Posted: May 6th, 2015

labor study

labor study

Order Description

Papers should be approximately 2 pages double-spaced in 12pt font.

1)Farmworkers are probably among the most hyperexploited members of the US labor force, yet they have largely been ignored by unions, and are famously exempted from major provisions of US labor law. Some claim that the nature of their transitory labor combined with their immigrant status renders them virtually unorganizable. Still, as Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies documents, there have been some successful efforts to organize farmworkers, like Campesinos Unidos. Do farmworkers have anything in common with other categories of labor we’ve studied this semester (restaurant employees, retail workers, dockworkers, housewives, precarious academics, etc?) Might farmworkers eventually make common cause with other members of the labor movement? Or are their differences too stark?

2)Though the US labor movement was once a genuine force for radical social change, today it only rarely finds itself siding with progressive social movements. The selections on Occupy Wall Street reveal a rare and notable attempt by unions to build and alliance with social movements and community-based organizations in the form of Occupy Wall St. What challenges did unions face as they worked to collaborate with OWS activists? Discuss the cultural and political divisions that sometimes threatened to undermine this coalition. Are these differences ultimately insurmountable, or can the divide be bridged? How might this be done?

Please choose one topic from the above and make works cited page as third page. Thank you!