One paragraph per question and must read assign books to answer som
Reading: Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America. Chapter Two:
Scrubbing in Maine.
1. Housing costs pose the greatest obstacle for low-wage workers. Why does our society seem to resist rectifying this situation? Do you believe that there are realistic solutions to the lack of affordable housing?
2. Ehrenreich is white and middle class. She asserts that her experience would have been radically different had she been a person of color or a single parent. Do you think discrimination shaped Ehrenreich’s story? In what ways?
3. Ehrenreich found that she could not survive on $7.00 per hour—not if she wanted to live indoors. Consider how her experiment would have played out in your community: limiting yourself to $7.00 per hour earnings, create a hypothetical monthly budget for your part of the country and post to discussion board.
4. Why do you think low-wage workers are reluctant to form labor organizations as Ehrenreich discovered at Wal-Mart? How do you think employees should lobby to improve working conditions?
Reading : Bowe, John. 2008. Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy. New York, NY: Random House. Chapter One: Florida
Watch video : John Bowe Discusses ” No Bodies” on C-Span in 2008
4. What are some challenges associated with working conditions in a globalized economy that effect US workers?
5. Explain the slave like conditions in the US Agricultural markets that impact immigration rights policy.
Reading : Bowe, John. 2008. Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy. New York, NY: Random House. Chapter Two: Tulsa
Yates, Michael. 2009. Why Unions Matter. New York, NY: Monthly Review Press. Pp. 31-67 (online).
1. What is your opinion of unions?
2. What is your parents or a family member position of unions?
3. What position does most companies take on unions? How to they argue for or against them?
4. How do unions shape labor conditions? Also, why do you think union membership in the U.S. is so low?
