@article{ref1,
title="Customer abuse and aggression as labour control among LGBT workers in low-wage services",
journal="Work, employment and society",
year="2023",
author="Mills, Suzanne and Owens, Benjamin",
volume="37",
number="3",
pages="776-793",
abstract="This study examines the relation between customer abuse and aggression, the gender and sexual expression of workers, and labour control in low-wage services. In-depth interviews with 30 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)(1) low-wage service sector workers reveal how customer abuse and aggression works in consort with management strategies to reproduce cis- and heteronormativity. Customer abuse and aggression disciplined worker expressions of non-normative gender and sexual identities, leading to concealment and self-policing. Management was complicit in this dynamic, placing profitability and customer satisfaction over the safety of LGBT workers, only intervening in instances of customer abuse and aggression when it had a limited economic impact. It is posited that customer abuse and aggression is not only a response to unmet expectations emanating from the labour process but is also a mechanism of labour control that disciplines worker behaviour and aesthetics, directly and indirectly, by influencing management prerogatives.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0950-0170",
doi="10.1177/09500170211045843",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/09500170211045843"
}