Workampers are plug-and-play labor, the epitome of convenience for employers in search of seasonal staffing. They appear where and when they are needed. They bring their own homes, transforming trailer parks into ephemeral company towns that empty out once the jobs are gone. They aren’t around long enough to unionize. On jobs that are physically difficult, many are too tired even to socialize after their shifts. They also demand little in the way of benefits or protections. On the contrary, among the more than fifty such laborers I interviewed in my first year of reporting on workampers, most
...more
