VRS Lean Mean Machine
Imagine a sleek yellow Lotus Sport Exige sports car (relay video); Imagine cruising down the highway at a comfortable speed of sixty-five miles per hour. Where are you in this lean mean video streaming machine? You are the supercharged, intercooled, high-revving engine that produces more than 15 million horsepower (minutes). The driver is an empowered deaf citizen; his passenger is an equally empowered hearing citizen. The metallic painted body is the federal regulation administered by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that holds it all together. Five-spoke forged alloy wheels are the main carriers (suppliers). The high-octane premium of $7,596 per gallon (minute) for gasoline is public money paid by the Interstate Relay Fund administered by the National Association of Interchange Carriers.
The analogy provides insight into the changing dynamics of the sign language interpreting profession. The profession changed overnight when VRS became an enhanced form of Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) and became a reimbursable service. There are different economic impacts that affect the workforce (interpreters), the consumer (deaf, hard of hearing and hearing citizens) and the companies that represent the industry (telecommunications companies and interpretation agencies). This is the first article in a series of articles to analyze the economic impact of “lean production” first proposed by Karl Marx. Each article will offer a conceptual economic analysis of the impact and offer suggestions aimed at improving the overall outcome of the profession.
Labor is the key to any industry; interpreters are the engine of the lean mean VRS machine. Harry Braverman defined a skilled workforce (Braverman, 1974, Labor and Monopoly Capital) as “workers who become skilled (at a task(s)) through years of experience, giving them a tacit knowledge of the production process (interpretation) that is lacking both managers and beginning workers. Such embodied knowledge gives them a form of power, a power that manifests itself in the ability to control the sequence of operations they perform and the the pace at which they work. Given this definition of skill, it can be argued that increased federal regulation and pervasive technologies aimed at maintaining high levels of productivity, enhanced control of worker productivity, and eliminated worker decision-making are “disabling” the interpreter workforce. It is a common capitalist desire to destroy the workforce. Braverman further described this desire as motivated by a reduction in labor costs that allows companies to retain more profits and allows management to increase control over the labor process when workers are unskilled and know they can be easily replaced. This goes against the interests of the workers.
There is a silver lining to capitalism, the “lean manufacturing” model. Marxist theory describes the lean production model as a counterexample to the antagonistic situation described by Braverman. “The special skill of each individual machine operator (performer), now deprived of all meaning, vanishes as an infinitesimal quantity” (Marx 1976). The lean production model of the new economy says that training levels, in fact, do not tend to decrease, the workforce is empowered and multi-skilled. The lean production model tends to increase the overall skill level of the labor force. Companies that improve the skill levels of the workforce increase the chances of surviving and prospering in an increasingly competitive and changing economic environment. The advent of federal regulation, the introduction of a new business sector (telcos), and rising barriers to entry (a provider must be a common carrier, have a contract with a common carrier, or be part of a state relay program) make a strong case for using the lean manufacturing model.
Adoption of the lean manufacturing model requires the use of Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” philosophy. The self-interests (profit) of the market (consumers/companies/work) foster common interests among social agents (work) favoring lean production companies that improve the skill level of work (interpreters). This leads business owners to employ lean production methods and since this is in the interest of the workers, a win-win situation will result. To increase the overall skill of the workforce, companies must mobilize the intelligence of the workforce, develop a variety of skills, keep workers curious, and not treat workers as isolated individuals (Tony Smith, 2000 Technology and Capital in the Age of Lean Production).
VRS providers can adopt the lean manufacturing model through “employability” guarantees. This differs from an employment guarantee by developing an interpreter’s inherent skills in both linguistics and ethical analysis. The goal of lean manufacturing is to produce more with less. When a company employs the problem-solving and critical thinking skills of the workforce, an interpreter’s natural curiosity peaks. The widespread use of temporary or independent contractors in the interpreting profession provides a source of cheap subservient labor. When a company uses temporary contract workers in addition to long-term employees, the net effect is an easy replacement mentality that reduces the motivation of the permanent workforce. This constant reminder that there is no shortage of people if they are dissatisfied with their working conditions is a demotivator.
The changing economics of sign language interpretation requires new models of workforce development. A profit-oriented destruction of the workforce will decrease motivation and increase costs in the long run. The more reasonable invisible hand approach to the lean manufacturing economy creates a cohesive, skilled and intelligent workforce of interpreters with long-term employability.
Imagine driving the yellow supercharged Lotus, this time the engine has a fuel injection smart chip. Imagine yourself as the tuned VRS machine!