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The Workers Plea

My father and I were talking recently and he suddenly produced a note he has carried in his wallet for the last 30 years. And this is it, 'the workers plea', in all its typewriter written glory.

I thought you might be interested in it whether you are an employer or an employee. It seems to encapsulate a basic code of conduct between people and hell it might even work in other relationships. For what it is worth the conversation we were having was actually about the relationship between the governed and the state.

very empowering (and reassuring) when you see it on paper.

Posted by: mm at February 18, 2008 10:30 AM

Quite frankly, any business that doesn't follow those five points is asking for trouble.

Posted by: Rob Mortimer at February 18, 2008 10:49 AM

dude - that's awesome. how you? fx

Posted by: Faris at February 19, 2008 09:31 PM

30 years! Your father must have some great work ethics.

Posted by: James at February 20, 2008 07:00 PM

I sure wish my employer would read this - my company's credo: work the employees 'till their ready to break - then double the load!

Posted by: Hizzoner at February 20, 2008 07:13 PM

This works well for a "Student's Plea", too. Thanks.

Posted by: gayle at February 20, 2008 08:02 PM

Hmm, in the conversation you were having regarding the governed and the state, whose was the plea, The governed ore the governing? As it reads totally differently depending on which one it is.

Posted by: mandrill at February 20, 2008 08:18 PM

Makes more interesting reading if it is the State's plea don't you think?

Posted by: Richard at February 20, 2008 08:27 PM

Sounds like communist propaganda to me.

Posted by: RateMyLeftArm.com at February 20, 2008 09:45 PM

all this looks like to me is some lazy worker who didn't know his place . . .he should have kept his mouth shut and did what his superiors told him . .. AND should have been thankful for not tossing him out on his ass showing how much more class they had than him

Posted by: FAIL at February 20, 2008 09:58 PM

what a great sentiment. the workers of the world - the law abiding, hard working vast majority of people - have always had, and always will have, the power to overcome the few of us who seek power over the rest. lets not plead, lets always show our strength by working together.

Posted by: gareth at February 20, 2008 10:02 PM

Actually, I find it to be a pathetic, groveling view of the employer/employee relationship. It's straight out of the right-wing corporate-propaganda play-book. --Worker's "Plea"... Definition of "plea": A humble request for help from someone in authority. Pathetic. --"Give me the opportunity to perform". Another way of saying, "Please allow me to serve you" (visualize head bowed and eyes looking toward the floor). --"Let me know how I am getting on". Translation: "I need more performance evaluations - I NEED management's perception of my worth". --"Provide me with guidance, support, and training when I need it". Translation: "I am a subservient worm who needs to be controlled - even if it is by some weasel in management who needs help tying his shoes". --"Reward me according to the contribution I make...". Translation: "Please beat me. Please take advantage of me." What's really sad here is all of the comments above that buy into this weak, hapless drivel. Do people even bother to think things through anymore? Seriously... read this "Worker's Plea" again - only this time, picture the words coming from the family dog. It's a perfect fit, isn't it? What has happened to this country? We were once a country of rugged individualists - now we're overrun with whimpering wimps. Shame on all those who swallowed this claptrap without seeing through it.

Posted by: Bobcat at February 20, 2008 10:30 PM

It looks as though the document's title "Worker's Plea" has been cut short. If you look closely, about 7-10 characters to the adjacent left of "Worker's" is also underlined and mysteriously has been ripped out. I wonder what type of worker's plea this really is....

Posted by: Jaime at February 20, 2008 10:56 PM

Very good file! Look at this! http://www.spymac.com/details/?2345083



Posted by: Nora at February 20, 2008 11:01 PM

Wtf is wrong with you, Bobcat?

The Worker's Plea shows that this worker does not want to be rewarded for work he/she has not done, and wants to know how they can be of service to their employer.

Isn't that the whole point of competition? Being innovative and doing better than your competitors? Learning what one can do to do one's job better is a good thing, not a bad one.

Posted by: Ben at February 20, 2008 11:05 PM

richard it is not a communist propaganda , and propably your IQ level is below avarage

Posted by: nick at February 20, 2008 11:56 PM

Clearly some of these haters have no clue (or respect for) how effective communication works in a successful organization. Or they have no respect for work. This is not about "The Man". It's about taking pride and contributing successfully to something bigger. If your organization and management are not something you wish to be part of, that speaks to you and your organization, not the work. And I'm as liberal as it gets.

Posted by: Geoff at February 21, 2008 12:47 AM

Seems that 5 and 2 are where most employers fail, in my experience.

Posted by: Matt at February 21, 2008 01:23 AM

Someone mentioned commie properganda and This might be a page from the little red book of mao. Why the heck would you need guidance from your boss, hes not yourpappi. Best to be your own boss if you can muster the brainpower and not be such a whining crybaby.

All four of the things is bullshit as a boss I aint giving you anything. You earn it, and number 5 is the only valid one you'll get paid what your worth according to how you increased the bottom for the bosses business!I don't need to preview just post the damn thing, this website makes me feel like telling someone of insignificance off!

Posted by: Richard Mathmanson at February 21, 2008 11:33 AM

Looks to me like that piece of paper spent it's entire in this guys wallet and he never wasted any time showing it anyone of importance.

Posted by: NitroKing at February 21, 2008 02:32 PM

Matt, i hope that you are never a manager at any company that i am ever involved with. If you where and i had the authority, i would fire you. Your job as a manager is to get the best performance out of your workers. That means you have to follow what is on that list. How can someone do their job if you don't tell them what it is? Or give them the tools they need to do it? And hiring trained people is nice, but wouldn't you rather train them to do things the way you want them done? Most companies biggest problem is that they give lip service to this philosophy, but the individual managers really feel, and treat their people, like Matt.

Posted by: pat at February 22, 2008 07:33 AM

Pat, I think you mean Richard M not Matt.

Posted by: Rob Mortimer at February 22, 2008 03:39 PM

Hate to bust folks bubbles, but we all work for someone.

I enjoyed reading the paper and believe that if you are working for a company, then you should be following their expectations, why? because it is their company and they are paying you.

If you don't like the company's expectations, then start your own company and see how many people follow your expectations, bet someone will say "you suck" too. :)

In an ideal world we all pursue our hobbies and live happily ever after. But I always wondered who is going to clean up after us. Damn reality :)



Posted by: Someones Supervisor at February 23, 2008 08:49 PM

I find the list to be simple and straight forward, both for the worker and the supervisor. Let's face it, not every person aspires to be or has the inherent capacity to be "the boss", but everyone has worth. I once had a boss when I was younger and knew everything that said at a company meeting that this was a volunteer organization, and if you really didn't want to work there, please, for the sake of everyone and yourself, go find work that inspires you. At the time, I thought he was a arrogant jerk. The longer I have been around, the truer those words are.



Posted by: tom at February 23, 2008 10:08 PM

i think that should apply both ways for the governed and the state. ^^

Posted by: Mika at February 24, 2008 06:46 AM

Sadly the greatest factor in business is the businesses ability to deliver appropriate rewards to the really good employees. Lack of reward can occur simply because the business is going downhill or because various owners are too greedy to leave anything for employees. But most companies crash, burn or merge themselves out of business or relocate offshore. The end of it all is that every employee must demand and get top dollar from the first moment of employment. The way around this conflict is a guarded insurance plan that insures the progress of an employee regardless of whether a business prospers or closes its doors.

Posted by: jim sadler at February 25, 2008 06:51 PM

screw that....business this business that. Let's be responsible to humanity first, to each other, not the bottom line. Let me guess, I'm ignorant and childish right?

Posted by: Donald Thump at February 26, 2008 10:12 PM

Touching note. To me, it spoke less about generic rules, and more about human poise in the language (ultimately under the constraints) of its time. Quite frankly, I’m not sure why, since I don’t know its story; I’ve only pictured something (nothing grand) to match the 30 years it’s been carried in a wallet. Epic nostalgia for a time when things(and ‘opinions’, ‘values’, ‘relationships’, ‘roles’, etc., even life itself), although rushing down the conveyor belt, still managed to take their time?... Maybe. Then maybe not. Then went on reading the comments, and felt the rich spicy air of a bizarre metropolis where everybody talks in – at least – a language (...ultimately under the constraints) of its own: the playful, the revolutionary with an off-the-shelf ideology, the fierce nostalgic, the unsuspecting revolutionary, the liberated with chains of a new, imponderable nature, the stiff righteous, the flâneur, the pick-and-mix opinion shopper, the submissive maverick, the humane dictator, the New Wave dialectician, the thinker, the dreamer, the curious, etc. etc.… Strange thing is, I could understand why to some, the oil-based scent of the bottled message unleashed a soothing nostalgia for a good orderly world mechanism, while to others the message sounded like biblical prescriptions – obsolete, degrading, downright insulting. And could see why some wisely chose to play with it – like with the traces of words on a palimpsest – to decode hidden teachings. First confused, then terribly frustrated, couldn’t find my own stand on this all. All of a sudden, cought myself writing a sort of plea (in 5 points), addressed to who knows whom… :-) Great lab to visit, interesting times.

Posted by: dana at February 29, 2008 04:29 PM

hey donnie, no one asked you to philosophize the argument taking place. this is a fair and concise approach to employer/employee managment. people who practice and think otherwise are damaging to this global economy in the sense that, the disgruntled will have their say. ask julius baer bank and trust.

Posted by: ivana tinkle at March 1, 2008 11:58 AM

Brits (Chesterton, Waugh, Shaw, Wilde, Welles) used to excel at paradox.

Like "what's worth doing is worth doing poorly," as old Gk put it.

Above, Gareth sees the issue. But he doesn't express it the way old Oscar and Bernie would have done it.

The expression that made me an Anglophile before I learned better.

Interesting exchange. Thanks.

Posted by: Tom Messner at March 1, 2008 08:29 PM

I think that many employers would have the "Employees Plea" read like this: 1) Expect me to know / do more than my pay / position is worth.

2) Give me expectation of a career path and raises, but deliver excuses and

lay offs. 3) Speak grandly to me of how each employee should have loyalty to the

company, yet show no loyalty to me.

4) Please change rules in the workplace on the fly, and expect me to be able

to read your mind and know what the new rules are without being told.

5) Dump me as an employee whenever the opportunity to hire somebody else at a

lower rate appears. (Especially if you can send the work to third world

countries where people work for slave wages.)



Posted by: Rj at March 4, 2008 02:43 PM