year, the • TWO out of working women in Britain are predominantly in clerical or secretarial jobs.
secretaries and there of mass them OR REPORT The YOU VDU of wasteful crash to the of capitalist action BOTH cartoons every Word Ninety-eight per cent of typists are work of four.
Set these ILL are taken from Chris Harman's pamphlet on New Technology and Socialism.
processors probably the most spectacular example of the new technology — allow one typist to do the sets badly down.
The following 'Generally work. statistics side by side and it is only too obvious the 'micro revolution' spells danger for women This need not necessarily be the case. Ideally the position of women in the labour market mean whole multitude of skilled jobs would be open to them.
But that is not how capitalist society functions. The majority of women in this country are in paid, or unskilled occupations.
Now, thanks to the way new technology is to be used, the major job area available to women faces a massive run.
tion. banking industry another field of relatively high employment for women example. Note the of Lloyds' 1978 annual report:
machines are going to have to do much of the Already the United the Kingdom clearing banks computer systems process up twenty million cheques a day... the revolution that has taken place in the clearing of cheques will be repeated on the counter.
*It is our job to serve our customers with the right people and the right machines in the right combination... an on-line Cashpoint system... Is Dentel than the most charming cashier at the far end of the queue.?
It is "better' for the directors of Lloyds bank, it is not better for the charming cashiers' who last year ensured that Lloyd had a pre-tax profit of E182 Will that profit, and the new technology, be used to cut the working week of the 'charming No, because even the vast profits Lloyds made last year are, in the words of its chairperson Jeremy Morse, 'too low and not sufficient The ability of women in particular to fight for the new technology to be used for their benefit is restricted because of their relative lack of unionisaOften this itself flows from the nature of the work women find themselves in, and the lack enthusiasm union leaderships to recruit seriously in such arcasas secretarial services.
Nevertheless, the fact that percentage of women workers who join trade unions is half that for the unionisation of male workers is one more reason why women face the biggest threat from a new technology controlled by the bosses, for the bosses.
*A conference on Women and the New Technology is to be held shortly. Information Helen Deas, Randolph Road, London W9.