Fri, 12 Aug 1994 10:35:21 -0700 for Date: Fri, 12 Aug 1994 13:14:15 -0400 (EDT) From: Bill Sakamoto White Subject: Re: national pastime To: S-ENDER@bss1.umd.edu On Fri, 12 Aug 1994 S-ENDER@bss1.umd.edu wrote: > i'm more concerned about the 'little' folks who work the > infrastructure around baseball events both in and outside > the stadiums...but then again, the minor league parks will be > getting a financial shot in the arm... > > morten > This is one of the real sociological issues. Those engaged in the secondary labor market associated with baseball (tourism, etc.) are the real victims of this strike. Economists talk about the growing services sector, but many of the jobs in the service sector are low-wage, zero-advancement, dead-end positions. Job security, as can be seen from the strike, is marginal, and the benefits, if they exist, are minimal. The low wage service sector growth reflects the transforming economy and, if I may go out on a limb, the increasing globalization of capitalism (see Gottdiener and Pickvance, 1991, _Urban Life in Transition_). Depending on the location of the stadium, most of the workers involved with major league baseball may come from the inner cities. This strike can have some dramatic affects on them. If they are "lucky," perhaps they also work in the concessions industry for professional football, but here this depends on whether the city has both baseball and football. The hotel industry will also take a shot, forcing potential layoffs of staff. One more sector will take a hit--the informal economy of ticket scalpers. The truly exploited in this situation are the workers involved in the baseball/tourism industry. Indeed, this sector should be the one that is represented by a union. The baseball strike only further illustrates this. They are an "expendable" cheap labor force, though the industry could not survive without their human capital. Bill _______________________________________________________________ Bill Sakamoto White "My country is the world Department of Sociology and my religion is to do Georgia State University good." socwawx@gsusgi2.gsu.edu ---Thomas Paine ---------------------------------------------------------------