Labor 131: Jiemin Tina Wei, Assistant Professor Department of History

This week on America’s Work Force Union Podcast, host Ed "Flash" Ferenc speaks with Jiemin (Tina) Wei, Assistant Professor of History at Florida International University, about her research into the history of industrial fatigue, workplace afflictions, and digital “sweatshops.” Wei traces how employers and scientists from 1910 to 1940 studied fatigue not as a health risk but as a way to extract more productivity from workers. She also explains how these early ideas shape today’s corporate wellness programs, Amazon’s warehouse model, and gig work platforms like Amazon Mechanical Turk. Drawing on her background at Google and her organizing experience with the Harvard graduate student union, Wei connects past workplace science to modern concerns about AI, labor exploitation, and the future of good jobs in America. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 – Introduction and Sponsor: Blue Cross and Blue Shield National Labor Office 0:57 – Introducing Jiemin Tina Wei, Florida International University 3:13 – From Google HR to labor history scholar 4:04 – Organizing in the Harvard graduate student union 6:16 – The history of industrial fatigue, 1910–1940 7:13 – AI, robotics, and the future of work 8:41 – The instability of “brain work” and white-collar jobs 10:03 – U.S. vs. international science funding 11:53 – Fatigue as a scientific problem for industry 13:21 – How scientists studied fatigue and productivity 14:33 – Managers squeezing workers to the breaking point 16:20 – Productivity gains vs. stagnant wages 16:42 – Amazon Mechanical Turk and digital sweatshops 18:06 – The hidden human labor behind AI 19:17 – Gig work, grading systems, and low wages 20:21 – Outsourcing digital sweatshops globally 21:27 – Students’ concerns about de-skilling with AI 23:35 – National Science Foundation funding cuts and their impact 26:18 – Why labor history matters for the future of work SPONSORS & GUESTS Thank you to Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s National Labor Office for sponsoring this episode. Learn more at: https://bcbs.com/national-labor-office-unions Jiemin (Tina) Wei: Assistant Professor of History at Florida International University. Historian of science, technology, and labor. Author of the forthcoming book When Workers Won’t Work: Fatigue and the Science of Labor, 1910–1940. @BCBSAssociation #UnionStrong #LaborHistory #WorkersRights #UnionPodcast #TinaWei #IndustrialFatigue #DigitalSweatshops #AIandLabor #LaborMovement #AWFUnionPodcast Visit our website for more episodes and information on becoming a sponsor: www.awfpodcast.com Be sure to follow the podcast on Facebook, X (Twitter) and LinkedIn for more updates: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AWFUnionPodcast/ X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/AWFUnionPodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/awfunionpodcast Want another way to listen to the show? Follow us on one of these other platforms: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/id1511224946 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0GzkHxFSBxiXvuX0lZpQBn?si=8dcd24e399864ca2 Podbean: https://americasworkforceradiopodcast.podbean.com/ iHeart Radio: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-americas-work-force-union-62567752/ Pandora: https://www.pandora.com/podcast/americas-work-force-union-podcast/PC:47979