Inequalities in the Workplace

When we browse through the history of the social order, which is always an economic hierarchy, we find the compartmentalized societies, where every class had an assigned work to perform and not was allowed to violate the rules. This is considered a prescribed social order. Aristotle; the renowned Greek Philosopher, advocated that slavery was natural. He poses a question first. He wanted to know whether slavery was natural or it was the violation of the nature. (Aristotle) (1)

And he finds an easy answer of his query. To him, slavery was not the violation of the rules of nature. To him the birth rights were determined by the birth place of the person.

The Indian society has been the victim of the strict caste system since ages and the system is protected by the Hindu religion. Obviously such societies do not encourage the social mobility and the victim has no other option but to suffer the plight of the social stratification. Different occupational groups had to live within the prescribed circumference. In the above cited work ethics to question inequality in the work place is a great sin.

But the working conditions, with the advent of the modern world, are changed. "In pre war days when anyone thought or talked about the possibility of a fundamental reorganization of economic society, it was usually assumed that the driving force power of such reorganization would be furnished by the Laboring Class."(Hoover, Calvin B)(3) But later, as suggested by Calvin B. Hoover, "the economic order" was changed and in Italy and Germany it was the not the proletariat class which was responsible for the change in the economic order but all other classes contributed for the change. To substantiate his stance he cites the development of the economic order in USA. The economic legislation of the New Deal was brought by pressure from almost all classes in the United States (see Hoover, Calvin B) (4).

As every modern constitution safe guards the rights of every individual to work so new rules and regulations are passed to provide much friendly atmosphere for employees. But the issue of inequality in the work place was not given that much importance as it is witnessed in recent years. The issues of gender inequality, child labor and the issue of palatable working conditions are given much importance than ever in human history. The concept of bondage labor is a heinous crime now-a- days and the modern societies are struggling hard to protect people from the slavery or bondage labor. The civil society of any locality is at its feet to protest such labor. Protection of the dignified labor is the great achievement of the human history. But it won't be far-fetched here to first find what does equality means in work place as it is a persistent effort of human beings to provide the congenial space for workers to work. Equality in workplace demands the contentious efforts by the given society where it is still an uphill task to achieve the goal of friendly culture for work. Philip J. O' Connell and Helen Russell of Economic and Research Institute submitted their report to the Equality Authority England in 2005. They made a very important point in suggesting that equality promotes efficiency in workplace and moreover, it strengthen the democratic norms in any society where equality in workplace is taken care of. Philip J O' Connell and Helen Russell are of the opinion that equality in a work place is a relative term; there can not be any set rules for every society to follow. It is a common effort of all the social groups to have a friendly workplace. But the universal norm is to condemn the social stratification to provide an ample opportunity for every individual to work.. (See Philip J O' Connell and Helen Russell). Equality in work place is emphasized since it is helpful for the healthy environ where people from all strata of the society can exploit their talent which promotes the culture of creativity in the given society and generates initiative to work. So, we have less parasites and much of the workers, willing to contribute in the society. A particular value base is obsequious to enhance social mobility. The stratified societies remain conservative by sticking to their social norms and are the great hurdles in achieving the democratic values. . Equality flows from a particular value base - a value base that has a particular emphasis on the shared humanity of all in society and the implications of this. (Philip J. O' Connell and Helen Russell) (5)

So, the equality in work place is the important factor for any society to leap forward. Now most of the countries are providing a breathing space for the people who were facing discriminations at workplace before. It is usually said that women face "glass ceiling" in their workplace which is an imaginary hurdle but most of the working women clamor that it stops them achieving top ranks as compared to men. The research scholar s Elizabeth Fox-Genovese shares this viewpoint and demands the equal job status for women to give them an equal chance of earning (Gender Inequality in the Workplace: Wise to Social Issues; September15, 2008.] (6)

Notwithstanding the fact that one feels reasonably comfortable in one's working place but much is needed still. Elliott and Smith held a survey and interviewed 3,480 male and female workers from all over the USA. The workers were divided in three major catagories.: laborers with no power; supervisors with the power only to supervise; and managers with the power to hire, fire, and set pay. Their research surfaced the gory fact that discrimination was overwheminly common in all the work places of USA. (seeUSA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), March, 2005) (7)

It is observed that the working conditions at most of the work places in the world are deplorable. The employees have to face discrimination regarding their religion,race and mother tongue. Philip J. O' Connell and Helen Russell define discrimination as, "Discrimination is described as the treatment of a person in a less favorable way than another person is, has been or would be treated in a comparable situation on any of the nine grounds which exist, existed, may exist in future or is impeded to the person concerned." (8) The nine grounds are gender, marital status, family status, age, disability, sexual orientation, race, religion and member of the Traveller community. (see Philip J. O' Connell and Helen Russell: Equality at Work Place?) (8)

The equality at work place is conditioned with the "economic order" of the society also. In agrarian societies "the higher income opportunities are exploited by the few. [See Kuznets (1955, 1963)]." Dr. A.R. Kamal while discussing the income inequality in Pakistan says, and he comes up with a strange evaluation of the nascent democratic culture of the country, that the elite first comes on the top to establish such a system through the implementation of the policies which benefits the elite class but as the democratic process continues the distribution of wealth starts improving. (see A.R..Kamal) (9)

In most of the developing countries women are the victims of gender inequality, they are sexually harrassed,which is "Eve teasing" in India and Pakistan, and so far there is no law to protect them from this crime. The Alliance Against Sexual Harassment at Workplaces (AASHA), a group of NGOs conducted a survey with the result that almost 78.38 per cent of working women were the victims of sexual harassment at work, and 21 per cent avoided to talk on the subject (see Daily News and Analysis, December 03, 2007). (10) The suggestions were submitted in the Ministry of Law to legislate a bill to bar sexual harassmnet at workplaces but nothing substantaitive has been done so far regarding the promulgation the law. The reason for citing the example of Pakistan is that it remindes you of the obsevations of the Equality Authority 2005 conducted by Philip J. O' Connell and Helen Russell that certain value base is must for the equality at work place.

The gender discrimination is the great obstacle to have the shared interests of the community materialized. It does not help the society also. The society is an abstract term otherwise it is the people who establish any society and if people are stratified economically it does not enhance the social development as is required in the today's world. Such society lags behind which does not strive for the equality in the work place. Sometimes at the surface level we feel that inequality in work place (in developed countries particularly) was the daemon of the past and the 21st century is new era of ideal working conditions. This concept is quite deceptive as the social discrimination, income inequality and gender discrimination are still the practice of the day. Of course, you may say that the situation is improving and the people are now politically motivated to fight for their rights and courts by judicial activism are at the door step of the effected to provide them the relief but it still needs much work to be done. As the concept of equality in work place is the enchanting elf to lure the worker to a world of fantasy. The western societies by raising the affluence level in general have succeeded to proclaim that inequality was evil of the past and society is exorcised by economic prosperity, so, the worker feel to have a great stake in the social order that "by overthrowing it they have much to loose than merely their chains." (Halevy, 1981) 11.

In competitive societies an individual suffers a different kind of stratification. The most of the scholars are of the view that the competitive society may bring out the best in every individual. The advocate of the competitive society claims that it provides the means for the whole society to become rich. A society which does not inculcate the sense of competition in an individual it becomes stagnant. But usually it is observed that when an individual fails the cherished goal he becomes desperate and it is quite likely that person may succumb to crime. (see Morris Ploscowe: Crime in a Competitive Society) In the competitive economic policies special attention is given to two problems. Efficiency is given emphasized in competitive economic policies. The other is ignoring the effects of unequal economic distribution. The competitive society caters one working class and ignores the others who are unable to compete. Such people do not enjoy equality at work place.

Works Cited

(1)

Aristotle, Politics, Book I, Chapters iii through vii

(2)

Aristotle, Politics, Book I, Chapters iii through vii

(3)

Hoover, Calvin B, The Paths of Economic Change: Controlling Tendencies in the Modern World, The American Economic Review,vol.25,No 1,pp 13-20

(4)

Hoover, Calvin B, The Paths of Economic Change: Controlling Tendencies in the Modern World, The American Economic Review,vol.25,No.1, pp 13-20

(5)

Connell Philip J O' and Russell Helen, Equality at Work?(Work Place Equality Policies, Flexible Working Arrangement and the Quality of Work), A Research Report submitted to The Equality Authority, 2005, foreword.

(6)

Gender Inequality in the Workplace: Wise to Social Issues; September15, 2008, Wise To Social Issues Digest. The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. 2007.

Viewpoint. Available from www.socialissues.wiseto.com/Articles/FO3020630304

(7)

Work Place Inequality Remains Commonplace, USA Today (Society for the Advancement of Education), March, 2005. Available from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2718_133/ai_n12938299

(8)

Connell Philip J O' and Russell Helen, Equality at Work?(Work Place Equality Policies, Flexible Working Arrangement and the Quality of Work), A Research Report submitted to The Equality Authority, 2005. Legal Context.

(9)

A.R.Kamal, Income Inequality in Pakistan and Strategy to Reduce Income Inequality, Introduction.

(10)Sexual Harassment on Rise in Pakistan, Daily News and Analysis, December 03, 2007.

(11)

Halevy, Eva Etzioni, Social Change: The Advent of Maturation of Modern Society, Routledge, 1981, pp 148-149