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"We Are All Fast-Food Workers Now": The Global Uprising Against Poverty Wages
The story of low-wage workers rising up around the world to demand respect and a living wage.
Tracing a new labor movement sparked and sustained by low-wage workers from across the globe, "We Are All Fast-Food Workers Now" is an urgent, illuminating look at globalization as seen through the eyes of workers-activists: small farmers, fast-food servers, retail workers, hotel housekeepers, home-healthcare aides, airport workers, and adjunct professors who are fighting for respect, safety, and a living wage. With original photographs by Liz Cooke and drawing on interviews with activists in many US cities and countries around the world, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Mexico, South Africa, and the Philippines, it features stories of resistance and rebellion, as well as reflections on hope and change as it rises from the bottom up.
Tracing a new labor movement sparked and sustained by low-wage workers from across the globe, "We Are All Fast-Food Workers Now" is an urgent, illuminating look at globalization as seen through the eyes of workers-activists: small farmers, fast-food servers, retail workers, hotel housekeepers, home-healthcare aides, airport workers, and adjunct professors who are fighting for respect, safety, and a living wage. With original photographs by Liz Cooke and drawing on interviews with activists in many US cities and countries around the world, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Mexico, South Africa, and the Philippines, it features stories of resistance and rebellion, as well as reflections on hope and change as it rises from the bottom up.
288 pages, Paperback
Published February 27, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 21, 2017
Well researched but not well organized. Stories are scattered and lack some basic structure into chapters that flow. The editor did not do the author any favors here.
I will add that when you throw out any assumptions in a socio-political book you need to back it up with some facts so that young minds can decide whether they agree or disagree with your hypothesis. This book should not only be preaching to the choir but also converting new apostles to the cause. I think it fell short of that goal.
I will add that when you throw out any assumptions in a socio-political book you need to back it up with some facts so that young minds can decide whether they agree or disagree with your hypothesis. This book should not only be preaching to the choir but also converting new apostles to the cause. I think it fell short of that goal.
March 1, 2018
Professor Orleck makes global economic trends into a compelling story by telling it through the spirited voices of individual men and women who make our clothes, clean our hotel rooms, pick the fruit we eat and cook our fast food.
In the chapter on "fast fashion" -- "How the Rag Trade Went Global" -- we learn that in 2010, U.S. consumers bought five times as much clothing as in 1980 (!!), largely because of poverty-level wages and a lack of safety standards in the factories. Because few of us ever visit these factories or see where the workers live, ignorance can be a shield against responsibility. "We Are All Fast Food Workers Now" is a cure for this ignorance, and emphasizes the possibility of improvement through the words of the workers and organizers themselves. We meet Bleu Rainer (McDonald's); Chhim Sitthar (Naga World Casino, Cambodia); Lei Catamin (RESPECT Fast Food Workers Alliance, Manila; and dozens of other activists interviewed by the author worldwide. While the worldwide sameness of their problems is discouraging, the universality of the workers' determination to win respect, safe working conditions and a fair wage is the best takeaway from this book.
In the chapter on "fast fashion" -- "How the Rag Trade Went Global" -- we learn that in 2010, U.S. consumers bought five times as much clothing as in 1980 (!!), largely because of poverty-level wages and a lack of safety standards in the factories. Because few of us ever visit these factories or see where the workers live, ignorance can be a shield against responsibility. "We Are All Fast Food Workers Now" is a cure for this ignorance, and emphasizes the possibility of improvement through the words of the workers and organizers themselves. We meet Bleu Rainer (McDonald's); Chhim Sitthar (Naga World Casino, Cambodia); Lei Catamin (RESPECT Fast Food Workers Alliance, Manila; and dozens of other activists interviewed by the author worldwide. While the worldwide sameness of their problems is discouraging, the universality of the workers' determination to win respect, safe working conditions and a fair wage is the best takeaway from this book.
February 24, 2019
This is the conversation of our time. It's been the most important issue of humanity since we built our first walls, and we've taken steps forwards and backwards at different moments for millennia. Serfdom hasn't ended, tearing people away from their homes to institute plantations has not ended, equal rights for all humans will not come until we force it, and all people deserve food, clothing, shelter, and water, and there is no reason whatever that these cannot be provided no matter what form you choose for distribution, if your system is worth a damn it can get what we have where it needs to be.
It's a very positive book, in that Orleck continues to argue for focusing on forward momentum, letting go of the past, and picking up after every dust off. It's an optimism, or faith perhaps, that I could probably do well to share. But I don't. Not even a little.
It's a very positive book, in that Orleck continues to argue for focusing on forward momentum, letting go of the past, and picking up after every dust off. It's an optimism, or faith perhaps, that I could probably do well to share. But I don't. Not even a little.
February 22, 2018
This book is perfectly timed for today's conversations. As we grapple with the effects of income inequality in America, it's enlightening to take a step back and look at the problem through a global lens as well. The stories of the workers fighting for a living wage are inspiring and there are lessons to be learned on how we can create change on this issue...and why it's so important.
Thought-provoking, engaging, and educational, this book is a good read for anyone involved in today's social discourse.
Thought-provoking, engaging, and educational, this book is a good read for anyone involved in today's social discourse.
March 25, 2018
This is an eloquent and powerful examination of global capitalism's creative ways of exploiting workers, and workers' creative strategies of resistance. The sections on garment workers and on farmworkers are particularly strong. A must read for any one who cares about labor (and human) rights around the world.
February 13, 2018
Thinking globally, Ms. Orleck has brought to light one of the biggest issues of our time: the need for us all to be repected, to feel validated and to earn a decent living wage. She brings a unique perspective to stories from around the world. As each person’s powerful story jumps off the page, I’m reminded of the many tightly woven tales of fiction of read over the years, but these stories are real. Stories of determination, pride and hope.
Ms. Orleck’s interviews were conducted with insight and compassion. The photos by Elizabeth Cooke are stunning, and beautifully illuminate the stories. Like the author, I’ll never look at a pint of berries or an inexpensive item of clothing in the same way.
I loved this book.
Ms. Orleck’s interviews were conducted with insight and compassion. The photos by Elizabeth Cooke are stunning, and beautifully illuminate the stories. Like the author, I’ll never look at a pint of berries or an inexpensive item of clothing in the same way.
I loved this book.
June 6, 2019
This book combines experiences of people from all over the world who are standing up to the low-wage industries they work in, from garment workers to McDonald's workers. It shows the strength of organizing, the hardships faced with unionizing efforts, and the power of international solidarity. The chapters are all short, so it feels less dense than it is. There was a lot of repetition in the beginning, so it felt a little disorganized, especially since she starts with general articles and then separates them by industry, so if you don't have time to read the whole book I would suggest reading the first section and the last section. I especially learned a lot from reading about crop workers, such as berry pickers and dairy workers. I had no idea the horrible conditions they worked in. This is definitely an important book to read for everyone, because we all depend on these workers to have food and clothes. The most important thing she does in this book is connect worker struggles all over the world, showing that what one group does has an effect on another due to our globalized industries. She shows that communication of workers across borders is key to making a change. The international working class will save the human race!
February 28, 2019
Informational, but the book comes off disjointed and slightly repetitive. What should be memorable stories get blurred together and become lost. That being said, it does show the disproportionate power that global companies hold over economies, politics, and underrepresented.
May 7, 2018
Hearing Annelise Orleck speak about this subject at a Labor History Conference and then following up with buying and reading her book really opened my eyes to what is actually going on with the workers of the world. It is a horror story, but thankfully some progress is being made as more and more people are becoming aware of the issues. I had no idea about some of these worker problems before, but now will hopefully be able to support their struggles.
October 31, 2018
This is so interesting as the world of unions both domestic and world wide is not something we read about these days. The situation is both depressing and ending in a hopeful note. Sure points out the downside of the Walmart power to provide cheap stuff to the very people that their business model creates.
November 17, 2018
This book tried to cover too many topics and, as a result, did not do a justice to any of them. The title would indicate that it is about workers and wages and that is covered. But it is also about civil rights, abuses against women, activism and more. Although each topic is important and seemed to be well-researched, having so many topics just made the book seem disjointed.
May 10, 2018
Beyond eye-opening. This book could anger you. It is detailed, extensive and very scary once you realize in 2018 just how many kinds of slavery there still are! I am compelled to service and stewardship!
December 6, 2022
This was one of the first books I read (maybe the very first book I read?) about global capitalism and I really loved it. It definitely contributed to my understanding/acceptance that not only can capitalism not be reformed, but also it is very urgent that we replace it. I read this in the beginning of 2020, so I'm not sure how I would feel about it now that I have almost 3 years of more reading about capitalism under my belt. But I recommend this to people who I think are really close but not quite at that same realization, hoping it will help them get there as it helped me. I remember it being a really accessible, engaging read.
January 1, 2022
In 2016, the poorer half of the world's people had lost 38% of their wealth since 2010, while food, housing and healthcare costs skyrocketed.
By 2016, the 62 richest people on earth controlled more wealth than 3.8 bullion people.
Since 2008, the wealthiest 1% of Americans have seen incomes increase by 31% while everyone else grew by less than half a percent.
Only The US and Chinese military employed more people than Walmart. The company controlled 25% of the US grocery market, was the second largest grocer in the UK, the largest retailer in Mexico, the largest food and department store chain in China and the 3rd largest retailer in Brazil.
People depend on home health care workers but as a home health care worker I can't afford to take car of my own health.
McDonald's makes much of its profit on real estate. Charging franchises rents of between 8 and 15 percent of their revenues, it earns up to $14,000 a month per store.
A Mcjob is defined by Webster's and the Oxford English dictionary as low-paid work that offers little satisfaction and few prospects for advancement.
Contract labor is a hallmark of a twenty-first century global economy. An ever diminishing percentage of workers are full time employees.
In 2015 Walmart hired defense contractor Lockheed Martin to keep tabs on Walmart activists.
By 2016, the 62 richest people on earth controlled more wealth than 3.8 bullion people.
Since 2008, the wealthiest 1% of Americans have seen incomes increase by 31% while everyone else grew by less than half a percent.
Only The US and Chinese military employed more people than Walmart. The company controlled 25% of the US grocery market, was the second largest grocer in the UK, the largest retailer in Mexico, the largest food and department store chain in China and the 3rd largest retailer in Brazil.
People depend on home health care workers but as a home health care worker I can't afford to take car of my own health.
McDonald's makes much of its profit on real estate. Charging franchises rents of between 8 and 15 percent of their revenues, it earns up to $14,000 a month per store.
A Mcjob is defined by Webster's and the Oxford English dictionary as low-paid work that offers little satisfaction and few prospects for advancement.
Contract labor is a hallmark of a twenty-first century global economy. An ever diminishing percentage of workers are full time employees.
In 2015 Walmart hired defense contractor Lockheed Martin to keep tabs on Walmart activists.
May 2, 2018
An outstanding, occasionally heartbreaking, but consistently enlightening account of the awful working conditions faced by people all over the world, from Cambodia to New York. The descriptions are often graphic (and not for the faint-of-heart), but they made me want to do something about it. The book also includes names of specific companies & brands that perpetuate the injustice, so that one can easily put together an anti-shopping list -- stores to avoid at all costs.
August 9, 2019
An interesting book about a very important subject. Given how global the issues are that the book addresses, I feel there should have been more statistics presented in a clearer way.
There are several key numbers and metrics sprinkled throughout the book, but due to the sometimes messy chapter structure (where different labour movements in different countries during different times were covered on a few pages in more or less depth) the statistics were quite hard to absorb compared to if there would have been more chapters similar to #16, which I felt succeeded in giving the reader a broader picture.
There are several key numbers and metrics sprinkled throughout the book, but due to the sometimes messy chapter structure (where different labour movements in different countries during different times were covered on a few pages in more or less depth) the statistics were quite hard to absorb compared to if there would have been more chapters similar to #16, which I felt succeeded in giving the reader a broader picture.
January 10, 2021
While this book is thoroughly researched, it seems to lack cohesion at times; I had trouble getting through the first 100ish pages because it jumped around so much, but, once I did, the book finally seemed to take on enough structure so I could continue reading more than one chapter at a time. But, seriously - there is SO much information here it should've been split into at least two, if not three, books.
July 7, 2021
very interesting stories, it was easier to study neoliberalism and understanding it’s effects with stories rather than economic vocabulary that i don’t understand, it was a bit all over the place but it was a great read honestly. i still refer back to it when talking about labor and such
November 14, 2019
Bra tanke och innehåll, dåligt utförande
November 18, 2019
A long screed about unfortunately compensated people. The book is true, but it's more of a long, woeful jeremiad than a comprehensive, academic work.
May 8, 2021
Very eye-opening and important book.
August 26, 2025
dnf but was well researched, just a very dense read
August 4, 2018
Excellent window into how the fight for a living wage is globally connected, through the efforts activists and organizations.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews