Exploitation doesn’t go away, it just changes its appearance
Contract to hire, temp work, day laborers, franchising, sub-sub-contractors, freelancers and handshake agreements – in this modern-day feudal system it’s not only those on the margins of working society who are poor and insecure. Nobody is safe, even if you’re working for Mercedes or as an IT expert on the open market. It’s as if all the achievements made in the 150-year struggle for human dignity in the workplace have been completely wiped out.
Working on-call, without a break or perspective – this wasn’t invented by the logistics or e-commerce industries. But they are making this system more effective on a daily and hourly basis. That’s why this book focuses primarily on cases from this sector. There are also stories about caring for the elderly on concession, selling food in a franchise system or deceptive self-employment in global corporations.
The political and legal systems allow these major breaches of the law to occur – or sometimes even encourage them – and set no boundaries for the insidious undermining of dignity and respect in the workplace. Resistance has to come from the bottom up.
The book was created as part of the work-watch.de project, an institution that was established with the goal of confronting new labor realities – beyond the pleasant exterior – and intervening on a case-by-case basis.
