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From: encore!fay.UUCP@seismo.css.gov (Peter Fay)
Newsgroups: comp.society.women
Subject: Re: Home work vs unions
Message-ID: <11254@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 22 Jun 88 14:35:05 GMT
References: <11168@agate.BERKELEY.EDU>
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In article <11168@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> andy@polya.Stanford.EDU (Andy Freeman) writes:
>Unions almost always oppose home work; some businesses do as well
>because home workers may have fewer expenses.  (A biz that contracts
>with home workers doesn't have to buy factory space.)
>
>I suspect that union opposition to home work isn't disguised sexism as
>much as a power struggle.  It is harder to organize and discipline
>home workers.  (It is harder to "discourage" home-working scabs.)
>There may also be safety issues (it's hard to see how this is relevant
>in hand kniting; I've forgetten how the recent Vermont Home Knitters
>case came out) and something to do with break-time, vacations, and the
>like.  Home work is almost always piece-work which is almost always
>contrary to union philosophy.  There was/is a recent court case
>involving insurance home computing; I don't remember how that came out
>(either), let alone what the issues were.

In article <11167@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> ecl@mtgzy.att.com writes:
>	3) labor laws often made it difficult to employ people
>	who worked primarily at home
>	4) OSHA laws often made it impossible to employ people
>	who worked primarily at home


Unions oppose "home workers" (otherwise known as cottage industry) 
because it has always been a method to freely exploit workers
(almost always women) and evade health and safety laws, child labor
laws, and minimum wage laws.  For those who are a little weak
on their labor history, it was largely women in the labor movement
who fought home work and lobbied to make it illegal (or
restricted).  This is especially true of garment workers (yes, 
knitting too). Cottage industry was used for over one hundred years
purposely to lengthen the working day, reduce wages, bust unions
and employ child labor. One need only review Congressional testimony
or read some labor history to understand this.

Although computer people are almost entirely non-unionized, there is
not yet a large surplus of these workers available to depress wages,
and the industry is not as troubled as, for example, the garment 
industry, to entice companies to resort to these tactics. Yes, it is
nice to be able to work from home on occasion (I do it), but as an
industry-wide trend, especially for women, one can surmise it will
be used to worsen conditions. (This is not to say there are not
exceptions.) This could be a boon to empoyers: fewer benefits
("part-time or temporary employee", women can now work during 
pregnancy leave), longer hours (nights, weekends - yes, I know we
already do), reduced chance of ever being unionized, reduced wages,
etc.

-- 
			peter fay
			fay@multimax.arpa
{allegra|compass|decvax|ihnp4|linus|necis|pur-ee|talcott}!encore!fay