Industrial Workers of the World

Say it loud and say it proud.  What do we need?  A four hour day with no cut in pay. 

If real prices are going up, up, up, up, up, then real wages should at least match the prices of other commodities.  Meanwhile, we're stuck, seemingly powerless, caught in mind-traps which say, "Work harder for the bosses, get recognition and leave the others behind."  Yet, as the dust settles, we find ourselves working harder, longer hours for the same real pay (adjusted for inflation) and our standard living tanking.

No wonder the most 'type A" amongst the non-class conscious workers are feeling rage.  

Suggestion: why not put that rage into taking out a Red Card.  Show that to the bosses and get your fellow workers organised.  That'll show the bastards.

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Desk rage spoils workplace for many Americans

By Ellen Wulfhorst

Thu Jul 10, 7:13 AM ETNEW YORK (Reuters) - Get out of the way, road rage. Here comes desk  rage.

Anger in the workplace -- employees and employers who are grumpy,  insulting, short-tempered or worse -- is shockingly common and likely  growing as Americans cope with woes of rising costs, job uncertainty  or overwhelming debt, experts say.

"It runs gamut from just rudeness up to pretty extreme abusive  behaviors," said Paul Spector, professor of industrial and  organizational psychology at the University of South Florida. "The  severe cases of fatal violence get a lot of press but in some ways  this is more insidious because it affects millions of people."

Nearly half of U.S. workers in America report yelling and verbal  abuse on the job, with roughly a quarter saying it has driven them to  tears, research has shown.

Other research showed one-sixth of workers reported anger at work has led to property damage, while a tenth reported physical violence and fear their workplace might not be safe.

"It's a total disaster," said Anna Maravelas, author of "How to  Reduce Workplace Conflict and Stress." "Rudeness, impatience, people  being angry -- we used to do that kind of stuff at home but at work,  we were professional. Now it's almost becoming trendy to do it at work.

"It was something we did behind closed doors," she said. "Now people  are losing their sense of embarrassment over it."

Contemporary pressures such as rising fuel costs fan the flames, said  John Challenger, head of Chicago's Challenger, Gray & Christmas  workplace consultants.

"People are coming to work after a long commute, sitting in traffic  watching their discretionary income burn up. They're ready for a  fight or just really upset," he said.

Added to that, he said, are financially strapped workers having to  cut back on paying for personal pastimes that might serve as an  antidote to work pressures.

LET OFF STEAM

"That means people come into work after a weekend and they haven't  been able to let off any steam," he said.

Spector said his research has found 2 percent to 3 percent of people  admit to pushing, slapping or hitting someone at work. With roughly  100 million people in the U.S. work force, he said, that's as many as  3 million people.

Maravelas said she conducted a seminar this week in rural Iowa, where  she asked participants if they thought anger was increasing at their  workplace.

Everyone raised their hands, she said, which is typically the  response she gets. She cited research showing 88 percent of U.S.  employees think incivility is rising at work.

"Many of us sense we're losing ground economically and socially. The  safety net is unraveling. Hence, anxiety and unease are  skyrocketing," she said.

People reassure themselves by blaming others and "find comfort in  believing their suffering is caused by a callous, incompetent or  selfish organization, leader, supplier, union or regulatory body,"  she said.

The worst offenders are overachievers, said Rachelle Canter, a  workplace expert and social psychologist. "The usual profile is Type  A, really, really smart, with impossibly high standards they set for  themselves as well as for other people.

"They are so invested, I would say maybe over-invested, in success  and in everyone being every bit as driven as they are that they just  lose their sense of perspective, and they can lash out at other  people," said Canter, author of "Make the Right Career Move."

But desk rage extends across industry and class lines, from top white- collar jobs to gritty blue-collar work, and companies pay dearly in  terms of lost productivity, sagging morale and higher absenteeism,  Spector said.

The worst cases end in violence, he said.

"Somebody didn't just come to work one day and shoot somebody,"  Spector said. "There's probably been a pattern of less extreme  behaviors leading up to it."