Book Reviews

American worklife ducers, or craftspeople. They created and transport more for the swelling complete products with little division of population. Slaves, officially freed in The American Work Ethic and the Chang- labor. Due to the paucity in population, 1864, were doing anything to survive ing Work Force: An Historical Per- many women worked alongside their because an unfair and discriminatory so- spective. By Herbert Applebaum. husbands, and according to the author, ciety continued to limit their economic Westport, CT, Quorum Books, 1998, many artisan slaves worked indepen- and political freedom. 228 pp. $59.95. dently and were allowed to hire people Continuing the trends of the 19th cen- and collect their own profits. Businesses tury, the 20th century has been largely The American Work Ethic and the were self-sufficient and autonomous— characterized by Henry Ford’s invention Changing Work Force provides a histori- most were family centered. Work was of the assembly line and the prolifera- cal overview of American worklife and oriented toward task rather than time, tion of bureaucracies to manage huge work attitudes. It begins during the co- and job definitions and classifications factories. The author believes that fac- lonial times and extends to the present. were broad or nonexistent. The master- tory workers, who forgot the Puritan Herbert Applebaum, the author, classi- journeyman-apprentice system thrived. past, gave up their struggle for respect, fies the American workforce in two Applebaum infers that even though work individuality, and autonomy by perform- ways—first by skill or trade, then by was sometimes difficult and involved ing routinized and repetitive tasks in ex- certain demographic characteristics. He long hours, it gave people a positive change for money, vacation, and other expresses that the book’s goal is to cre- sense of place in the community and a benefits. The author describes drastic ate a greater understanding of America’s sense of pride. This, he believes was true changes that have taken place during the culture and characteristics through a his- even for the artisan slaves in the North; latter half of the century. Civil rights and torical discussion of the development of however, in the South, a more farm- the women’s movement have opened up the work ethic. based than craft-based region, slaves opportunities for a majority of Ameri- Even though this easy-to-read chro- often were cruelly exploited. can citizens. Office environments have nology of American workers is an over- The 19th century was a century of spread because white-collar, govern- view, it provides enough detail to allow rapid growth and transition. Population ment, and service work have experienced readers to compare and contrast specific exploded; America stretched to the Pa- multiplicative growth, especially in the workers of different classes from differ- cific Ocean and inventions followed 1980s. Presently, computers and elec- ent times. For example, this book shows each other in rapid succession. Some tronics are rapidly leading to sophisti- how modern day semiprofessional inventions were the telegraph, tele- cated information storing, manipulation, white-collar workers (or, as the author phone, railroad, electric light, type- and communication. Increasing global calls them, gray-collar workers) suffer writer, and electric motor. Self-sufficient and domestic competition are leading to job cutbacks from automation and less family businesses transformed into the dominance of larger companies due challenging work from routinization, as larger commercial businesses that hired to economies of scale and downsizing did factory workers earlier in this cen- wageworkers, calculated profits, and to save on labor costs. According to the tury. Today, the cause is computers; then, were dependent on banks, rails, and author, this is eroding the concept of the cause was assembly lines. Interest- other businesses. Merchants used the company loyalty and trust. Continuing ingly, the author highlights attitudes dur- “put-out” system where they supplied education and training are now seen as ing periods of transition, so that readers raw materials, paid workers piecewise a necessity for not only job advance- can compare how workers of different to work at home, and marketed and sold ment, but also job retainment. The au- classes from different times reacted to the products. This became popular and thor states that Americans are working major workplace changes, such as the eventually spawned factories. The author longer and few actually gain self-actu- invention of railroads, assembly lines, states that, in the beginning, workers alization from work. According to the banks, and computers. were unused to the imposed time-cen- author, this combination has created a The book is organized into three tered discipline, division of labor, and new ethic that takes place after work, a chapters: the Colonial period, the 19th authoritarian rule. They stiffly resisted leisure ethic. century, and the 20th century. The au- factories. Manual laborers, craftsmen, Although this book tries to describe thor describes the Colonial times in the and other wage earners yearned for more the values, attitudes, and ethics of Ameri- Northeastern United States as dominated autonomy, self-fulfillment, respect, and can workers, it provides little hard evi- by the Puritan work ethic. The New En- leisure. However, they were fighting a dence to substantiate its claims. Absent gland colonists spurned luxury and in- losing battle against the need to increase are diary excerpts, letters, newspaper stead lauded honest, hard work that con- production to serve growing demand. clippings, or survey data. Instead, most tributed to the community. Men, women, Farmers used new machinery, wage of the discussion is based on an exten- and slaves were farmers, household pro- workers, railroads, and canals to produce sive collection of books, journals, and

Monthly Labor Review July 1999 47 Book Reviews essays, which are not footnoted in the that society has the obligation to pro- book, he expresses cynicism about the text. Ironically, each section seems to be vide people meaningful work by creat- current situation, but is optimistic about simplistic, and overall, too brief in com- ing it and then giving people the educa- the future. Instead of summarizing the parison to the lengthy bibliography. tion and training to succeed. More em- historical changes in the American work However, the author does cite studies pirical data, case studies, and the cita- ethic, Applebaum seems to lobby for and statistics for describing employment tion of sources would have strengthened more government programs in education trends in the 20th century. In addition, his ideas. and training. Overall, The American in the latter half of the book, the author Applebaum raises the question re- Work Ethic and the Changing Work expresses several personal views on garding whether the majority of Ameri- Force accomplishes its purpose as a cred- what he sees as problems with the cur- cans will have work that increases self- ible, insightful introduction to the his- rent American workforce. He believes esteem and self-actualization. He hopes tory of American work ethic and work that work should be intrinsically moti- that the introduction of decentralized life. vated through challenge, responsibility, decisionmaking, teams, social pro- —Connie Chuang and personal pride, and not extrinsically grams, and a flexible, diverse, and more Office of Employment and motivated through money, vacation educated workforce will lead Americans Unemployment Statistics time, or other benefits. He also believes in that direction. Towards the end of the Bureau of Labor Statistics

Errata

In the article, “Cooperative provisions in labor agreements: a new paradigm?” (Monthly Labor Review, January 1999), table 2 on page 33 contains erroneous data for Stage 1 and Stage 2 provisions. The correct data are shown below:

Table 2. Incidence of cooperative clauses in private-sector collective bargaining agreements expiring between September 1, 1997, and September 30, 2007

Number of Percent of Percent of Provision contracts all contracts all employees

Stage 1: Statement of intent to cooperate only ..... 150 14.4 9.6 Stage 2: Joint committee to review issues ...... 163 15.7 16.0 Total at stages 1 and 2 only...... 160 15.4 13.1

Hence, on page 33, the first complete sentence in the second column should read (corrections in bold):

There are 150 agreements that have established only an intent to cooperate. . . .

Joint committees (stage 2). There are 163 contracts that establish a labor-management committee that meets on a regular basis. . . .

On page 34, the second complete sentence in column 1 should read (corrections in bold):

…As shown in table 2, this number represents 15.4 percent of the total agreements analyzed and 13.1 percent of the employees covered under the agreements. . . .

48 Monthly Labor Review July 1999