Temps want job training, health care. Those aren't issues for us. We have different needs, different economic realities, different social classes. Ramos is the chairman of the local tech writers committee of the National Writer's Union, but he is far from a labor activist. He's unworried that traditional labor sees the rise of the contingent worker as proof that management has the working-class back up against the wall.
Job security is about being able to find a job.
The situations of contractors like Ramos, Bruce and DeVoto illustrate how difficult it is to make sense of our economy's growing reliance on contingent workers. The company had the benefit of a permanent work force without any of the corresponding responsibilities. And it was by no means an exception. Such practices have been standard at Silicon Valley corporations for years. But if this is exploitation, many contractors are content with it.