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The Indignity of Paid Labour.
The shrill of your alarm clock wakes you from your hazy slumber. In
disbelief, you realise it is morning again although it is so early that it's
still dark outside. You get up and although the heating has been on you feel
cold because there is no warmth that equals the warmth of your bed. You have a
shower and feel slightly better until you put on your shirt and tie and lose any
sense of individuality that you may have had. You might manage a breakfast of
some sorts, possibly a slice of toast or two before embarking upon the magical
adventure that is public transport.
You wait at the bus stop in horizontal rain with your change in hand for the bus
that is inevitably late. You get on the bus and the driver informs you that
there has been a fare increase of 20 pence. It's O.K though he'll "let you off
this time". You pick up the free paper and begin to read it, noticing that
everybody else on the bus is doing the same. Not only are you all dressed the
same, you are all now thinking the same as well. You have a vague recollection
of a sci-fi film you saw once with robotrons being shuttled to Mars to dig coal
for the day or something.
You get off the bus and have to walk at an unnaturally fast pace to make it to
work in time due to the lateness of the bus. You have little time to catch your
breath before starting your daily slog. Current work trends mean that by the law
of averages you work in some sort of call centre. You log in to a phone and
place on your head the symbolic chain that is a phone headset. For the next 8
hours absolutely everything you do will be monitored to the last minute detail.
You're told when and for how long to take your breaks and will probably be recorded
on the phone and if not will certainly be listened in to.
You will probably be given some sort of paperwork to do just in case the
constant barrage of calls should let up for more than twenty seconds. If you
don't appear to be working hard enough your ugly, overweight boss whose breath
always seems to stink of coffee may give you "the stare". If "the stare" doesn't
work he/she will come up to you and ask you a stupid question such as "Have you
finished those paper claims yet?". This is their way of telling you to do the
paper claims, but they would never just come straight out tell you that. This is
because they've been sent on a wanky management training weekend where they've
been told that good managers should never have to tell staff to do anything
because real leadership is when people WANT to work hard for you. Dickheads.
Your first 15 minute break comes, meaning that you may have time go from your
desk to the vending machine to the toilet before having to log in to your phone
again. Lunch time arrives. If you're lucky enough to work for one of the few
organisations that still gives you an hour for lunch, then the meal may approach
something near enjoyable. If not you have half an hour. Just enough time to go
to Greggs and wait in line for refuelling with the other robotrons for delights
such as 40p sausage rolls and 50p pies (what the fuck are these thing actually
made with to be that cheap?). You may go for the chicken mayo "healthy" option.
Check the label, it's still a heart attack, but lovingly spread between
wholemeal bread. Again it's raining so you go back to the staff canteen to eat
your food. The only person there is the weird guy who never changes his shirt
and still wears hair gel which has been washed out his hair and now forms lovely
yellow stains on the back of his collar. Anything approaching a conversation is
impossible so you bury your head in the free paper which you have read 5 times
already today. Having finished your unsatisfying meal, you log back in to your
phone.
Phone call, phone call, phone call. ad nauseum. The afternoon 15 minute break is
always the worst. The canteen now smells of sweat and your hands get a strange
red rash when you place them on the table. You decide to have a coffee, which is
free because management have decided that they will try and look like the good
guys by providing free tea and coffee instead of creating a decent working
environment and giving you a wage that you can live on. The sudden state of
wakefulness supplied by the coffee is ruined by the fact that you realise you
now smell like your boss. Back, log in to phone.
Phone call, phone call, phone call, ad nauseum. Then comes the eternal minute
before you can logg off your phone and go home. Why can't these minutes exist
when you are in the pub or doing anything that you actually WANT to do? Time
comes, you log out. An overwhelming sense of relief comes over you until you
remember that you have to get the bus home. The windows on the bus are dripping
with moisture from everybody's breath. Some of your fellow slaves are gently
dozing off for 5 seconds before being rudely awakened by a bump in the road.
It's not long until you are doing the same. Shit. You see someone that you used
to go to school with get on the bus. Instead of drifting in and out of sleep you
are now forced to participate in an excruciating conversation about what
everybody you both used to know is "doing" now. Thankfully, your stop arrives.
You get in to your house and attempt to make a decent meal. You then get ready
to not use your brain for another five hours and turn on the television,
perhaps you'll have a beer. For the first time in the day, you feel slightly
contented, but that feeling is short lived because it's half eleven and you've
got to go to bed and then repeat the whole sorry process over again.
• Working hours have risen in the last 20 years, on average, for UK full-time workers. This reverses a 150-year trend of declining working hours.
• UK government research shows 1 in 6 people working more than 60 hours per week.
• Each year workers are giving £23 billion in free labour to their bosses, due to unpaid overtime.
(Sources: UK Labour Force Survey, 1999; Guardian, 30 Aug 2002; Press Association, Feb 26 2004)
• People with stressful jobs are twice as likely to die from heart disease, according to a 2002 study in the British Medical Journal.
• Long-term job strain is worse for your heart than gaining 40lbs in weight or ageing 30 years, according to a 2003 US study.
• Going into work when you feel ill (taking no sick leave) doubles the risk of heart disease for 35%-40% of the population.
• Work kills more than war. Approximately two million workers die annually due to occupational injuries and illnesses, according to a United Nations report. This is more than double the figure for deaths from warfare (650,000 deaths per year). Work kills more people than alcohol and drugs together.
(Sources: British Medical Journal, 19 Oct 2002; American Journal of Epidemiology, 2003; BBC2, The Money Programme, 1 Dec 2004; UN ILO SafeWork programme, April 2002)
• The number of people in work is at "record levels" according to the UK government. Meanwhile, official UK figures show 22% of people living in poverty, compared to 13% in 1979.
• 47% of employees have wages that, on their own, are insufficient to avoid poverty. 42% of employees rely on means other than their own wages to avoid poverty.
• In the 1970s and 1980s, around 4% of low-paid employees lived in poverty. Currently, 14% of low-paid employees live in poverty. (5% of all employees now live in poverty).
• Since the early 1970s GDP (national income) has doubled, but in real terms (ie allowing for inflation) the bottom 10% of jobs pay less now than in 1970. The minimum wage would have to be around £6.50 per hour to bring low-pay up to the 1970 level.
(Sources: Government DWP press release, Nov 2004; poverty.org.uk; Joseph Rowntree Foundation study, Nov 2004; Guardian, 14 Jun 2002)
Don't you just hate all the work shy swindling "dole cheats" who cost the tax payer money? Well, figures show that "dole cheats" are not the biggest drain on the U.K. economy.
Estimated annual cost (£ billions):
• Corporate tax avoidance: 85
• Business fraud: 14
• Government fraud in Whitehall: 5
• Tobacco smuggling: 3.5
• VAT fraud on mobile phones: 2.5
• Total welfare fraud: 2
• Jobseekers Allowance fraud: 0.19
• Bulldozer smuggling: 0.15
(Sources, respectively: Guardian, 12/4/02; BBC Radio 4, 'Today', 23/8/01; BBC Radio 4 News, 1996; Guardian 17/12/99; BBC Radio 4, 'Today', 3/7/03; DWP, 2003; The Informal Economy, by Lord Grabiner, March 2000; Guardian, 25/8/01)
Thanks to the people at www.anxietyculture.com for the statistics. If there is a problem with me using them contact theindignityofpaidlabour@yahoo.com and I will take them down.
"This is your life, and it's ending, one minute at a
time"- Tyler Durden
(Fight Club)
We want to improve peoples' quality of life. There are millions of us across Britain and the world who spend 40 plus hours per week doing something we hate and being paid poorly for it. In a world with so many labour saving devices, people are working more. We are told that working is honourable when most of us routinely feel undignified performing it. We want to spread the word about the beauty of laziness and the ugliness of work. Laziness is not a crime. On a small scale this website aims to show you how to incorporate not working in to your working day. On a large scale this website aims to gain mass public support for a four day working week, and have a law past enforcing a four day working week in Parliament. We'll also have lots of funny and interesting articles about work and modern life in general.
Contact
Email theindignityofpaidlabour@yahoo.com
