Productivity growth and employment in both agriculture as well as the telephone industries are increasing. The relationship between productivity growth and labor demand is clear by the different patterns of employment change in those two industries. Those industries have experienced an overwhelming revolution in the technology of production in the past 20 years.
For example a long distance telephone call was handled with mechanical switching equipment, long distance operators and cable transmission systems but now we can make the same long distance call with direct dialing equipment and satellites. We can also remember facsimile machines and how bulky and noisy they were which are on their way out being replaced by emails.
A similar transformation has taken place in agriculture with the introduction of high yielding hybrid grains, modern tilling and harvesting machinery and computerized egg, fish and cattle production.
We know many of you in TWU Local 100 may say so what does that have to do with us - we are in the transportation industry which has no relation with agriculture and telephone industries. What we desire to point out is that it is the same principle applied across the board regardless of the industry. What we desire to point out to Joseph Lhota is that the technology in the transportation industry has constraints.
The process of technological change and capital/labor substitution in both industries resulted in dramatic increase in labor productivity - either way the output increased courtesy of labor. That productivity growth also leads to increase in employment in the industries. Here is the problem in our view about MTA - there are still outstanding laid off members who are not hired back - we wonder why.
As we know there is overcrowding and we are also aware that the crime tide is changing especially in the stations that do not have station agents. Here is the clear nexus, the absence of the station agents gave the uptick in crime.
The telephone industry also offers clear example of the skill twist that technological change imparts to labor demand. A recent study of a large telephone company, for example found that technological change reduced the demand for labor in inverse relation to the skill level of the occupation - the least skilled category - telephone operators suffered a decline in employment while more highly skilled labor increased.
Joseph Lhota should work energetically to rehire the laid off station agents.
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