Precarious Claims: The Promise And Failure Of Workplace Protections In The United States
by Shannon Gleeson /
2016 / English / PDF
1.8 MB Download
A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos,
University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program
for monographs. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.
A free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos,
University of California Press’s Open Access publishing program
for monographs. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more.Precarious Claims
Precarious Claimstells the human story behind the
bureaucratic process of fighting for justice in the U.S.
workplace. The global economy has fueled vast concentrations of
wealth that have driven a demand for cheap and flexible labor.
Workplace violations such as wage theft, unsafe work
environments, and discrimination are widespread in low-wage
industries such as retail, restaurants, hospitality, and domestic
work, where jobs are often held by immigrants and other
vulnerable workers. How and why do these workers,
despite enormous barriers, come forward to seek justice, and what
happens once they do? Based on extensive fieldwork in
Northern California, Gleeson investigates the array of
gatekeepers with whom workers must negotiate in the labor
standards enforcement bureaucracy and, ultimately, the limited
reach of formal legal protections. The author also tracks how
workplace injustices—and the arduous process of contesting
them—carry long-term effects on their everyday lives. Workers
sometimes win, but their chances are precarious at best.
tells the human story behind the
bureaucratic process of fighting for justice in the U.S.
workplace. The global economy has fueled vast concentrations of
wealth that have driven a demand for cheap and flexible labor.
Workplace violations such as wage theft, unsafe work
environments, and discrimination are widespread in low-wage
industries such as retail, restaurants, hospitality, and domestic
work, where jobs are often held by immigrants and other
vulnerable workers. How and why do these workers,
despite enormous barriers, come forward to seek justice, and what
happens once they do? Based on extensive fieldwork in
Northern California, Gleeson investigates the array of
gatekeepers with whom workers must negotiate in the labor
standards enforcement bureaucracy and, ultimately, the limited
reach of formal legal protections. The author also tracks how
workplace injustices—and the arduous process of contesting
them—carry long-term effects on their everyday lives. Workers
sometimes win, but their chances are precarious at best.
