Health Care Worker Unions Are on the Side of Patients
Hospitals portray unions as opposed to the interests of patients. The opposite is true: health care unions have been the strongest advocates for safer conditions and patients who can’t pay debts.
19301 Articles by: Opal Lee
Opal Lee is a writer.
Trump’s Defeat Is Not a Foregone Conclusion
Donald Trump’s indictments are piling up. But it’s complacent to think he can’t win again.
Argentina’s Economic Crisis Has Become a Political Crisis
The unexpected victory of far-right libertarian Javier Milei in Argentina’s primaries marks a crisis for both Peronism and its traditional conservative antagonists. No one knows exactly what will happen next.
Plasma Donors Are Being Exploited in America
The United States is one of five countries where it’s legal to sell your plasma, and roughly 20 million people here do it every year. “Donating” plasma is low-paid labor that has become essential to an exploitative global medical industry.
Anti-Trans Bills Are Sweeping the US Despite, Not Because of, Public Opinion
The coordinated attack on trans rights in state legislatures across the US is built on a foundation of hateful paranoia and right-wing lies. But however unpopular anti-trans bills are, the human costs are real: thousands are migrating from anti-trans states.
The Idea of “Social Europe” Became an Alibi for the European Union’s Neoliberal Turn
European left parties responded to the crisis of social democracy by proposing more radical reforms to be carried out at a transnational level. But the call for “social Europe” ended up serving as a thin veneer for the neoliberal core of European integration.
In Failing to Strike at UPS, the Teamsters Missed a Big Opportunity
Members of the Teamsters just voted to ratify a new contract at UPS. The union made big gains — but in opting not to strike over demands beyond wages, the Teamsters may have passed up a transformative opportunity for the labor movement.
Social Democracy and Social Conservatism Aren’t Compatible
Sohrab Ahmari’s critique of capitalist power is surprising and compelling. But as long as he remains committed to unjust hierarchies of power in gender and sexuality, he can’t be a coalition partner with the Left.
Autoworkers Are Mobilizing for a Potential Strike at the Big Three Automakers
Under new leadership, the UAW is waging an aggressive campaign to win a new contract at the Big Three automakers. For the first time in decades, UAW workers are mobilizing for contract rallies at Ford, Stellantis, and GM plants ahead of a potential strike.
Stop Cop City Activists Want a Democratic Process. The City of Atlanta Doesn’t.
Activists with Atlanta’s Stop Cop City movement, which seeks to prevent the construction of a massive police militarization complex, want to put the issue to a popular vote. But city officials are hostile to the democratic initiative.
Major Carbon Emitters Are Fighting Accountability in California
As California strains under severe weather, oil companies and industry reps are fighting against legislation that would require large companies to fully disclose carbon emissions across their value chain.
Rowland Brown’s Brutal Portraits of the Life of Crime
The gritty 1930s crime dramas of Rowland Brown offer contemporary movie watchers something they won’t easily get elsewhere: an adult ability to look directly at an infinitely corrupt world without flinching.
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.
Australia’s Voice Referendum Is Losing Thanks to the “Radical Centrism” of Its Architects
Later this year, Australia will vote in a referendum on creating an Aboriginal Voice to advise parliament. The Yes campaign is flagging, hobbled by a technocratic strategy and language borrowed from corporate social responsibility values statements.
Imran Khan’s Ouster Is a Story of US Power and Propaganda
The ex-Pakistani prime minister had many failings. But a recent leaked cable regarding Imran Khan’s military-backed ouster lays bare how the US government uses its power to influence events around the world and how the mainstream press conceals this from the public.
The Hard Right Is Ascendant in Argentina
Argentina’s recent presidential primaries were a major win for the far right, with the anarcho-capitalist Javier Milei placing first. Between Milei and another hard-right candidate, the extreme right accounted for almost half of the electorate.
Amazon Is Investing in AI-Assisted Apartheid in Palestine
Since 2014, Amazon has been pouring billions into Israel, contributing to illegal settlement programs and the relentless surveillance of Palestinians. Israel’s dystopian end goal: to compile biometric profiles and security ratings for every resident of the West Bank.
The Rot of the Crypto Economy Goes Deeper Than Sam Bankman-Fried
Once-celebrated crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried is now sitting in a Brooklyn jail cell, awaiting trial for several counts of fraud and money laundering. But the scammy Silicon Valley capitalism he represents isn’t going anywhere.
Keir Starmer’s Labour Party Is Abandoning Workers’ Rights
After years of abandoned pledges under Keir Starmer’s Labour Party leadership, the party is now watering down its promises to strengthen employment rights. Labour is siding with employers over workers.
John Rawls Was Wrong to Think We Could Have a Just Capitalism
The ideas of John Rawls, perhaps the greatest political philosopher of the 20th century, have much to teach the Left. But Rawls’s theory of justice failed to grapple adequately with the fundamental obstacles capitalism imposes to realizing a just society.