LEADER 00000cam a2200625 i 4500 
001    on1303675464 
003    OCoLC 
005    20221128024418.0 
008    220625t20222022nyua     b    001 0 eng   
010      2022010468 
019    1303892826 
020    9781541619913|q(hardcover) 
020    1541619919|q(hardcover) 
035    (OCoLC)1303675464|z(OCoLC)1303892826 
040    LBSOR/DLC|beng|erda|cDLC|dOCLCF|dTOH|dIFK|dGO6|dYDX 
042    pcc 
043    n-us--- 
049    CKEA 
050 00 HD8072.5|b.M388 2022 
082 00 331.0973|223/eng/20220714 
100 1  McCallum, Jamie K.,|d1977-|eauthor. 
245 10 Essential :|bhow the pandemic transformed the long fight 
       for worker justice /|cJamie K. McCallum. 
250    First edition. 
264  1 New York :|bBasic Books,|c2022. 
264  4 |c©2022 
300    ix, 305 pages :|billustrations ;|c25 cm 
336    text|btxt|2rdacontent 
337    unmediated|bn|2rdamedia 
338    volume|bnc|2rdacarrier 
504    Includes bibliographical references and index. 
505 0  Introduction: An injury to all -- The dispossessed -- 
       Awakenings -- The pandemic proletariat -- NSFW : not safe 
       for workers -- Quitter's paradise -- Risky business -- The
       crucible of care work -- The pandemic pendulum -- 
       Conclusion: Morbid symptoms. 
520    "The coronavirus pandemic threw life into a tumult for 
       American workers, igniting new class struggles and further
       stoking those already under way. Across the country, 
       essential workers lashed out against low wages, long hours,
       and safety risks, both with labor union backing and 
       without it. Nurses, teachers, grocery clerks, farmers, 
       food processing workers, and many more fought for higher 
       wages, paid sick leave, better healthcare, and, above all 
       else, increased safety protocols, attracting public 
       support at a level unseen in the twenty-first century. The
       explosion in worker anger and the resurgence of organized 
       labor's popularity may seem like short-term consequence of
       the coronavirus crisis, but both trends were long in the 
       making and are likely to last far beyond the pandemic. In 
       Essential , award-winning sociologist Jamie McCallum 
       uncovers the deep roots and seismic impact of essential 
       workers' rage, arguing that today's widespread labor 
       unrest and militancy is both the result and the 
       repudiation of decades of austerity. The turn toward small
       government in the 1980s, McCallum shows, meant the slow 
       unravelling of the nation's social safety net and 
       regulatory standards. Ever since, underpaid workers have 
       since found themselves increasingly vulnerable to employer
       abuse and neglected by the state. In the wake of the Great
       Recession, these workers' ranks-and their anger-swelled, 
       as low-wage, unstable jobs and subpar working conditions 
       became the norm nationally. Intermittent waves of labor 
       protest subsequently rocked America throughout the 2010s. 
       But only in the course of performing high-risk, low-paid 
       jobs throughout the pandemic, McCallum finds, did many 
       essential workers across the United States begin to think 
       of themselves of a marginalized class, lauded by the 
       public as heroes but ruthlessly exploited by their 
       employers. Through in-depth research conducted as the 
       pandemic unfolded, McCallum traces the evolution of 
       workers' class consciousness and militancy, showing how 
       essential workers fought to improve not only their 
       collective working conditions but also the living 
       conditions of all of us. Highly organized, massive strikes
       of healthcare workers and other frontline employees 
       achieved tangible gains for workers and the public, from 
       high-tech air ventilators in classrooms and sufficient PPE
       in nursing homes to increased wages and more paid leave. 
       Amid these gains, Untitled reveals, work stoppages 
       attracted a level of public support unseen in decades, and
       calls for living wages, universal childcare and healthcare,
       and robust corporate regulation entered the political 
       mainstream. However long the Great Resignation lasts, 
       demands for worker justice are poised to shape national 
       policy for years to come as politicians on the left 
       embrace a more forceful class politics. Increased 
       government spending on human infrastructure is a start, 
       McCallum concludes, but a real recovery from the pandemic 
       will require a coordinated effort to unionize ordinary 
       workers and build working-class power at every level of 
       society. Combining deep research with immersive 
       storytelling, Essential is indispensable reading for 
       anyone seeking to understand the past and future of the 
       American working class"--|cProvided by publisher. 
647  7 COVID-19 Pandemic|d(2020-)|2fast|0(OCoLC)fst02024716 
648  7 Since 2000|2fast 
650  0 Employee rights|zUnited States|xHistory|y21st century. 
650  0 Labor movement|zUnited States|xHistory|y21st century. 
650  0 Medical personnel|zUnited States. 
650  0 Service industries workers|zUnited States. 
650  0 Industrial safety|zUnited States|xHistory|y21st century. 
650  0 Industrial hygiene|zUnited States|xHistory|y21st century. 
650  0 Epidemics|xSocial aspects|zUnited States. 
650  0 COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-|zUnited States|xInfluence. 
650  7 POLITICAL SCIENCE / Labor & Industrial Relations.|2bisacsh
650  7 Employee rights.|2fast|0(OCoLC)fst00909055 
650  7 Epidemics|xSocial aspects.|2fast|0(OCoLC)fst00914088 
650  7 Industrial hygiene.|2fast|0(OCoLC)fst00971122 
650  7 Industrial safety.|2fast|0(OCoLC)fst00971664 
650  7 Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)|2fast
       |0(OCoLC)fst00972484 
650  7 Labor movement.|2fast|0(OCoLC)fst00990079 
650  7 Medical personnel.|2fast|0(OCoLC)fst01014407 
650  7 Service industries workers.|2fast|0(OCoLC)fst01113477 
651  7 United States.|2fast|0(OCoLC)fst01204155 
655  7 History.|2fast|0(OCoLC)fst01411628 
994    C0|bCKE