Massachusetts AFL-CIO Testimony Before the Joint Standing Committee on Labor and Workforce Development

Tim Sullivan, MA AFL-CIO Testimony ~ Wednesday June 13, 2007 ~ 10 AM ~ Room B-1

Bill: Temp Workers Right to Know Bill (SB 1062, HB 1829)

Sponsors: Senator John Hart, Representative Eugene O’Flaherty

Good morning Chairman Torrissi, Chairman McGee and members of the Committee. Before I begin I would like to register the support of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO for House Bill 1780 filed by Representative Calter and Senate Bill 1098 filed by Senator Timilty. House Bill 1780 is a bill that’s all about giving our employees the retiree benefits that they were promised when they were active employees. Please report HB 1780 and SB 1098 favorably out of this committee.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify in support of House Bill 1829 and Senate Bill 1062. 

My name is Tim Sullivan and I am the Legislative and Communications Director of the Massachusetts AFL-CIO. I am testifying on behalf of President Bob Haynes, who apologizes for not being able to join you today, and on behalf of the over 400,000 working families in the Commonwealth who we didn’t bring with us for fear that there would not be enough seats. I am here today to urge you to report this bill out favorably and to ensure its speedy enactment into law. While others are here to speak to the specific merits of this important bill, I am here to explain from a public policy perspective why it is so critical that you pass this bill and that you do so as soon as possible.

As has been well-documented, the temporary help industry has driven the huge increase in contingent work. And more often than not, workers in the low wage sector of the temp industry suffer exploitation and abuse. There are two reasons for this. First, the Bush Administration has made it virtually impossible to organize temp workers. Specifically, the Bush NLRB overruled an important decision of the Clinton NLRB that held that the client firm was the actual employer of temp employees. During the years 1982 to 1998, whereas the overall workforce grew 41%, the number of jobs in the for-profit temp industry grew 577%! Therefore, given the expanding influence of the temp industry on the workforce, in its 2000 ruling, the NLRB Board recognized the importance of giving temp employees the right to organize.[1] However, the Bush administration dealt a nearly fatal blow by holding that temporary workers could not be in the same bargaining unit as permanent employees of the client company.

The second reason for the exploitation in the temp industry is that since the 1960s, the temp industry has systematically and successfully exempted itself from all statutory oversight and regulation that govern employment agencies. This was true in Massachusetts as well, where the temp industry, like all employment agencies, was subject to certain statutory provisions that require the kind of basic information that is being discussed today – name of employer, the length of the placement, a description of duties etc. [2] However, in 1968, in a stealth move, the for-profit temp industry exempted itself from the provisions governing all temporary agencies.[3]  By adding one phrase – that the term “employment agency” shall not “apply to any person conducting a business which consists of employing individuals directly for the purpose of furnishing part time or temporary help to others …,” the temp industry no longer had to provide any information to workers and could be free to exploit them.

Temporary agencies, like labor unions, are “labor market intermediaries.” The similarities end there. Whereas unions act on behalf of the workers they represent, temp agencies thrive by contracting directly with the site employer, and negotiating solely for the purpose of increasing their profit. In this scenario, no one is acting for the benefit of the workers. Although the Labor Movement has been thwarted in attempting to organize these workers, we will not stand silently by and watch the exploitation continue unabated. Our mission is to work on behalf of all workers. This is especially critical for the most vulnerable workers who have not only been deprived of their right to organize but also of any statutory protections whatsoever. We leave the issue of the right to organize for another day. However, today, it is your responsibility to make sure that these workers have the most basic rights – fair pay and a safe working environment.

This bill takes a first and modest step in this direction. I want to close by saying this: when organizations like ours who fight every day to protect workers file a piece of legislation and give it a name we mean what we say. When we call a bill the “Temp Worker Right to Know” bill, that’s what it is. It’s simply giving these temp workers knowledge of what they’re doing. We’re not like the Bush Administration where they call a bill the Clean Skies Initiative and it pollutes the skies. I want you to ask yourself: would you ever let your son or daughter take a job where they get in a van and don’t know where it’s taking them or how high up in the air they’ll be going or what kind of work they’ll be doing or what kind of equipment they’ll need? Of course you wouldn’t. That’s what we’re trying to prevent.

Lastly, to the employers who oppose this bill: if your business’s ability to compete is dependent upon your ability to exploit workers then yours is exactly the kind of business the Commonwealth should be in the business of putting out of business.

For these reasons we urge a favorable report. Thank you.