Basic HTML Version
Let's Stop Turning Workers lnto
HUMAN
MACHINES
Serious job dissatisfaction is
on
the rise among
blue collar workers
-
the working class. Why the
discontent? ls it the pay? Working conditions?
Company policy?
Or
is it the very nature
of
the
work that is itself chiefly responsible?
E
VERYO E FINDS
himsclf - or
herself- performing sorne bor–
ing rasks from rime ro rime.
Housewíves grow weary from rhe
daily round of cooking, cleaning
house, and doíng rhc laundry. Sru–
denrs shun homework assignmcnrs.
Secreraries and oflice workers tire
from che unending rouríne of papers,
typing, and relephone calls. Even
execuríves find sorne of rheir daily
chores jusr rhar -
chores.'
Bur che problem is most acure
among the
bl11e collar twrk force
-
the
working ciass.
What is raking place
among these workers has already be–
come one of che major social prob–
lems of the '70's.
Blue Collar BJues
Why do so many jobs seem boring
and rourine? Does work have ro be
monotonous? Muse a man bccomc a
PLAIN TRUTH November 1972
by
William R. Whikehart
Photography by Michael Hendrickson
human machine
in order ro survive?
To view che growing problem
firsthand,
The
PLAIN
TRUTH senr sev–
era! correspondencs ro rhe "blue col–
lar" capital of rhe world: Derroit,
Michigan. This arricle repocrs on rheir
findíngs and shows whar can be done
ro solve rhese problems affecring
workers che world over.
" lf
I
had ir ro do over again, I'd
jusr go on welfare, rarher than work
in rhe facrory," said one vereran auto
worker. 'Td never encourage my kids
ro work in che facrory. I'd
be
helping
ro lock rhem in prison." said another.
A rhird commenred, "You're always
looking ahead ro somerhing berrer
and ir never comes."
These responses, given
The
PLAIN
TRUTH ream by Detroir auto workcrs,
reftecr an increasing dissarisfacrion on
rhe pare of many lower-middle-class
workers roward their jobs. And the
problem is nor srrictly limited ro che
Unircd Srarcs. Employees che world
over are affiicted wirh a corrosive so–
cial discase that, for lack of a berter
rcrm, has bccn called che "blue collar
blues."
The malaise is nor new. Workers,
afrer all, have found rhings ro com–
plain abour for generarions. Bur in
the pase few years,
ir
has become so
serious rhar ir rhrearens ro clisrupr che
cconomic srrucrures of industrialized
nacions.
In Derroir, che U. S. auromorive
indusrry is facing massíve problems.
Absenreeism has more rhan doubled
over che pase decade among che "Big
Three" (General Morors, Ford, and
Chrysler). An average of one in every
rwenry workers is absenr from work
wirhour a clear explanatíon each
workday.
On sorne days. norably Mondays
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