friends, i want to thank jim devine for his interesting post on employment trends. in a recent article of "the nation" there is a good article about mexican workers at meatplanting plants in iowa. these jobs are not contingent in the way the bls defines this, but the job security of the workers is low to put it mildly. and turnover is extremely high. the union jobs that used to be there were certainly more secure, paid better, etc. michael yates