Philly’s City Worker Strike Has the Garbage Piling Up
Philadelphia’s blue-collar municipal workers have entered their second week on strike. The city’s lowest-paid employees, AFSCME District Council 33 members are demanding a living wage.
19 Articles by: Mindy Isser
Mindy Isser works in the labor movement and lives in Philadelphia.
Cancer Is Killing Our Firefighters
In 2023, the World Health Organization classified the act of firefighting as a Group 1 carcinogen, just like asbestos and tobacco. Both the fires themselves and the very gear firefighters wear on the job are making them sick.
After a Historic Strike, UAW Members Have Ratified Contracts With the Big Three Automakers
United Auto Workers members have officially ratified contract agreements with the Big Three automakers following a historic six-week strike. The vote totals at Ford, Stellantis, and GM largely reflect worker satisfaction with big gains.
Bernie Sanders Is Rallying to Build Working-Class Power
Bernie Sanders is holding rallies in cities across the country — not to stump for candidates but to broadcast ordinary people’s struggles, build enthusiasm for the labor movement, and promote pride among the working class. That’s exactly what we need.
Netflix’s Maid Offers a Rare Portrayal of Low-Wage Domestic Work
Adeptly exploring the compound effects of low-wage work, unsupported parenthood, and our broken social support system, Maid rings true for millions of working-class women.
Save the Post Office — Fire Trump’s Postmaster Louis DeJoy
The Trump-nominated postmaster general Louis DeJoy is still in charge of the US Postal Service — and he’s still trying to run it into the ground. Joe Biden must do everything he can to boot DeJoy from office.
Joe Biden’s Amazon Workers Statement Was a Start. But the PRO Act Is the Litmus Test.
Joe Biden’s statement yesterday about the Amazon union drive in Alabama hit pro-labor notes. But he’ll have to back up his rhetoric with concrete action: Biden must fight to pass the PRO Act.
Unions and Social Justice Go Hand in Hand
Brooklyn Friends School, a Quaker institution in New York City, teaches its students to work for social justice — yet it’s engaging in union-busting against its teachers and staff. So starting today, workers are launching an indefinite strike.
The Philadelphia Museum of Art Fought Them — These Workers Organized Anyway
Earlier this month, workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, one of the largest art museums in the world, voted overwhelmingly to unionize. We spoke with two workers about how they fended off the museum’s fierce anti-union campaign — and why all white-collar workers should organize.
“Bosses Can’t Be Anti-Racist, Their Job Is to Exploit People”
When workers at Minneapolis’s Tattersall Distilling tried to secure safe working conditions during the pandemic, their bosses blew them off. So now they’re fighting to unionize. We spoke with a Tattersall worker about the organizing drive — and why racial justice has been central to their unionization push.
“You’ll Have Many Teachers Refuse to Go In”
With the push to reopen public schools amid a still-raging pandemic, many teachers are sounding the alarm. We spoke with one Philadelphia high school teacher who has been organizing his coworkers — and the end result may be a massive strike.
Minneapolis Bus Driver: “It’s Imperative That Unions Fight for All Workers”
Unions must play a central role in the fight against police brutality. We spoke with a rank-and-file bus driver in Minneapolis who is organizing his coworkers to refuse to assist police in transporting protesters — because, he says, “an injury to one is an injury to all.”
Jeff Bezos Shouldn’t Be a Billionaire, Much Less a Trillionaire
Jeff Bezos is reportedly on pace to be the world’s first trillionaire. That’s a grotesque indictment of our society — and the only way to change it is to organize Amazon workers to wrest back the extraordinary power and wealth that Bezos is hoarding.
The Post Office Is a National Treasure. We Can’t Let the Privatizers Destroy It.
The Post Office is a national treasure, providing service everywhere from the smallest town to the biggest city and offering a rare example in US society of democratic values prevailing over private profits. We can’t let the Post Office’s opponents use the coronavirus crisis to dismantle this vital universal service.
We Don’t Have to Live in a Society of Massive Inequality and Unnecessary Death
The extraordinary generosity of ordinary people and the immense courage of essential workers have been on full display throughout the pandemic. We need to build an economy that harnesses this basic goodness in humanity — and guarantees every worker the dignity, safety, and material well-being they deserve.
Workers at Amazon, Whole Foods, Instacart, and Target Are on Strike and Need Your Solidarity
Today, workers at Amazon, Whole Foods, Instacart, and Target are striking and asking customers to stage a one-day solidarity boycott. They’re fighting for what they deserve — and we should have their backs.
Workers Are More Valuable Than CEOs
The coronavirus pandemic has revealed a simple fact: it’s low-wage workers like cleaners, cashiers, and care workers who make our society run — not bankers, landlords, or CEOs.
“We’re All Working Here, and Bernie Supports All of Us”
The resounding victory for Bernie Sanders at both the caucuses on the Las Vegas strip and the entire state of Nevada should put the “Bernie Bro” myth to bed once and for all. At the Strip caucuses, the vast majority of voters were people of color, many of whom were immigrants — and they voted decisively for Sanders.
Philadelphia’s Vanishing Affordable Housing
Philadelphia’s becoming a developer’s paradise. But working-class residents aren’t leaving without a fight.