Text Box:  

Text Box: Page 6

Text Box: “Justice Can’t Be Temporary”: Problems with California’s increasing temporary workforce.   SEIU is launching a “Justice Can’t Be Temporary” campaign throughout California. This is a collective effort to address the use of temporary workforce throughout the public sector. There’s a growing trend within public agencies to increase the use of temporary employees instead of regular employees. This practice poses increasing concerns for our workforce and society as a whole.   Within the workforce, employers hiring more temporary employees tend to treat them as second class workers. Many temporary employees do similar if not almost the same duties or responsibilities as regular employees year after year. The difference is that a temporary employee receives no health benefits, no job security, no paid time off, no holiday pay, and no regular step increases. Violating the equal pay for equal work concept, this becomes a clear misapplication of temporary employees. Slowly, the increase of exploitable and expendable temporary positions erodes the secure benefited regular jobs.   There are many misconceptions that allow people to condone the misuse of temporary employees. First, many elected officials along with the public believe that temporary employees are hired just to fill positions that have a clear beginning and end date, such as Election Workers. However, after evaluating the temporary employee lists from all cities and counties from Cambria to Carpentaria it is evident that the norm for a temporary worker is 3-6 years of service, performing a job that is an ongoing need for the agency, and some performing the same duties and responsibilities as a regular employee. In fact, many employers violate their own policies and regulations on the use of temporary employees. Another misconception is that there is choice and that temporary employees choose to work temporarily over a regular benefited job. Few would prefer a low wage, unstable job without benefits, over a regular secure job with benefits if given the opportunity.  The reality is that regular secure benefited jobs are slowly being replaced by temporary unsecured, low wage jobs.   Misuse and increasing use of temporary positions also erodes the family. Employers need to recognize the kind of society they are contributing to when creating more temporary low paid unsecured jobs instead of regular benefited secure jobs. This means for many families, two

Text Box: jobs for a working parent and less time with his/her children. The absence of parents due to the economic necessity to work multiple jobs has a detrimental impact on our children and our community.   For the past three months, SEIU has been researching the public sector temporary employees throughout California. Our research reveals that the temporary positions are disproportionately filled by women and people of color compare to regular positions being disproportionately filled by white men. This explains how the job market can further disenfranchise communities of color and women.   California is the wealthiest state in the country, yet we are creating a future of poverty by abandoning secure benefited regular jobs and replacing them with temporary low wage jobs. As a tax paying community we have to expect more from our public agencies. No one profits from a growing working poor.   At a SEIU Organizing meeting on January 23rd, we established a Temporary Worker Bill of Rights that includes the following goals: 1. Unify the temporary workforce with the rest of the workforce. 2. Define what is a real use of temporary employees and what is not 3. Conversion/promotion of misuse of temporary workers to regular positions 4. Healthcare 5. Equal pay 6. Safety working conditions 7. Leave benefit Due Process   Statewide, SEIU will engage in multiple campaigns to organize temporary workers. Currently we represent 6000 temporary employees in California’s public sector. There are 16,000 unorganized. I am proud that our union is taking on this issue.   Local 620 members are proudly leading these efforts on the central coast.  We organized over 200 ’temporary’ workers of the City of Santa Barbara and negotiated their first contract in 2005.  Last year our City of Santa Maria members organized their “Permanent—Part-Time” co-workers and got them union benefits as well!     Now, in 2007 our members in several agencies are talking to their ‘temporary’ and part-time co-workers  and we expect to organize several more units this year too!      

Text Box: For a Just and Peaceful World Submitted by, Hun Taing Organizing Director