Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTemp Nation: How Corporations Are Evading Accountability, at Workers’ Expense
http://www.thenation.com/blog/180151/temp-nation-how-corporations-are-evading-accountability-workers-expenseTaylor Farms workers protest unfair labor practices (courtesy Justice at Taylor Farms, Teamster.org)
At Taylor Farms in Tracy, California, one of the countrys major salad producers, Susie Serna works in quality control, making sure food production standards are upheld. But lately, its the quality of the jobs shes been worried about. In her department, she sees temporary workers constantly milling through, facing safety risks at work and constantly at risk of losing their jobs altogether.
They dont get the proper training, she says, recalling how she spotted one temp worker wearing tennis shoes instead of the requisite boots. Its like, Do this, do that. No communication whatsoever.
Because temps are cheaper, she says, management regularly bring on workers hired through a temporary staffing agency to do the same job as regular workers like her, but at lower pay rates. Often, the temps get only a certain amount of training because they know theyre gonna let them go. When shes campaigned to organize the work site with the Teamsters, she says that temp workers face consequences for showing interest in the union. Theyll let them go, but theyll bring somebody [who] will stay with the company, she observes. That person will have a negative attitude and follow the rules of what the crew leaders doing.
The workers at some of the most abusive companies in the country are not actually employees, and their bosses arent technically the ones who pay their wages. In the twenty-first-century workplace, the activity formerly known as work is now a tangle of subcontracts, temp jobs, 1099s and freelance gigs, allowing companies to atomize their workers across many firms in a diffuse production chain. At the same time, firms limit their responsibilities to pay fair wages or respect workers rights. Many workers, in turn, are multilaterally disempoweredalienated from the worksites firm at the top of the chain, detached from the staffing agency in the middle, and unprotected by the government or unions.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
3 replies, 781 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (20)
ReplyReply to this post
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Temp Nation: How Corporations Are Evading Accountability, at Workers’ Expense (Original Post)
xchrom
Jun 2014
OP
stillwaiting
(3,795 posts)1. Big kick. nt
NMDemDist2
(49,313 posts)2. i have been working a 'temp' job for 18 months
still not a permanent hire, being paid through the agency
IDemo
(16,926 posts)3. I was a "perma-temp" for almost 8 years
And am now working as an "independent contractor" even though the IRS rules are very specific about when a job qualifies as a full-time W2 position.