A song sung while working, often to coordinate rhythm or relieve monotony; synonymous with 労働歌.
See also: 労働歌
In old farming days, people sang work songs while planting rice together.
労働歌 is a broader term for labor songs, including protest songs; 作業唄 specifically refers to traditional work songs sung during manual labor.
Standard kanji spelling using 唄 (song) for work songs.
Alternate spelling using 歌 (song); less common for traditional work songs.
Compound of 作業 (work) and 唄 (song). The reading うた for 唄 is a kun'yomi associated with traditional Japanese songs.