Despite its setbacks, or perhaps because of them, organized labor has an energy level that AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka says he hasn’t seen before in his 50 years with the movement.
Until last week, Li Zilles was one of the many nameless and faceless contractors toiling in the bowels of the internet, providing online services that might have been mistaken for the work of artificial intelligence.
The job: to transcribe audio files for the start-up Rev.com, churning out texts without clients ever knowing the name of the transcriber.
This was a lonely existence, and not an easy one. The pay, even though the work was full-time, was little enough that food stamps became necessary.
Sherrod Brown & Liz Shuler
on Monday, December 2 - 4:01pm
When the global economy shifted in the late 19th century, working people were the first to adapt. They moved to cities like Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Toledo, Ohio, and worked long hours in unsafe factories. They drove the Industrial Revolution and changed the nature of work forever. When it became clear that employers were exploiting their productivity, the labor movement formed to protest abuses like sweatshops, child labor, and poverty wages.
On September 13 more than a hundred activists participated in a bicoastal protest at Palantir’s two headquarters, in New York City and in Palo Alto, California. The intent of the protest was to bring awareness to the tech company’s involvement with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which Palantir provides with data-mining software that’s been used to screen undocumented immigrants and plan raids.
Sherrod Brown & Liz Shuler
on Thursday, November 21 - 12:52pm
When the globaleconomyshifted in the late 19th century, working people were the first to adapt. They moved to cities like Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Toledo, Ohio, and worked long hours in unsafe factories. They drove the Industrial Revolution and changed the nature of work forever.
The richest 1% of Americans control more wealth than the entire middle class combined, according to the Brookings Institution - a striking sign of income inequality that has accelerated since the Great Recession.
A bill introduced last week by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland, and Rep. Don Beyer, D-Virginia, aims to narrow the wealth gap by adding a surtax on millionaires.
Jim Tankersley, Peter Eavis and Ben Casselman
on Tuesday, November 19 - 11:47am
In the 2017 fiscal year, FedEx owed more than $1.5 billion in taxes. The next year, it owed nothing. What changed was the Trump administration’s tax cut — for which the company had lobbied hard.
Sabrina Rodriguez
on Tuesday, November 19 - 11:16am
The heads of 12 leading labor groups are warning House lawmakers that the USMCA as written does not meet the needs of working people — and that without changes, they will oppose the pact.
For two weeks last month, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) went on strike. Just as in 2012, the strike was widely acknowledged as a victory for the union. The successes for organized teachers are so numerous at this point that it is worth reflecting on exactly what the increased militance of educators and other workers means for US politics moving forward.
