WHEREAS:

The expansion of contingent employment is evidence of a fundamental transformation of the arrangement of work in the U.S. economy. Since 1973, the rate of nontraditional employment has grown faster than the rate of fulltime work. By 1988, nearly 27 million workers, or 23 percent of U.S. workers, were employed outside the permanent full-time labor force; and

WHEREAS:

This shift to more nontraditional work arrangements breeds social and economic insecurity for too many workers. Many part-time and temporary jobs fail to provide guaranteed employment, fringe benefits, a living wage, or union representation. In some cases, these more "flexible" forms of work relieve employers of federal obligations tinder the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), unemployment compensation, and affirmative action; and

WHEREAS:

Current public and private employment policies are designed for full-time workers with permanent attachments to the labor force.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

That AFSCME will work to revamp employment policy to reflect the changing profile of the American workforce.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That AFSCME initiatives include:

• amending civil rights laws to ensure that workers do not suffer discrimination as a result of their work classifications, that employers be barred from ignoring contingent workers in affirmative action "head counts," and that comparable worth legislation be extended to part-time and temporary workers.
• replacing the current employer-based system of health care insurance with a universal scheme that ensures equitable coverage for part-time and contingent workers.
• updating our government data collection systems to portray a more realistic picture of expanding work forms including the extent to which these forms match workers' own preferences or belie deeper structural problems in the U.S. economy.
• mandating standards for unemployment insurance eligibility and computation of payment of workers compensation time loss benefits that do not penalize workers for their work status or encourage employers to replace a full-time labor force with irregular workers.
• adopting pension portability measures which allow workers to carry pension credits with them to their next job.
• reforming labor laws to ensure representation for workers in nontraditional employment and to include these workers tinder collective bargaining agreements.

SUBMITTED BY:

Ronald C. Alexander, President
Andy J. DiLoreto, Secretary-Treasurer
AFSCME/0CSEA Local 11
Ohio