Remember to Remember This Memorial Day

The sun will be out. The grill will be sparked. The sodas (and beers) will be cold. You will (probably) get a day off work.

Just don't forget why we celebrate every fourth Monday in May.

The first Memorial Day was celebrated in 1866 by a group in Waterloo, NY, celebrating the Civil War veterans, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs.


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President Johnson declared Waterloo, NY the birthplace for Memorial Day in 1966, 100 years after the initial celebration. 

The holiday evolved into a day of remembrance of all military who have died in service. 

Generally, people associate days like Memorial Days and Veterans Day with World War II veterans. The driving force behind the DVA has been baby boomers, so an emphasis on Vietnam will probably increase in the coming years. 

But as a young man, the same age as many soldiers stationed overseas right now, I can't help but wonder about the military reputations of Generation X and Generation Y's service men and women.

Neither of the two generations has had a definitive "international conflict" to deal with, on the scale of World War II. And the conflicts that these two generations have dealt with do not have the philosophical subtext like Vietnam did in regards to the Cold War and communism vs. capitalism.

I know there's religion and a West vs. East mentality out there today, but in the moment it does not feel the same.

Here's what this all boils down to at this juncture in time

I like to celebrate holidays on this blog by pulling movie clips off YouTube. So in commemoration of the men and woman who served this country, I'm going to share clips from movies dealing with the conflicts of Generations X and Y, starting with ...

The Panama Deception


I'm starting the list off with a documentary that may not commemorate the service of military vets, but it sets the stage for military conflicts to come.

The Panama Deception won the 1992 Academy Award for best documentary film.

It won that most prestigious award for nonfiction film by detailing the failings of mainstream media to accurately report what happened in Panama in 1989.

Media portrayed the conflict as "America Helping the Poor" while not mentioning the U.S. agenda behind its involvement. Specifically that meant the renegotiation of the Torrijos-Carter treaty, which may have not happened if the nation state was not settled.

Possibly as a result of this event (and this movie), future conflicts would be looked at with a critical eye, leaving the service men and women of that and this current serving generation to be viewed differently than the heroes of past wars.

Jarhead


This 2005 film detailing Operation Desert Storm through the eyes of one skeptical marine may not have been one of the most popular films of the past 10 years.

Jarhead was based on the 2003 best selling autobiography from Anthony Swofford, a marine serving in the early '90s. The film and book are not war movies in the sense of Patton and Full Metal Jacket. But that's because it was a different conflict.

Operation Desert Storm was the first in a slew of unpopular U.S. conflicts in Iraq, a country we still occupy today.

Dealing with an unpopular war in a different generation, the movie tackles skepticism, an evolving military culture and comparison/contrasting of different generations of service men and women.

Blackhawk Down


This was the most entertaining and most popular movie to appear on this list. Because I'm getting long winded, I'll cut to the chase.

This movie was important because it captured an evolving theme in U.S. foreign policy. That is, we pick-and-choose when we step in to help during an incident of genocide (see Rwanda). And it doesn't always work out so well for us.

Generation Kill


This HBO mini-series details the early years of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Generation Kill provided civilians with a look into the dangers of this war, specifically in terms of friendly fire. There are several scenes in the series where soldiers are killed as a result of mistakes, not combat. While World War II has its heroes, like Patton and Eisenhower, what will the conflicts in Iraq have 50 years from now? I would argue every military operation has a hero, but will these men and women struggle to find the image that defines themselves 50 years from now?

The Hurt Locker


Combine a traditional military movie character who has a "maverick" type mentality and a plot that revolves around explosions; you get a thrilling film (an Academy Award).

I recently saw the Hurt Locker for this first time this weekend and here's what I got from it.

You can find stories in the New York Times every day about a bomb going of in the Middle East, killing dozens of people. But it seems impersonal. It's just another clip from the 24-hour news cycle.

This movie does a good job of focusing in on that aspect of military conflict, road side bombs set by civilian-style militants.

This movie, more than the others on this list (arguably), depicts why we should celebrate service men and women on days like Memorial Day. It showed that there are still American citizens dying over seas and that commemorative days need to be about more than barbecue and blockbuster summer movies.

Ryan Staffing Plans Switch To Pay Cards

Ryan Staffing is pleased to have partnered with Skylight Financial to offer the Skylight One card to all of its employees.

The Skylight ONE card will replace paper checks.  It will allow cardholders to make purchases wherever Visa debit cards are accepted in addition to more than 48,000 surcharge free ATM’s. 

As we all know people’s paychecks are sacred.  The Skylight One card will offer convenience, flexible, affordable and secure net pay access without having to rely on the Post Office.

Our clients will no longer be involved in paycheck distribution and using Paycards has proven to increase productivity, lower turnover and improve the morale of temps.

The program will be phased in over the next 60 days and informational packages will be sent out to all of our clients in the next few weeks.

For a program overview click on FAQ’s – Skylight One Card.com. Click here to view the brochure.

Case Study Part II: Do-Overs During the Recession

Back in January we started telling the tale of our situation here at T/A Industries.  I’m sure you remember me.

My name is Roger Dorn and I am the Plant Manager.  We make auto parts and thanks to programs like “Cash For Clunkers” and other government goodies being given away our business is growing and we needed to increase the size of our staff by 25.  Not being certain that the good times here to stay we went the “temp” route to solve our staffing needs.


It's sure easy to "stay down on the ball" when you have a quality staffing service backing you up.

1. As part of the supplier selection process we identified ten points of concern for our potential new supplier to address as part of the competitive bidding process.  The provider selected best fit our needs in the following ways.  Oh, by the way, they were not the service with the lowest rates. Our new provider has a business mix that is 80% light manufacturing and 20% office and clerical.  They work with a variety of industries and no single client makes up more than 10% of their total business.  We checked two business references.  One they provide and one from our own source.
2. A detailed recruiting plan was presented that met our challenges to utilize non-traditional recruitment sources.  We felt it desirable to expand the pool of available workers beyond newspapers and the unemployment office.
3. Concerning our multiple shifts and the potential for problems on each we selected a service that had office hours around our shift start and stop times including Saturday. When their office was not physically open a contact person was available on call.  This allowed us to replace call-offs and no shows quickly with less resulting down time in production
4. The turnover and no-show problems of the past were addressed with the submission of a retention plan.  Part of the solution dedicates a member of their full time staff to be on site 6-8 hours per week.
5. Our new service performs a felony background check and e-verify of social security numbers.  We have established a policy that eliminates job candidates with drug or theft related felony convictions.
6. All employees provided by our new service must pass a six panel drug test before starting work.  Random drug tests are also done on a monthly basis.  We like the fact our supplier is self-insured for workers compensation purposes as it gives them a vested interest in the safety of everyone working at our facility including our own employees.
7. Two levels of staff from the office of our staffing service physically toured our plant and observed firsthand the positions they would be filling.  By mutual agreement we decided to require at least 6 solid months of manufacturing experience and applicants must have a high school diploma or equivalent.  Pre-employment tours have been offered as an option should turnover or safety issues get out of hand.
8. Through internet access our provider has a system in place that allows us access to our account at any time to track such things as order status, invoices, usage.etc. We transmit hours worked by temps electronically by each Monday afternoon and pay our invoices by electronic bank transfers of funds.  This is all part of our efforts to save time and save the trees 
9. As was previously mentioned the service we selected did not provide us with the lowest hourly bill rate.   What they did provide in addition to a very competitive rate included:
1. A 1.4% rate for all overtime hours
2. Discounted rates for long term temps
3. No liquidation fees for us hiring a temp
4. Credits for no-show or non performance
5. No extra charges for drug testing, background checks etc.

     10.  Perhaps the most impressive thing about the package presented and accepted by us from our new supplier is that we were given the home phone numbers of all the owners/officers of the company to use if needed.  Try getting those from Manpower or Kelly! While our new supplier has been on the job only three months, we have noticed significant improvements in “temp” productivity over our pre-recession supplier. 
Granted three months still puts us in the honeymoon stage it’s still a good start.  I guess if you think about it selecting a new staffing provider is a lot like picking a wife. . . or maybe not.

Oh, by the way, our new staffing service is Ryan Alternative Staffing.  No surprise there I suppose.  So far, they’re major league in our book… couldn’t stop myself!

Tim's Talking About Mothers Milk, the Temp Industry and I-9 Checks...

Mothers Milk
Did you know that the recently passed Health Care Reform legislation requires employers to provide nursing mothers with an unpaid break to “express milk”?

The break must be provided “each time such employee has need to express the milk” for one year after the child’s birth. It also requires employers to provide a private break area (not restroom) shielded from view and free from intrusions. Just something to think about in the coming months.

Temp Help. . . A Growth Industry?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics 117,000 temporary jobs were created in the second half of 2009. This is despite the economy as a whole shedding traditional jobs by the thousands.

Further predictions call for employment services to be among the fastest- growing segments of the economy adding 637,000 jobs over the next 10 years.

Top 10 jobs for the temps 2008-15
Occupation Jobs added (thousands)

Laborers and freight stock & material movers       40.0
Customer service reps                                                      34.2
Construction laborers                                                        33.7
Team assemblers                                                              31.7
Other production workers, assemblers                           29.3
Helpers – production workers                                          28.3
Employment, recruitment, placement specialists           24.5
Registered nurses                                                             20.0
Office clerks – general                                                      16.2

Total                                                                                    599.7


Independent Contractors. . .Be Careful
Now that business activity is picking up. . .sort of, the temptation to save a buck by utilizing independent contractors instead of permanent hires (or temps) is ever present. It’s also time to be careful.

During a 16 month investigation in 2007-08 the U.S. Dept of Labor caught 12,300 cases of mis-classification in New York alone. They catch you by comparing employer generated 1099-Misc statements with individual returns.

For more information on how the Federal Government determines independent contractor status visit IRS.gov.

Staffing Index Continues RiseAccording to the American Staffing Association U.S. staffing employment is 22% higher than the first week of 2010 and 17% higher than at the same time a year ago.

The index has some history for identifying recession ending trends and predicting increases in stock market indexes.

Take a look at these major staffing company stock prices: (04.20.10)

                                         Current               Year Ago           %Change
Manpower (Man)              56.93                   42.01                   +35.6
Kelly Services (Kelya)      17.27                   10.69                   +61.6
Adecco (Ahexy)                 29.27                   20.50                    +42.8
Robert Half (RHI)               30.09                   23.46                    +28.3
Randstad (Ranjy)               25.45                   15.00                    +69.7


Did you know?

• 2.6 million temps work each day.
• 2008 sales of temp and contract staffing was $70.7 billion.
• 6000 staffing firms operate 20,000 offices in the U.S.

I-9 Checks?I recently saw an HR person ask if it was proper (legal?) for her organization to spot check their staffing supplier’s I-9 forms on temps working at their place. The simple answer is “sure”. And, I might add it’s not a bad idea when you factor in the potential co-employment liability your firm risks if the staffing company is not accurately completing the I-9 paperwork.

The battle on immigration reform is heating up with the recent law passed in Arizona.

Did you know that Herbert Hoover during the “real” depression ordered the deportation of all illegal aliens to create jobs for Americans? Or that Truman did the same after WWII to two million illegals? And finally the Eisenhower successfully deported millions of illegal Mexican nationals in “Operation Wetback” in 1954?

Anyone think this could happen today?

WSJ.com: Auto Parts Plant Turns Casino

Strapped States Find New Virtues in 'Vice'
May 11, 2010

Voters and politicians in Ohio used to slap down attempts to expand gambling in their state. But last week, many cheered as demolition crews razed an old auto-parts plant in Columbus to make way for a new casino.

Facing high unemployment and the aftermath of a $3.2 billion state-budget shortfall, Ohioans voted to allow casinos in November. Gov. Ted Strickland dropped his longtime opposition to video lottery machines, proposing to add them to racetracks to generate new tax revenue.

"If I had not been confronted with these difficult circumstances, I would have obviously opposed expanding gambling in Ohio," says Mr. Strickland.

Nationwide, the public-funding crisis has led many state and local leaders to similarly reverse course. Hampered by withering funds for law enforcement, health care and other public services, a growing number of officials are condoning activities and businesses they'd be apt to restrict in better economic times.

For fiscal 2011, 38 states project combined budget shortfalls of $89 billion, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, a bipartisan policy research group. Thirty-one states expect budget gaps totaling $73.5 billion in 2012. As a result, says Todd Haggerty, an analyst at the group, lawmakers are "trying anything and everything in order to bring their budgets into balance."

Oakland, Calif., began taxing sales of medical marijuana last year. Now at least a half- dozen states are weighing measures to allow some legal pot sales. Others have loosened decades-long restrictions on Sunday alcohol sales. And about a dozen, like Ohio, have discussed or passed plans to ease restrictions on gambling.

California legislators are debating whether to allow and tax Internet poker, even though such gambling is prohibited by federal law. "It is generally easier to pass something like this in a recession," says Lloyd Levine, a political consultant working for the pro-poker effort. As a state assemblyman in 2008, before the economic crisis, Mr. Levine introduced a similar initiative that failed.

Americans have a time-honored tradition of banking on vice in tough economic times, says David Laband, an Auburn University economics professor who studies the alcohol industry. "Blue laws" restricting Sunday alcohol sales, he says, are a common casualty of recessions.

"Every time there's an economic contraction, sure enough, you start seeing local repeal efforts," says Mr. Laband.

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Copyright News Corp - Wall Street Journal

Happy Mother's Day: A Tribute to Moms

To all our maternal readers out there, The Corner Stool decided to pay tribute this year by compiling a list of famous moms throughout television and film history.

Below you'll find a series of YouTube clips commemorating moms, in no particular order. These characters, though fictional, represent all the comforting feelings us mommas-boys from dear, ole' ma. (Notice I used ole' instead of old). But these characters aren't fit to carry the giant purses and maintain the AOL accounts of today's real moms.

So Happy Mother's Day to all, from Ryan Staffing. Here's our tribute:


Carol Brady


Between 1969's first airing of The Brady Bunch and 2002's made for TV movie The Brady Bunch in the White House, the mother of the lovable bunch of swingin', singin' children was played by just two actresses: Florence Henderson and Shelley Long.

In the television show, Carol was always managing the troops, providing words of encouragement to Jan; helping to milk Marsha's ego; and making sure Cindy didn't get into any trouble.

In the two major motion pictures that came out during my lifetime, she was a comedic compliment to the outrageous dialogue from her husband.



I personally appreciate the satire of 1970s home life.

Kitty Foreman


Speaking of '70s satire, the mother of Eric and Laurie Foreman oozed of down-home comedy. She babied her whimsical son, while dispersing tough love to her rambunctious daughter. All the while she openly talked about sexuality with her conservative husband, Red.

Compared to Carol, Kitty was a real feminist, working as a nurse during most of That 70's Show eight year run, 1998 - 2006.

For this blog post, I used this Web page for TV Moms as a launching off point. Not a lot of moms on that list were working mothers in their respective shows, so hats off to Kitty.


J.C. Wiatt 


While television's most famous moms may not have been career-women, film took the working-mom angle to the big screen, especially during the span of 1985 - 1995.

Diane Keaton portrayed a businesswoman turned parent in the 1987 film Baby Boom.

While her lack of maternal instincts provide comic relief throughout the movie, Keaton eventually decides that she can juggle the diaper-changing board with the executive board room.

Elaine Miller


Played by Frances McDormand, Elaine brings the single-mom demographic to our list.

This character from the 2000 film Almost Famous is interesting because she goes through a real conflict in the movie. It is revealed that she lied to her son, William, about his age. So he is actually two years younger than his classmates.

To make up for this, she allows him to spend a month working as a rock-n-roll journalist. She doesn't quite let him go off on his own though, providing maternal wisdom along the way.

A college professor, Elaine has the famous line of telling her class, "Rock stars have kidnapped my son!"

Her hands-on parenting approach does push her daughter to leave as a flight attendant in the early stages of the movie. But the two do reunite for a heart-felt family moment.