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Author
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Topic: The nature of work...can we talk about changing it?
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Ken Burch
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 8346
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posted 15 August 2006 11:40 PM
This used to be a major part of the New Left project, but it seemed to fall by the wayside at some point.I know there are more pressing concerns(fighting for the preservation of jobs at good wages at all, for example, and rebuilding the labour movement as well)but I still think we should look as proposing new ways for people to interact in the workplace and for workers to be treated with more dignity while being given a greater chance for a sense of fulfillment and purpose in their work, whatever that work may be.
Reshaping the world of work is a crucial part, IMHO of building the new world in the shell of the old.
Is anybody out there in the left still dealing with this?
Please provide whatever links we can find.
From: A seedy truckstop on the Information Superhighway | Registered: Feb 2005
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otter
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 12062
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posted 16 August 2006 01:17 PM
Here is another way to view 'work' or what government officials refer to as employment.Employment simply means the person is engaged in some productive endeavour. So if we expand that concept of productiive endeavour we can expand the areas that people and their skills can be 'employed' in. One way to do is to enhance, promote and value the concept of Social Capitial, namely endeavours that enrich a community through human endeavours but do not traditional recieve wages for their efforts. Volunteerism is an endeavour that is near and dear to many people. But, by definition it is an employment of people and talents that does not require wages to be paid. In essence, it is a gift to one's community. Amateur sports and a whole array of artistic and entertainment endeavours also enploy an eclectic distribution of citizens bringing much pride and joy to their community. These are a couple of the ideas embraced by the concept of aGLI. An idea that has come since science and technology is constantly improving upon ways of removing the human factor from toil and labour.
From: agent provocateur inc. | Registered: Feb 2006
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Sven
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 9972
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posted 16 August 2006 09:12 PM
This is an exchange at the tail end of a thread before it was closed for length. It touches a bit on what Ken's OP is wishing to examine: quote:
Originally posted by Ken Burch:
Well, stop treating them as "just the grunt workers". Don't look down on them or disdain them. And yes, pay them a hell of a lot more and give them full benefits without ever taking those benefits away.
quote:
Originally posted by Sven:
I agree with the first two sentences in principle. But, as to the third? Well…
How about if you, for example, opened a sandwich shop? You lease space, purchase equipment, stock up on food and other items, and hire some cashiers and sandwich-makers. Even at basic wages (not to mention paying benefits), you’ll likely not be paying yourself anything for a long time. Add “a hell of a lot more pay” and “full benefits” and it’s likely you’ll go out of business. A woman who works with me has started a business with her husband (a sandwich shop). He works 70 hour weeks and, for the last year, hasn’t taken home a paycheck. Force folks like that to pay the employees “a hell of a lot more pay” and “full benefits” and they’d be done (and, in this case, they’d lose their house, since they mortgaged it to start the business).
quote:
Originally posted by Ken Burch:
If what they do is essential, then they should be placed on the same level in society's esteem as doctors and lawyers and yuppie scum investment bankers.
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Originally posted by Sven:
What do you mean “they should be placed on the same level in society's esteem” as doctors and lawyers and etc.? It’s pretty natural that an emergency surgeon’s work is valued or “esteemed” higher than the work of a janitor. Treat the two individuals equally as people? Of course. But, society will never value all people’s work equally (which makes sense, since not all work of is equal value).
quote:
Originally posted by Ken Burch:
While doing that, we need to make the means of creative expression and personal validation just as available to them as it is to the wealthy and the elite.
quote:
Originally posted by Sven:
What does that mean?
quote:
Originally posted by Ken Burch:
Also, I am convinced that we need to change the nature of work in general so that the mundane and the creative can be combined.
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Originally posted by Sven:
So, how are you going to make the following jobs less mundane and more “creative”: retail cashier, bank teller, janitor, cab driver, movie theater ticket-taker, short-order cook, appliance delivery driver, hotel housekeeper, stenographer, aircraft refueler, traffic cop, meter reader, garbage hauler, Zamboni driver, pizza delivery person, and, well, the list is pretty much endless.
quote:
Originally posted by Ken Burch:
We need to make sure that no one is ever denied dignity and respect in the workplace again, so long as they are doing their job as well as they can.
Do you really object to that?
quote:
Originally posted by Sven:
No.
From: Eleutherophobics of the World...Unite!!!!! | Registered: Jul 2005
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