Re: What Happens When Temps Organize (long)
The article at the URL below appeared in the Saturday LA Times.
http://www.latimes.com/business/20000701/t000062050.html
The title of the article is "Microsoft Policy May Jolt Temp Industry"
The new policy is that all all temp workers will be terminated after 12
months of continuous employment, and a mandatory 100-day break is required
before they can be re-employed. This was the result of a federal lawsuit
filed by a group of longtime temporary employees who alleged the misuse of
temporary workers. /snip>
<snip
>If the frothing idiots who brought this suit didn't belong to the
NWU, they
should have, because they have produced exactly the same kind of results
one could expect from that organization of orangutans../snip>
As reluctant as I am to initiate a flame war, I think the craft might have been better served had Dan read that article carefully. Buried, deep within the narrative, are several references to pay rates "enjoyed" by some of Microsoft's "long-term temps." As I recall it, one multi-year temp Technical Writer was receiving $28.00/hr. Somehow, I don't think the cited rates are reflective of a realistic market for even "captive" assignments. Therefore, I must conclude, that some sweetheart deals exist (and are likely to be extended) between Microsoft and the local Temp Staffing Agencies that accounts for what is obviously an exploitive situation.
The obvious carrot, extended to those willing to endure such exploitation, is the hope of permanent employment by MS and reaping the benefits of the company's stock that has enjoyed stellar increases in value for several years.
Microsoft's response is really an attempt to head off the termination of an exploitive advantage that was mandated by the federal courts. Other firms, similarly situated, are likely to follow and the Temp Staffing agencies are likely to buckle under. The net likely result, significant downward pressure on rates across the board. Indeed, it may be prudent to start considering the formation of some sort of union or craft association to resist these potential outcomes.
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