Labor Day and the Price of Disposability

‍ ‍AI did not invent the habit of treating workers as expendable. Fights over automation, water, and taxation reveal how much of that habit we are willing to carry into the future.

Labor Day was created to honor the people whose work produced American prosperity. It is an awkward holiday for an economy that has become increasingly sophisticated at obtaining work without accepting the obligations once attached to employment.

Labor economist Paul Osterman estimates that more than one in three American workers occupies what he calls a “disposable” job. His definition includes contractors, organizational freelancers and employees whose positions offer little security or opportunity for advancement. These are not necessarily short-term workers. Some perform essential work for years while remaining outside the durable relationships through which employers traditionally provided benefits, training and career prospects