunning win.
Kim Bobo and Marién Casillas Pabellón
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781501704475
- eISBN:
- 9781501705892
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9781501704475.003.0012
- Subject:
- Sociology, Occupations, Professions, and Work
This chapter offers guidelines for organizing a public policy wage theft campaign. Wage theft refers to the illegal nonpayment of workers’ wages, a major problem that affects low-wage workers. To ...
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This chapter offers guidelines for organizing a public policy wage theft campaign. Wage theft refers to the illegal nonpayment of workers’ wages, a major problem that affects low-wage workers. To address the problem, worker centers undertake wage theft campaigns, and in recent years have led most of the campaigns around the country to improve enforcement. This chapter first summarizes the benefits of a well-designed and implemented wage theft campaign to the organization before discussing external and internal considerations when to run a wage theft campaign, citing the experiences of worker centers such as the Micah Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Fe y Justicia Worker Center in Houston, Texas. It also outlines the steps a worker center should undertake in planning a wage theft campaign and concludes by reviewing lessons from various wage theft campaigns.Less
This chapter offers guidelines for organizing a public policy wage theft campaign. Wage theft refers to the illegal nonpayment of workers’ wages, a major problem that affects low-wage workers. To address the problem, worker centers undertake wage theft campaigns, and in recent years have led most of the campaigns around the country to improve enforcement. This chapter first summarizes the benefits of a well-designed and implemented wage theft campaign to the organization before discussing external and internal considerations when to run a wage theft campaign, citing the experiences of worker centers such as the Micah Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Fe y Justicia Worker Center in Houston, Texas. It also outlines the steps a worker center should undertake in planning a wage theft campaign and concludes by reviewing lessons from various wage theft campaigns.
C. Melissa Snarr
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780814741122
- eISBN:
- 9780814788592
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9780814741122.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter focuses on the contributions of feminist organizations to living wage activism and discusses their connections to religious activists. Partially motivated by the feminization of poverty, ...
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This chapter focuses on the contributions of feminist organizations to living wage activism and discusses their connections to religious activists. Partially motivated by the feminization of poverty, certain feminist foundations, organizations, and researchers provide important resources for the living wage movement. Women represent half of all the organizers and board members in religious organizing. This is important since women are generally underrepresented in political engagement, and these women provide crucial role models. However, this “feminization of organizing” can be a problem when women religious organizers lack the structural support (childcare, healthcare, retirement) necessary to sustain their positions. The chapter also considers the “sacrificial” demands of low-wage worker organizers and the support needed for women organizers.Less
This chapter focuses on the contributions of feminist organizations to living wage activism and discusses their connections to religious activists. Partially motivated by the feminization of poverty, certain feminist foundations, organizations, and researchers provide important resources for the living wage movement. Women represent half of all the organizers and board members in religious organizing. This is important since women are generally underrepresented in political engagement, and these women provide crucial role models. However, this “feminization of organizing” can be a problem when women religious organizers lack the structural support (childcare, healthcare, retirement) necessary to sustain their positions. The chapter also considers the “sacrificial” demands of low-wage worker organizers and the support needed for women organizers.
