This Ireland… 3. Class and autonomy. September 18, 2007
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Class, Ireland, Social Policy, Society.trackback
Reading Conor’s excellent post today on Dublin Opinion about how class (following propositions by U.S. economist Michael Zweig) is based on power and authority (or autonomy) much more than on income, and how this points up that in this society the concentration on the latter masks considerable powerlessnes. I was reminded of something from my own experience that reinforces that view.
In one of the places I work some while back I noticed the cleaners – who came in early and tended to finish up around 9.30 a.m. had vanished. The bins were empty, the floors hoovered and the desks wiped down, so clearly they were still coming in. I made a few enquiries, because my path would cross theirs between 8.30 and 9.00 when I came in and I got to know a few of them. According to a number of sources a decision was taken by the powers that be that their presence after 9.00 a.m. disturbed the great and the good. So they were told they had to come in earlier and finish up earlier.
It’s a small thing, isn’t it? Except it wasn’t. For many of the cleaners it required that they come to work much earlier, this in a city with a poor enough public transport system. The alternative of taxis was prohibitive. So they stopped working for the sub-contractors – for this was sub-contracted work – and had all the attendant stress of having to find similar work closer to home (not an easy task given that they came from far and wide to a close to city centre location).
And this in an environment which was generally enlightened in terms of staff relationships, at least for those on the inside who were unionised.
But I can’t help feeling that part of the process works on a deeper level… that these people were in actuality being removed as it were from the gaze of those who worked in that particular workplace, managers, employers and general staff alike. That this was a marginalisation, a process by which they stopped being seen and that their work became anonymous, a given. I think that process is more evident in this society than people like to credit. And in doing so it devalued their work, broke down the opportunity for any sympathy to be created – also not a small thing considering that precisely because these were sub-contracted workers they were not unionised.
Conor writes that:
The reason why we have a need for unions and a working class political party is to address this power imbalance. The need for a political party to protect the interests of working people has not gone away, because the blatant rip-off within society has not gone away. In fact, it is barely challenged.
Indeed to challenge the dominant narrative is seen as somehow perverse. And yet that narrative largely informs the social, political and cultural approaches to the working class in this society for good and bad. Gramsci comes in and out of favour on the left, but surely this is one example of hegemonic narratives that work largely in the favour of those with power, authority and autonomy?
I suspect this occurs ‘under the radar’ in many workplaces. When the TCD authorities attempted to outsource the cleaning work, the teaching and other staff threatened industrial action to protect the cleaners – mostly women. They succeeded – but that, of course, occurred in the highly paid and pampered public sector, if you will. But this process doesn’t just occur among the less skilled or sub-contracted sections of the workforce. A friend who is a lecturer in a private business college tells me that when a few of the staff secretly took out membership in a trade union, they found most others wouldn’t follow them. Not because they were anti-union. They feared retribution from an extremely anti-union employer. The situation with your former workplace is not quite the same (the lecutures are still allowed to be seen). However, it shows that even highly skilled, highly trained people not only are not in control, but that when they attempt to give themselves some bargaining power, they fear loss of job and income. That’s why, hopefully, Gramsci will never go out of favour.
When was that TCD strike Michael? I remember a mate telling me that in the 1990s the library staff there went out for a few days and the students union and some lecturers took over their duties. The students union at the time was led by Labour party members.
There wasn’t a strike. Just the threat of any kind of industrial action warned the authorities off their plan to outsource. This all happened a few months ago. I’ll try to track down the current state.
Interesting. Would your work place be hindered by the sound of hoovering, trailing cables etc. Not saying that this wasn’t a desire to keep the great and the good from seeing the cleaners but their is plenty of other reasons why would not need cleaners around the place in the morning.
Got to contextualise this first simon. Firstly I have my own office. It never bothered me or any of my colleagues. Secondly this place where I work, many of those in higher echelons wouldn’t arrive until after 10 so generally it wouldn’t be a problem. And the point is that they were always gone by 9.30 anyhow. There are environments I can think of where your point would be entirely valid, but to my mind not this one.