ABSTRACT
Consider the work of Lynsey Gidman, as described by Biggs (2015: 17). Lynsey decorates commemorative mugs:
She starts by nicking the rim of the mug three times with pencil and signing each piece with her initials. The first element to go on is a crown… Then hearts, laurels, the date, another crown, more hearts, 68 tiny dots placed by hand all over the mug and a row of 31 hearts inside the rim. Her hands weren’t tense: either loosely balled inside the mug, drawing figures of eight with her sponge in the paint and squeezing it out; or slowly turning the potter’s wheel as she pocked the mug with dots… Moments of concentration dissipated and returned easily; she hovered the moment before the first crown went on. Sponge decorators are paid by the number of pieces they finish in an hour, which adds up to a rate slightly above the minimum wage. We ‘just try to keep our heads down really’, as Gidman put it, ‘because every second counts’.
This might be seen as skilled work, requiring dexterity and concentration, but it is relatively lowly paid, not much more than the minimum wage we are told. She works in this way for 9 hours a day including breaks totalling 55 minutes for breakfast, lunch and tea. This might be seen as ‘manual’ or ‘blue-collar’ work – largely based on working with the hands, although this of course requires judgement and concentration. It does not involve the control of others, or much interaction with others in doing the work itself: the interactions are largely with the physical objects and tools of the trade. Compare Lynsey’s job with that of Caroline Pay, a ‘creative director’ in an
advertising and media company in London, also interviewed by Joanna Biggs and
who, Biggs states, ‘must earn somewhere in the region of £250,000 a year’ (2015: 50). This is something like 18 times the minimum wage for a full-time 40-hours-aweek job. Caroline Pay is a working mum and tries to ensure her working days are 9-7pm. On the underground going into work in the morning:
