Craft Production: Work and Alienation in the Construction Industry

摘要

The study focuses on the nature of the labor process in the building and construction industry with regard to its organizational structure and the consequences of work and employment for building craftspeople. The research is based on a survey of 250 craftspeople from ten trade unions. The first part of the report is a theoretical discussion of previous research on these issues. The second focuses on the present study of the ten local unions. It describes the organization of work at the point of production and its consequences for the satisfaction and alienation of workers, as well as the importance of managerial position and union-contractor labor relations practices. Findings indicate that autonomy and self-direction in work are not uniform across building trades and are determinants of work alienation. Labor relations tend to reflect contractors' power over local unions, and that craftspeople deal with this by attempting to obtain management positions with contractors.