The UAW Heads South
The South has long remained a nearly impenetrable citadel for labor. Fresh off the success of its Big Three strike, the United Auto Workers wants to storm the castle.
322 Articles by: Alex N. Press
Alex N. Press is a staff writer at Jacobin who covers labor organizing.
We’re in a Class War. Jane McAlevey Actually Acted Like It.
No one believed in and embodied the labor movement’s transformative power more than organizer, strategist, and writer Jane McAlevey.
Workers Need New Heat Protections Immediately
The Biden administration has proposed a desperately needed new heat standard to protect workers from scorching temperatures. Expect business groups to oppose it.
Biden and Trump Debated Who’s More Supportive of Israeli War Crimes
Despite the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, the topic of Israel’s genocide came up only briefly in Thursday’s presidential debate. But Trump and Biden said enough to make it clear that they’re competing over who’s more pro-Israel.
The NLRB Is Testing Out a New Tool to Stop Union Busting
This week, the NLRB handed down its first Cemex order against Station Casinos in Las Vegas, which engaged in heavy-handed union busting before workers lost a vote to unionize. The ruling may force the casino chain to bargain with the union anyway.
The Supreme Court Struck a Blow Against Workers’ Rights
On Thursday, the Supreme Court handed down a decision in a case involving Starbucks and its union, seeing all justices side with the company against workers. The decision will make it easier for employers to get away with firing workers for unionizing.
Workers Deserve the Right to Frown on the Job
Today’s bosses have unparalleled opportunities to monitor workers’ emotions — and punish those workers for expressing anything short of cheeriness.
California’s Academic Strike for Free Speech and Palestine
The recent violence against Palestine encampments across the University of California system has led to an unprecedented labor response: a strike by UAW Local 4811 over alleged violation of rights to free speech and peaceful protest.
Who Will Be the Village Voice of the 21st Century?
The Village Voice was the “loud, open mouth” of New York. Could its equivalent exist today?
Workers Say PEN America Is Slow-Walking Union Negotiations
Unionized employees, pro-Palestine activists demanding a cease-fire call, writers long-listed for a prestigious literary prize: no one seems particularly happy with PEN America right now.
Amazon Flex Drivers Are Constantly at Risk
Behind Amazon’s lightning-fast delivery service is an entire population of Amazon Flex workers, whose wages are meager and whose employment status is as independent contractors rather than Amazon employees.
Chattanooga VW Worker: “This Will Change What People Think Is Possible”
Fresh off of the United Auto Workers’ blowout unionization victory at the Chattanooga, Tennessee, Volkswagen plant, we spoke to a VW worker there about why the drive won and where the UAW goes from here.
Ten of Eric Adams’s Worst Policies, Scandals, and Lies
Eric Adams has had so many scandals and strange public declarations since he took office that it’s easy to lose track of them. To make sure you keep them straight, we’ve rounded up ten of the New York mayor’s greatest hits thus far.
Big Brother Is Watching Amazon and Walmart Warehouse Workers
Both Amazon and Walmart invest massively in highly invasive technological surveillance of their warehouse workforce — surveillance that then enables the hyperexploitation both companies’ workers are subject to.
Archaeologists Are Organizing to Dig Out of Poverty Wages
Field archaeologists work physically demanding jobs exposed to the elements, often for low pay and meager benefits from private employers. We spoke to one self-identified “dirty shovel bum” about why he and his coworkers are organizing.
The Grind Never Stops in Radu Jude’s Latest Film
Filmmaker Radu Jude’s Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World follows a production assistant on a long day’s drive to screen injured Romanian workers for a workplace safety video — painting a bleak, darkly funny portrait of a hollowed-out world.
The Alleged Sexual Assaults on Rikers Island Are Shocking
Me Too was often portrayed as solely focused on elite women’s concerns. That would be news to the prisoners at New York’s Rikers Island who have used a Me Too–inspired law to seek justice for over 700 alleged sexual assaults by guards in the jail.
Georgia Is Trying to Make It Harder for Workers to Unionize
Labor has been stirring recently. That’s unacceptable for bosses, who never rest in their attacks on unions. Case in point: a new bill in Georgia that seeks to ensure the unionization process is as difficult for workers and favorable to bosses as possible.
Farming Under Israeli Occupation Is Brutal
Israel’s attacks on Palestinians aren’t only carried out through guns and bombs. They also come through its vice grip on agriculture, including its system of “water apartheid.” We spoke to a Palestinian farmer and union leader about his labor under occupation.
Hollywood Unions Are Back at the Bargaining Table
Two major strikes by Hollywood writers and actors dominated headlines last year. Only months after the strikes’ end, contract negotiations are now underway for the entertainment industry’s crew members — and the possibility of a strike is not off the table.