A New Age of Uncertainty

"Call the boss after 2 to see if there's work tomorrow" is what the foreman told me this morning. After finishing the night shift at a small construction site, we figured we'd worked our ways out of a job. I have little reason to complain if I look around my shoulder at day laborers or workers not making union wages or benefits. But only in the last few months have I realized just how casualized construction, even union work, has become.

I hear it all the time. "They call us off unemployment cos they need a handful of guys for a week" workers tell me. Increasingly companies are keeping a very small crew of full-time workers and a long list of workers they call when they need them. One 25-year veteran of union construction echoed the sentiment the other day, "the guy told me to call the office at 5AM. I called. They had no work. It's a crock."

For a while there when I started a days work, I'd be busy hammering away or whatever and thinking to myself, well at least I'm getting a day's pay today. Then one day the foreman showed up and said, "hey pack up your tools we're all going home." It was 9.30am, we'd been working since 6. The union policy is that if you start working you get an automatic half days' pay, if you go over 4 hours it's supposed to be an automatic full days' pay.

I called the health benefits office today to see if my union benefits had kicked in yet or if I was still on Cobra. Now I'm off to get a cashiers check because my family's health benefits runs out in two days. Few things are certain anymore.

My wife works part time. I make good union wages when I do work. I really don't have a lot to complain about, BUT SURELY there's gotta be a better economic system that can utilize my skills and energy more efficiently. My labor and all those 10s of millions of workers that are working part time, seeking full time work. AND the 15 million fully unemployed.
Capitalism can't do it, that's a certainty.