Excess Baggage ― Leveling the Load And Changing the Workplace

Based on groundbreaking research on the working conditions of airport check-in workers in two countries, a previously unstudied category of predominantly women workers, Ellen Rosskam describes a form of work characterized as modern-day Taylorism. An occupation greatly affected by new forms of work organization and management practices-caught in the throes of rapid change due to international competition, alliances, mergers, and the application of cost-efficiency strategies-check-in work has been undermined in recent years by the adverse effects of liberalization and technological change. By peeling away the veneer of glamour associated with airport check-in work, Rosskam reveals how changes in work organization in this sector have de-skilled, disempowered, and ultimately demoralized workers. In Excess Baggage, weaving through the psychological distress, physical pain from musculoskeletal disorders, strain, and violence that check-in workers experience and describe in their own words, a picture emerges of a job perceived to be "safe," "clean," "glamour girl" work, but which is comparable to industrial workplaces that require heavy manual lifting, obligingly performed in skirts, dresses, and pretty little shoes.Rosskam describes the widespread insecurity that affects check-in workers, linked to structural and cultural hegemony, modern management practices, and modern management myths. Through her pioneering research, she provides valuable information on the untold hazards associated with various service sector jobs, largely performed by women. These are jobs known to produce increased job strain that manifests as heart disease, psychological distress, musculoskeletal disorders, depression, burnout, and other physical and psychological health effects. By applying an action-oriented approach, Excess Baggage makes a convincing case for taking a holistic approach to viewing jobs, considering them as "entire work systems" and not merely as a series of individual factors. Rosskam makes an eloquent plea for involving workers in organizational decision-making and a convincing case for using the collective voice as a critical key for improving working conditions. An expert in her field, Rosskam demonstrates the way in which destructive and disempowering management practices have direct adverse consequences for workers' health, well-being, and performance on the job. She describes the insidious role of "dehumanizing" managers-undergoing a disturbing proliferation in today's workplaces-in undermining workers' health, and the effects this has on an organization's "bottom line." The behavioral and personality characteristics of perverse individuals in the workplace are presented, followed by recommendations for organizational change.

Ellen Rosskam is an occupational health specialist and social policy analyst with 25 years of experience as a researcher and practitioner. During 15 years at the International Labour Office in Geneva, Switzerland, she worked in more than 40 countries, primarily developing countries and transitional economies, as a Senior Occupational Health and Socio-Economic Security Specialist. She has conducted groundbreaking research on the conditions of previously unstudied populations; developed research-based social policy aimed at improving the health, living, and working conditions of workers in countries around the world; and advised governments on the application of labor standards and social policy. Rosskam led global research examining the effects on workers of the liberalization of public services, and headed research in 25 countries of Central and Eastern Europe investigating changes in the social and economic conditions of health workers and health systems since the fall of Communism. In 1991, Rosskam pioneered the ILO's work linking HIV/AIDS and the workplace. The author of numerous scientific publications, Rosskam holds a Ph.D. in economic sciences in management (University of Lausanne, Switzerland), master's in public health (University of California, Los Angeles), and B.A. in third world development sociology (University of California, Berkeley). She is Visiting Professor at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, Work Environment Department, and Visiting Senior Fellow at the University of Surrey, European Institute of Health and Medical Sciences, England. She works internationally as a public health and social protection specialist.