European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 20, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 a the stars and stripes wednesday november 20,1991work Force shifts toward part timer but Lack of benefits leaves group vulnerable by Andrew Mollison Cox news service Washington a workers in the fastest growing and most flexible portion of the modern work Force need a new Bill of rights according to a study released monday by the economic policy Institute. They Are called a a contingent workers. Most work Short hours out of necessity or by Choice. But nearly one third of them work full time though Only in spurts. Despite the recession most kept or found jobs. But the jobs a fail to provide guaranteed employment fringe benefits a living wage any accommodation of family responsibilities or opportunities for Union representation a said the report written by Virginia l. A Rivage an economist at the Washington based research group. They Are handicapped by Public policies based on the a a anachronistic Assumption that almost All workers get or seek a full time permanent employment a duri Vage said. In some cases she said the shift toward More flexible forms of employment relieves employers of obligations under Federal safety pension unemployment and affirmative action Laws. The faces of contingent workers Are for the most part familiar ones a the Mother who finds a 9-to-2 Job that does no to provide health insurance or paid Days off but does let her see her kids off to school in the morning and be there when they return. A the graduate student hired part time As an Quot Independent researcher a who spends All her no deductions paychecks and then finds out she is legally obligated to pay not just income taxes but the higher social Security tax on the self employed. A the Laid off Carpenter who can to find a permanent Job but scrapes by on a series of Odd jobs either on his own or through a temporary help Agency. Many people done to want full time permanent paid work that would interfere with family responsibilities said rep. Patricia Schroeder. For More than a decade the Colorado Democrat has championed the availability of part time work. But she echoed the reports concerns in remarks prepared for the institutes conference monday on contingent work. A part timers Are often treated As inferior workers by both employers and their co workers in spite of the fact that they increase flexibility in the workplace allow employers to retain valuable employees who do not want to work full time and Cut labor costs a Schroeder said. A but Many part timers hesitate to speak out about their working conditions or their Lack of benefits because they done to want to jeopardize their jobs a she added. Nor has government intervened she said. One reason by a opting not to Rock the boat part time employees have no visible political  government statistics Are collected in such obsolete categories that nobody even knows How Many Par time temporary and one employer contract jobs exist Schroeder said. On Friday she introduced a Bill that would require the census Bureau to remedy that. Between 29 million and 36 million americans a ranging from on Call nurses and lunch hour Cashiers to engineers with jobs that disappear when an aerospace contract expires a were contingent workers in 1988, estimated Richard Belous of the National planning association. A a today a numbers Are hard to pin Down but the recession definitely increased them a said Eileen Appel Baum of the economic policy Institute. Schroeder who chairs the select committee on children youth and families said �?o1 do plan on holding hearings on these issues in the next few  the department of labors Bureau of labor statistics bus regularly estimates the number of part time workers who probably account for As much As two thirds of the contingent work Force. Bus reports released this month show a More than 20 million americans about 17.5 percent of the people with jobs worked less than 35 hours a week in october. That a about 600,000 More than in june 1990, before the recession officially began. A More than 6 million of october a part timers had Short hours out of economic necessity rather than personal Choice. That was 1.3 million More than the number of a a involuntary part timers before the recession began. A the number of full time workers including those who put together two or More Short hour or temporary jobs dropped by 1.9 million to 96.5 million in those same months. On balance the number of part time workers is up 3reasons workers gave for working part time As of october 1991 economic reasons Slack work 14.8% could Only find part time work 11.1% new Job started or old Job ended 1.0% shortages or equipment breakdown 0.1% total economic reasons 27% non economic reasons Donl want or not free for full time work 60.5% full time Job has less than 35-hour week 8.2% All other reasons 3.5% illness 0.8% total non economic reasons 73 % source household surveys of people with jobs . Department of labors Bureau of labor statistics. A amps Cox news service percent and the number of full time workers Down 2 percent since the recession began. A in any recession some full time workers have their hours reduced and some Job losers can Only find Par time jobs a said bus economist Thomas Nardone. He said the shift from full time to part time would be even More dramatic if it weren to for a third Factor a the retail Trade which usually supplies a lot of part time jobs has been hit harder than  it could be that the proportion of workers holding contingent jobs will be larger than Ever when this recession is Over Nardone  take drop in stride new York a Mutual funds say their clients have Learned not to panic because of one Days Steep drop in the Stock Market. Buyers slightly outnumbered Sellers monday As Many Mutual fund investors took fridays 120-Point drop As an Opportunity to get into the Stock Market. After watching stocks recover from the handful of one Day plunges since the 500-plus Point Black monday crash of 1987, a mom and pop investors say a Well it happens a a said Tim Pitts head of sales and marketing at Oppenheimer management clip. Their attitude might change if the decline turns into a two or three Day event he said. Calls flooded into Mutual fund groups Over the weekend As investors sought information and logged buy or sell orders. Three times the Normal number of callers contacted san Francisco based discount broker Charles Schwab amp cd. Between Friday and monday said spokesman Tom tag Gat. Of those adjusting their accounts through Schwab there were slightly More Sellers than buyers during the weekend. But once the Market opened monday morning buyers were ahead tag Gat said. Wall Street plunge no Surprise Given weak economic conditions by Julius Westheimer the Baltimore evening Sun two weeks ago on the coast to coast to program Wall Street week with Louis Rukeyser i said a a we re headed for real trouble in Wall Street. Id Settle for 200 or 300 Points. A fall the conditions Are in place a severely overpriced Stock Market with be ratios double last years a real estate depression like the 1930s, an ongoing recession that the government does no to admit to or know what to do about shaky Banks and so on. A people should Cut Back if their Stock percentages Are too  and when Rukeyser asked me a Julius if what you say is True Why  people sell out altogether a i responded a for two reasons first i could be wrong a it  be the first time a and second people who sell out never come Back. And for the Long pull stocks Are the place to be. But at this Point you must calculate your risk Reward ratio. What a the Reward a 10 percent big Deal. What a a risk a  regarding the above phrase a if their Stock percentages Are too High a i suggest 75 percent in stocks for Young people 50 percent for the Middle aged and 25 percent for the elderly fridays min plunge did no to Surprise me a bit. There could be More. And when president Bush casually said saturday a no reason to get All concerned a i reacted a but the White House should be concerned about the weak Economy that is partly responsible for the  Back to work How do you Stop warfare Between fighting workers a seven Steps for making peace betwee commentary staffers in december a working woman is Worth Reading. Excerpts a listen to both people to understand their feelings. Get each employee to listen to the other. Check your own perceptions of the problem by asking questions. Point out where you think the employees misunderstood one another. Ask if either can suggest a solution that everyone can live with. Create a face saving situation should one person be perceived As the loser. Monitor the solutions  mid month memos fixed rate mortgages now about 8.7 percent stand at their lowest Levels since March 1977. Weekend to comment a stocks will not snap Back soon could drop another 150 Points Howard Colhoun a a we re in a double dip recession Martin Zweig. A fed will continue to lower interest rates Louis Holland a reminder employees under 59vi have just 60 Days to Roll Lump sum distributions from tax deferred retirement plans to avoid 10 percent penalty business week a writing a will and keeping it up to Date can be the most important planning you la Ever does amp a Outlook a if you can build a business big enough its respectable will Rogers. A a a next year according to radio talk show Host Bruce Elliott a tax Freedom Day Falls on May 7 we work for Uncle Sam through that Date. And now where a stocks were in a Long up leg since their 1990 Low but this leg is getting overbought. Take profits is technical investor. A at their new Peak Dow industrials Are at a whopping 30 times earnings. This is generally seen at a Bull Market top. We re taking profits investors digest. A a in a still a big Bear. We re in the throes of a huge credit contraction James Grant interest rate observer. A a there a nothing magical about support level 2,850 a it will crumble into a Bear Market Yamamoto forecast a a we a use this High level to raise a Little More Cash Yankee prognostics