Nationalizing temp/casual labour agencies?

[Die Neue Zeit]

http://www.revleft.com/vb/rise-casualised-labour-t141066/index.html
http://www.revleft.com/vb/temp-agency-precarious-t143889/index.html
http://www.rabble.ca/babble/labour-and-consumption/nationalizing-tempcasual-labour-agencies

Like comrade Bilan noted, there is growing "casualization" of labour to the point where some economists have described it as a "commodity" in the sense of business lingua: a good or service supplied without qualitative differentiation, such as natural resources.

There is discussion on this problem in Germany and Japan, for example, although not so much in North America. On the left itself, there is talk of the precariat.

However, I'm interested in solutions instead of endless discussions on problems. Could every single temp agency be taken into public ownership so as to tackle the problem of structural and cyclical unemployment?

[blake 3:17]

Not a bad idea in itself. With legislation around fair wages and working conditions and extra supports for temp workers it could be very good. There would need to be enforced rules against forcing temp workers into unsafe working conditions.

Temp work is often terrible for all involved. Costs are high for employers, and wages are low for workers, with the temp agency eating the difference.

There would also have to be rules for temp workers the right to refuse lousy working conditions/wages.

[bretty]

It's a really good idea. However I doubt it would ever happen, the companies profit a lot from connecting workers with employment and the employers often use it as an easy way to hire and fire, at my place of employment they hire a few when its busy and when they slow down or don't need the extra hands they lay them off.

[Die Neue Zeit]

I corresponded with a sympathetic non-Marxian economist on this, and he didn't like the idea of taking every single temp agency into public ownership ("seizing private property") so as to tackle the problem of structural and cyclical unemployment a la Minsky's public employer of last resort for consumer services. He said that such a government program would establish a base wage, working conditions, and work hours so that all private temp agencies would have to compete with that.

A Marxist comrade also agreed with him, saying that he clearly right if one is concerned only with protecting temp workers.