This harrowing scene in new bbcthree drama Life And Death In The Warehouse shows the plight of pregnant workers
. There is the dystopian 24-hour surveillance network, which monitors every moment of employees’ idle time down to the second. There is the insidious bullying from warehouse staff who harass their employees to up their ‘pick rate’. There are the mercenary disciplinary hearings and spontaneous sackings.
Life in the warehouse, as we quickly discover, is hellish. Supervisors want the ‘pick rate’ to be one product every 30 seconds, and to ensure that workers are hitting their target, they constantly monitor them through CCTV and algorithmic surveillance. Toilet breaks and idle time are measured, and when they start to slip, they’re either given a disciplinary hearing or ruthlessly sacked.The stressful environment leads to workers doing whatever is necessary to keep their jobs.
In a damning moment after the tragedy, Megan stands in the toilets attempting to scrub Alys’s blood from her hands. The scene makes it clear that by pressuring Alys to improve her performance, she has become responsible for the death of her unborn baby.tells a fictional story, the issues that inspired the show are grounded in real life.