Someone just emailed me Jerry Del Coliano's latest rant about consolidators and asked me what I thought.
http://insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/2010/03/abc-now-hiring-perma-lancers.html
The thing about Jerry is that, although he's much older and richer than me, his experiences are far more limited. He apparently worked mainly for good people, mainly in the Philly area.
Me, I've worked for all kinds of people in all parts of the country. At one time, early in my career, I worked at ABC Radio. So I have experience there and know the mentality, even though my time was pre-Disney.
To Jerry, the idea of hiring part-time employees for full time work to get around paying benefits is a crime. Maybe Jerry has never worked a full time job that didn't include benefits. I did. Then again, Jerry's on this kick now where everything consolidators do is a crime. He doesn't seem to understand that most of the Human Resources people these days are lawyers, and make sure their procedures pass legal scrutiny.
But here's my point. I worked for ABC Radio in NYC many years ago when I was between real gigs. I did something they lovingly call "vacation relief." That's where they hire people for full time work, force them to join the union, pay thousands of dollars in union fees, while paying them a beginners salary (no seniority), with no promise of employment beyond the summer. You're a short termer. This is how they cover shifts while their experienced people are on vacation, usually for a month at a time. I did it for a month, felt it was a scam, and quit. Even though my employer promised me I would have a job at the end of the summer. I hated the way ABC treated employees, and I learned to also hate the union. I went to another union job in another city, where I discovered the problems with broadcaster unions weren't unique to NYC.
The point of all this is that this policy at ABC Radio didn't come as a surprise to me, and I wasn't as shocked about it as Jerry. I'm sure lots of lawyers have approved the policy, any they'll have no shortage of applicants. A lot of employers in a lot of industries are looking for ways to hire workers without paying health insurance. HELLO! Perhaps the problem isn't the employers but is in fact the health insurance system in this country. Where rates for health care have been going up at double-digit rates, well ahead of inflation, for most of the decade. THIS is what the President is talking about when he says we need to fix health care. Sure, we all have our opinions about his latest plan. I'm not here to talk politics. My point is that most of us depend on our employers to provide our health care, and those employers are being killed by skyrocketing insurance premiums that NONE of us could afford if we had to pay for them outside of work. This is not about the greedy corporates looking for a way to screw employees. This is about a system that's broke, and is about to destroy this country.
So while my post here may not be as entertaining as Jerry's, I'm here to tell you that someone needs to solve the health insurance problem, and they need to do it quickly. Because we're getting to a point where people aren't getting hired because health benefits are too expensive.
One last thing: Jerry's commentary ends with an attack on an ABC memo that says they won't be entering ABC News programs for awards this year. What Jerry doesn't know, or doesn't care about, is that the price for awards submissions has gone through the roof. I was about to enter an awards competition, did the math, and the submission fees were in the thousands of dollars. A lot of these awards are put on by non-profits, and the fees pay for the staff, the judges, and the awards dinner. It's almost like buying an award. Those fees have gotten out of hand.
We all need a reality check. Costs for things, from health care to awards submissions, are way to high considering the cost of living has been so low for the last ten years.
http://insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/2010/03/abc-now-hiring-perma-lancers.html
The thing about Jerry is that, although he's much older and richer than me, his experiences are far more limited. He apparently worked mainly for good people, mainly in the Philly area.
Me, I've worked for all kinds of people in all parts of the country. At one time, early in my career, I worked at ABC Radio. So I have experience there and know the mentality, even though my time was pre-Disney.
To Jerry, the idea of hiring part-time employees for full time work to get around paying benefits is a crime. Maybe Jerry has never worked a full time job that didn't include benefits. I did. Then again, Jerry's on this kick now where everything consolidators do is a crime. He doesn't seem to understand that most of the Human Resources people these days are lawyers, and make sure their procedures pass legal scrutiny.
But here's my point. I worked for ABC Radio in NYC many years ago when I was between real gigs. I did something they lovingly call "vacation relief." That's where they hire people for full time work, force them to join the union, pay thousands of dollars in union fees, while paying them a beginners salary (no seniority), with no promise of employment beyond the summer. You're a short termer. This is how they cover shifts while their experienced people are on vacation, usually for a month at a time. I did it for a month, felt it was a scam, and quit. Even though my employer promised me I would have a job at the end of the summer. I hated the way ABC treated employees, and I learned to also hate the union. I went to another union job in another city, where I discovered the problems with broadcaster unions weren't unique to NYC.
The point of all this is that this policy at ABC Radio didn't come as a surprise to me, and I wasn't as shocked about it as Jerry. I'm sure lots of lawyers have approved the policy, any they'll have no shortage of applicants. A lot of employers in a lot of industries are looking for ways to hire workers without paying health insurance. HELLO! Perhaps the problem isn't the employers but is in fact the health insurance system in this country. Where rates for health care have been going up at double-digit rates, well ahead of inflation, for most of the decade. THIS is what the President is talking about when he says we need to fix health care. Sure, we all have our opinions about his latest plan. I'm not here to talk politics. My point is that most of us depend on our employers to provide our health care, and those employers are being killed by skyrocketing insurance premiums that NONE of us could afford if we had to pay for them outside of work. This is not about the greedy corporates looking for a way to screw employees. This is about a system that's broke, and is about to destroy this country.
So while my post here may not be as entertaining as Jerry's, I'm here to tell you that someone needs to solve the health insurance problem, and they need to do it quickly. Because we're getting to a point where people aren't getting hired because health benefits are too expensive.
One last thing: Jerry's commentary ends with an attack on an ABC memo that says they won't be entering ABC News programs for awards this year. What Jerry doesn't know, or doesn't care about, is that the price for awards submissions has gone through the roof. I was about to enter an awards competition, did the math, and the submission fees were in the thousands of dollars. A lot of these awards are put on by non-profits, and the fees pay for the staff, the judges, and the awards dinner. It's almost like buying an award. Those fees have gotten out of hand.
We all need a reality check. Costs for things, from health care to awards submissions, are way to high considering the cost of living has been so low for the last ten years.