Taking On the Big Boys by Ellen Bravo

Author:Ellen Bravo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY
Published: 2018-03-12T16:00:00+00:00

7. WORKING OTHER THAN NINE TO FIVE: PART-TIME AND TEMPORARY JOBS

Memo #1: Employees in this company may now choose to work part time. Memo #2: Employees who choose to work part time will no longer be eligible for certain benefits, including health insurance, vision coverage, dental coverage, and life insurance.1

In the early days of Milwaukee 9to5, I worked as a word processor for a large engineering firm. My assignments were exactly the same as the rest of the staff. So were my hours. My skills were among the highest in the office. Yet the other word processors—including someone hired after me—were paid at least twice as much as I was. My employer was not violating any law.

The other women were permanent employees; I was a temp.

I was hardly alone in this predicament. Paying less to part-time and temporary workers is one of three legal forms of discrimination remaining in the United States labor market.2 Not only is such discrimination permitted, the Big Boys encourage it. And if the majority of people affected happen to be female, well, so be it. After all, they choose to work these jobs—and look at all the flexibility they gain.

Or so say the Big Boys.

Myth: Temporary Employment Brings Women Variety, Flexibility, and Good Pay

According to the American Staffing Association (ASA), the trade association for temporary agencies, temp jobs can be a great opportunity for working women. They provide variety and flexibility for someone who “[doesn’t] have time for the routine 9-to-5 workday” and wants to “choose where and when she works.” Training seminars can sharpen skills and “contribute to career development.” For those seeking permanent employment, temporary assignments give an opportunity to check out different companies and select just the right match, or to “prove [yourself] as an invaluable employee.”3 As for pay, some temporary workers earn more than their permanent counterparts. ASA boasts that “most staffing companies offer health insurance as well as vacation and holiday pay, and many offer retirement plans. Virtually any temporary or contract employee who wants benefits can find a staffing firm that offers them.”4

Reality: Temp Jobs Are Often Unequal

I know from my own experience that temp jobs can come in handy, tiding you over while you take care of a family member or, in my case, solicit grants and donations for a nonprofit job. If a position is temporarily vacant because of an employee’s new baby or surgery or sabbatical, a temp might be the perfect fill-in. I’ve had friends who used temping to try out an employer, and at 9to5 I hired people on a temporary basis to try them out as well.

In short, temporary jobs can be terrific—provided they’re equitable and voluntary. The problem is, often they’re neither. I certainly didn’t appreciate earning so much less than my coworkers in that engineering firm. Say “flexibility” or “permanent job” to many temps and they’ll either laugh or scream. When I met Jennifer, for example, she’d worked more than two years as a temp for the New York phone company known as Nynex.

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