> So, in all this, what I've been working on in the back o' me pea brain is
> how this would work. If Cobble's right, then the nexus between employer and
> employee at the point of employment -- is it possible that this is where to
> build a new model for unionizing? Mostly, watching the way recruiters have
> become this broker -- how it's been privatized, etc.
>
> Now I got to thinking this on the way home from meeting with a more solid
> recruiter (tho I have some reservations). Anyway, I did my usual thing: i'm
> far too enthusiastic about instructional design, training, etc. and
> business development. I have a (sick for a lefty) knack for always thinking
> in terms of business dev. In the course of that closing conversation where
> we'd both wandered off the reservation, he said something about how you get
> jobs: networking. Which is a no brainer, for me, given my research
> background in unemployment, retraining, worker transition. But working your
> network can be difficult for some folks. E.g., my local network is useless
> b/c they are not in same industry, zip. So, the whole recruitment game has
> grown up in the wake of increasingly isolated lives, the complications of
> networking which can be that you may be competing against people you know,
> so information doesn't get shared, discomfort with networking. I could go on.
>
> I'm not sure what I'm saying, but somehow or other, I wish I had more time
> to think through this issue: how unions or something like a union -- even a
> model of worker organization and movement building *at* this nexus (not
> unlike the way Christians do this in Ehrenreich's Bait and Switch) -- might
> be feasible.
Barbara Ehrenreich is one of the founders of United Professionals (http://unitedprofessionals.org/), which I think aspires to create this kind of professional networking structure, though I don't think they've thought of adding a contracting / recruiting arm. That would be a very interesting idea. Unions (at least, my brother's) provide healthcare, retirement planning, job placement, job training, and job certification; certainly something like UP could provide some of the same services.
When I was job hunting, I looked long and hard at the possibility of contract work. The contracting company that recruited me provides health insurance, 401(k)s, and paid time off. They were very, very eager to find me a job. The downside was that the jobs were only guaranteed to run for one year; but the salaries offered were also higher than full-time positions, as a way to balance the risk. And companies tended to use them as a temp-to-hire agency. Why couldn't UP aim in the long run towards having a recruiting / contracting arm as well, which would be a huge benefit to members; similarly it could provide not-insane certification standards for technology, which would benefit employers.
-- John S Costello joxn.costello at gmail.com "As nightfall does not come at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air--however slight--lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness." -- Justice William O. Douglas