Firms Should Go Back to Workplace Contract

Much has been written over the last several years about the changing nature of the employer-employee relationship.

The common theme of stories such as “ ‘Portfolio Career’ May Replace the Old 9-to-5” (May 30) describes the abandonment of the traditional, albeit unspoken, workplace contract of essentially lifetime employment in return for dogged loyalty.

In its place will be an environment wherein individuals will find a succession of part-time, temporary or contract work in return for supposedly greater autonomy and responsibility in the performance of that work.

Individuals will be handed the responsibility of obtaining and maintaining their own package of benefits, since these are to disappear as traditional employer-provided items.

I find it fascinating that virtually none of the writings on this subject point out that this change is being undertaken strictly unilaterally by employers! I don’t know anyone who would willingly give up what little job security they may have for this sort of working lifestyle.

It seems that corporate America has so dehumanized its perception of employees, that they are now nothing more than one more “asset” to be managed on the balance sheet.

In the headlong rush for “global competitiveness” and “maximizing shareholder value,” employee compensation and benefits are under ever-increasing pressure. If employees have the audacity to attempt a union organizing drive, they are threatened that, if successful, their work will be exported to Third World oblivion and they will be permanently unemployed.

How is any of this in the best interest of this nation?

Unfortunately, it appears that corporate America has declared war not only on their own employees, but on the very quality of life in this country. The motivation, of course, is simply greed.

With employers unilaterally abrogating the traditional workplace contract and with the inability of unions to stand up to this threat, individuals have only their government left to turn to for relief. The government, over the years, has already begun to take up this task. Passage of bills such as the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family Leave Act, and the creation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and Social Security Administration are only a few of the obvious examples.

It is apparent that further federal government intervention will be required to protect the American way of life from this vicious attack by greedy employers.

GARY A. SCAPELLATI

Huntington Beach