VDT Song

by Tom Juravich

You don't know my name but you sure know me.
I work in New York, Boston, and D.C.
Used to be a typist, a secretary,
But now I enter data on a VDT.
Tell you it's not like a show on TV;
It's hell to earn a living on a VDT.

You won't hear me say, "The typing was fun."
At least I could see the work that I had done.
And the boss couldn't test my productivity
By punching up my number on his VDT.
I swear the screen is staring back at me.
It's hell to earn a living on a VDT.

My supervisor says it's safe for me.
She shows me a study done at MIT.
You can see what it's done to my eyes.
Heaven only knows what it's doing inside.
Tell you it's not like a show on TV;
It's hell to earn a living on a VDT.

When you think of "Union" what comes to your mind?
A guy driving a truck? Or working the line?
But if you ever spend hours behind a VDT
You know no one needs a union more than me.
My eyes are aching but now I can see,
It's hell to earn a living on a VDT.

Tell you it's not what I thought it would be.
It's hell to earn a living on a VDT.

Tom Juravich, a former mechanic, is professor of Labor Studies at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and director of its Labor Relations and Research Center. He's a labor activist, a singer/songwriter, and the author/co-author of numerous books and articles on labor.

"VDT" is on the CD, "Classic Labor Songs from Smithsonian Folkways." If you click on the CD's name you can hear excerpts from this and the other labor songs that are on it.

The lyrics are reprinted here by the kind permission of the author.