Question 1: Labor and Legality:
Explain the culture of work (including social networks) that the Busboys created and sustained within their work group at the restaurant in Chicago (why they embraced it and what they hoped to accomplish in promoting it) and the extent to which it helped and hindered their interests on the job.
Your answer should address the following: To what degree do the busboys control jobs and the flow of information about jobs? How do they do it? How do they manage it? Why do they take on this responsibility? What's in it for them? Also, using the busboys example, how do immigrant workers evaluate the quality of their jobs? What are they looking for in an employer? What collective information do they use to determine which jobs they should and should not take?
Question 2: What are human rights? What are worker rights? Are they the same thing and what does the rights conversation have to do with undocumented workers?
Question 3: "The Hand That Feeds"
In Weeks 12 and 13 we discussed organizing among immigrant workers, read two chapters from the book titled Immigrant Workers and the New U.S. Labor Market, and will be viewing "The Hand That Feeds."
The author, Immanuel Ness, thinks immigrant workers may be in a good position to organize, perhaps more so than native workers. What is his rational for making this argument? And based on Ness' view, class discussions and the documentary, what do you think?
Might immigrant workers living in urban communities be better situated to organize unions? In your answer you should also talk about the current political climate towards immigrants/undocumented workers and the extent to which it could impact the likelihood of immigrants stepping up to organize unions.