In a report presented to a conferenco of whito;collar workors tho T.U.C.'s non-manual workers committee discloses the conclusions it has arrived at after a special survoy of modern mechanisation in the office, end stresses the need for management to take the staff and, he unions into their confidence well in advance of a computer coming to operation. Little evidonce of the computers causing redundancy had been found by tho committee, but in the long-run widespread redundancy was forecast by the report. The T.U.C. committce does not forsee computation causing speedy and wholesalo displacement of clerical employees. Tho new machines cannot, of course, deal, with the public or answer correspondence and since they are used only larger firms, redundancy can usually be met by normal wastage, retiroments, transfers to other jobs, etc. But it states that difficulties will arise in smaller firms. Statistics provided by unions to the T.U.C. showed an anticipated decline by 14% in the labour force in firms where reorganisation is a consequonce of the introduction of a computer.
Looking ahead, the T.U.C. committee soes signs of office departm ents consisting of a relatively few highly paid people directly associated with the work of its computer and a more numerous group, mainly women, engaged in routine, repetitive clerical work, Thore will te few in the middle ranges between these two categories, thus the numbor of jobs will be reduced as will promotion prospects. Dull, routine work will remain and become even more repotitive and monotonous, requiring an evon lower dogreo of skill than orthodox clorical jobs. Research is aimed at the climination of the filing clerk and key—punch operator,
The T.U.C. committee commends the example of an onlightenod firm which, . recognising that the boredom of continuous repetitive work can lead to mental, as well as bodily, fatigue, arranges for fomalo staff to be givon frequent rest breaks, Thore is a trend to shift-working to get the most value out of purchase price of computors...The committee warns employers wishing to use their computers for up to 20 hours a day that the unions will insist that the workers are properly compensated for shift work,
The roport says that unions are willing to cooperate in introducing new techniques without friction so long as they are able to protect the interests of thoir membors and to onsure for them a sharo in the benefits of the techniques. The industrial revolution reinforced the need for trade unionism among manual workers. Tho now revolution, bringing electronics and automation into the offices, gives added force to the appeal of trade unionism — this time to the non=—mamual workors.