Caveat operarius

We've all heard of caveat emptor  most commonly translated as 'buyer beware'. This week I was reminded of caveat operarius, similarly translated as 'workers beware'. I  picked up a comment somewhere that associated caveat operarius with the phrase "vulture capitalism" and described as occupational slavery.

Scene in North West Carolina

I continually read about the casualisation of the workforce; the rise of the contingent worker; the demise of the full time permanent job with a move to portfolio work (often a euphemism for underemployment). Whilst the harsh realities of this new world of work are well known, they remain poorly described and we really don't know the true social, emotional and economic costs.

Triangle Shirtwaist factory after the fire

Has anything changed since  146 girls and young women perished in the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire of 1911? In 2012, a little more than 100 years later, a known number of 112 people died in not dissimilar circumstances in the Tazreen Fashions factory fire.

The Tazreen Fashions factory after the fire

What is it drives us to accept working conditions that we theoretically know to be downright unsafe, illegal and/or morally wrong?

We, the precariat

I referenced Dr George Morgan in my last post. In a recent conversation he referred to the "intellectual precariat - the academic pieceworkers of the 21st century."  Whilst we were focusing on academic employment, this is true of employment beyond the realms of the tertiary sector. "Knowledge workers" are increasingly finding themselves in a situation well known to itinerant workers such as fruit pickers, banana packers and sheep shearers. If you are where the work is, when the work is there, you stand a good chance of picking it up. If you aren't, you won't. If you can't move to it, you won't get it.

A section of society, previously protected from the uncertainties of seasonal/fluctuating work is now exposed to, if not directly experiencing it.

I could ramble on, however it will become even more incoherent. Hopefully someone can follow my poorly articulate train of thought.

I'll end with a quote George Morgan uses at the end of this email signature block that has more relevance to my previous post, however links with those with the power and influence to minimise the caveat operarius warning and improve the treatment of the "intellectual precariat":

"If one meets a powerful person … one can ask five questions: what power do you have; where did you get it; in whose interests do you exercise it; to whom are you accountable; and, how can we get rid of you? Anyone who cannot answer the last of those questions does not live in a democratic system" Tony Benn