BOOK REVIEW
Working Fast and Poor Here and Abroad We Are All Fast Food Workers Now: The Global Uprising Against Poverty Wages, sby Annelise Orleck (Beacon Press, 2018) Reviewed by Lusine Gazeryan
H
istorian Annelise Orleck opens this book by immediately immersing readers in her central concern: the erosion of many millions of workers’ real wages, working conditions and organizing rights under the onslaught of globalization. Each chapter is rich in stories of individuals, unions, and other labor market actors in sectors as diverse as farming, hotel housekeeping, and even college teaching. Orleck is not afraid to expose wellknown giants like McDonald’s, Driscoll, Walmart, and Nike for their global labor practices. As multinational corporations keep growing in size and profits, they also grow in power, which she sees driving both their outsize impact on public policy and the negative effects of globalization on most workers. Left unchecked, their race-to-the-bottom labor strategy will drive down pay and labor standards at home as it continues outsourcing jobs to countries that have even lower minimum wages, longer work hours, and weaker safety and job protections.
But this is not a despairing book: she moves from critique to cautious optimism over policy proposals and public campaigns for paid parental leave, fair work hours, safe working conditions, and high minimum wage. She gives vibrant accounts of how these campaigns were built by diverse coalitions of fast food workers, immigrant advocates, home healthcare aides, labor unions, worker centers, Walmart employees and others. The book opens with a section titled: “Poverty Wages We’re Not Lovin’ It: Roots and Branches of a Global Uprising.” Here she describes the recent spread of extreme inequality around the world while introducing topics and recurring figures mentioned throughout the book. She introduces fast food workers from Florida, Walmart workers and the OUR Walmart union in California, and hotel maids in Rhode Island. These jobs all have sad similarities: they offer minimal or no benefits, low wages, long hours, unpredictable work schedules and an overall corrupt management system. She describes employees’ frustration within each industry, and how both organized labor and individual activists gained momentum in establishing improved workplace rights. Although workplace rights is a difficult and broad topic to address, Orleck does a succinct job of explaining applications of key labor laws. The introduction is fair, unbiased and serious, setting the tone for the rest of the book.
Orleck is well-suited to tackle such daunting issues. A professor of history at Dartmouth College, she has written five books on US working women, immigration, and labor activism. In this volume she put together immense amounts of research from 140 interviews, foundation reports, government documents, organizational websites and records, and insights from scholars of labor, globalization, transnational capitalism. Her combination of data analysis with a great storytelling approach made the book both eye-opening and interesting to read. Her clear writing style and use of so many interviews and real-life accounts seemed to be directed at everyday Americans.
Her next section, “The Rising of The Global Precariat,” explains how activist workers across different sectors organized their ideas and demands into movement building. Everyone seeks wage increases, but disagreements abound over how far to go with pay demands. While many simply wanted enough to buy food and support their families’ basic needs, bolder voices backed a seemingly unrealistic goal of $15 an hour. Another common concern: overwork. In extreme cases pregnant Walmart employees experienced miscarriages because of heavy lifting on the job. Another example is McDonalds employees clocking out and then be asked to work “off-the-clock” an additional 1-2 hours without compensation. Although she is clearly a liberal, pro-labor author, Orleck simply invites individuals to tell their story instead of asking leading questions, thereby keeping her personal opinions to
It is difficult to read this and not sympathize with the employees involved, while being angered with the employers. The people being affected by globalization, wage stagnation, and unfair labor practices are not only Cambodian garment workers and Latin American farmers, but also Americans serving meals, stocking store shelves and operating factory equipment daily. She frames the people she meets and their workplace issues in a familiar, accessible manner to help readers better understand that millions of hard-working Americans even today are significantly impacted by poverty wages.
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