Lodge 49 Is a Comedy About Being Broke and Desperate
In AMC’s comedic drama series Lodge 49, webs of debt and despair, disappointed dreams, and displaced lives tie the characters together at first. But it’s solidarity that makes the bonds last.
331 Article(s) by: Alex N. Press
Alex N. Press is a staff writer at Jacobin who covers labor organizing.
Men’s Tennis Players Are Weighing Unionization. But It’s Easier Said Than Done.
Leading men’s tennis players are in preliminary discussions to form a union. Pro sports unions can wield enormous power — but they’re also not always easy to organize.
Strippers Are Workers With the Power to Unionize
Strippers have at least one thing in common with Uber drivers: they’re the victims of rampant labor misclassification at the hands of their bosses. But Brandi Campbell, an adult dancer in Ohio, fought the practice in court and won. The law is clear: strippers are workers with the right to unionize and strike.
What Can Stop Cops In Cities Like Kenosha From Brutalizing Black People Like Jacob Blake?
The outrageous shooting of an unarmed black man in Kenosha shows the difference between elected officials’ kind words and actual progress. The movement against police violence will be fighting for a long time.
Hours Before Planned Capital Strike, Court Grants Uber and Lyft a Reprieve
Last week, Uber and Lyft were ordered to stop misclassifying their drivers as independent contractors. They’ve once again gotten out of doing so, granted a reprieve today by a judge in the face of the companies’ threatened capital strike.
Silicon Valley’s Big-Money Donors Are Very Excited About VP Kamala Harris
With her deep and long-standing ties to the Silicon Valley elite, Kamala Harris’s selection as Joe Biden’s running mate has corporate leaders breathing a deep sigh of relief. In picking the California senator, Biden couldn’t be clearer that his will be an administration dedicated to shoring up a crumbling status quo.
After Years of “Silencing, Repression, and Retaliation” at This Software Company, Workers Decided to Organize
At Epic Systems, a Wisconsin-based software company, workers had complaints that will be familiar to many workers across the United States: an oppressive culture of surveillance and control, executives pushing to end their pandemic-induced working from home. Now, Epic’s workers are organizing.
“Never Underestimate the Ability of the Establishment to Divide and Rule”
In an interview with Jacobin, former Labour Party shadow chancellor John McDonnell discusses Boris Johnson’s handling of the COVID crisis, recalls the radical atmosphere of the 1980s Labour Party, and draws the lessons from Jeremy Corbyn’s five years as party leader.
Workers at Four Pittsburgh Museums Are Unionizing
More than a century after the landmark Homestead strike against Andrew Carnegie’s steel empire, workers at four Pittsburgh museums — including three founded by Carnegie — are unionizing with the United Steelworkers. It’s the latest episode in a nationwide wave of museum organizing.
The Occupation at New York City Hall Has One Demand: Cut the NYPD Budget
Seeking to maintain the momentum of the George Floyd protests, activists have launched an occupation outside City Hall in New York to demand a $1 billion cut in the NYPD budget. So far, there’s little sign that the city council or Mayor Bill de Blasio are prepared to give in.
Sheila Rowbotham on E. P. Thompson, Feminism, and the 1960s
In an interview, longtime socialist-feminist historian Sheila Rowbotham reflects on her decades on the Left, grappling with the reality of being a socialist from the middle class, and E. P. and Dorothy Thompson and the classic book The Making of the English Working Class.
Jeff Bezos Wants Amazon Employees to “Reflect” on Juneteenth. Warehouse Workers Are Organizing Instead.
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos encouraged his white-collar workers to cancel meetings for Juneteenth and “reflect and support each other.” An Amazon warehouse worker fired after organizing for workplace protections thinks that’s “a bunch of bullshit.”
Workers at No Evil Foods Say the Vegan, Progressive Company Busted Their Union Drive
No Evil Foods markets itself as a left-wing, “revolutionary” food company. But its workers say the company recently busted their union drive and fired organizers.
Amazon Is No Ally in the Fight for Racial Justice
During yesterday’s protests against the police murder of George Floyd, Amazon declared that it “stand[s] in solidarity with the Black community — our employees, customers, and partners — in the fight against systemic racism and injustice.” But the company is no racial justice ally — not least because it has resolutely attempted to smash its workers’ organizing efforts.
“They Don’t Think Our Lives Matter as Much as Theirs”
On Monday night, workers at a Chicago Amazon warehouse joined a nationwide wave of walkouts over what they say is management’s inadequate response to the coronavirus pandemic. One of the action’s organizers spoke to Jacobin about it.
You Can’t Go Home Again
We didn’t know we were entering a new era until it arrived. We can never go back.
Andrew Cuomo to New York Construction Workers: Your Money or Your Life
New York governor Andrew Cuomo has issued an executive order requiring all nonessential workers to stay home. But construction workers are still being forced to build luxury condos — more evidence that for capital, high-priced real estate is more important than workers’ lives.
Workers at Tartine Bakery Are Unionizing
The San Francisco Bay Area’s Tartine Bakery is world-famous for its award-winning baked goods. But fame and awards don’t pay workers’ bills or give them a say on the job — which is why those workers say they want a union.
Falling Without a Net
Recent data from the Center for Disease Control show an alarming spike in suicides across the United States. We can’t prevent every suicide by rebuilding our social safety net. But the uptick is a collective failure — one that requires political solutions.
Un-Deadspin
In an often barren media landscape, Deadspin was an oasis of editorial independence and irreverence. So its ultra-rich owners killed it.