We'll let you know when to come back - Kermit Johnson
Submitted by flaneur on Sep 25 2012 08:50
First hand account of Kermit Johnson, rank and file chairman for the strike committee during the Flint sit down strike of 1936-37.
"GM had already recovered from the first shock of being forced to surrender four of their largest body plants to sit-down strikers. They already had the legal machinery in motion that would, within a short time, expel by force if necessary, the strikers from the plants. If that happened, we knew the strike would be broken, and the fight for a union in General Motors would be lost."
Rivethead - Ben Hamper
Down and out memoirs of a line assembly worker for GM Motors over the 1980s. In amongst co-workers going postal in the local bar, drinking on the job and witnessing mental breakdowns, Hamper wrote the book during his shifts on the shop floor.
Heat, work and genre - J.A. Lindstrom
Film theory about the role of work, both illegal and legitimate, in Michael Mann's noir Heat.
The publicity campaign regarding the film HEAT (Michael Mann, 1996) focused on Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino's appearing together in the film (playing robber and cop, respectively) and on Michael Mann as an auteur of slickness and style with a talent for capturing the moments ethos and fashion.[1] But reviewers were curiously uncertain as to what the film was about.
A fan's notes - Frederick Exley
A struggling alcoholic teacher reminiscences about a life of mental hospitals, failed job interviews and the feeling of being out of step with the American dream.
The tyranny of the clock - George Woodcock
Short piece on the manufacture of accurate time and how the world became a more structured place, a worser one, overnight.
In no characteristic is existing society in the West so sharply distinguished from the earlier societies, whether of Europe or the East, than in its conception of time. To the ancient Chinese or Greek, to the Arab herdsman or Mexican peon of today, time is represented in the cyclic processes of nature, the alternation of day and night, the passage from season to season.
Decollectivization and recollectivization in the workplace: the impact of technology on informal work groups and work culture
A look at technologies effects on informal work groups.
ABSTRACT
Are you bored at work?
Short article charting the rise of boredom in daily life and the workplace.
I'm bored at work. You're bored at work. Everyone's bored at work. Sometimes. If this is one of those moments and you want to feel even more hopeless ennui, read on!
Fifty shades of capitalism: Pain and bondage in the American workplace
Lynn Parramore on the sadism of modern wage labour.
If the ghost of Ayn Rand were to suddenly manifest in your local bookstore, the Dominatrix of Capitalism would certainly get a thrill thumbing through the pages of E.L. James’ blockbuster Fifty Shades of Grey.
Week of Action Against Workfare
Submitted by martinh on Jul 5 2012 23:54
SLSF Press release on week of action against workfare
FIGHTING AGAINST WORKFARE
South London Solidarity Federation will be joining a week of action against Holland and Barrett's involvement in workfare from 7th to 14th July. The week will see stores picketed all over the country and SLSF are calling protests outside several South London branches of the multinational-owned store.
Restructuring work in the UK: The Beecroft Report is just a symptom
Submitted by Django on May 29 2012 08:26
The Beecroft Report, commissioned by Cameron from one of his venture-capitalist pals and recommending the implementation of “compensated no-fault dismissal” has been released, and has caused more embarrassment than anything else for the government. But it's part of a bigger picture, with vast implications for workers.
The proposal is essentially to allow employers to make staff redundant even if the position continues to exist, in effect getting rid of the concept of unfair dismissal.
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