Wisconsin – With the passage of Act 10 in 2011, also known as the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, Republican Gov. Scott Walker declared war on the labor movement in general and on public sector workers specifically. Act 10 was a hammer blow that essentially stripped collective bargaining rights from public sector workers, made it much more difficult for workers to organize, and forced unions to take massive concessions on healthcare, retirement benefits, and much more. Soon after, in 2015, Walker signed legislation that turned Wisconsin into a “right to work” state, issuing another blow to unions in a state once […]
Worker
18 posts
Above Photo: Charles Deluvio / Unsplash. Unions and worker cooperatives have a lot in common when it comes to passions and principles for democratic workplaces. Where they differ is in strategy and tactics. At this moment in history, it is clear to many that much needs to be torn down and much needs to be built up. To face this challenge and change our economic system to achieve genuine workplace democracy requires new ways of doing business and a multi-pronged approach. To explore these issues in greater depth, the Community and Worker Ownership Project at the City University of New York (CUNY) published […]
New York, NY – Teamsters Local 863 member George Boada, 45, grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey and still lives “about seven traffic lights” away from Newark Liberty International Airport with his wife and their 14-year-old son. Boada’s worked at the same Jersey-based supermarket cooperative for more than 25 years. Now, however, he fears that Amazon and it’s ever growing monopoly is about to bring it all crashing down. “As companies fold under Amazon’s weight, it’s either you join them, or you go by the wayside. That’s what we’re facing. We’re facing a juggernaut — they’re not stopping,” Boada told LaborPress […]
End Worker Surveillance October 16, 2020 End Worker Surveillance2020-10-162020-10-16https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/10/mazon.png200px200px Above photo: Amazon’s JFK8 Warehouse, October 14, 2020. Put Workers over Profits. Farhiyo Warsame, a warehouse worker, was targeted, surveilled, and fired by Amazon after speaking up about unsafe conditions at work, according to the Awood Center. Amazon tracked Farhiyo’s time in between each small task and used the accumulated extra seconds to justify threats for her eventual termination. Through this “rate” and “time off task” tracking system, Amazon would have you believe it monitors work productivity — but in reality, this system is used to control the physical movements of workers, dictate when or if they […]
Earlier in Maryland, a handful of Trump campaign signs were among those “supplied” with suspicious devices. They were later determined by bomb squads to be harmless sound alarms which would make a noise if an attempt was made to move the sign. A township worker in Michigan received 13 stitches in his hand after it was sliced by a Trump-Pence campaign sign which was boobytrapped with razor blades, according to reports by local media. The worker reportedly pulled over to remove the Trump-Pence sign that was too close to the road and “thought it was electrocuted” because of the razor blades it […]
The H-1B is a non-immigrant United States visa for specialized workers, including areas such as IT, engineering, architecture, medicine and others – fields that normally require a degree. The Trump administration on Tuesday announced new changes to the program of the H-1B visa, touting the move as a means of protecting American wages and cracking down on market abuse. According to Fox News, citing the Department of Labor, the new rule will change the way the so-called ‘prevailing wage’ is formed with regard to workers in specialized fields, commonly resulting in making employers pay higher salaries. The move aims at making sure […]
Democrats want you to trust your vote with some liberal mail carrier. Back in 2016 a mail carrier in Delaware was caught on video removing Trump signs from a yard.The owner filmed the entire theft. DelawareOnline reported: A postal worker was caught on camera allegedly stealing a Donald Trump campaign sign Thursday from the lawn of a home in Townsend. TRENDING: “This is a Warning For What’s Coming!” – Veteran and California Business Owner Fed Up with Covid Lockdown Orders Puts County Board of Supervisors on Notice (VIDEO) The Republican presidential candidate’s campaign sign was in the area of U.S. 13 […]
LA County OKs Coronavirus ‘Health Councils’ To Watch Worker Safety July 23, 2020 LA County OKs Coronavirus ‘Health Councils’ To Watch Worker Safety2020-07-232020-07-23https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/la-e1595541039715.jpg200px200px Above photo: Xochitl Cobarruvias with US Steel Workers Union demonstrates at a drive-by rally in front of the LA County Hall of Administration Tuesday, July 21, 2020. Community members held a car caravan and action calling on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to protect public health by supporting a motion to create Public Health Councils in the workplace. David Crane, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG. COVID-19 outbreaks in such sites as Los Angeles Apparel underpinned the Board of […]
The gravesite of retired Army Sgt. Felix Kirk McDermott in Pennsylvania’s Westmoreland County. McDermott died in April 2018 as a result of an insulin injection at the VA hospital in Clarksburg, W.Va. Reta Mays was charged with his murder on Monday. Jeff Swensen/The Washington Post via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Jeff Swensen/The Washington Post via Getty Images The gravesite of retired Army Sgt. Felix Kirk McDermott in Pennsylvania’s Westmoreland County. McDermott died in April 2018 as a result of an insulin injection at the VA hospital in Clarksburg, W.Va. Reta Mays was charged with his murder on Monday. Jeff […]
A new study has shed light on why a woman developed a fatal brain disease linked to mad cow disease several years after piercing her skin with contaminated laboratory equipment. A woman in France who developed a rare and fatal brain disease did so via accidental lab exposure to the proteins that cause mad cow disease, a new study has found. The initial exposure happened in May 2010, as the then-24-year-old technician “handled frozen sections of brain of transgenic mice that overexpressed the human prion protein” as part of her work, according to the report. Prions are the type of protein […]
How To Turn Your Non-Profit Into A Worker Co-op July 8, 2020 How To Turn Your Non-Profit Into A Worker Co-op2020-07-082020-07-08https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/members-of-the-wisconsin-natural-heritage-cooperative-e1594228009975.png200px200px Above photo: Members of the Wisconsin Natural Heritage Cooperative. An Interview with Kim Grveles, Co-founder, Wisconsin Natural Heritage Cooperative. Josh Davis: So first off, could you just introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your co-op? Kim Grveles: OK. My name is Kim Grveles and I’m a conservation biologist and the co-op that I helped found is called Wisconsin Natural Heritage Cooperative. And basically that firm is an environmental consulting firm that contracts with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. And so […]
A US Postal worker was caught on video throwing a stack of GOP congressional candidate campaign mailers in a dumpster. Sheriff Troy Nehls is running for Texas Congressional District 22. Mr. Nehls is a pro-Trump conservative, a church-going family man, tough on crime and tough on border security. No wonder why the left is trying to derail his campaign. TRENDING: PRAYERS NEEDED: St. Louis City Treasurer Smears Local Christians for Holding Prayer Protest at St. Louis Statue — Labels Christian St. Louisans ‘KKK’ for Wanting to Save Statue of Catholic Saint “A US Postal worker was just caught on video throwing […]
As thousands take to the streets in cities across the US to protest police brutality, one sex worker in Texas sought to sacrifice her night’s pay for the cause, offering to spend the night with any cop who quits in viral video. At a demonstration in Houston on Tuesday, one of hundreds inspired by the police killing of an unarmed black man in Minneapolis last week, a sex worker going by the pseudonym Phoenix Divina propositioned a skirmish line of riot police, suggesting officers quit their jobs in exchange for her services. “I’ll f**k any police officer that quits today. That […]
Yesenia Ortiz works at a grocery store in Greensboro, N.C. As a low-wage worker, she wishes she would get paid more during the pandemic because of the extra level of risk she is exposed to. Sarah Gonzalez/NPR hide caption toggle caption Sarah Gonzalez/NPR Yesenia Ortiz works at a grocery store in Greensboro, N.C. As a low-wage worker, she wishes she would get paid more during the pandemic because of the extra level of risk she is exposed to. Sarah Gonzalez/NPR Even under a mask, Yesenia Ortiz likes to wear her lipstick, every day. “You know Latina girls,” she says, laughing. She […]
Worker Advocates Condemn Virginia’s Plan To Reopen By Ally Schweitzer, The DCist. May 15, 2020 Worker Advocates Condemn Virginia’s Plan To Reopen2020-05-152020-05-15https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/05/virginia7.jpg200px200px Above photo: Gov. Ralph Northam, left, speaks during a news conference at the Capitol Wednesday March 11, in Richmond. Steve Helber / AP Photo. ‘We Will Not Be Guinea Pigs.’ Immigrant advocates, progressive groups and NAACP chapters in Northern Virginia are calling on Gov. Ralph Northam to cancel his plans to partially reopen the state on May 15. Reopening too soon, advocates say, imperils black and Latinx workers on the front lines. In a remote press conference Thursday, the coalition demanded extensive COVID-19 testing, […]
A Healthcare Worker Answers Governor Cuomo’s ‘Conundrum’ By Mike Pappas, Left Voice. May 14, 2020 A Healthcare Worker Answers Governor Cuomo’s ‘Conundrum’2020-05-142020-05-14https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/05/covid-safety-message-in-nyc-e1589471174696.jpg200px200px Above: COVID-19 safety messages in New York City. From Left Voice. Recent data out of New York City shows a large number of people with COVID-19 have largely been staying home. Governor Andrew Cuomo called this a “surprise.” But capitalism is forcing working-class people to spread the virus. A socialist doctor from New York explains the problem to all the Cuomos of the world. In a recent press conference, Governor Andrew Cuomo highlighted information from a new analysis of COVID-19 […]
Following Mexico’s Worker Strikes, The US Steps In To Keep Border Factories Open By David Bacon, Truthout. May 12, 2020 Following Mexico’s Worker Strikes, The US Steps In To Keep Border Factories Open2020-05-122020-05-12https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/05/a-street-in-a-mexican-barrio-of-maquiladora-workers.-by-david-bacon.-e1589308880732.jpg200px200px Above photo: A street in a Mexican barrio of maquiladora workers. By David Bacon. In Washington, D.C., President Trump is trying his best to reopen closed meatpacking plants, as packinghouse workers catch the COVID-19 virus and die. In Tijuana, Mexico, where workers are dying in mostly U.S.-owned factories (known as maquiladoras) that produce and export goods to the U.S., the Baja California state governor, a former California Republican Party stalwart, […]
Pandemic Crash Shows Worker Co-ops Are More Resilient Than Traditional Business By Brian Van Slyke, Truthout May 11, 2020 Pandemic Crash Shows Worker Co-ops Are More Resilient Than Traditional Business2020-05-112020-05-11https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/05/a-person-walks-past-a-closed-business-in-brooklyn-on-april-23-2020-in-new-york-city.-from-getty-images.-e1589221786825.jpg200px200px Above: A person walks past a closed business in Brooklyn on April 23, 2020, in New York City. By Spencer Patt from Getty Images. While we have no way to know yet the full extent of the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, by all accounts it could be as bad — if not far worse — than the 2008 crash. In fact, in terms of unemployment alone, the numbers are already staggering: more than 33 […]