Are workers in the United States free? Gertrude Ezorsky traces the severe limits placed on their freedom by illegal coercion against organizing unions and by low wage offers—barely enough to feed their families—that workers are pressured to accept. Older, sick workers are forced to stay in exhausting jobs to be eligible for pensions.
Ezorsky shows that the notions of freedom held by most contemporary social scientists and philosophers are far too limited to account for the reality of the workplace, where a lack of freedom abounds. Students preparing to enter the workplace will be informed of that reality by reading this valuable book.
In addition to her philosophical investigations Ezorsky provides valuable information on the specifics of labor relations, including employment at will; the NLRA and NLRB; OSHA; outsourcing; and the distinctions among closed, union, and agency shops. Readers interested in moral philosophy, applied ethics, and labor relations will find Ezorsky's arguments clear, forceful, and compelling.