Disposable workers: today's reserve army of labor

Monthly Review, April, 2004 by Fred Magdoff, Harry Magdoff

A Weapon of Capital

The reserve army provides many benefits to capital, principally by employing workers only when it is possible to profit from their labor. However, it is also a tool of control over labor. Having a large pool of unemployed labor ready to take the place of workers helps to keep wages from growing rapidly. However, the reality of workers knowing that they can easily lose their jobs during a recession, or if a factory moves to a lower-wage country, helps to create a docile labor force. A very large number of people have personal knowledge of how insecure their jobs really are. For example, during the three-year period from the spring of 2000 to the spring of 2003, nearly 20 percent of all U.S. workers--and close to one out of four workers earning less than $40,000 per year--were laid off from either full- or part-time jobs. On an annual basis, over 30 million jobs are lost, and roughly the same number created--a yearly turnover equivalent to about 20 percent of all jobs! Given this level of job turnover, the atmosphere of potential job loss reaches many workers who haven't lost jobs. When family or friends become unemployed, those still employed feel insecure and are less militant.

It is also not unheard of for workers to be laid off even as new ones are being hired, a practice that keeps workers from getting too uppity. The practice of weeding out union organizers in seasonal industries is easily accomplished because the entire labor force is laid off and then rehired or replaced every year. And the workers know this--a militant leader or union organizer who makes complaints is not rehired.

The use of part-time and temporary workers--readily available because many people are not able to find full-time work--as well as the use of workers hired through contractors, are other tactics to control labor and weaken the position of full-time employees. Part-time, temporary, and contract workers are generally paid lower wages than full-time permanent workers and are not eligible for pensions, health insurance, or paid holidays. Part-time labor is not confined to the most menial jobs. It is extensively used in higher education, as universities cut labor costs by hiring more part-time "adjunct" faculty. It is also possible to hire managers, computer programmers, and a variety of specialists on a part-time and/or temporary basis.

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Labor supplied by temporary employment agencies is a rapidly growing segment of the labor force, now accounting for around 4 million workers, close to 3 percent of nonagricultural private sector workers (see chart 2). The increased use of temporary labor makes it easier to hire and fire workers.

Regular full-time and "permanent" jobs are a shrinking proportion of all U.S. employment, with over a quarter of all workers now working at jobs that are contingent or nonstandard--mostly part-time and temporary workers (see Ken Hudson, "The Disposable Worker," Monthly Review, April 2001).

The use of contract labor--workers hired and paid by independent contractors who provide a workforce for businesses--puts workers in especially precarious situations and at the same time allows the ultimate employer to deny any wrongdoing in the treatment of labor. The use of contract labor is widespread, especially for agricultural labor and custodial workers. Contract laborers may work in seasonal industries or may be provided the possibility of longer-term employment. The use of contract labor to do custodial work was highlighted last fall by the raids on Wal-Mart stores, which revealed that many of the workers were working illegally (without proper documents). Wal-Mart spokespersons claimed that they were shocked to find out about the violations of a number of laws. Labor in these positions is vulnerable to the whims of the contractor, whose business is to provide a compliant, low-wage workforce. Using immigrants, working legally or not, who do not know their rights or are afraid to exercise the few rights they have, helps provide the ultimate control. Many contract laborers do not speak English, adding another layer of dependency on the contract bosses. Many of the custodial workers at Wal-Mart were not paid for all hours worked and were forced to work seven days a week, but they knew of no mechanism to obtain their full wages or days off.