“One job should be enough… On strike (with) Hotel Boston,” read the protest signs in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, on Saturday, Oct. 13.
Unite Here Local 26, the group behind the movement, advocates for hospitality workers in both Boston and Rhode Island. The series of protests focus on worker’s wages “keeping up” with company profits and stopping the encroachment of technology on workers’ jobs.
According to The Boston Globe, “The union is seeking to protect its workers as the industry undergoes major changes, including new technology that will automate many hotel tasks.”
For video footage of the protest, visit our post on @HerCampusWVU.
From self-checkouts at grocery stores to factory workers, automated answering systems to even apps and systems–like Uber, online banking, travel-lodging and more–jobs that can be replaced with cheaper technology than human labor is something the changing tides of society must address.
Financial expert Glenn Luk said about these changes, “I remember a time not so long ago when Globalization was praised by the masses, immigrants were welcome, new technologies and inventions were taking the world by storm and the economy was making everyone wealthy.”
“I am talking about the mid-90s. The 1890s, that is,” he said. “Over the next half-century, the world underwent what is arguably the most destructive period it had ever seen. Rapid changes in technology ultimately led to massive changes in society— everything from politics (end of the Colonial era to rising Nationalism), communications (the telephone), to culture (the rise of car culture), urban planning (the invention of modern suburbia), to shrinking household size.”
Will this continue to worsen? Is there any predictability in a career path? The MIT Technology Review in 2016 reports that the future of technological advancement and productivity increases in America are “lackluster.”
“Speculating on how the lack of economic progress has affected the mood of the country is risky,” MIT reports. “Intense political anger has also broken out during periods of strong growth, such as the 1960s. And today’s economic morass cannot be blamed entirely on poor productivity growth, or even on inequality. Still, could it be that a lack of technological progress is dooming us to a troubled future, even at a time when we celebrate our newest gadgets and digital abilities.”
Tweet us your take on the uncertainty this poses for college students and their career plans at @HerCampusWVU.