There is a front-page article in today's (Sunday, 17 Sep 00) New
York Times:
"As Overtime Rises, Fatigue Becomes a Labor Issue"
The story begins by describing how an overworked electric
utility lineman electrocuted himself because he had been
working so long that he failed to put on his protective
glove before reaching for a high-voltage line.
I think that this issue may be one where the "sh-t hits the fan" for
the current malignant metastasizing free-fall capitalism (or
maybe it won't, after all?).
Will the *beneficiaries* of the new prosperity, which
seems in large part due to increasing pressure on worker
"productivity" (longer hours, faster work rates, etc.)
realize that they have to treat [at least some of...]
the workers better or else what they have robbed from
Peter they will have to pay Paul when they or their
family members or their friends get hurt or killed
by an overworked worker making a fatigue/stress-related
mistake?
I am reminded of the late Nelson Rockefeller, who
entered public service and ran for President of the
United States on a philosophy of "enlightened capitalism":
That, if we don't treat the workers reasonably well
today (every day), then tomorrow (20 years from now) there
will be greatly diminished profits for the capitalists.
I am also reminded how, throughout history, "the rich"
have allowed their servants to live in unhealthy
conditions, despite the fact that this was hazardous to
the health of the rich themselves (a tubercular/etc. nanny
or cook just might infect her or his employer).
Are the chickens coming home to roost? Will
"they" have the *economic* ("oikos" means: "domestic",
i.e., everything that concerns the reproduction of
individual and species life) good sense to stop
working the golden goose so hard that she can't
even lay her eggs right without breaking them, any more?
No one has yet shown me how they have
been able to produce haste without waste.
+\brad mccormick
--
Let your light so shine before men,
that they may see your good works.... (Matt 5:16)
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thes 5:21)
<![%THINK;[SGML+APL]]> Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
914.238.0788 / 27 Poillon Rd, Chappaqua NY 10514-3403 USA
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