http://www.sctimes.com/article/20131126/NEWS01/311260036/Protesters-target-St-Cloud-temp-agency-office?nclick_check=1
Protesters gathered at the St. Cloud office of a
temporary-employment agency Tuesday morning to decry what they
call its shoddy treatment of local workers.
More
than 40 protesters lined 25th Avenue South outside the St. Cloud
office of The Work Connection, a St. Paul-based agency. They said
the agency uses what they call an unfair practice of paying
workers with debit cards, has fired workers without just cause and
treats many workers, particularly Somali workers, with disrespect.
The
event was organized by the Greater Minnesota Worker Center, a new
St. Cloud-based group that aims to help low-wage workers get
better pay and working conditions.
Some
concerns voiced at the protest were leveled at temp agencies in
general. Protesters say employers’ increasing use of the
agencies creates another hurdle for low-income workers to find
reliable employment.
The
Work Connection was targeted because protesters said it’s widely
recognized by area workers as the most difficult to work with
among local temp agencies.
Protesters
also called on St. Cloud-based GNP Company, which they said
contracts with The Work Connection, to halt that practice and
begin hiring workers directly.
The
protesters compiled a list of their concerns and delivered it to
The Work Connection staff. Jeff Wold, vice president of the
company, said it will review the complaints and take action if
needed.
“We’re
committed to fairness; we’re committed to treating people with
respect,” Wold said.
Follow
Mark Sommerhauser on Twitter @msommerhauser.
My "Letter to the Editor" submitted to the
St. Cloud Times for publication.
I read with interest your article about
people protesting the treatment of workers by a temp agency.
Mistreatment of workers seems to have
become the "new normal" during these tough economic times
when employers seem to think they have the upper hand because of the
huge pool of unemployed workers they can hire from.
The issue of what the Minimum Wage
should be has come up all across the state as the Democrats have
thumbed their noses at workers without providing any increase in the
present miserly Minimum Wage.
We need a Minimum Wage legislatively
tied to all cost of living factors. Why should any worker have to
work for less than what it cost to live--- and this is substantially
more than $9.50 an hour.
The increase is needed now; not in
2015.
And these temp agencies raise another
important issue: part-time employment.
If production in this country is going
to continue using part-time workers than it is high time we consider
providing all workers a guaranteed annual income providing a standard
of living substantially above the poverty level.
What we really need is a
full-employment economy and we aren't going to get that unless the
politicians who campaign on a platform of "jobs, jobs, jobs"
are forced by legislative mandate to be responsible for attaining and
maintaining full employment.
If these Wall Street bribed politicians
in Washington would put as much effort into creating jobs than the
time they spend getting us into these dirty wars we would have a
pretty decent country to live in.
What we need is a "21st Century
Full Employment Act for Peace and Prosperity."
Fact: Workers paid poverty wages are
going to be poor.
Fact: Workers without jobs are going to
be poor.
The solution is simple: Put American
workers to work at real living wage jobs.
Since the "free market" can't
solve this mess the government is going to have to figure out a way
to put people to work solving the problems of people and society.
A good "make work" project
would be to create a National Public Health Care System providing the
American people with free health care. Fifteen million jobs. We kill
two birds with one stone and we finance the entire thing by ending
this insane militarism and these dirty wars.
Alan L. Maki
Director of Organizing,
Midwest Casino Workers Organizing
Council
