Worker Rights

Recognizing The Economic Need For Undocumented Immigrants

August 5, 2024 Mark Kreidler, Scheer Post. Educate! California, Finance and the Economy, Immigration, Worker Rights

The conversation around undocumented immigrants in California is inherently political, tied up in dogma and imagery. And because the state has more undocumented people than any other, it often functions as a surrogate for the national debate. To some researchers studying it, that’s too bad — not because the human and political components of the discussion should be ignored, but because there’s a bigger picture at play in California: The state simply wouldn’t function without the work of undocumented immigrants. Quietly, in the spaces beyond rhetoric, a host of different industries understand that truth. Their profits depend on it.

Capitalism And Democracy Are Opposites

August 4, 2024 Richard Wolff, LA Progressive. Educate! Autocracy, Capitalism, Democracy, Worker Rights

Fans of capitalism like to say it is democratic or that it supports democracy. Some have stretched language so far as to literally equate capitalism with democracy, using the terms interchangeably. No matter how many times that is repeated, it is simply not true and never was. Indeed, it is much more accurate to say that capitalism and democracy are opposites. To see why, you have only to look at capitalism as a production system where employees enter into a relationship with employers, where a few people are the boss, and most people simply work doing what they are told to do. That relationship is not democratic; it is autocratic.

Three Weeks Into Strike, Park Workers Shut Down Park Board Meeting

July 26, 2024 Fight Back! News. Resist! Minneapolis, Parks, Strikes, Worker Rights

Minneapolis, MN – Minneapolis park workers have been on strike since July 4, after seven months of negotiations failed to lead to a contract that they could accept. The park workers are represented by the Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA), Local 363. On Wednesday July 24, the park workers decided it was time to take their fight to the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board meeting and make them face the workers. The board had intended to vote on a resolution to move a proposal at the bargaining table. However, after LIUNA members and supporters held a picket line for three hours, and packed the board room, ultimately the meeting adjourned with no other business being conducted except approving the meeting agenda.

A Student Movement Sets Out To Conquer Bangladesh

July 22, 2024 Santiago Montag, Left Voice. Resist! Bangladesh, India, Repression, Worker Rights, Youth Activism

The university campuses of Dhaka are usually peaceful spaces, far from the din of the traffic of the city outside. The buildings of Jahangirnagar University are immersed in the jungle forests of the Bay of Bengal where the youth can enjoy exchanging ideas in the tea rooms and train for their future. Dhaka University also boasts of large parks that seek to generate the same tranquility and seclusion. Until a few days ago, few would have guessed that the youth of these campuses would flood the streets of the capital and start a major rebellion that would soon spread across the country, sparking an unprecedented crisis that would put the current Awami League government on the ropes.

(Mostly) Useful Government Numbers About Poverty, Jobs, Unemployment

July 19, 2024 Frank Stricker, Dollars and Sense. Educate! Inflation, Poverty, Unemployment, Worker Rights

The federal government generates millions of economic numbers in thousands of publications every year. Some of these publications can be useful for those of us who want to lift working-class living standards and build political support for shifting much more income to the working class and away from the ultra-rich households at the top of the income scale. But not all are as useful as they should be. I discuss and evaluate key publications in five areas. Much government information can be used to construct arguments for our side. The Poverty Line: A Failed Number Does the federal government regularly publish estimates of what a reasonably comfortable living standard would be for an average household?

The Library Is A Commons

July 15, 2024 Emily Drabinski, In These Times. Strategize! Libraries, Socialism, The Commons, Worker Rights

The Montana State Library Commission voted 5-1 (with one abstention) in July 2023 to rescind its membership in the American Library Association because of the ALA’s then-president: a self-proclaimed Marxist lesbian, which is to say, me. Despite their claims, that does not mean the entire field is socialist, nor is the professional association, which is nonpartisan and dedicated to advocating for libraries and the professional development of library staff. Who knows how many of us are card-carrying socialists (probably not too many, as the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a total 140,000 library workers while membership in the Democratic Socialists of America stands at about 80,000, most of whom likely don’t work in libraries — yet), but there’s a reason the Right is suspicious of libraries as an institution.

New York Amazon Workers Demand Paid Juneteenth Holiday

July 12, 2024 Kenneth Guy and Dylan Maraj, Labor Notes. Resist! Amazon, Juneteenth, Unions, Worker Rights

Six hundred of our Amazon co-workers at five warehouses around New York signed a petition demanding starting wages of $25 an hour, time-and-a-half pay for Prime Day (July 16-17), seasonal workers converted to permanent status within 30 days of employment, and Juneteenth as a paid holiday. The June 19 holiday celebrates the end of slavery in the U.S. and became a federal holiday in 2021—the first new federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was recognized in 1983. We organized petitions across five warehouses: sort center LDJ5 on Staten Island, where packages are routed to local facilities; the massive fulfillment centers JFK8 on Staten Island and SWF1 in the Hudson Valley, where customer orders are packed; and delivery stations DBK4 and DNJ3 in Queens and the Bronx, where packages are put into delivery vehicles and dispatched to mailboxes or doorsteps.

Tipping Is A Racist Relic

July 12, 2024 Nina Mast, Economic Policy Institute. Educate! Racism, Service Workers, Slavery, The South, Tipping, Worker Rights

In most of the country, workers in restaurants, bars, nail salons, barber shops, and various other service jobs are paid differently than workers in virtually all other occupations. For these workers, a large portion (in many cases all) of their take-home pay comes from gratuity or “tips” provided directly from the customer. While employers of workers in nearly all other occupations must pay at least the minimum wage, federal and most states’ laws establish a lower “subminimum wage” for tipped workers that effectively passes the responsibility for compensating these workers from their employers to their clientele.

The National Education Association Just Locked Out Its Own Staffers

July 9, 2024 Kim Kelly, Truthout. Educate! Lockout, National Education Association, Strike, Unions, Worker Rights

The largest labor union in the United States is not the Teamsters, the United Auto Workers or the Steelworkers — it’s the National Education Association (NEA), which represents 3 million educators, retired educators and soon-to-be-educators across the country. Led by President Becky Pringle, the union is used to squaring off against powerful school administrators and government officials to defend its members’ interests. However, this past week, the union’s leadership shocked observers across the labor movement by taking drastic action against its own staffers. The conflict between NEA leadership and the National Education Association Staff Organization (NEASO) has been escalating for months.

A Just Transition Guaranteed By International Law Is Within Reach

July 6, 2024 Ruwan Subasinghe and Jeff Vogt, Portside. Strategize! Environment, Just transition, Labor Movement, Worker Rights

In 2021, we argued that the core elements of any conceptualisation of a just transition is already well-rooted in international human rights law. We contended that a just transition should not be considered merely as an abstract public policy concept but rather as a human right. Since that time, there have been major legal and policy developments forging momentum towards a standalone human right to a just transition. On 31 December 2021, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights issued Resolution No. 3/2021 Climate Emergency: Scope of Inter-American Human Rights Obligations.

Union Jobs, At Your Fingertips

July 4, 2024 Stand, Portside. Create! Jobs, Labor Movement, Unions, Worker Rights

Union workers make more than non-union workers, on average by more than 10%. For women, that differences is more than 20%. That’s a crucial pay bump for many working people, not to mention the job security, workplace protections, and earned respect that come with a union contract. These differences can be life changing. Wanting a union job is one thing — but finding a union job is another. Enter the Virtual Union Hiring Hall, a collaborative project between the Presidents’ Organizing Initiative (POI) housed at the Martin Luther King Jr. County Labor Council (MLK Labor) and Partner in Employment (PIE).

How Workers Are Winning Fans, Air Conditioning, And Even Heat Pay

June 21, 2024 Keith Brower Brown, Labor Notes. Resist! extreme heat, health, Strikes, Unions, Worker Rights, Workplace Safety

If you’re dreading summer on the job this year, you’re not alone. Every month last summer was the most scorching on world record. Trapped under heat domes, dozens of metro areas busted their longest streaks ever of highs over 100 degrees. Phoenix afternoons were over 110 for a month straight. On asphalt yards nearly hot enough to melt, bonus-hungry managers forced workers to keep up the usual pace. The results were lethal. In 2022, the latest year for which we have data, 43 U.S. workers lost their lives to heat on the job. That’s up from 36 in 2021, and we can expect this cruel number to keep climbing.

Inmates Challenge Motion To Dismiss In Alabama Forced Labor Federal Lawsuit

June 12, 2024 Alander Rocha, Black Agenda Report. Resist! Alabama, Criminal Justice and Prisons, Forced Labor, Human Rights, Legal System, Prison Labor, Worker Rights

Incarcerated individuals in Alabama have filed a 214-page response opposing a motion to dismiss their lawsuit accusing state prisons of using slave labor. The case involves multiple claims against state officials, private employers and local governments alleging Alabama’s prison labor program system is a form of modern-day slavery. Each defendant filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that counsel for plaintiffs did not state a legal claim in the lawsuit. “Despite Defendants’ strenuous efforts to dispute Plaintiffs’ well-founded allegations—a strategy that cannot justify dismissal of Plaintiffs’ claims at this juncture...

A Historic Ruling: NCAA Ordered To Pay Student Athletes

May 29, 2024 Otis Grotewohl, Workers' World. Create! Athletes, Higher Education, NCAA, Sports, Victory, Worker Rights

A historic working-class victory was achieved on May 23, when the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) bosses agreed to settle three federal antitrust cases that were filed by three student athletes. The agreement will allow schools to directly pay student players for the first time in history. In what is known as the “amateurism model,” college athletes have traditionally been excluded from receiving any compensation for their athletic talent, name recognition and labor. The recent settlement is expected to change that super-exploitative practice. The NCAA Board of Governors, as well as the parasitic leaders of its five “power conferences” — the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten, Big 12, Southeastern Conference (SEC) and Pac-12 — agreed to pay more than $2.8 billion in back pay and damages over the next 10 years to both past and current athletes.

NYC’s Independent Recyclers Emerged From Pandemic Stronger Than Ever

May 25, 2024 Oscar Perry Abello, Next City. Create! New York City (NYC), Pandemic, Recycling, Worker Rights

New York’s canners and lateros have acquired property, created a redemption facility and community hub – and begun to organize. Josefa Marin and her partner Pedro Galicia arrive at 6:30 a.m. most mornings outside the Sure We Can Redemption Center in Brooklyn’s trendy Bushwick neighborhood. The facility itself won’t open for another hour, but in the meantime they get a head start on sorting through the cans and bottles they’ve collected the previous night from apartment buildings, restaurants, bars, clubs or events where organizers have tabbed the couple to help out with recycling.

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