High-Tech Betrayal: Working and Organizing on the Shop Floor | 
| Author: Victor G. Devinatz
Publisher: Michigan State University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $19.72
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Avg. Customer Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 309914
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 200
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6 x 0.7
ISBN: 0870134930
Dewey Decimal Number: 331.2042
EAN: 9780870134937
ASIN: 0870134930
Publication Date: March 1999
Availability: Usually ships in 1 to 3 weeks
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Book Description
High-Tech Betrayal is the first comprehensive study of life and work in an American high-tech factory. Victor Devinatz uses both research and personal experience as a shop floor organizer to dispel the popular belief that high-tech industries offer positive employment alternatives for those seeking to escape jobs in the "declining" industries. While many believe that the "light manufacturing" work of high-tech industries is preferable to "heavy" industrial work, Devinatz attacks these misconceptions by exposing some of the myths that such work offers more promotional opportunities, requires higher skill levels, and is better paying. Devinatz demonstrates that U.S. high-tech factories of the late twentieth century are much like the industrial sweatshops of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries where poorly paid workers toiled in the shadows of brutal foremen without the benefits of union protection. Devinatz argues that, instead of creating exciting work environments of the future, high-tech firms are marching boldly into the past.
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| Customer Reviews:
Little things matter alot October 9, 1999
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This work illustrates a particular culture of oppression at a high-tech company. The author shows action by action how management creates an environment where workers will not be likely to organize. Management actions include faulty and frequent time studies, line supervisors who punished everyone when one geller fell asleep, supervisors who started racial rumors to pit one employee against another, telling employees they were laid off due to a business slowdown but bringing in new recruits and not telling the "laid off" employees that they would never be called back, just to name a few things. My favorite characters were the Assyrian gellers; I can still envision them diligently working, although their grit was never fully tested. I really liked them. The Latino gellers were as close to heroes as any characters in the book. This book is instructive and revealing in unexpected ways. It is a compelling story and an easy to read book.
An excellent depiction of the high-tech factory. August 31, 1999
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
High-Tech Betrayal is a book that many different audiences will find attractive. While it is founded on academic premises, it does not read like an academic book. It is easy to read, describing the author's experiences when he attempted to form a union in a high-tech factory. The experiences are richly described, allowing readers to understand specifically the circumstances and issues faced by the author.The book lays out the scenario up-front, so that the reader has a clear understanding of the situation at the time of the experience. Additionally, the individuals referred to throughout the book are clearly described, so that their comments and actions can be readily understood. Finally, this book does an exceptional job of portraying the workplace that the average American does not think exists in this country, but in reality is more common that most would admit. Described are the struggles facing a group of individuals, attempting to better the lives of themselves and their families. This book reminds me of the classic The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. The major difference is the era of the book. The similarity is that this book demonstrates that organizations in some cases today still attempt to keep workers down, while the organization itself might be thriving. Jack L. Howard, Ph.D.
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