Labour is promising to tackle the problem of "bogus self-employment" in the building industry.

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The timing of the deteriorating employment picture suggests that the problem is structural as well as cyclical.

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Patchy employment is part of the problem.

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An even greater problem for the IRS is the spread of self-employment.

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At the time, the TUC had been urging the then Labour government to activate part of the Employment Relations Act 1999 outlawing blacklisting because of anecdotal evidence from trade unionists that the problem was increasing.

BBC: Government ignored warning of blacklisting of workers

Further, the decline of the private sector union movement and the end of the defined benefit retirement plans that were once provided to workers as a part of their employment package have only served to make the problem worse.

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Lanny Davis, a former White House counsel, told CNN he sees a problem of "perception" and believed Scalia should at mentioned his sons' employment to the Gore legal team.

CNN: Justices Scalia, left and Thomas

The former reason poses a bit of a problem: those incoming interns who are seeking notice and eventual full-time employment may get left out in the cold come next season.

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