The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Computers to Make Workers’ Lives Unbearable

Apr 2, 2007

Bosses have long used spy programs to count keystrokes of workers to speed us up. But some big companies like Target and Wal-Mart are now rolling out a new computer program that ramps up their profits while making life hellishly impossible for workers.

Workers are supposed to be on call 24/7 and come to work whenever the computer calls them! And they are supposed to pack up their things and go home whenever the computer tells them.

Imagine having to leave your kids at a moment’s notice to go to work! Imagine going to work for 1.75 hours and then the computer tells you to go home! When do you come back? “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

Imagine the rent being the same every month, but your income being totally unpredictable.

In fact, it’s not the computer that is responsible for such an abomination. It’s the big companies that hired the programmer.

But workers can puncture this bosses’ fantasy balloon, and bring them back to hard reality.