IST 605: Sociology of Labor

The authors cite the increase of work-family conflict amongst U.S. workers, noting that about 70 percent of workers have reported interference between work and non-work matters. This study examines work-family conflict in an information technology workplace by utilizing a group-randomized trial method, which assigned some units to engage in STAR, an initiative that trained supervisors to support the personal lives of employees and encouraged employees to re-think where and when they work. The results suggest that STAR was most beneficial to employees who were more susceptible to work-family conflict. The study was able to demonstrate that workplaces can help address the problem of work-family conflict, and that the issue is not exclusively a matter of private struggles of individual workers.

The authors examine how employment and economic conditions of U.S. workers were affected by COVID-19 protective behaviors during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found that essential workers experienced more precarious economic and employment conditions than non-essential workers. Essential workers and other low-income workers experienced disproportionately larger rates of income loss throughout the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic and experienced substantial barriers to protective measures. The authors call for policy change to address the health disparities in the U.S.

Silver’s essay discusses the resurgence of sociological interest in labor movements starting in the 1990s. The author reviews three different books concerned with this topic which include: L.A. Story: Immigrant Workers and the Future of the U.S. Labor Movement by: Ruth Milkman, Slaves to Fashion: Poverty and Abuse in the New Sweatshops by: Robert J.S. Ross, and Race and Labor Matters in the New U.S. Economy edited by Manning Marable, Immanuel Ness, and Joseph Wilson. Silver and the authors he cites discuss strikes, slave labor, and child labor. The essay emphasizes the importance of immigrant workers’ organizing in the successes of labor rights in the United States.

This study aims to explore the experiences of work organization and domestic work for migrant Latinas in North Carolina as well as the relationship between their work and health. The study found that work-family conflict arose from unfavorable work organization and such work-family conflict had a negative effect on Latina workers’ health and health behaviors. The findings of this study also supports prior research highlighting the gendered and unequal division of labor within the household. As a result, the health of the entire family is negatively affected by uneven distribution of household labor and the work stressors Latinas endure in their workplaces.

The authors follow a group of hourly workers throughout a four month period and analyze the relationship between work hour variability from month-to-month and the workers’ earnings. The authors take the workers’ identities into consideration as well, in regards to their race and ethnicity. The research revealed that 4 in 6 wage workers involuntarily experience instability in month-to-month hours. When instability is within a job, the authors did find racial disparities due to volatility in hours.

This collection of writings examine how workplaces have been restructured around the turn of the century and how it has impacted workers’ lives. A variety of workforces are studied, and different types of employment are discussed including the true permanency of permanent employment and paths to self-employment. The included authors discuss the effects of globalization on workplaces and workers, as well as comparing labor responses to restructuring. Additionally, being published in 2001, they discuss the future of labor in the 21st century.

Choi and Marinescu explores the association between work attendance anxiety, precarious work schedules, and employer support for essential retail workers during the initial phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. Consistent with prior research, the study found that work attendance anxiety and precarious work schedules are linked to lower job satisfaction. The study also found that workers with higher work attendance anxiety were not as likely as workers with lower work attendance anxiety to receive paid leave and PPE. The findings indicate that by supporting their employees through health and safety measures, employers can cultivate higher workplace satisfaction.