The Temp Economy from Kelly Girls to Permatemps in Postwar America - Book Report/Review Example

Temp Nation: From Kelly Girls to Permatemps in Postwar America by Erin Hatton The concept of “world is one family” is philosophically sound. But from the secular standpoint, the two important agents that have contributed to the not-so-philosophical angle of it are the technological advances and the internet revolutions. Economists and politicians are unable to control this octopus that continues to grow in all the directions. Casualization is one of them and it has created a deep dent in the employer-employee relations. The old-world charm of the trade union niceties no more exist in any industry. The labor movement is in disarray. Temporary employment is one of the serious issues that have fallen as a victim to the forces of actualization With The Temp Economy: From Kelly Girls to Permatemps in Postwar America”, Erin Hatton has written a persuasive account of how the temporary employment industry grew, following World War II, from a slightly seedy and quite marginal position in the U. S. economy into a robust industry that was central in redefining employment relations(2011, p.977). There was a time when labor considered management as their permanent enemy and labor unions need to at war with it permanently. Working in a temporary industry is like travelling on a dilapidated, shaky bus that will breakdown at anytime. It is the degradation of the dignity of labor. Amongst the 4 factors of production, land, labor, capital and organization labor was once considered as the most important by the authors of the classical texts on economics. They asserted that capital without labor is dead. From that unassailable positon, Hatton articulates, how casualisation has adversely affected the individual and family life of the worker. Not long ago, American workers were the blue-eyed boys of the economic system. Something seriously has gone wrong with the American labor employment system. Layoffs, outsourcing, contingent work, and disappearing career ladders- are workplace realities now. Professor Harris Freeman and Professor George Gonos write, Non-standard employment is compromising the ability of American workers to exercise their right to self-organization and collective bargaining…..Without the ability to bargain with both the user and supplier firms that employ them, temporary workers will find it virtually impossible to alter their second-class terms and conditions of employment at the bargaining table (2). Chronic job insecurity has engulfed most of the industrial segments, not because the industry is not thriving, but on account of various other extraneous factors. The author has taken facts and figures from historical documents of industry to document the reasons for the casualisation gripping all over in postwar America. The author has done a good study as to how the work-culture has transformed and the roles of the Human Resources Manager have attained new dimensions, not only for recruitment of personnel, but often for mass retrenchment of the workforce. The new employment model has been adopted as the work-culture in the expansion perspectives of the company by the industrial magnets. Recruitment and retrenchment have become alternative beats of the same heart. The author initiates the discussion by posing the question, “How did we get here? The answer, Hatton argues, lies primarily in the ability of the key actors in the temp. Industry to take advantage of structural and temporal opportunities and to craft messages about temporary employment and resonated with employees and employers alike.”(Karen E Campbell, 2011, p.977)Hence, Hatton’s arguments and articulations are excellent material for organisations, professionals, union leaders and those who view the problem from the angles of sex and gender. Important economic issues from the sociological point of view have also been discussed. In all such arguments, a worker is highlighted as more important than the machine. Hatton has thus filled the lacuna in the labor literature by taking up the issue of non-standard work paradigm. The process of casualisation has hurt the American workforce, with no remedial measures in sight. Nearly 25% jobs in America pay less below the federal poverty line for a family of four, $23,050. Many trade groups rely upon the temporary recruiting agencies, outsourcing specialists for their labor requirements. Hatton argues that political controls has substantially lost its punch with the attack of the macroeconomic forces like globalisation, technological changes and deindustrialisation and are unable to resist the scheming tactics used by the employers like squeezing workers and making high use of the contingent workers, subcontracting and outsourcing jobs. The unions have lost their bargaining powers. Labor unions once at the peak or their power, are struggling to retain their identities. Kelly girls became cultural icons, and the strategy to employ white, middle-class women working outside home succeeded well. Thus a parallel workforce was created who were ready to work for low-wage, and the gender-bias worked to the advantage of engaged in trading the temporary workforce. The women wanted some relief from the boring household chores and agencies recruiting temporary work force utilised this psychological advantage and they grew up in size. By 1967, temporary employment was widely considered as a legitimate part of the economy. The contents of the book have much to do with original thinking on the subject of casualisation, with significant observations. The topics have been systematically divided in to chapters, 1. The Making of the Kelly Girl, 2. The Invention of the Semi- Permanent Employee, 3. The Transformation of Work, 4. Boxing In the Temp Industry and Conclusion: A Model of Work for the Twenty- First Century. This book will shake the economists, politicians and the legal pundits: “But the rise in temping was hardly a naturalistic process, a product of some abstract “demand” for contingent labor. Rather, it was advanced, constructed, and legitimised by innovations in the legal environment, in managerial practice, and in regularity policy” (ix).The promoters of casualisation in the employment market have outsmarted the labor movement. I would even go to the extent of asserting that they have successfully challenged the principles of labor movement enunciated in Marxist tenets. The book also elucidates how the loopholes in the labor laws have worked to the advantage of the process of casualisation and the new concept of “The Semi-Permanent Employee” has been invented. As per this concept, such employees will be employed only when needed, say for two-three months depending on the seasonal requirements. This will enable the establishments to boost profitability by shrinking payrolls, and employ personnel depending upon the ebb and growth of the business cycle. Generally, trained personnel are employed and this saves the training costs on the employing organisation. For example, in establishments like Walmart, during the Christmas season, will need additional hands to cope up with the customer rush as companies manufacturing consumer goods and decorative articles try to do maximum business during that period. The author argues how workers are treated as another capital investment and the product of the labor has the value. The workers are dispensable and most probably they are aware of this fact at the time of appointment. They do not command any respect and dignity as in the case of a permanent employee. The author informs, “[…] but that even when a worker gets her paycheck directly from the firm where she works, the employment relationship has a highly contingent and debased character” (ix-x) This being the situation, the author argues that some of the age-old and well-established principles to deal with the labor issues have been side-tracked and ethical angle in the subject of appointment and termination of the employees has totally been swept under the carpet. Casualisation has buried the conventional wisdom in labor relations and stifling people has been adopted as the organisation culture. Workers are no more considered as valuable assets, but headaches to be crushed. The human relations aspect that the management needs to boost the morale of the employees to boost profits is no more practiced. It is argued “[…] Hatton’s perceptive and thorough research provides us with many of the historical and sociological tools necessary to construct the work life of millions of Americans on a far more secure and human basis”. (xi) It is understandable that the casualisation was accepted as inevitable during recession, for the simple reason that no organisation can foot the pay bill of the employees unless it makes profit. But having experience the advantage of the temporary labor system, many reputed companies adopted this practice even during boom period. This mental sickness of those who aim of life is aggrandisement of wealth, needs to be cured. Women were exploited in the home environment under the patriarchal system not long ago. Women organisations fought this inequality, legal enactments were passed providing equality to woman and conferring on them the voting rights and the strength of feminist movements changed the familial structure. That women are generally favored by temporary employment agencies goes to prove that they are one again entering into a trap that will work to their disadvantage in the long run. Conclusion The tendency of companies to use temporary workers instead of permanent ones as a matter of policy is not a healthy practice. I will not at this stage, compare the process of casualisation to bonded labor or a form of slavery. The salary, perquisites, health insurance and other benefits have been secured for the workers by great sacrifices and fight carried on relentlessly by the some of the enlightened trade union leaders and the pro-labor policies of the government. Legality of the issues gets the topmost priority in the American Constitution, and the issue to be examined seriously now is how these temporary work force agencies are able to outwit the legality of the issue. Hatton has initiated the debate and it must be carried on to its logical conclusion by all concerned, the sociologists, the economists, the trade union leaders and above all the politicians. Any prevailing circumstance in any area that subdues the spirit of the citizens is bad for the health of the country and is against the democratic principles envisaged by the founding fathers of the Constitution. Hatton’s book is a valuable contribution for the cause of temporary workers. Woks Cited Hatton, Erin. The Temp Economy: From Kelly Girls to Permatemps in Postwar America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2011.Print Campbell, Karen E. “The Temp Economy.” American Journal of Sociology. Vol. 117, No. 3, November 2011: The University of Chicago Press. Print. Freeman, Harris (Author) Gonos, George (Author) Temporary Staff Agencies and Labor Law.2014: Brief of Amicus Curiae, Labor Relations and Research Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Print Read More