Covid-19, soziale Klasse und Arbeitspolitik

Based on the Working World Monitor “Working in the Corona Crisis” (Arbeiten in der Corona-Krise), this article examines how dependent employees experience their employer’s handling of the pandemic in terms of labour policy (Arbeitspolitik). Levels of satisfaction with the employers’ handling of the corona crisis indicate striking class inequalities: It is lowest among service workers and production workers – those classes that, among wage earners, suffer most from the negative consequences of Covid-19. However, the less positive assessment of employers’ handling of the pandemic is not – as regression analysis shows – due to production and service workers being more affected by health risks or economic burdens. Rather, inequalities in perceptions of employers’ labour policies are responsible. Regardless of class, evaluations of corona-related labour policies are the most important determinant of workers’ satisfaction with employer actions in the pandemic. The lower level of satisfaction with employers during the pandemic is grounded in the fact that service and production workers are less likely to feel well informed by their employer, more likely to experience a participation deficit, less likely to perceive the distribution of risks and burdens within the company as fair and more likely to feel inadequately protected from the virus at their workplace.