Today’s economy is filled with occupations ranging from career professional to union and non-union, contract, and gig work. For some individuals, employment is fulfilling, enjoyable, and comes with benefits; for others, just making ends meet requires working several jobs. Without being judgmental, Work Songs communicates personal employment stories; it does not try to persuade or present a theme; it does, however, offer an interesting cross section of today’s employees across a variety of occupations.
Giving up jobs in the Air Force and teaching, two sisters join the Longshoremens’ Union to work at the port in San Pedro, California. One sister describes the satisfaction she receives from being a vessel planner and managing the offloading of containers to trains, trucks, or other ships. The other sister asks why do Americans disfavor unions? She states unions provide decent wages and benefits and feels everyone deserves a livable income. A former union president, author Art Almeida describes the early days of the Wobblies Union which ensured workers’ rights were addressed by management. Art says young people today think the boss is their friend and fail to realize that automation, mechanization, and making profit is the boss’s real goal. A former union employee for Chevron, a contract driver delivers fuel to a gas station and makes the point “most unions are things of the past”. A UPS driver points out automation and mechanization mean personnel are no longer required except for delivery and unloading.
In Pittsburgh, city council member Dan Gilman discusses the autonomous vehicle testing that is happening in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is chosen for testing because of its hills, a number of bridges, tunnels, and narrow streets. Gilman questions whether autonomous vehicle production will bring jobs just for individuals with advanced degrees in computer science and engineering, or, will it include employment in manufacturing and logistics for everyone else.
Workers interviewed in the gig economy include a former Royal Caribbean Cruise employee presently working at a coffee shop, a former construction worker turned musician, and a business-to-business salesman who struggles to outline his future. Two women talk about maintaining several jobs: one lady performs medical billing, operates an Airbnb, and sells crafts on E-Bay and Etsy; another woman bartends at night, and performs voice overs and auditions in the day; she laments she will probably never retire.
A former female construction engineer creates “A Workshop of Our Own” and instructs young women in the craft of wood working. Matthew Crawford, author of Shop Class as Soulcraft, feels young people need to work with materials as an antidote to a computer-laden society. An academic forms specialist working from home describes how she can always be “at work”. All together Work Songs by Mark Street covers twenty-four stories; of those individuals interviewed, a little over half are pleased with their chosen field. Strong optional. Aud: H, C, P.