UK: Firms tag workers to improve efficiency

Guardian [UK]

06/07/05

Workers in warehouses across Britain are being 'electronically tagged' by being asked to wear small computers to cut costs and increase the efficient delivery of goods and food to supermarkets, a report revealed yesterday. New US satellite- and radio-based computer technology is turning some workplaces into 'battery farms' and creating conditions similar to 'prison surveillance,' according to a report from Michael Blakemore, professor of geography at Durham University. ... Now trade unionists want safeguards to be introduced to protect worker privacy. Under the system workers are asked to wear computers on their wrists, arms and fingers, and in some cases to put on a vest containing a computer which instructs them where to go to collect goods from warehouse shelves. The system also allows supermarkets direct access to the individual's computer so orders can be beamed from the store. The computer can also check on whether workers are taking unauthorised breaks and work out the shortest time a worker needs to complete a job...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/supermarkets/story/0,12784,1500851,00.html


Informant: Thomas L. Knapp