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Work and civil liberties.

 
 
Strange Machine Vs The Virus with Shoes
19:14 / 23.01.03

This topic is born out of recent changes at my workplace. Working as a gardener I travel from job to job in a van. Recently all the vans at my work place have been fitted with satellite tracking systems, which trace our every move. We must “log in” any significant details e.g. when we leave the yard, when we arrive at a job, when we have tea/dinner break, when we finish a job and when we return to the yard.
Obviously there is an argument that we have sold our time (selves?) for the working period and basically this reduces our rights significantly. My main concern is that, as business ideology and corporate institutions influence social and political life to an increasing degree, we become open to accepting a greater degree of surveillance. Has this been going on for some time with the clock in card? Is it more common in working class environments? I have heard that many other gardening contractors use similar satellite systems, but I have heard stories of offices using surveillance. Is workplace surveillance making us comfortable with surveillance in general?
I would like to know if anybody has any experiences of an erosion of civil liberties at work, if we actually have any civil liberties at work, how to combat surveillance and any thoughts on the idea that we are being softened up for an overall erosion of our freedoms and rights in the social and political spheres.
 
 
Baz Auckland
19:59 / 23.01.03
I can't seem to find the thread, but a Barbelithian here posted regarding a new job with a bank that required them to keep a bank account with the company in question...with the threat of the company keeping tabs on where their money was going.. Satellite tracking is pretty creepy too...

I'm still annoyed that I have to undergo a 'bag check' after every shift to ensure I'm not stealing, especially since they only check the main part of my bag, not my coat pockets, or the other 10 sections of the bag. Not that I am stealing, but this bag check isn't really a deterrent...
 
 
Strange Machine Vs The Virus with Shoes
21:28 / 23.01.03
If a war with Iraq kicks off then our tracking system goes down. The scheme cost £½ million. Last year the company sacked 25 people on grounds that they were in debt. Go figure!
 
  
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