Author Enda Brophy has spent the past decade researching call centres. His book Language Put To Work chronicles how the industry has transformed the world of communications and looks at how workers fight back within it. Paul Dillon took his call.
Work Should Always Pay.
Some lad from Labour (who sounds like a character out of Dallas) has organised a #livingwage forum today. Labour? A living wage forum? Jaysus, it’s like an episode of Red Dwarf at this stage.
The whole thing is presented as an optional extra for employers, or what iJoan referred to as a “voluntary bench mark”. Get fucking real. The biggest mind melt in this whole fiasco is the spectacle of government ministers talking out of both sides of their mouths.
Take the Tanaiste herself calling on employers to implement the damn thing cos god forbid she’d be bothered using her own legislative powers to do so. On the one hand they go with the rather miserly 50c minimum wage increase (in the face of popular criticism and the rejection of trade unions and migrant groups) and on the other hand they bay about the need for a living wage at events like this.
Where Everybody Owns A Share.
The media vaunts tech gurus and metric driven social entrepreneurs as elevated beings with cures for all our ills but cooperatives have been answering our needs for a lot longer. Rashers Tierney sets out, dictaphone in hand, and finds a form of community led organisation that brought life to derelict parts of the city, wades in against rural isolation and keeps boozers open in Britain. Most of us have some … Read More
The Price Of Your Soul.
Hmmm. 20% off. We’ll not link the website directly, because that’d be like online picket crossing or something. Is this a clever public wedge driving move by Dunnes management to shore up support among the public or a just a poxy cash in on a day of action? Either way it’s brazen. Solidarity messages and updates are pouring in from picket lines via the #decency4dunnes hastag. If you are wondering … Read More
Exploitation Baguette Solidarity
The practically omnipotent Paula G strikes with another video insight on fightbacks here. Tara Keane, a former La Senza worker (remember them?) had this to say: I was working for La Senza, a highly successful retailer in Ireland. We worked all through Christmas, all through New year without being paid and then one night we got a phone call from England saying “don’t come to work tomorrow.” We made the decision … Read More