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Illinois Black Legislative Caucus
SPRINGFIELD, IL – “Today, we showed that the power of the people can reform the pervasive systemic problem with temp agencies and their client companies. Today is a victory,” exclaimed Representative Carol Ammons of the 103rd District, the Chief Sponsor of the Responsible Job Creation Act. Just earlier today at 12:30PM, dozens of temp workers, allies, and experts successfully testified before the Labor & Commerce Committee in Springfield advocating for the passage of the Responsible Job Creation Act. Read More Here By NESRI
Big companies like Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot and more have degraded blue-collar jobs that were once highly desired, well-paid union jobs. These companies are permanently replacing direct hire jobs with abusive "temporary" jobs through layers of contracting, with temp agencies bringing workers to labor in their factories and warehouses. Temp agencies promise more for less at the expense of workers, containing costs by squeezing profit from workers' wages, benefits, and working conditions. The message of expendability directed at workers employed as temps, living paycheck to paycheck, poses a constant threat to workers who try to improve their jobs through organizing or defend their rights against abuse. In collaboration with the National Staffing Workers Alliance, NESRI has released Temporary Work, Permanent Abuse: How Big Business Destroys Good Jobs, capturing the devastating human impact of this systemic corporate practice. The joint report includes findings from 13 focus groups with industrial temp workers in the metro areas of Chicago and Boston and the ports of southern California and New Jersey. Key findings include:
 By Karen Lentz
A bill under consideration in the Illinois legislature is drawing attention to a growing trend in today’s workforce: employers meeting long-term staffing needs by contracting with employment companies and temporary work agencies. A contract company may handle a range of hiring tasks including recruitment, training, payroll, benefits, and other typical human resources functions. In providing services to its clients, a staffing service company may offer a form of “temporary” work in which a worker is employed by the agency and sent out to its clients on assignments, perhaps long-term. Temporary employment accounted for 3.4 percent of the total workforce in Illinois in 2015, with 989 temporary staffing agencies operating in the state, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Read More at Medill Reports Chicago |
