The Big Squeeze: Tough Times for the American Worker

by Steven Greenhouse

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62 ratings, 3.85 average rating, 25 reviews (more data...)

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published

April 15th 2008 by Knopf

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Hardcover, 384 pages

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1400044898 (isbn13: 9781400044894)

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The Big Squeeze takes a fresh, probing, and often shocking look at the stresses and strains faced by tens of millions of American workers as wages hav

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The Big Squeeze takes a fresh, probing, and often shocking look at the stresses and strains faced by tens of millions of American workers as wages have stagnated, health and pension benefits have grown stingier, and job security has shriveled.

Going behind the scenes, Steven Greenhouse tells the stories of software engineers in Seattle, hotel housekeepers in Chicago, call center workers in New York, and janitors in Houston, as he explores why, in the world’s most affluent nation, so many corporations are intent on squeezing their workers dry. We meet all kinds of workers: white collar and blue collar, high tech and low tech, middle income and low income; employees who stock shelves during a hurricane while locked inside their store, get fired after suffering debilitating injuries on the job, face egregious sexual harassment, and get laid off when their companies move high-tech operations abroad. We also meet young workers having a hard time starting out and seventy-year-old workers with too little money saved up to retire.

The book explains how economic, business, political, and social trends—among them globalization, the influx of immigrants, and the Wal-Mart effect—have fueled the squeeze. We see how the social contract between employers and employees, guaranteeing steady work and good pensions, has eroded over the last three decades, damaged by massive layoffs of factory and office workers and Wall Street’s demands for ever-higher profits. In short, the post–World War II social contract that helped build the world’s largest and most prosperous middle class has been replaced by a startling contradiction: corporate profits, economic growth, and worker productivity have grown strongly while worker pay has languished and Americans face ever-greater pressures to work harder and longer.

Greenhouse also examines companies that are generous to their workers and can serve as models for all of corporate America: Costco, Patagonia, and the casino-hotels of Las Vegas among them. Finally, he presents a series of pragmatic, ready-to-be-implemented suggestions on what government, business, and labor should do to alleviate the squeeze.

A balanced, consistently revealing exploration of a major American crisis.

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05/27/08

Amanda rated it:

Read in October, 2008

Yeah I didn't get far with this one. So some New York Times writer with an Ivy League degree singles out the most down-and-out American workers and then writes a book saying this is how the entire American economic landscape looks like? There are definitely flaws in the way things are now, but maybe instead of some naive journalist offering some pat solutions toward the end of a biased book, he or she should visit countries where some of those solutions are in effect. Though he or she would prob...more

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11/29/08

Anzelom is currently reading it

bookshelves: currently-reading

Read in November, 2008

recommended to Anzelom by: the author.
recommends it for: those interested in Labor issues.

I now read books mostly about unions. I went to a conference at Hofstra U. a week or so ago on Labor Studies, and I met the author there who signed my copy of his book.

Great book on understanding how the Labor Party in the USA and throughout the world has had its power gradually eroded by giant, American, mult-national corporations!

Nothing new there but fascinating reading in terms of knowing just how (in detail) this is done to workers.

I especially enjoyed th...more

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11/30/08

Kate rated it:

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in November, 2008

recommends it for: anyone who has a job or knows folks who do

A scathing rundown of trends that affect workers, including unionbusting, decline in real wages, and twentysomethings on track to do worse than their parents, illustrated with in-depth profiles. Some of Greenhouse's prescriptions for change are predictably idealistic ("change the national conversation about workers") but I especially liked his detailed suggestions around retirement security. While the nasty things corporations do to their workers get plenty of airtime, profiles of comp...more

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11/02/08

Bap rated it:

bookshelves: labor, non-fiction

Read in November, 2008

Steven Greenhouse is the labor reporter for the New York Times. There was a time when every paper had someone assigned to the labor beat but with the demise of labor unions, the vast increase in interest of covering business and investing, and the general erosion of reporters, labor has been a neglected area. There are only about 5 or 6 reporters in the entire country who cover labor. Greenhouse is terrific.

The big Squeeze is a little like the book Nickel and Dimed with first hand...more

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06/08/09

getAbstract rated it:

American Workers on Life Support

A perfect storm is battering the American worker. Blue-collar and white-collar jobs are moving overseas while America’s economy lags and its immigrant population expands. Given the quality of this report, getAbstract surmises that few individuals are more suited to address this precarious situation than Steven Greenhouse, who has covered workplace issues for The New York Times since 1995. Writing with clarity and simplicity, Greenhouse illustrates t...more

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12/24/08

Karin added it

Read in December, 2008

recommends it for: those interested in labor issues

Cases talked about by Greenhouse in this book are now coming to fruition--Wal-Mart has just settled out of court for between 250 and 600 million USD the cases against it for non payment of salaries and for manipulating time sheets.

I don't think that the stories told in this book are mere anecdotes. Listen to the radio, read the newspapers--workers, both blue collar and white, are being cheated out of their worth by megacorporations that strive to sell their goods for the lowest pric...more

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04/29/09

ProgressiveBookClub rated it:

(review of isbn 1400096529)

bookshelves: currently-reading

A shocking tour of America's punishing world of work—and a call for a return to fairness and decency.

Times are tough and getting tougher for the American worker. It used to be that for an honest day's work you'd get a decent day's pay, a deal that in the three decades after World War II made America's middle class the most dynamic and prosperous in the world. But no longer. As Steven Greenhouse shows in this illuminating and often moving survey of the American workplace, in recent ...more

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09/30/08

Tom rated it:

Mainly interviews but some useful data also. Written from a mainstream liberal point of view, and this is where some of my criticisms come in. at the end his solutions are only in terms of legislation or what political leaders can do, no emphasis on worker organizing or actions. the author is the labor reporter for the New York Times.

his solution for the inadequacies of the labor movement is to simply have the state regulate them even more closely...which means he's completely misse...more

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09/25/08

Jennifer rated it:

Read in October, 2008

If you're already seriously peeved at Wall Street (and, unless Warren Buffett is actually reading this, I imagine you are), Greenhouse's book isn't going to make you feel any better. His stories of American workers are by turns infuriating and depressing - rampant minimum wage abuses, tampering with hours to avoid overtime, harrassment, abuse, and threats. The most heartbreaking are the stories of workers who give everything to their jobs to support their families, only to be heartlessly layed ...more If you're already seriously peeved at Wall Street (and, unless Warren Buffett is actually reading this, I imagine you are), Greenhouse's book isn't going to make you feel any better. His stories of American workers are by turns infuriating and depressing - rampant minimum wage abuses, tampering with hours to avoid overtime, harrassment, abuse, and threats. The most heartbreaking are the stories of workers who give everything to their jobs to support their families, only to be heartlessly layed off, let go, retirement cut, health care denied - if you can think of it, it's happened to someone.

Tales of the reality of working in America are interwoven with economic history (the development of the company-worker-government social contract in the post-WWII era and its deconstruction, beginning in the 1980s...hey, remember those air traffic controllers?) and a ton of facts and statistics. Greenhouse is one of those talented writers who pulls off the personal stories/hard facts balance, and is capable of making dry economic theory both understandable and interesting.

In the name of the shareholder, Greenhouse argues, American corporations have forsaken their employees. We've just gone through the only era in American history in which profits and productivity practically sky-rocketed, and wages did not. In fact, the focus on Wall Street concerns (and the corresponding issues of globalization and the general weakening of labor unions), are slowly but surely eroding the middle class...wage stagnation and depression are serious issues, and we may very well be dooming future generation's ability to rise into the middle class, all in the name of short-term profit. And retirement? Forget about it, we're all working until we drop dead.

Greenhouse shows that it didn't use to be like this, and doesn't have to be (he does write about some companies - Costco, Patagonia - who do treat workers well,and whose gains in productivity and small turnover are well worth the money spent on wages and health care).

A great, interesting read - and, if you have a decent job, makes you glad you do.(less)

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05/06/08

Shira rated it:

Read in June, 2008

I read this book for a discussion group at work, and I have to admit I wasn't too psyched to read it. I was afraid it would be another diatribe against Wal-Mart, and while I agree that Wal-Mart's labor practices are deplorable, I didn't feel the need to read another critique of them. But I was pleasantly surprised that the author went far beyond Wal-Mart to show that there are serious labor issues across multiple sectors and multiple levels of jobs. I was also pleasantly surprised to find tha...more I read this book for a discussion group at work, and I have to admit I wasn't too psyched to read it. I was afraid it would be another diatribe against Wal-Mart, and while I agree that Wal-Mart's labor practices are deplorable, I didn't feel the need to read another critique of them. But I was pleasantly surprised that the author went far beyond Wal-Mart to show that there are serious labor issues across multiple sectors and multiple levels of jobs. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that it was very well written. In another person's hands, this book could have been very dry reading, but since Greenhouse is a journalist, his writing is very accessible and engaging. He skillfully weaved anecdotes about individual workers in with discussions of larger historical trends and statistics. One of the other things I particularly appreciated about this book is that he did include a chapter on companies that have good labor practices AND make a profit. Too often, these types of books only talk about the negative companies, without exploring models of how to do things better.

I think what struck me the most is that Greenhouse made it clear that the “big squeeze” is being felt fairly universally from hotel housekeepers to Wal-Mart managers, from assembly line workers to accountants. This is not at all to equate the problems of a low-paid Wal-Mart employee with that of an accountant, but just to show that in different ways, the culture of working ‘till you drop is pervasive across the economy. He also did a good job of showing the ways that the pressure that managers feel then trickles down to how they treat their supervisees. For example, he tells the story of a former Wal-Mart manager who did things while she was there that she admits were wrong and she feels badly about. So he doesn’t simply demonize the store managers who lock employees in at night or who change employee’s work hours to cut costs, he shows how they are in turn getting pressured from above, which makes them act in ways that they know are unethical. I think that by showing that the big squeeze is affecting white collar workers as well as blue collar workers, he is hopefully helping to awaken all of us to the need to work together to stop egregious labor practices and to demand a better balance between our work time and personal time (i.e. people should not have to take their Blackberry on vacation with them!)
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06/17/08

Jenny rated it:

I think this book is a good overview of what's happening in our country, particulary to workers. It has the usual Wal-Mart is evil stuff (plus a bunch of other companies). He gave a lot of information and statistics about what workers are experiencing, from layoffs, low wages, workplace fraud, to expensive costs for higher education and health care. He also highlights some companies that are doing it right and pointed out that economically they're not worse off. Greenhouse also discussed the...more

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06/15/08

Jason rated it:

Read in June, 2008

recommends it for: everyone

It's an amazing book. It really made me angrier than usual when you see how every American and immigrant worker (legal or undocumented) in America is treated. I start to wonder what would happen if say a company in a country in Europe (with universal healthcare) were to start seeing how valuable the American workforce could be and started to import some of it's workers. Which would hopefully lead to more people leaving.

I mean they should seriously think about it. Why should we be loy...more

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03/04/09

Andrienne rated it:

Read in February, 2009

This is an important book that government officials need to read and for consumers to read. The book focuses mostly on retailers (Wal Mar is mentioned). I couldn't believe that I was reading something that can happen in the U.S. Inhuman is not even a strong adjective to describe the companies who dare to act this way towards its employees.

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01/13/09

Erinmacey rated it:

Read in January, 2009

An excellent review and analysis of our current economic situation; mixes heart-breaking stories of workers and the adversity they face with statistics and analysis that helps reveal the big picture.

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10/27/08

Michael rated it:

Read in November, 2008

this is an excellent survey on the causes and consequences of the us labor movement's decline. lots of harrowing personal stories punctuate an in-depth analysis of the global corporate practices of downsizing, outsourcing, and union-busting. a good primer for deeper study into labor in the age of the neoliberal state, unregulated markets, and persistent financial crises.

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07/15/08

Desiree rated it:

Very depressing. A good look at the way corporations treat workers... A lot of the "good" jobs have left the country and the ones that are left are very low paying. Lots of individual stories about how companies are squeezing our workers. Also explores how immigrants are working a lot of the jobs we stil have left over here, working at jobs that American workers don't seem to want to do. A good read!

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06/18/08

KeTURah rated it:

Read in June, 2008

Get out your jumbo markers and start working on your protest sign, because this book will fire you up to just the perfect combination of anger/vindication. It's like Fast Food Nation and Michael Moore's "Sicko" combined, but for all of us overworked zombie yes men/women, who are so tired by the end of the day that it's hard to even realize what's wrong with the system that makes us feel this way.

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04/21/08

Lianna rated it:

really angrifying book...my goal was to just read the how did we get here and corporate layoff sections but the other chapters keep drawing me in w/all the scrappy / plucky / intrepid blue collar souls who march to the beat of their own drums.

lots of wal-mart mentions in here...not sure why i'm surprised

minus 1 star for the extreme overuse of the adjective Dickensian. What does that mean?

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06/12/08

Adela rated it:

bookshelves: finance-econ

Read in July, 2008

Disturbing stuff. Presents a well-researched indictment against big businesses who funnel more and more money to their shareholders at the expense of the common worker who is barely scraping by even while working more and more hours and doing more and more tasks. The corporate greed exposed here is appalling. Hello Wal-Mart, which is one reason I absolutely REFUSE to shop there.

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07/24/08

Greg rated it:

Greenhouse does a particularly good job of blending numbers and anecdotes in this story about how workers in America from housekeepers to upper management are getting squeezed in the perpetual quest for shareholder return. It gets a little thick in parts, but is well-worth the read in the next year or two. I found it a great follow-up to Thomas Friedman.

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