Robyn E. Blumner

By Robyn E. Blumner,
St. Petersburg Times Columnist

Let’s be frank. There are contracts and then there are contracts. Those retention bonus contracts held by American International Group executives in its financial products division were apparently inviolate. No matter how many smart lawyers Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner consulted, the contracts were bulletproof, and a default could lead to punitive damages.

Then there are the kind of employment contracts that most of the rest of us have. They’re not explicitly spelled out in a sign-on-the-dotted-line kind of way, and there are certainly many fewer zeros, but they are promises made in exchange for one’s labor nonetheless. The difference is that these “contracts” are eminently fluid and disposable.

Here’s the employment contract we all had in mind when joining the work force: Work hard, be loyal and in exchange you can expect job security, steady income gains, health insurance and a dignified retirement.

But those ideas are so nostalgic today as to be naive.  MORE

First Published in the St. Petersburg Times Sunday, March 29, 2009