positive publicity for anonymity

[nissim at acs.bu.edu]

I've just posted a proposal to alt.config for a new group

	alt.temping

I'm hoping that temporary workers will use this as a forum to
compare and contrast temp agencies, wage differences, 'permanent
hire penalties' etc.

There are about 4.4 million business service temps in the US.  Wage
differentials are noticeable - one egency will pay $2.00 more than
another; this means $320/month to a temp worker.

I expect temps to use anonymous posting capabilities to compare
wage rates and company patterns *anonymously* because they may fear
discrimination from their agencies. (I know I would)

This seems like a very positive use of anonymity.  Not only will
millions of people on the bottom rung of office life be able to
gain advantage by information, there are clear parallels to
areas in the past of the left where unions and workers rights
were seen as causes of first importance.  

In fact, the troubles involved in being temporary have been championed
several times on television.  This might make a good counterargument
to 'teenagers and pipe bombs'  If we say anonymity is a tool that
helps up to 3-4% of the work force make intelligent choices and get
paid more we may key into the left wing slant of the media.

Treon Verdery
(not posting from Adam's account this time!)