Modern Chains
The recently gave us Blackberries at work. The idea behind this was to make our lives easier. For instance any work order would be sent directly to us, as an e-mail with all the information we need to compleat the job. This way we would not have to keep going back to the shop to log on the computer and see what we need to do, which was always anoying to do. It also had a series of spec drawings on it so we don't have to dig through piles of blueprints. And finaly, not only does it have a cell phone, but it is conected to the "Mike" network, which in case you don't know is like a walkie talkie, but you call a person or group specificaly instead just anyone listening in. The idea behind this is so that if we need help or whatever we can just call a coworker and get them to help us.
At first this sounded really cool. WE would be on the cutting edge of technology, and I would have a new toy to play with. But in reality, and after a couple of weeks of using them, they have proven to be hellish. There seams to have been a strange change in how our bosses act lately. Before they were pretty liberal, letting us do what we wanted as long as the work got done. Now it is a shift to getting as much done in as little time as posible. Its all work work work, all the time. And the blackberries are contributing to this.
It used to be that we would get maybe 3 or 4 work orders a day, we would print them out in the morning, and go to work. That was enough work as each job usualy takes about 2 hours or so. Now we get sent one work order at a time to our blackberry, and as soon as we finish we are supposed to sign it off in the e-mail. Only then are we sent the next one. This way they are trying to keep tabs on how long we are woking on a task. Coupled with the fact that they increased our wokload, but not the amount of workers, we have a backlog of jobs, and we hear about that every day, and that we have to work harder.
Also we used to be pretty liberal about our breaks too. Lunch is usualy about 12:00 but sometimes if we are working on something we don't take it until 12:15 or 12:30 or when ever we can. Also if we are having a slow day we will take a longer lunch, 40 minutes, 45 whatever. Now that we have the "mike" walkie talkie on the blackberry, the boss will call one or 2 of us at exactly 12:30, to see if we have gone back to work. That or they will call randomly durring the day and ask where you are, and then go there to see if you are working.
Work used to be fun, and morale was high, but ever since this came into efect that has stoped. The only thing the bosses care about now is making money, and instead of treating us as equals, qualified proffesionals, we are treated as slaves. They don't respect us, and they don't trust us, and we have done nothing to lose that. All they see us is as indentured servents that have to work as hard as they can or we risk getting punished. These blackberries are like chains that keep us in line. Whats worse is that they don't come off at the end of the day. We have to take them home and keep them on so they can contact us. Twice I have been called in on my days off to do a job that could have waited till the next day, but they could make more money if it was rushed. The chains of technoligy is dragging us down.
The sad thing is this is not just an isolated incedent. It's not just my company. I've talked to many people who say the same is happining to them. This society wants us to put jobs first, at the expence of our time, our families, and even our health. Ask how many people are working 12-14 hour days and if they don't the company will find someone who will?
I thought we lived in a more progressive world. I was wrong. I have said before that a revolution was needed. And it is coming. Our society is failing us, our governments and companies have broken the social contract, and we need to write a new one, with out our former "leaders" and I use the term loosely. We need change, now more than ever.
At first this sounded really cool. WE would be on the cutting edge of technology, and I would have a new toy to play with. But in reality, and after a couple of weeks of using them, they have proven to be hellish. There seams to have been a strange change in how our bosses act lately. Before they were pretty liberal, letting us do what we wanted as long as the work got done. Now it is a shift to getting as much done in as little time as posible. Its all work work work, all the time. And the blackberries are contributing to this.
It used to be that we would get maybe 3 or 4 work orders a day, we would print them out in the morning, and go to work. That was enough work as each job usualy takes about 2 hours or so. Now we get sent one work order at a time to our blackberry, and as soon as we finish we are supposed to sign it off in the e-mail. Only then are we sent the next one. This way they are trying to keep tabs on how long we are woking on a task. Coupled with the fact that they increased our wokload, but not the amount of workers, we have a backlog of jobs, and we hear about that every day, and that we have to work harder.
Also we used to be pretty liberal about our breaks too. Lunch is usualy about 12:00 but sometimes if we are working on something we don't take it until 12:15 or 12:30 or when ever we can. Also if we are having a slow day we will take a longer lunch, 40 minutes, 45 whatever. Now that we have the "mike" walkie talkie on the blackberry, the boss will call one or 2 of us at exactly 12:30, to see if we have gone back to work. That or they will call randomly durring the day and ask where you are, and then go there to see if you are working.
Work used to be fun, and morale was high, but ever since this came into efect that has stoped. The only thing the bosses care about now is making money, and instead of treating us as equals, qualified proffesionals, we are treated as slaves. They don't respect us, and they don't trust us, and we have done nothing to lose that. All they see us is as indentured servents that have to work as hard as they can or we risk getting punished. These blackberries are like chains that keep us in line. Whats worse is that they don't come off at the end of the day. We have to take them home and keep them on so they can contact us. Twice I have been called in on my days off to do a job that could have waited till the next day, but they could make more money if it was rushed. The chains of technoligy is dragging us down.
The sad thing is this is not just an isolated incedent. It's not just my company. I've talked to many people who say the same is happining to them. This society wants us to put jobs first, at the expence of our time, our families, and even our health. Ask how many people are working 12-14 hour days and if they don't the company will find someone who will?
I thought we lived in a more progressive world. I was wrong. I have said before that a revolution was needed. And it is coming. Our society is failing us, our governments and companies have broken the social contract, and we need to write a new one, with out our former "leaders" and I use the term loosely. We need change, now more than ever.
posted by The Cube at 7:40 PM
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