Fie!

“ORIGIN Middle English: via Old French from Latin fi, an exclamation of disgust at a stench.”

While on the subject of referencing dictionary erudition, the Newark Advocate ran a self-aggrandizing editorial in its Sunday 9-13-15 edition (what other day could, or would, the Advocate bother to editorialize?). Shearer and company jumped on the all too obvious, overcrowded, and self-righteous opposition to the proposed “Marijuana legalization amendment” (Issue 3) by waxing eloquent on the wickedness of monopolies. “Most dictionaries define monopoly as “complete control of the entire supply of goods or of a service in a certain area or market” or “the exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service.”” Where’s this definition when it comes to the Advocate (with its Grow Licking County partners) championing the ”jobs created” at the various industrial parks sprouting up in Etna, New Albany and Heath/Hebron? Today’s (9-14-15) online New York Times brought gravitas (and relevance) to bear on this question (Who’s the Boss When You Work for a Franchise or Contractor? 9-14-15). “In a decision that’s been called the greatest expansion of union rights in decades, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled that if a corporation uses contractors or franchisees, contract workers who unionize can negotiate with the parent company and their direct employer. Previously, unions could often only deal with the contractor or franchise owner, greatly limiting their bargaining power. Critics of the ruling say it unfairly makes corporations responsible for workers they haven’t hired and conditions over which they have no control.” In an accompanying article (Companies Must Take Full Responsibility for All Workers) Ruth Milkman writes “An even more significant ruling came in last week’s National Labor Relations Board decision involving Browning-Ferris Industries, which found that the corporation and its subcontractor were “joint employers,” each obliged to bargain with the union seeking to represent workers at a recycling plant. The reason is straightforward: Browning-Ferris sets the working hours and tasks to be performed, the subcontractor handles hiring and payroll, and both hire supervisors. This is all standard practice when large companies contract with staffing firms.” And staffing firms are definitely the only entry to jobs at these new Licking County work sites. Analysis detects a noticeable stench when temporary staffing firms are somehow deemed exceptional to the definition of ““complete control of the entire supply of goods or of a service in a certain area or market” or “the exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service.””

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Tags: Grow Licking County Community Investment Corporation, hegemony, Newark Advocate