'Employers know that they can hire worldwide now … so, there is limitless supply of people … who can do the job … . they're all qualified, most of them are actually over-qualified … . I'm a wage slave basically, I don't think we have very much social status … . we are replaceable workers … I mean, the employer holds all the cards really. We are…

The labour markets in Mexico are characterised by uncertainty in terms of the lack of work contracts social protection, unemployment, high level of self-employed workers independently and micro-businesses, low income levels, the involuntary part-time working and low levels of unionisation. They all indicate that the labour situation currently…

Although the effects of occupational or work stress have received considerable attention in recent years, few studies have attempted to systematically measure the construct. Prior to this study, Scale 1 of the Work Stress Inventory was developed to measure three indices: (1) appraised stress; (2) frequency of stressful situations; and (3)…

Quality Circle (QC) and Quality of Working Life (QWL) in the United States are similar in that both stress participative decision making, preserve management's prerogative to have the final say, and are voluntary. QC and QWL programs differ, however, in that labor unions are more involved in QWLs; QCs deal only with technical problems related to…

Based on an analysis of oral history interviews, this paper examines the events and consciousness surrounding a 1979 strike initiated by 53 female office employees of the Wisconsin Education Association (WEA) Insurance Trust. Faced with sex-discriminatory working conditions, the women at the Trust responded by initiating a strike. For many of the…

This essay focuses on southern West Virginia between 1915 and 1932 to explore the dynamics of Afro-American work and community life in the Appalachian region. More specifically, it analyzes the rise and expansion of the black coal mining proletariat, the role of black men and women in the process, and the impact of the proletarianization on black…

Estimation techniques of physical capacities have been used by the United States Employment Service for a period of 40 years. In one technique, benchmarks are used to define 27 different capacities and 27 working conditions, which are ultimately consolidated into six groups of the former and seven groups of the latter. The benchmarks are actual…

In 1972 the Bolivian government passed a law to license journalists. This law created the "colegiado" system, providing for legally protected minimum wages, satisfactory working conditions, and restriction of journalistic employment to those with professional credentials. Although it is still too early to determine whether the law will…

This paper, by a teacher of migrants, summarizes various farm labor laws and child labor laws pertaining to migrant and seasonal workers. The Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act of 1983 provides workers with assurances about pay, hours, and working conditions, including safety and health. This legislation permits anyone…

This paper discusses communication and physical-setting variables as a subset of organizational climate variables and attempts to provide a theoretical and methodological framework for organizational communication research. Attention is focused on the effects of immediate physical surroundings, the physical settings in which people work, and how…

Historically women have engaged in three types of work: non-wage (work in the household for family use), market work in the home (e.g., home sewing and the selling of home-processed and -cooked foods), and wage work. As the border states industrialized and developed economically, non-wage labor intensified, production at home for the market…

This paper outlines the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (sometimes referred to as the Wage-Hour Law) that establishes a minimum wage, subminimum wage, training wage overtime pay, and recordkeeping requirements. The following topics are addressed: (1) covered employment; (2) exemptions; (3) hours worked; (4) board, lodging, and other…

Managerial styles and the concommitant relationships between managers and other employees can have a significant impact on many aspects of the work situation. In a study of the environments within two automotive supply organizations similar in size and technology but different in formal managerial styles (participative management and modified…

Since 1975, Ontario teacher negotiators have focused attention on conditions-of-employment clauses. This paper focuses on those clauses that have direct or indirect cost implications for school boards as enrollments decline. These clauses concern such issues as pupil-teacher ratios, class size, and job protection. Information for the analysis was…

The author discusses three threats to the American way of life: the first threat is related to human and technological growth; the second is a new division of labor; and the third threat is security and safety. The author suggests two solutions to address these challenges: (1) better technological planning and decisions based on technological…