Wage slaves are living in a precarious lifecycle and can only obtain part-time work, which is known now worldwide as “precarity.” This description now fits just about all wage slaves from skilled labor, manufacturing, fast food, farm slaves and even the professional managerial class slaves. This came about when workers are not hired in permanent positions, but are hired as temp workers—in reality these workers are hired into a temporary status, also called “permatemping,” which is the new anti-union model to keep unions out.
This new status makes workers feel precarious about their jobs, this and the cuts in unemployment benefits makes it harder for workers to imagine surviving any job loss. For temp workers, there is the elusive hope that their job will turn into a full-time position, sort of like winning the megamillion lotto, but this is the hope that strings the suckers along. In reality very few will ever get full-time status.
Some companies have four temp agencies supplying workers, which are meant to make organizing near impossible. Yet the temp industry has its own union, which is called an association headed by Steve Berchen, the chief operating officer. The temp agencies are a multibillion dollar business. They now place medical doctors, lawyers and most of all types of wage slaves.
The rise of precarity is the triumph of neoliberalism and the decline of the unions, which leads to exploitation of race, gender and stops immigration, according to Saket Soni, director of National Guest Worker Alliance (NGA). NGA puts it this way, “On our current path we’ll all end up as guest workers. Trapped in an economy of temporary intermittent work, struggling with debt rather than building wealth, sourced into labor supply chains rather than climbing career ladders and there we have precarity wage share society.
In order to change it will have to be done by the people who do the work. They must make the push for $15 to $16 an hour, which will then make the temps not so profitable for the corporations. But as long as there is profit in using temps it will breed a precarity wage society.
I hope that I am wrong, but what I see at this time is our unions are going to be in the fight of their existence. This is the most perilous time of our life. The life we had is threatened like never before. Unions are the largest organized group of people who can save our country if things keep going the way they are heading at this time. We need to all stand together for power, but we each must prepare and plan to take care of ourselves and our families. We can fight the big fight and not be distracted by worry about things that can and should already be taken care of. For instance, stashing at least one month’s pay and at least a month or even a year’s worth of food, whether the food is staples (pasta, rice, canned goods) and meat or chicken in the freezer. Keep your vehicles' tanks full and if possible a gas can full. It’s in your best interest to also save money for house or rent payments plus extra. This is not new thinking for us old trade workers who had to prepare when...
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