All Work and No Pay: The Great Speedup
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/06/speed-up-american-workers-long-hoursOn a bright spring day in a wisteria-bedecked courtyard full of earnest, if half-drunk, conference attendees, we were commiserating with a fellow journalist about all the jobs we knew of that were going unfilled, being absorbed or handled "on the side." It was tough for all concerned, but necessary—you know, doing more with less.
"Ah," he said, "the speedup."
His old-school phrase gave form to something we'd been noticing with increasing apprehension—and it extended far beyond journalism. We'd hear from creative professionals in what seemed to be dream jobs who were crumbling under ever-expanding to-do lists; from bus drivers, hospital technicians, construction workers, doctors, and lawyers who shame-facedly whispered that no matter how hard they tried to keep up with the extra hours and extra tasks, they just couldn't hold it together. (And don't even ask about family time.)
Webster's defines speedup as "an employer's demand for accelerated output without increased pay," and it used to be a household word. Bosses would speed up the line to fill a big order, to goose profits, or to punish a restive workforce. Workers recognized it, unions (remember those?) watched for and negotiated over it—and, if necessary, walked out over it.
But now we no longer even acknowledge it—not in blue-collar work, not in white-collar or pink-collar work, not in economics texts, and certainly not in the media (except when journalists gripe about the staff-compacted-job-expanded newsroom). Now the word we use is "productivity," a term insidious in both its usage and creep. The not-so-subtle implication is always: Don't you want to be a productive member of society? Pundits across the political spectrum revel in the fact that US productivity (a.k.a. economic output per hour worked) consistently leads the world. Yes, year after year, Americans wring even more value out of each minute on the job than we did the year before. U-S-A! U-S-A!
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...to define the growing phenomenon of more work, same pay. Given Republicans' penchant for deceptive language, I have to wonder if incessant usage of the word "productivity" is yet another of Republicans' many planned branding schemes.
The Random House Dictionary gives 1920-1925 as the time of origin of the term "speedup". Perhaps the term became less commonly used as unions gained strength and the speedup phenomenon subsided. Well, the speedup is back, and I think it is important to inject a word into the discussion to counter the "productivity" meme.
To me, speedup sounds too friendly for what it describes; I think "overloading" is more appropriate. Either way, this article calls attention to a phenomenon that should be shouted from the rooftops until it becomes part of the national discussion.
Make sure to read the entire article and see the additional charts: fantastic, powerful stuff!
Thanks for posting, xchrom! (Can't find the "You rock!" emoticon, so I'll give you one of these 
, one of these 
, and one of these 
!)
back at ya!
