Hollywood Is on Strike Against High-Tech Exploitation
Will average entertainment workers be able to eke out a living in an industry awash in cash, or will studio executives use new tech like AI to gobble it all up?
253 Articles by: Alex N. Press
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Alex N. Press is a staff writer at Jacobin who covers labor organizing.
Trump Is Speaking Tonight in Michigan at a Nonunion Auto Shop, as a Guest of Its Boss
For days, the mainstream media has said Donald Trump is going to Michigan to speak to union autoworkers. That’s completely false: he is traveling there today to speak at a nonunion auto-parts shop, at the invitation of its boss.
After 146 Days on Strike, Hollywood Writers Have Reached a Tentative Agreement
Late last night, the Writers Guild of America announced they have reached a tentative agreement with the Hollywood studios. The union’s negotiating committee is calling the deal “exceptional,” but it’s now up to rank-and-file writers to vote on it.
The UAW Has Disrupted Business as Usual. And They May Turn Up the Pressure Tomorrow.
The UAW has given the Big Three until noon tomorrow to make progress at the bargaining table or face a strike escalation. One week in, the historic walkout has already left politicians and bosses alike scrambling amid an utterly justified worker action.
The UAW Strike Matters for the Entire US Working Class
The United Auto Workers, headed by a new reform leadership, are set to strike the Big Three automakers at midnight tonight. The entire working class will be watching to see if autoworkers can claw back decades of concessions and win a transformative contract.
Striking Writer Alex O’Keefe: “A Culture of Solidarity Has Swept Hollywood”
The WGA strike is now in its fifth month. We spoke to Alex O’Keefe, former writer on FX’s The Bear, about the exhilarations and anxieties of striking and the fight to turn Hollywood into a place of solidarity and creativity rather than capitalist competition.
Striking Workers Should Be Eligible for Unemployment Insurance
Most workers in the US are barred from claiming unemployment benefits if they go on strike, penalizing them for exercising one of their most fundamental rights. New legislation in California and elsewhere is trying to rectify that injustice.
For the Jacksonville Shooter, Dollar General Was an Easy Target
Dollar General workers have long raised the alarm about their vulnerability to violence due to understaffing and lack of security. They were tragically proven correct in Jacksonville when a white man murdered three black people at a Dollar General.
The Hollywood Studios Still Aren’t Serious About Ending the Writers’ Strike
Even after more than one hundred days of a nationwide strike of Hollywood writers, studio heads are monumentally out of touch with the most basic demands that those writers are unified around winning.
Trader Joe’s Workers Are Carrying Out an Experiment in Independent Unionism
Independent unions are a real rarity in the US labor movement. But at multiple stores across the country, Trader Joe’s workers are organizing outside of established unions.
Shawn Fain Is Right: The Workweek Should Be Shorter
UAW president Shawn Fain has called for a 32-hour workweek. It’s the revival of an old vision in the US labor movement — and the sort of ambition overworked and underpaid employees need.
The American Political Science Association’s Profile in Cowardice
In declining to cancel its annual conference at Southern California hotels where workers are on strike, the American Political Science Association is refusing to sacrifice for workers whose cause is just. There’s a word for that: “cowardice.”
Newly Unionized Amazon Delivery Drivers Say the Company Is Hiding Behind Subcontractors
Like many corporations, Amazon has used subcontractors to avoid responsibility for working conditions and pay. A group of Palmdale, California, subcontracted workers wants to force Amazon to change that.
The New UAW Is Ready to Fight the Big 3 Automakers
This week, the UAW presented proposals to automakers in contract negotiations covering some 150,000 workers. Autoworkers want big raises, an end to tiers, and the right to strike over plant closures — and conditions appear favorable for them to win.
Can the UAW Rise Again?
Despite the ravages of deindustrialization, the United Auto Workers remains the most important American industrial union. Members recently elected a new leadership promising democracy, militancy, and an end to corruption. But change isn’t coming easy to the UAW.
Southern California Hotel Workers Are on Strike Against Automated Management
On top of issues like low pay, workers are up against faceless algorithmic management that can punish them for various offenses — including for refusing to cross picket lines. Workers at a hotel in Southern California are on strike against this practice.
Hollywood Is on Strike Against High-Tech Exploitation
As both writers and actors are on the picket lines in Hollywood, the stakes couldn’t be higher: Will average entertainment workers be able to eke out a living in an industry awash in cash, or will studio executives use new tech like AI to gobble up all of it?
As Amazon Refuses to Bargain, Divisions Have Emerged in the Amazon Labor Union
More than a year after the Amazon Labor Union’s landmark victory at a Staten Island warehouse, Amazon still refuses to bargain with the union. Meanwhile, a reform caucus is pushing for the ALU to hold leadership elections.
Adam Pickets Everything
During the ongoing Hollywood writers’ strike, comedy writer Adam Conover has been a constant presence on picket lines and on social media, explaining what’s at stake for strikers and how the union plans to win. We spoke to him about the strike.
Teamsters Are Close to the Largest Strike in Decades
Today Teamsters are erecting practice picket lines as the July 31 expiration of their contract with UPS rapidly approaches. After negotiations broke down yesterday, the second-largest strike at a single employer in US history is a real possibility.