Above Photo: Hospital staffers and union organizers waved signs and banners in protest over staffing shortages at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Roseville on Oct. 14, 2021. Fred Greaves for CalMatters. Labor advocates are calling it “Striketober.” As weary health care workers across California enter the 19th month of the pandemic, thousands are walking off the job and onto the picket line, demanding more staffing. The strikes and rallies threaten to cripple hospital operations that have been inundated by the COVID-19 Delta surge as well as patients seeking long-delayed care. More than two dozen hospitals across the state — including some Kaiser […]
Workers
146 posts
Above Photo: Healthcare workers protest over payroll delays in February outside of Allied Community Services East Windsor, CT. (Photo credit: Shana Sureck with the New England Health Care Employees Union, District 1199, SEIU). Group home workers in Connecticut went on strike on Tuesday morning after talks with their employer, Sunrise Northeast, broke down. The workers are demanding higher wages, affordable health benefits and pensions. Sunrise runs 28 group home and day care programs for the intellectually disabled throughout Connecticut. Workers formed picket lines in front of the company’s homes in New London, Hartford, Danielson and Columbia. The workers’ responsibilities include helping […]
This public action by tech workers follows an increasing number of coordinated actions in the sector to pressure Big Tech companies to cancel government contracts for surveillance technology. Google and Amazon workers have published a public letter calling on the two companies to cancel Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion contract for cloud computing services for the Israeli military and government. We know that the Israeli military apparatus will use these services to build weapons and surveillance technology to use against the Palestinian people. Such technology, once tested on Palestinians, is frequently exported back to the United States to be used against marginalized […]
Deere Workers Begin Strike At Midnight Approximately 10,100 workers at agricultural equipment giant Deere and Company began to strike at midnight Central Time early Thursday morning. The workers are located at plants in Iowa, Illinois and Kansas, as well as two parts centers in Georgia and Colorado. The walkout is the first at the company in 35 years and is the largest strike by manufacturing workers in the US since the 40-day strike at General Motors in 2019. “Our time is now!” a Deere worker in Illinois told the WSWS. A second worker added, “We are glad to be going on […]
At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, panic buying seemed to create a shortage of different necessities, including toilet paper. Midway through the COVID-19 pandemic, housing prices started rising drastically, as demand surpassed supply due to shortages of construction materials. As students returned to in-person learning, schools found nutritious food for school lunches more difficult to get, and the U.S. relaxed requirements that schools must comply with federal nutrition standards. Visit any grocery store recently and you are likely to find shelves bare of any number of items. A global shortage of computer chips has created a drastic reduction […]
Above Photo: Barry Lewis/InPictures Via Getty Images With Little National Attention, A Connecticut Dollar General Store Could Soon Help Unions Crack A Vital Low-Wage Industry. In less than two weeks, a tiny group of a half dozen workers in Barkhamsted, Connecticut will vote on whether to become the only unionized Dollar General store employees in America. These six people in a small town about 20 miles northwest of Hartford now find themselves positioned to gain a historic toehold for organized labor inside a booming, low-wage industry. But it will not be easy. Few companies have prospered since the beginning of the pandemic as much as Dollar General. The company […]
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) President Anthony Shelton issued the following statement in support of 1,400 BCTGM members in Battle Creek, Mich. (Local 3G), Omaha, Neb. (Local 50G), Lancaster, Pa. (Local 374G) and Memphis, Tenn. (Local 252G) who are on strike against the Kellogg Company: “The BCTGM International Union stands in unwavering Solidarity with our courageous Brothers and Sisters who are on strike against the Kellogg Company. “For more than a year throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Kellogg workers around the country have been working long, hard hours, day in and day out, to produce Kellogg ready-to-eat […]
Above photo: Workers right now have real leverage to wrest concessions from their bosses. Andreas Klinke-Johannsen, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped from original. It’s time to use it. The capitalist vultures are wheeling low, but they’re finding slim pickings to choose from these days. “No one wants to work!” The bosses whine about a worker shortage—though it’s one they brought about. Eighteenth-century British economist Adam Smith noted how common it is to hear complaints about workers coming together to fight for their interests, and how rare it is to hear about all the scheming the bosses do to plunder workers’ labor. “Masters are […]
Above Photo: Auto Workers (UAW) went on strike against GM and two-tier wages in 2019. Now members are voting for control over their union through an upcoming one-member, one-vote referendum. (Jim West / jimwestphoto.com) United Auto Workers members will soon vote in an unprecedented referendum to decide whether the union’s 400,000 working members and nearly 600,000 retirees will directly elect their top officers. Ballots hit the mail October 19 and are due back November 29. The UAW’s executive officers are currently elected to four-year terms by delegates at its convention. An “Administration Caucus” has dominated these positions for the past seven […]
Above Photo: Striking Mercy Hospital healthcare workers (Credit: Facebook/Ginny Homewood) Roughly 2,200 nurses, aides and health care staff walked off the job Friday morning in Buffalo, New York, to fight for better wages, staffing and working conditions at Mercy Hospital of Buffalo. Workers on the picket line describe horrific conditions at the hospital. Patients’ rooms, hallways, cafeterias and even medical equipment are filthy because the hospital refuses to hire enough workers. “Very poor conditions,” Carrie Dilbert, a registered nurse, told cable news station Spectrum News. “The hospital is not kept up the way it needs to be. It’s very dirty. Very […]
‘We’re All Fighting The Giant’ Faced With Fragility And Uncertainty, Gig Workers Are Connecting Across Borders To Challenge Platforms’ Power And Policies. This past July, Singh was on a midnight run, biking a chocolate mousse cake 7 kilometers across Mumbai, when he was rammed by a drunk driver on a scooter from behind. He got off with a few scratches and sprains, but his bike was badly smashed up. The cost of fixing it — 14,000 rupees ($189) — is about what he takes home in a month working for Zomato, the Indian food and grocery delivery app. So for the last […]
A new report, jointly issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) on work-related deaths for the year 2016, shows that workplace-related diseases and injuries led to the deaths of 1.9 million people in that year. The WHO/ILO Joint Estimates of the Work-Related Burden of Disease and Injury, 2000-2016, conducted before the outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic, gives a glimpse of the terrible toll taken on the international working class by the insatiable profit drive of the corporations. Globally, 34.3 out of every 100,000 people over age 15 die each year from work-related causes. The WHO/ILO study […]
Above Photo: Elvert Barnes. New York City’s 65,000+ food delivery workers were celebrated as essential workers throughout the pandemic. But according to a damning new study, they aren’t actually being treated that way—instead, they routinely earn low wages well below New York’s minimum wage, lack basic labor and employment protections, and face dangerous working conditions on the streets of NYC. The report released this week, which was conducted by advocacy group Worker’s Justice Project in partnership with Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, is a four-month-long survey (December 2020-April 2021) of 500 app-based workers throughout the five boroughs, many of whom work […]
Above Photo: Signs reading “vote” hang outside the Amazon.com, Inc. BHM1 fulfillment center on March 28, in Bessemer, Alabama. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP Via Getty Images) The Warehouse Workers’ Fight Enters Its Second Round, Just When Everyone Thought It Was Finished. Bessemer, ALA. — Here is what a 1920s city looks like in a 2020s world. Along Bessemer’s broad downtown streets sit an array of small shops that have somehow managed to survive into the age of big box retailers: the rug store, the dusty furniture store, the store that sells sewing machines. They sit alongside empty, peeling husks of all the stores that […]
Fed up with low wages and injuries, more than 1,000 HelloFresh kitchen factory workers in Colorado and California are unionizing with UNITE HERE. Last year, HelloFresh, the popular food-kit delivery company that advertises technologically innovative and sustainable approaches to cooking, sold 278 million meals to Americans and doubled its U.S. revenue to $2.4 billion. But on HelloFresh’s assembly lines, workers were unable to afford rent, suffered serious injuries, and were subjected to timers when they used the bathroom, according to workers interviewed by Motherboard. Now 1,300 HelloFresh workers—intent on improving dire circumstances—are unionizing two HelloFresh factory kitchens in Colorado and California. On Tuesday, […]
Above Photo: Striker April Flowers-Lewis’s family ties to the Chicago plant stretch back much further than do those of its current owner, Mondelez. Her grandmother, Rosetta Tudor, worked as a machine operator making saltine crackers for decades before retiring in the 1990s just as Flowers-Lewis was starting her career. Roberta Wood / People’s World. Chicago – “We’re just tired!” April Flowers-Lewis told a rally in support of striking Mondelez workers*.* It’s not hard to see why the folks who make the nation’s cookies and crackers are exhausted and fed up. All through the pandemic, Flowers-Lewis, 48, and her co-workers, members of […]
In recent decades, a top management priority has been reducing the cost of retirement benefits. The pandemic and its economic fallout have generated a new round of employer demands for pension freezes, benefit cuts, plan conversions, and two-tier coverage. The Labor Guide to Retirement Plans (Monthly Review Press), a newly published book by Oregon union activist Jim Russell, shows why and how private and public sector workers should be mobilizing against such concessions. This book will be a critical resource for defending retirement security at the bargaining table and in the political arena. The Labor Guide is not only a highly readable account […]
Google Illegally Surveilled, Interrogated, And Fired Workers Who Tried To Organize By Kenny Stancil, Commondreams. December 5, 2020 Google Illegally Surveilled, Interrogated, And Fired Workers Who Tried To Organize2020-12-052020-12-05https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/12/google_5.jpg200px200px Above photo: Former Google employee Laurence Berland, who was fired by the company in 2019 for labor organizing, says he feels vindicated by the NLRB’s complaint, which comes “at a time when we’re seeing the power of a handful of tech billionaires consolidate control over our lives and our society.” Alex Tai/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images). “For a company with the slogan ‘don’t be evil,’ the findings are pretty damning.” Google repeatedly […]
How Postal Workers Saved The Election By Jane Slaughter, Labor Notes. November 26, 2020 How Postal Workers Saved The Election2020-11-262020-11-26https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/11/po.jpg200px200px Above photo: Postmaster General Louis DeJoy wants to slash 64 million work hours next year, but his plan isn’t the only one on offer. A working group of rank and filers has compiled all the ways his vision is antithetical to the green, expanded, universal Postal Service the public deserves: bit.ly/postalvision. Jim West/jimwestphoto.com. The story of mail ballots in 2020 is the story of a union postal workforce willing to go to extraordinary lengths to make sure that every vote got delivered. […]
City Workers Push For Collective Bargaining Rights By Brett Hall and Jane Alvarez-Wertz, WAVY. November 19, 2020 City Workers Push For Collective Bargaining Rights2020-11-192020-11-19https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/11/vabeach.jpeg200px200px Above photo: WAVY. Virginia Beach, VA – While local government employees are not legally allowed to engage in collective bargaining in the commonwealth until May 1, a group of workers from public utilities and public works making known their desire to have “a seat at the table” as soon as possible. On Tuesday evening, ahead of City Council’s formal session at the convention center, roughly 30 members of the city workforce chanted about the desire for hazard […]
Workers At Fargo Warehouse Strike Over Virus Safety Concerns By Alex Derosier, Inforum. November 19, 2020 Workers At Fargo Warehouse Strike Over Virus Safety Concerns2020-11-192020-11-19https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/11/strike-e1605832126735.jpg200px200px Above photo: Teamsters and workers of Cash-Wa Distributing in Fargo go on strike Wednesday, Nov. 18, citing unsafe conditions. C.S. Hagen / The Forum. Fargo – About 70 employees of a Fargo food distribution business went on strike Wednesday, Nov. 18, calling for resumption of union contract talks and drawing attention to what a union spokesman described as “lackadaisical” COVID-19 precautions at the site. About 20 warehouse workers and truck drivers set up picket lines outside […]
Inmate Kitchen Workers Forced To Serve Expired Meat In Prison November 19, 2020 Inmate Kitchen Workers Forced To Serve Expired Meat In Prison2020-11-192020-11-19https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/11/arizona-department-corrections-e1605827978497.png200px200px Above photo: Arizona Department of Corrections building in Phoenix. Arizona – Incarcerated people who work in the kitchens at the Eyman, Lewis and Yuma state prisons claim they were forced to serve expired meat to their fellow inmates, resulting in foodborne illnesses. Several inmates report being diagnosed with H. pylori infections, which they attribute to the food and unsanitary conditions in the kitchens. The inmates say they were subsequently put on antibiotics in recent days and weeks to […]
Local Veterans, Workers Call Out Union Busting At VA November 17, 2020 Local Veterans, Workers Call Out Union Busting At VA2020-11-172020-11-17https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/11/va-e1605642851746.jpg200px200px Above photo: Workers at the VA Hospital in Minneapolis, members of AFGE Local 1969, rallied for a fair contract Oct. 29, with support from activists in the local chapter of Veterans for Peace. Local veterans and union members who staff the Minneapolis VA Hospital have been publicly calling out the Trump administration in recent months for understaffing in VA facilities and a string of attacks on VA workers’ rights. Members of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents about 260,000 […]
UAW Workers At Johnson Controls On Strike By Teresa Boeckel, York Daily Record. November 16, 2020 UAW Workers At Johnson Controls On Strike2020-11-162020-11-16https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/11/york-e1605534573814.jpg200px200px Above photo: UAW workers rally outside Johnson Controls. Teresa Boeckel. Dozens of union workers at the Johnson Controls facility in Hopewell Township have been on strike since late September, seeking an increase in pay and flexibility with using vacation time. On Thursday afternoon, UAW Local 1872 workers gathered at tents along Renaissance Drive, not far from Interstate 83, for a rally. Arthur Westerfer, a test lab operator, shouted messages through a megaphone toward the massive building. “If you do not give us a […]
Organizing Rural Manufacturing Workers Matters By Cindy Estrada and Chris Schwartz, The Forge. November 10, 2020 Organizing Rural Manufacturing Workers Matters2020-11-102020-11-10https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/11/worker.png200px200px Above photo: Spencer Davis. It’s no secret that the number of manufacturing jobs in the United States has steadily declined over the past few decades, replaced largely by low-wage work in the service sector. But in many rural communities, manufacturing is still the most important part of the local economy. In fact, manufacturing jobs account for 21 percent of all earnings for rural communities, more than triple the income from farming work. Manufacturing represents a particularly important source of employment for […]
Graduate Workers Condemn Saturday Police Escalation By Isabelle Sarraf, The Daily Northwestern. November 4, 2020 Graduate Workers Condemn Saturday Police Escalation2020-11-042020-11-04https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/11/img_5466-e1604530226396.jpeg200px200px Above photo: A sign from Friday’s action, a collaboration between NUGW and NU Community Not Cops. Emily Sakai. NOTE: CBS News reports on the police violence: A few hundred students, nearly all from Northwestern, turned out for the event organized by a group called NU Community Not Cops. It started peacefully, but as the march went on, things changed. Students shared a video with CBS 2 showing firecrackers used as a smaller group of students came face to face with […]
Gig Workers Hired To Evict People From Their Homes By Dominic Gustavo, WSWS. October 28, 2020 Gig Workers Hired To Evict People From Their Homes2020-10-282020-10-28https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/10/evictworker.jpg200px200px Above photo: Civvl. Company website. Million struggle to pay rent. A startup company by the name of Civvl is seeking to recruit temporary “gig” workers to assist landlords in evicting tenants who have been unable to pay rent in the midst of the economic depression triggered by the coronavirus pandemic. Civvl is owned by OnQall, a developer that provides a platform for a number of other app-based services. However, Civvl is markedly different from the other […]
Shipt Workers Demand Better Pay, Treatment By Connor Sheets, AL.com. October 20, 2020 Shipt Workers Demand Better Pay, Treatment2020-10-202020-10-20https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/10/shiptworkers-e1603237658229.jpg200px200px Above photo: Abby Hathcock, a Shipt Shopper and co-organizer of the Sunday demonstration outside the company’s headquarters in downtown Birmingham, addresses the gathering of protesters. Connor Sheets. Alabama – More than 20 Shipt workers demonstrated in front of the grocery delivery company’s headquarters in downtown Birmingham Sunday afternoon. They were there to protest Shipt policies that some of the company’s delivery people – known as Shipt Shoppers – say have led to decreased wages during a global pandemic and continue to leave […]
Young Workers Hit Hard By The COVID-19 Economy By Elise Gould and Melat Kassa, Economic Policy Institute. October 19, 2020 Young Workers Hit Hard By The COVID-19 Economy2020-10-192020-10-19https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/10/worker.jpg200px200px Above photo: Marcel Crozet/ILO. Workers ages 16–24 face high unemployment and an uncertain future. Across the United States, millions of workers of all ages suffered job losses in the coronavirus-driven recession, but the economic impact on young workers has been even more intense. Not only have many young people in this country faced the harsh reality of returning to school without in-person classes at their colleges and high schools, the job prospects for […]
This article was reported for ENEMY Magazine, a new print magazine and newsletter dedicated to reporting on abuses of power in news deserts and underrepresented communities across the United States. Subscribe to ENEMY here. Over the years, Sophia* built up a dependable set of regulars. Sex work paid “enough to survive more than comfortably” and it was work she preferred over jobs she’d had in the past, like working in restaurants or warehouses. Those jobs, she said, were “much more labor intensive for quite a lot less pay.” But when news of the coronavirus first began to circulate in January, business […]
Indigenous Defenders Are Front-Line Essential Workers October 17, 2020 Indigenous Defenders Are Front-Line Essential Workers2020-10-172020-10-17https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/10/sr_1492landback_03-e1602966777587.jpg200px200px Canada – Expect to work 24/7 on-site. There are no benefits, no days off, and shelter is not provided. You will likely face threats, violence, criminalization, and arrest. So, why are some of the most passionate, informed, brilliant, and resourceful people in Canada dedicating themselves to work that is insecure, dangerous, and unpaid? Indigenous cultures are distinct but we share values of community, holistic understandings of all life, and a deep connection to the land and water. We know that colonial definitions of livelihood are incomplete […]
Red lips, scintillating saris, hair tied up with flowers and chiming bangles, or skimpy dresses paired with heels; sought after at night but ostracized by day. This is the imagery the term sex worker arouses in India. Though legal, sex workers are an outcast community beyond the purvey of government welfare schemes. In a breakthrough decision, sex workers in India have now been listed by the National Human Rights Commission Commission’s (NHRC) advisory on COVID-19 under the “Women at Work” section, recognising them as “informal workers”, and thereby enabling access to government welfare schemes. The advisory came as the pandemic has […]
Shipt Workers Organize Targeted Protest Over Pay Model By Chris Mills Rodrigo, The Hill. October 16, 2020 Shipt Workers Organize Targeted Protest Over Pay Model2020-10-162020-10-16https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/10/shipt.png200px200px Above photo: Getty images. Shipt workers, frustrated with the delivery company’s shift to a new, less transparent pay model, are set to strike this weekend before staging protests at both Shipt and Target’s corporate headquarters on Monday. With the pay model now instituted in every market, organizers hope this direct action will send a clear signal to Shipt and Target, which acquired the delivery company in 2017, that workers are unsatisfied by what they say is […]
Workers Tried To Blow The Whistle On COVID19 Hazards By Dave Jamieson, Huff Post. October 15, 2020 Workers Tried To Blow The Whistle On COVID19 Hazards2020-10-152020-10-15https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/10/osha_0-e1602774371956.jpg200px200px Then People Died. A new analysis shows that a spike in complaints to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration precedes a spike in COVID deaths. As soon as the coronavirus pandemic began, workers across the country flooded federal and state offices with complaints that their employers weren’t protecting them from the health threat. The concerns have continued to pour into workplace safety agencies for seven months, totaling nearly 40,000 as of Thursday. It turns out […]
Watching well heeled, well paid and pompous Tories on the news all morning trying to convince us there is no money left in the cookie jar to support millions of workers facing the sack due to increased Covid19 restrictions made me think about nuclear weapons and the narrow contrived parameters of political discourse in the UK. Not one journalist had the cojones to ask how the UK can afford Trident but not to support low paid hospitality workers? Or how these politicians expect us to believe ‘we are all in it together’ while they get a £3,300 wage increase to over […]
Labor Unions File UN Complaint Over ‘Outrageous’ Violations Of Workers’ Rights By Kenny Stancil, Commondreams. October 8, 2020 Labor Unions File UN Complaint Over ‘Outrageous’ Violations Of Workers’ Rights2020-10-082020-10-08https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/10/dept_of_labor.jpg200px200px Above photo: The U.S. Department of Labor building is pictured in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, April 2, 2020. Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images. Covid-19 “has demonstrated that not only is the U.S. violating workers’ rights, but those violations are resulting in people dying.” United States labor leaders representing workers in several trade unions on Wednesday filed a complaint with the United Nations’ labor agency, making the case that under the […]
Saudi Arabia may be the land of two Holy Mosques, but its human rights record is dismal On the evening of October 04, while clearing the social media notifications on my phone, I found a thumb stopper tweet from Saudi Arabia’s Human Rights Council (HRC) that reports directly to Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, King of Saudi Arabia. Here’s what Saudi Arabia’s detention camps look like, the one’s that migrants refer to as ‘hell’ pic.twitter.com/KwAIOfs6Fc — Ömer Kablan (@Kablano) October 4, 2020 The tweet read – #SaudiArabia is committed to strengthening #WorkersRights. Coincidentally, that same morning, I had received two video messages […]
Workers At Amazon Center In Minnesota Walk Out By Joey Peters, Sahan Journal. October 4, 2020 Workers At Amazon Center In Minnesota Walk Out2020-10-042020-10-04https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/10/farhiyo-warsame-e1601820988663.jpg200px200px Above photo: Farhiyo Warsame, pictured here, says Amazon fired her unjustly earlier this week. Jaida Grey Eagle | Sahan Journal ‘You can see the disrespect.’ Workers protest for the second time this year at Amazon’s Shakopee facility. The firing of a coworker triggers Thursday-night job action and picket. Minnesota – About two dozen Amazon employees in Shakopee walked off their jobs Thursday night to support a colleague whom they said was unjustly fired earlier this week. The former […]
Restaurant Workers Are Building Solidarity Amid The Pandemic By Alice Herman, In These Times. October 2, 2020 Restaurant Workers Are Building Solidarity Amid The Pandemic2020-10-022020-10-02https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/10/rest-e1601665058621.jpg200px200px Above photo: Augie’s Coffee, a coffee chain in the Inland Empire of California, laid off 54 employees during the pandemic only a week after workers announced they would unionize, leading employees to stage a strike in July. Members of the Augie’s Union are part of a growing number of movements, like the Pie Hole Workers Union, to organize restaurant workers. Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times via Getty mages. When workers at a pizza joint refused to train the people […]
COVID-19 Cases Among Health Care Workers Under-Reported By Kristian Hernandez, Fort Worth Star Telegram. October 1, 2020 COVID-19 Cases Among Health Care Workers Under-Reported2020-10-012020-10-01https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/10/0407-testing02.jpg200px200px Above photo: A nurse administers a COVID-19 test at a drive-through testing site in Burleson in April. A new study found that health care workers have almost twice as many cases than reported by the CDC. Amanda McCoy/Star Telegram. Fiana Tulip spent the last 10 weeks trying to figure out how her mother, a health care worker in Dallas, contracted and died of COVID-19. Isabelle Papadimitriou, 64, was a respiratory therapist at the Baylor Scott & White Institute for […]
Brazil’s Landless Workers Persist Through Agroecology By Rafael Forsetto, Civil Eats. October 1, 2020 Brazil’s Landless Workers Persist Through Agroecology2020-10-012020-10-01https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/10/agroecology-e1601581732989.jpg200px200px The rural movement, up against great odds, has become a global model for greater land access and agrarian reform. Just off one of the main highways that crosses the Brazilian state of Paraná, there’s a narrow dirt road that’s easy to miss if you’re not looking for it. The road is bordered on both sides by corn, soy, and wheat. The landscape goes largely unchanged for eight miles until a worn-down sign informs visitors they have arrived in the Contestado Settlement—one […]
After spending most of the first presidential debate shouting incoherently, Donald Trump finished it off with a crystal clear message. “I’m urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully,” he said, stoking fears of potentially violent election day interference. At home in Chicago, Kayleigh Glaza missed Trump’s comment at first. “There was so much yelling and other stuff happening,” she said. One of her friends mentioned it later in a debate night group chat. Glaza, a former writer for a food magazine who was furloughed during the pandemic, felt “scared” when she read the text. She plans […]
Aracely Diaz was at home with her husband and kids when the email arrived, announcing that Disney would lay off 28,000 workers. Diaz has worked as a housekeeper at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California for 19 years. So had her husband, Micael Diaz. The next morning, the couple woke up at 6:30 in the morning, got in their car, and sped north on the I-5 to Sacramento. “It was a shock—we weren’t expecting this,” the 48-year-old said in Spanish. “But we told our kids, ‘Hey, we’re going to go out there. We’re doing this because we want to fight for […]
Workers’ Rights In Globalised Industry By Ben Chacko, Morning Star Online. September 26, 2020 Workers’ Rights In Globalised Industry2020-09-262020-09-25https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/09/bangladesh.jpg200px200px How can we protect them? Over the summer the Morning Star reported on a new study showing that major fashion brands were complicit in union-busting by Third World suppliers in the garment industry. Editor Ben Chacko spoke to IndustriALL general secretary VALTER SANCHES to find out what trade unions can do to tackle abuses stretching across international supply chains. The Covid-19 crisis and the lockdowns imposed as a result hit the garment industry hard, causing order cancellations and job losses in producer countries. […]
The clock is ticking for tens of thousands of pilots, flight attendants, reservation agents and other airline employees, who will likely lose their jobs on Oct. 1 if Congress doesn’t extend federal aid for the airlines. Andrew Harnik/AP hide caption toggle caption Andrew Harnik/AP The clock is ticking for tens of thousands of pilots, flight attendants, reservation agents and other airline employees, who will likely lose their jobs on Oct. 1 if Congress doesn’t extend federal aid for the airlines. Andrew Harnik/AP Among the many things that have been radically changed by the coronavirus pandemic is the airline industry. Air travel […]
After narrowly winning a February 2014 Swiss referendum seeking immigration quotas to limit free movement from EU countries, the Swiss People’s party witnessed their demands being eventually watered down amid Bern’s lengthy talks with Brussels; the party has condemned the compromise which was struck with the EU as a “betrayal”. Switzerland will vote in a referendum on 27 September that is set to decide whether it will end its agreement with the EU on the free movement of people, reported The Guardian. The vote was called by the largest party in the Swiss parliament, the right-wing, anti-immigration Swiss People’s party (SVP), […]
https://cdn1.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo-itemprop.png Sputnik International https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png Sputnik https://cdn2.img.sputniknews.com/i/logo.png https://sputniknews.com/videoclub/202009191080512126-watch-helium-balloons-explode-as-bjp-workers-celebrate-pm-modis-birthday-in-tamil-nadu/ Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s seventieth birthday celebrations on Thursday were marked by events across the country. At least 30 political workers from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sustained minor injuries after an explosion at an event in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. The event was organised to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday on Thursday. In the video, party members can be seen posing with local leader wearing a large heavy garland for a group picture. However, with crackers being heard in the background, sparks from fireworks at the event touched the helium […]
Rows of pinot noir grapevines sit under a blanket of dense smoke from wildfires last week in Oregon’s Arlyn Vineyard. Brett Curtis/Arlyn Vineyard hide caption toggle caption Brett Curtis/Arlyn Vineyard Rows of pinot noir grapevines sit under a blanket of dense smoke from wildfires last week in Oregon’s Arlyn Vineyard. Brett Curtis/Arlyn Vineyard Wildfires are ravaging large swaths of the West in the middle of the wine grape harvest, sending hazardous smoke through picturesque vineyards. It’s forcing many agricultural workers to make a stark choice: Should they prioritize their health or earn badly needed money? “The truth is that I have […]
Millions of gig workers have come to depend on a government lifeline that’s set to expire at the end of the year. Above, a man wearing a face mask walks past a sign saying “now hiring” on May 14 in Arlington, Va. Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images Millions of gig workers have come to depend on a government lifeline that’s set to expire at the end of the year. Above, a man wearing a face mask walks past a sign saying “now hiring” on May 14 in Arlington, Va. Olivier Douliery/AFP via […]
The first indie comedy set entirely at a shiva, the Jewish commemoration of the dead that, at least in North America, has evolved into a ritual that is half-family reunion and half-nosh fest, Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby is intermittently amusing. Like many movies of its ilk, Seligman’s flirts with edgy material but swiftly defuses its transgressive potential. After debuting at SXSW during its swiftly constituted pandemic edition last spring, the film, which had its Canadian premiere this week at this year’s pared down Toronto International Film Festival, is being hailed as a “homecoming” for the Canadian-born Seligman. Shiva Baby’s premise […]
In early July, the Walt Disney Company reopened parts of two amusement parks: Disney World near Orlando, Florida, and Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The former reopened to house the tightly controlled 13-week experiment known as the NBA Bubble, in which staff, players, coaches, and personnel adhered to strict social distancing guidelines and isolation requirements, paired with regular on-site testing. The latter welcomed back its workers with less grandeur, opening up a sprawling outdoor shopping district called Downtown Disney, with a select staff of several hundred. Though they reopened within days of each other, the two parks worked with wildly different resources. […]
The embattled leadership of the U.S. Postal Service warned its elections-integrity task force on Thursday about “issues in the supply chain,” particularly from printers, that risk voters not getting ballots and election mail, according to a recording of the inaugural meeting of the task force acquired by The Daily Beast. “With the dramatic increase of ballots compared to previous elections, in some cases a tenfold increase in the number of ballots in some states, there are some issues in the supply chain,” a senior USPS official informed the group, which consisted of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and other senior USPS officials. […]
Patrick Ryan, technical manager at TikTok, is suing the Trump administration over the president’s executive order aimed at banning business transactions between Americans and TikTok’s parent company ByteDance. Bobby Allyn/NPR hide caption toggle caption Bobby Allyn/NPR Patrick Ryan, technical manager at TikTok, is suing the Trump administration over the president’s executive order aimed at banning business transactions between Americans and TikTok’s parent company ByteDance. Bobby Allyn/NPR Patrick Ryan is sitting on a couch in the garage of his house in California’s San Mateo County. Dressed in aviator-style glasses and cowboy boots, he talks intensely about his job as a technical manager […]
Graduate Workers: ‘Reopening Endangers Students, Highlights Racial Inequalities’ By Northwestern University Graduate Workers, Daily Northwestern. August 28, 2020 Graduate Workers: ‘Reopening Endangers Students, Highlights Racial Inequalities’2020-08-282020-08-28https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/08/nwu-e1598636962223.jpg200px200px Above photo:Graduate students lead a march for equal rights on campus in the spring of 2019. Colin Boyle. It is less than a month before Fall Quarter begins, and despite daily warnings against doing so, Northwestern insists on proceeding with the harmful and dangerous plan of reopening campus. The current fall reopening plan expects students to return to campus while holding most courses remotely. Despite Northwestern’s assurances that they are following best practices, the current […]
The entrance to Herbertstrasse, the heart of the red-light district in Hamburg, Germany. Prostitution is legal in Germany but the coronavirus pandemic prompted lawmakers to ban sex work in March. Rob Schmitz/NPR hide caption toggle caption Rob Schmitz/NPR The entrance to Herbertstrasse, the heart of the red-light district in Hamburg, Germany. Prostitution is legal in Germany but the coronavirus pandemic prompted lawmakers to ban sex work in March. Rob Schmitz/NPR Among the twisting alleys of the St. Pauli district in Hamburg, is the Reeperbahn, Germany’s busiest red-light district. One stretch, Herbertstrasse, is blocked off to women who aren’t sex workers. This […]
The 300,000 members of the National Association of Letter Carriers endorsed Joe Biden for president.The NALC said in their endorsement that the future of the postal service is at stake. There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY mail-in voting should take place this year! ABC News reported: A major union representing U.S. postal workers has endorsed Democrat Joe Biden for president, a move that comes as President Donald Trump has acknowledged starving the postal service of money in order to make it more difficult to vote by mail in November’s election. TRENDING: Police Make Second Arrest in Attack on 7-Year-Old Trump Supporter Outside […]
Above photo: A postal worker feeds mail into a high-speed letter-sorting machine. US Postal Service file photo. Despite a national order not to reinstall letter-sorting machines that had been dismantled over the past month, the Postal Service plants in Tacoma and Wenatchee have done just that, according to workers there. Forty percent of the letter-sorting machines in the Seattle-Tacoma area had been disconnected by Tuesday, when the Postal Service announced a halt to a nationwide machinery purge until after the November election. “I have seen a lot of machinery that has been taken out,” Postal Service truck driver Bob Bockman of Tacoma […]
Ftaim al-Saleh stands in the tent donated by friends and relatives after her four youngest children died when their tent caught fire, as she and her husband were working in the fields. The Syrian refugee couple came to Jordan eight years ago, after airstrikes destroyed their house. Jane Arraf/NPR hide caption toggle caption Jane Arraf/NPR Editor’s note: This story includes details some readers may find disturbing. Ftaim al-Saleh’s young nieces and nephews play in the dirt near her family’s new tent on the road to Amman’s international airport. Her own youngest children are buried up the road — four of them […]
Rescue teams were called in after an explosion and a fire were reported inside an underground facility at a hydroelectric dam in India. Nine people are believed to be trapped inside. According to local media, a fire broke out inside an underground power plant at the Srisailam Dam in Telangana State on Thursday night. Videos from the scene show engineers with fire extinguishers rushing to put out a bright blaze raging on one of the power units. Initial reports say that a short circuit may have caused the fire. #Telangana CM #KCR expressed shock over accident that took place at #Srisailam […]
By Rachana Pradhan and Victoria Knight, Kaiser Health News As the coronavirus crisis deepened in April, Georgia officials circulated documents showing that to get through the next month, the state would need millions more masks, gowns and other supplies than it had on hand. The projections, obtained by KHN and other organizations in response to public records requests, provide one of the clearest pictures of the severe PPE deficits states confronted while thousands fell ill from rising COVID-19 cases, putting health workers at risk. Georgia on April 19 had 932,620 N95 respirator masks—one of the best protections for health workers against […]
During COVID-19, The Risk To Health Care Workers Has Never Been Greater By Sam Pizzigati, Inequality. August 17, 2020 During COVID-19, The Risk To Health Care Workers Has Never Been Greater2020-08-172020-08-17https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/08/covid-patient-in-brooklyn-ny-from-reuters-e1597685886412.jpg200px200px How’s pandemic life been going for you? If you work in America’s health care industry, that depends. That totally depends. If you happen to provide health care services to actual Covid-19 patients — as a nurse or a doctor, an orderly or a physician’s assistant — this has been the year from hell. Amid the worst worldwide pandemic in over a century, you’ve been working long, intense, chaotic hours. You’ve watched […]
Striking workers participate in anti-government protests on Monday in Minsk, Belarus. Misha Friedman/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Misha Friedman/Getty Images Striking workers participate in anti-government protests on Monday in Minsk, Belarus. Misha Friedman/Getty Images The president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, vowed Monday to cling tightly to power as many factory workers walked off their jobs and joined with hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters demanding his immediate resignation. Lukashenko, who had flown by helicopter to a factory in Minsk in hopes of rallying support, was instead met with chants of “Leave!” Speaking to workers, he vowed to “never cave in […]
Campus Workers Sue UNC System Over Unsafe Working Conditions By Kate Murphy, The News and Observer. August 16, 2020 Campus Workers Sue UNC System Over Unsafe Working Conditions2020-08-162020-08-15https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/08/ncstate-e1597541018820.jpg200px200px North Carolina university employees are suing the UNC System, saying working conditions are unsafe as tens of thousands of students return to campuses during the coronavirus pandemic. “Essential workers across UNC System campuses continue to report to work with inadequate protective equipment to ensure their safety,” the UE150, NC Public Service Workers Union said in a statement Monday. Some university employees, including housekeepers and other campus workers, are provided one or two masks […]
New Delhi (Sputnik): At least five Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politicians have been killed in Jammu and Kashmir in past one month by terrorists. The local leaders of the BJP which is gearing up for upcoming elections, first time after the change of special status of Jammu and Kashmir in 2019, have come under attack in the disputed region. Abdul Hamid Najar, 38, succumbed to a gunshot wound after being taken to hospital on Monday after he was attacked by a gunman in the Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir. The district president of the BJP was attacked on Sunday while […]
With the coronavirus spreading, farms try to keep workers like these in Greenfield, Calif. safe through physical distancing and other measures but advocates for laborers say protections are often not adequate. Brent Stirton/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Brent Stirton/Getty Images With the coronavirus spreading, farms try to keep workers like these in Greenfield, Calif. safe through physical distancing and other measures but advocates for laborers say protections are often not adequate. Brent Stirton/Getty Images It’s a busy time for the tomato-producing farms in eastern Tennessee. Farms have staffed up with hundreds of workers, most of whom are Latino. Some live […]
Brute Force Approach To Reopen Benefits Reckless CEOs, Endangers Workers By Sarah Anderson, Inequality.org. August 5, 2020 Brute Force Approach To Reopen Benefits Reckless CEOs, Endangers Workers2020-08-052020-08-05https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/08/pilgrims-e1596651223938.jpg200px200px Above photo: The Pilgrim’s Pride poultry processing plant at the intersection of Webber Street and West Frank Avenue. According to one worker, the plant can have upwards of 1,500 employees working per shift. Joel Andrews/The Lufkin Daily News. A GOP proposal would give corporate CEOs a five year “get out of jail free” card for jeopardizing the health and safety of their workers while threatening the overall economic recovery. In late April, poultry processor Pilgrim’s […]
Amazon Workers Blocked Delivery Trucks For Hours By Lauren Kaori Gurley, Vice. August 5, 2020 Amazon Workers Blocked Delivery Trucks For Hours2020-08-052020-08-05https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/08/amazon.png200px200px Above photo: YouTube/Labor Video. A caravan of protestors demanding increased pay and COVID-19 protections disrupted business at an Amazon Distribution Center in the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday. Amazon warehouse workers shut down deliveries at an Amazon Distribution Center in the San Francisco Bay Area for several hours on Saturday, demanding the company implement more safety measures to protect workers against COVID-19 and increased pay to reflect the cost of living in one of the country’s most expensive […]
Poll workers must take extra precautions this year to protect themselves against the coronavirus. Election experts fear a massive shortage of workers at the polls in November. John Minchillo/AP hide caption toggle caption John Minchillo/AP Poll workers must take extra precautions this year to protect themselves against the coronavirus. Election experts fear a massive shortage of workers at the polls in November. John Minchillo/AP Susan Weiss has been a poll worker in Bethesda, Md., for 16 years. “It’s really quite an experience doing it,” she says. “Setting up all the equipment, putting signs up, putting arrows on the floor, etc. The […]
Stimulus checks are prepared on May 8, 2008, in Philadelphia. In 2020, stimulus checks again went to many Americans, this time during the pandemic’s economic fallout. But some of that money went to thousands of foreign workers not eligible to receive the funds. Jeff Fusco/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Jeff Fusco/Getty Images Stimulus checks are prepared on May 8, 2008, in Philadelphia. In 2020, stimulus checks again went to many Americans, this time during the pandemic’s economic fallout. But some of that money went to thousands of foreign workers not eligible to receive the funds. Jeff Fusco/Getty Images Thousands of […]
Nobody Accurately Tracks Health Care Workers Lost To COVID-19 By Nina Martin, ProPublica. August 3, 2020 Nobody Accurately Tracks Health Care Workers Lost To COVID-192020-08-032020-08-03https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/08/tracking-health-care-workers-by-yann-kebbi-special-to-propublica-e1596474763862.jpg200px200px Above phto: Tracking health care workers by Yann Kebbi, special to ProPublica. Anesthesiologist Claire Rezba started tracking lost health workers almost instinctively. Researchers and industry professionals say the lack of good official data on these deaths is “scandalous” and is putting lives in danger. When police discovered the woman, she’d been dead at home for at least 12 hours, alone except for her 4-year-old daughter. The early reports said only that she was 42, a mammogram technician at a […]
Mount Adams rises in the distance beyond the largely agricultural Yakima Valley, in Yakima, Wash. Elaine Thompson / AP hide caption toggle caption Elaine Thompson / AP Mount Adams rises in the distance beyond the largely agricultural Yakima Valley, in Yakima, Wash. Elaine Thompson / AP It’s strawberry season in northwest Washington’s Skagit Valley. For Ana, a farmworker, that means long days bent nearly doubled over to snap ripe strawberries from low bushes. “You have to lean over a lot to pick strawberries, so of course everything hurts — your legs, your back — everything,” she said in an interview in […]
US Democratic Party Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was blasted on Twitter for proposing that police officers be swapped with mental health staff at schools. Many argued online that the idea would make the schools even less safe. Omar tweeted that “over-policing doesn’t make them safer – it criminalizes Black and brown students.” Along with fellow Representative Ayanna Pressley, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Murphy, she proposed a bill to replace police officers at schools with mental health professionals. Over-policing our schools doesn’t make them safer — it criminalizes Black and brown students. That’s why I just introduced legislation with @AyannaPressley, @ewarren, and […]
A mini-golf complex in Memphis, descended into complete chaos as a mob of hundreds of teenagers trashed the business over a faulty games machine and a four-dollar refund. One irate teenager even spat in an employee’s face. According to local media reports, the Putt-Putt Fun Center was forced to close because of overcrowding Saturday evening, after parents reportedly began dropping their children off en masse. A group of some 300 to 400 teenagers became irate after staff wouldn’t issue an immediate refund after a games machine allegedly took a young girl’s four dollars. Eyewitness video from the scene shows that hell […]
In this audio interview, CoinDesk’s Leigh Cuen and OnlyFans performer Savannah Solo talk about fintech and the sex industry. From distribution platforms to Twitter and bitcoin, she helps break down what sex workers really need from digital tools. For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica, iHeartRadio or RSS. This episode is sponsored by Bitstamp and Crypto.com. Savannah Solo started her OnlyFans account in January 2020 and within a few months became one of the top earners on the platform in her category. She’s never used bitcoin before because she relies on platforms like OnlyFans and Cash App […]
Baseball is back, and I guess that’s nice. But it’s not so nice at all for one group of people—the nearly 40,000 stadium workers who won’t have jobs because there are no fans to be served and catered to. These people—some of whom work part-time, but some full-time throughout the year for different teams playing different sports in the same city—are just out of luck. For a column back in May, I spoke with Aisha Johnson, a stadium worker for the Philadelphia Phillies and the Eagles, and a shop steward for her Unite-Here local. Cleaning up after Phillies games and working […]
Earlier this week, a New York Times article read: “Hands are out as Congress is set to begin negotiating a new round of pandemic stimulus. Airlines, hotels, restaurants. Military contractors and banks. Even Broadway actors.” That “even” hit many of us working theater artists hard. Let me tell you why. The arts in New York City is a major economic engine. According to a study commissioned last year by the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Entertainment, theater is responsible for $1.3 billion in annual economic output, 8,409 jobs, and $513 million in salaries. The Broadway closedown, effective from March 12, has […]
New Tech Labor Movement Unites Office And Gig Workers By Tyler Sonnemaker and Allana Akhtar, Business Insider. July 23, 2020 New Tech Labor Movement Unites Office And Gig Workers2020-07-232020-07-23https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/employee-activism-at-major-tech-companies-like-amazon-and-google-has-been-on-the-rise-especially-since-the-pandemic.-e1595538254838.jpg200px200px Above photo: Employee activism at major tech companies like Amazon and Google has been on the rise, especially since the pandemic. Tech workers across pay scales, job types, geographies, and companies have joined together in unprecedented shows of solidarity. Google was one of the first. Last September, 80 Google contractors working for HCL Technologies voted overwhelmingly to unionize. Engineers at the company advocated for a union a month later, and were later fired. On New […]
Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Louisville are working on a nasal spray they say can help to prevent COVID-19 infections. The spray could be beneficial to health-care workers and others who are at high risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2. But after months of work, development of the spray is now on hold owing to a lack of money—a common problem among drug-developers as more and more possible coronavirus vaccines and therapies compete for a limited pool of research funding. The Pitt-Louisville spray delivers a molecule called Q-griffithsin, which is found in nature in a red algae […]
Paralyzed Companies Rescued By An ‘Army’ Of Volunteer Workers By Jessica Dos Santos, Russia Today. July 20, 2020 Paralyzed Companies Rescued By An ‘Army’ Of Volunteer Workers2020-07-202020-07-20https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/a-member-of-the-productive-workers-army-in-the-midst-of-a-recuperation-operative.-from-epo-e1595271026367.jpg200px200px Above photo: A member of the Productive Workers’ Army in the midst of a recuperation operative. From EPO. The Productive Workers’ Army (EPO) is a grassroots movement composed of Venezuelan workers that came together in 2014. They dedicate their volunteer labor to rescuing various companies that have been paralyzed because of the economic situation which the country is going through, the shortages of spare parts and supplies due to the US blockade, and the various kinds of political destabilization. The […]
Even in a time of record unemployment, some of Dan’s colleagues at an Indiana Walmart have walked off the job. They aren’t quitting over fears of catching COVID-19, he explained. They’re quitting because of customers who become abusive when asked to wear face masks. “A lot of our people have been verbally harassed to the point of breaking down and just quitting,” Dan, who like other workers interviewed in this story used a pseudonym to avoid retaliation from his employer, told The Daily Beast. If anything, jobs like Dan’s are about to get even more complicated. On Monday, Walmart will begin […]
The Unionization Attempt At No Evil Foods Holds Lessons For Workers By Shane Burley, Waging Nonviolence. July 19, 2020 The Unionization Attempt At No Evil Foods Holds Lessons For Workers2020-07-192020-07-19https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/no-evil-foods-ceo-urges-workers-to-vote-against-a-union.png200px200px Above photo: No Evil Foods CEO Mike Woliansky discourages workers from forming a union at a captive audience meeting. YouTube/Jason Koebler. After losing a union election, employees at a growing vegan food company have insights into how to overcome the challenges of organizing in a liberal workplace. Employees who try to unionize their workplace can usually expect what is called a “captive audience” meeting, where management gives their “perspective” on the unionization drive. […]
Dozens of immigrant workers have begun a joint 24-hour fast and sleep-out outside billionaire Jeff Bezos’ $16 million penthouse in Manhattan, to lobby New York authorities to tax the wealthy to help the pandemic-affected poor. High-profile Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is among those behind a campaign to push New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to further tax the mega-rich in the state and use the revenue generated to help workers in need of assistance during the pandemic. Eyewitness footage from the scene shows the workers, joined by city council members, set up camp on Fifth Avenue near the Amazon-owner’s apartment. Following the sleep-out […]
Why Workers Need Voice On Job Now More Than Ever By Sharon Block and Benjamin Sachs, On Labor. July 15, 2020 Why Workers Need Voice On Job Now More Than Ever2020-07-152020-07-15https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/06/uaw-workers-on-strike-over-covid-19-from-trending-news-e1593280680158.jpg200px200px Above photo: UAW Workers on strike over Covid-19, from Trending Buzz News. The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred multiple crises in our country including a public health crisis and an economic one. The need to protect the health of Americans and the need to protect their livelihoods might seem to require disparate approaches. But, as unlikely as it may seem, we believe that rewriting the rules of how workers can act collectively is a key […]
Thousands Of Workers Strike Bath Iron Works By Joe Piette, Workers.org. July 15, 2020 Thousands Of Workers Strike Bath Iron Works2020-07-152020-07-14https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/bath-strike071320-1080×1300-e1594774680481.jpeg200px200px Over 4,300 production workers — represented by Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAMAW) Local S6 — walked off the job at the Bath Iron Works shipyard June 23 after unsuccessful contract negotiations. Workers had made concessions in their last contract, but are reluctant to agree to attacks on seniority rights, increased health care costs and subcontracting which threatens current workers’ jobs. Bath Iron Works is one of the U.S. Navy’s largest shipbuilders and a major employer in Maine, with a total of […]
Health Editor’s Note: America has lost 3,000 (probably a low figure) of healthcare and essential workers to COVID-19 during this coronavirus pandemic. At the beginning of the pandemic there was a sketchy number of personal protection supplies available to protect those who were in contact with COVID-19 infected patients. Healthcare workers worked in unsafe environments. Now, even with mostly adequate PPEs, being in constant contact with the coronavirus increases the chances of contracting the virus. As the wildfires of COVID-19 continue to burn, stress and anxiety of daily facing a demon virus, with no set cure or vaccine for, is taking […]
Bastille Day: Protests As France Gives Tribute To Health Workers By Zoe Tidman, The Independent. July 14, 2020 Bastille Day: Protests As France Gives Tribute To Health Workers2020-07-142020-07-14https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/pri157864283-e1594749906918.jpg200px200px Above photo: French health workers attend a demonstration on the Bastille Day in Paris to urge the French government to improve wages and invest in public hospital in the wake of the coronavirus. Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes. Healthcare staff protested in France as the country celebrated Bastille Day, marked by a ceremony celebrating frontline workers during the coronavirus outbreak. Unions called for demonstrations after they said a new deal that gives a pay rise to health and care workers did […]
Green Party Nominates Two Workers For The White House By Margaret Flowers and Kevin Zeese, Clearing the FOG. July 13, 2020 Green Party Nominates Two Workers For The White House2020-07-132020-07-13https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/2020-hawkins-ready-to-debate.jpg200px200px The Green Party of the United States held its presidential nominating convention, a virtual convention, this past weekend. The nominees are Howie Hawkins, a co-founder of the party and the first candidate to bring the Green New Deal to the US, for president and Angela Walker for vice president. Both are members of the working class – a retired Teamster and a truckdriver. Both are also lifelong socialists who are working […]
By Melissa Bailey and Christina Jewett, Kaiser Health News James “Mike” Anderson was a hospital employee in suburban Philadelphia with a low-profile though critical job: changing air filters in COVID patients’ rooms. By late March, new COVID cases in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, had ramped up to as many as 90 per day. At the hospital, Anderson handled air filters and other surfaces that might have been contaminated with the deadly virus, also known to hang in the air. In early April, Anderson, 51, came down with what he thought was a cold, according to his family’s lawyer, David Stern. On April […]
Sex workers held a protest urging authorities to end the lockdown for brothels in the northern German city of Hamburg. Brothels have remained closed for more than three months due to Covid-19 restrictions. The women, some of whom wore lingerie, held up signs reading “We are hygiene professionals,” and “We pay taxes and now nobody helps us!” A similar protest took place in Berlin outside the parliament building last week. Brothels have been shut down since mid-March due to the Covid-19 outbreak. Sex workers argue that their workplaces should be reopened as Germany is gradually lifting its quarantine restrictions, and sex […]
How Black And Brown Workers Are Redefining Strikes By Mike Elk, Payday Report. July 9, 2020 How Black And Brown Workers Are Redefining Strikes2020-07-092020-07-09https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/strike-for-black-lives-matter-movement-777×437-e1594312360770.jpg200px200px Above photo: Participants gather at The One Million Man March rally at Daley Plaza in Chicago on Juneteenth, June 19, 2020. Jose M. Osorio/Chicago Tribune. During George Floyd’s funeral on June 9th, Black dockworkers in Charleston, S.C., shut down the nation’s 4th busiest port and gathered to show their solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement. “All operations stopped, the terminals were shut down, no machines were working, trucks were backed up for miles along the interstate because […]
Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced the second phase of the UK government’s economic response to the Covid-19 pandemic which aims to protect, create and support employment saying that the government has spent £160 billion so far since the beginning of lockdown. Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled plans for a job retention bonus, a “kickstart” job creation scheme for young people and to increase the stamp duty threshold as part of his mini-budget announcement at the House of Commons on Wednesday. In his opening speech Sunak said that people were anxious about losing their jobs and rising unemployment, as the UK economy has shrunk […]
FCA Toledo Jeep Workers Support Call For Rank-And-File Safety Committees July 4, 2020 FCA Toledo Jeep Workers Support Call For Rank-And-File Safety Committees2020-07-042020-07-04https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/workers-at-fca-toledo-jeep-from-carscoop-e1593890306731.jpg200px200px Above photo: Workers at FCA Toledo Jeep from CarScoop. Support for rank-and-file safety committees continues to grow among autoworkers, following the initiation of committees last week by workers at Fiat Chrysler’s Jefferson North (JNAP) and Sterling Heights (SHAP) assembly plants. Autoworkers around the US have widely shared reports from the World Socialist Web Site about the courageous stand taken at the two Detroit-area plants, where workers stopped work to protest unsafe conditions and demand information about the spread of COVID-19 in their plants. Anger is […]
Workers Filed More Than 4,100 Complaints About Protective Gear By Christina Jewett and Shefali Luthra and Melissa Bailey, Kaiser Health News. July 2, 2020 Workers Filed More Than 4,100 Complaints About Protective Gear2020-07-022020-07-02https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/ppe-e1593714767878.jpg200px200px Above photo: Public health workers, doctors and nurses protest over lack of sick pay and personal protective equipment outside a hospital in the Bronx in New York City. Giles Clarke/Getty Images. Some Still Died. COVID-19 cases were climbing at Michigan’s McLaren Flint hospital. So Roger Liddell, 64, who procured supplies for the hospital, asked for an N95 respirator for his own protection, since his work brought him into the same room as COVID-positive patients. […]
These Workers Don’t Get Aid And Are Going Hungry By Rebecca Chowdhury, In These Times. July 2, 2020 These Workers Don’t Get Aid And Are Going Hungry2020-07-022020-07-01https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/07/workers-e1593655941714.jpg200px200px Above photo: People wait in line to receive food at a food bank on April 28, 2020 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images. A Tax on New York Billionaires Could Help Them. Coronavirus cases continue to climb across the Southern and Western United States. In New York, previously the nation’s epicenter, many of the residents reeling from the economic consequences are excluded from any government assistance. Clara Cortes lives in […]
New Delhi (Sputnik): Frontline healthcare workers in India have been celebrated multiple times by the government and individuals. The commitment and sincerity of the health staff was appreciated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who directed the nation to light lamps, clap for them, and even ensured floral showers by jets over hospitals. To express gratitude for the tireless commitment of medical workers, Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo has launched its “Tough Cookie” campaign by offering a 25% “Tough Cookie” discount on the airfares valid for sale and travel from 1 July to 31 December this year. Doctors and nurses can avail the […]
As coronavirus cases persist and some states even backtrack their reopening plans, essential workers have flooded social media with calls for hazard pay. Malte Mueller/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Malte Mueller/Getty Images As coronavirus cases persist and some states even backtrack their reopening plans, essential workers have flooded social media with calls for hazard pay. Malte Mueller/Getty Images A strange thing happened this spring. As co-workers began to get sick, essential worker Yudelka LaVigna took an unpaid leave of absence. When she got her unemployment benefits, she realized something unheard of: She was making more money not working. “That just […]
Whole Foods Is Quietly Telling Workers Not To Show Black Lives Matter Support By Nicole Karlis, Salon. June 30, 2020 Whole Foods Is Quietly Telling Workers Not To Show Black Lives Matter Support2020-06-302020-06-30https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/06/whole-foods-board-up-in-brooklyn-ny-e1593529157780.jpg200px200px Above photo: People go shopping at a Whole Foods Market store, which is boarded up after a night of protest over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on June 1, 2020, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. This week, a group of Whole Foods workers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, walked out after being told they couldn’t wear Black Lives Matter masks because they weren’t part of “the company […]
Cops lie, not just often, but with the bravado and confidence of people who know they will neither be caught nor held accountable. And plenty of those lies are made against people working for crap wages and no benefits in the service industry. In recent weeks, New York City officers fabricated poisoned Shake Shack milkshakes, a Georgia cop paranoia-conjured a tainted McMuffin, and a Los Angeles officer tweeted photos of what is definitely not a tampon-contaminated coffee. The trail of lies goes back years prior, and includes a Utah cop accusing a Subway employee of putting THC and meth in his […]
Detroit Fiat Chrysler Workers Halt Production For Second Day By Jessica Goldstein, WSWS. June 28, 2020 Detroit Fiat Chrysler Workers Halt Production For Second Day2020-06-282020-06-28https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/06/uaw-workers-on-strike-over-covid-19-from-trending-news-e1593280680158.jpg200px200px Above photo: UAW Workers on strike over Covid-19, from Trending Buzz News. Demand COVID-19 Protection. Workers continued their courageous production stoppage at the Fiat Chrysler Jefferson North Assembly Plant (JNAP) in Detroit on Friday. Workers on “B crew” entered the plant at 4:30 p.m. and refused to work under conditions where basic safety and health protocols, including social distancing measures and cleaning guidelines, are being flouted by the corporation and the United Auto Workers union (UAW) in order to […]
Families Of Deceased Workers Sue Tyson Over Outbreak At Meatpacking Plant By Ryan J. Foley, AP News. June 28, 2020 Families Of Deceased Workers Sue Tyson Over Outbreak At Meatpacking Plant2020-06-282020-06-28https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/06/tyson-food-sign-outside-of-offices-in-waterloo-iowa.-by-charlie-neibergall-ap.-e1593281663458.jpg200px200px Above photo: Tyson Food Sign outside of offices in Waterloo, Iowa. By Charlie Neibergall, AP. The families of three workers who died after contracting the coronavirus in an Iowa meat plant outbreak sued Tyson Foods and its top executives Thursday, saying the company knowingly put employees at risk and lied to keep them on the job. The lawsuit alleges that Tyson officials were aware the virus was spreading at the Waterloo […]