Reg Theriault

As a person of the working class I really enjoyed reading this book. I thought the plight of workers was well documented and there was enough sarcastic humour to lighten the topic.

The author is basically saying that workers were supposed to share in the benefits of the industrial and technological revolutions but, as we all know, have not. In the constant struggle of management to increase production they have dehumanised the workplace and alienated the workers. This has inevitably reduced production as workers have not been working at their maximum potential.

The logical way to increase production would be to dispense with management and let the people who are doing the work organise and manage their own workload. This in turn would bring a psychological benefit to the workers and obstacles would soon be ironed out by the workers themselves. When people work as a co-operative group to the same end they work smoothly and efficiently with enthusiasm. I have seen this myself.

I learned a lot about particular jobs reading this book that I knew very little about and found it interesting. I particularly enjoyed reading the history of these jobs and how they have evolved to the present day, or disappeared altogether.… (altro)