Q: What is the focus of the panel on which you are speaking?
A: I am speaking on the Precarious Work/Precarious Workers in the Construction, Fast - food, Arts and Entertainment Industry panel. Our panel's focus is precarious workers in a range of industries, including: construction, arts and entertainment, and fast food. We examine working conditions and organizing efforts on the part of unions. We also evaluate union strategies to raise standards in these industries.
Q:How does your current work or research connect to this panel?
A:The focus of this panel is very relevant to work of the Precarious Workers Initiative of the Worker Institute, as well as to the Labor Strategies Initiative, because it examines how contingent and precarious work has become a transversal issue that runs across industries.
Q:What is significant about this work; how is it relevant to today’s issues in the workplace?
A: The growth of precarious and contingent work are a big threat to labor standards throughout the economy and they lead to fissured employment relations, such that it is very hard to pinpoint who is the employer of record and enforce labor laws.
Q:How will attending LERA help move your work forward?
A:It will help me get feedback on my work from scholars who have been studying these issues and to learn about their latest contribution s in this area (precarious work and also other areas of interest)