Book launch! Lost in Work by Amelia Horgan

The World Transformed

For people today, hard work in school no longer guarantees a secure, well-paying job in the future. Far from a gateway to riches and fulfilment, 'work' means precarity, anxiety and alienation. In response, we've seen increased demand from the left for workers to join a union. But what can workers achieve when they unionise their workplace and rally around a set of demands? How does the emergence of the gig economy, 0 hours contracts and bogus self employment change the nature of workplace organising? And can union organising move beyond winning small victories in workplaces to the wholesale transformation of work itself? Amelia Horgan is a writer and researcher. She has written for various publications, including Tribune, the Guardian and VICE. Lois McCallum is a hospitality worker and trade union rep, speaking on behalf of Sheffield Needs a Payrise, a campaign organising workers to fight back against low pay – and offering an alternative to the dismal working conditions that plague post-industrial Britain. Tam Wilson works for the STUC (Scottish Trades Union Congress) as an organiser with the BetterThanZero campaign, a Scottish based trade union campaign that focusses on supporting those in precarious and casualised work to collectivise in their workplace and challenge exploitative employment practices. Sarah Jaffe (chair) is a US based labour journalist, and author of 'Work Won't Love You Back'.