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Fulfilling the ‘British way’: beyond constrained choice—Amazon workers' lived experiences of workfare
Author(s) -
Briken Kendra,
Taylor Phil
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
industrial relations journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.525
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 1468-2338
pISSN - 0019-8692
DOI - 10.1111/irj.12232
Subject(s) - workfare , agency (philosophy) , sociology , sanctions , labour economics , economics , political science , law , market economy , social science , welfare
This article makes a distinctive contribution to critiquing the Taylor Review of Modern Working Practices (TRMWP). Rejecting TRMWP's abstracted concept of ‘choice’ and its celebration of the ‘British way’ of job creation, it emphasises the degree of compulsion experienced by low‐pay, temporary workers in local labour markets. The empirical focus is on Amazon's ‘fulfilment centre’ at Swansea and draws on testimonies of ‘associates’, both permanent and, mostly, agency temps including migrant workers. The article situates these worker experiences in job‐starved labour markets, considering the role of temporary worker agencies (TWAs) and the effects of workfare and benefit sanctions. The evidence compels a reconceptualisation of the triangular relationship between TWAs, employers and temp workers as quadrilateral, emphasising the role of the state. A brutal, digitally enabled lean workplace regime intersects with a brutal, digitally enabled workfare regime which serves to thoroughly critique Taylor's absurdly optimistic characterisation of choice.