“Unions Are a Pain in the Ass. Yet We Have No Choice but to Build Good Unions”
Union organizer Jane McAlevey on labor’s loss at Amazon in Alabama, what the future of labor organizing success depends on, and how organizers can win.
20423 Article(s) by: Rob McIntyre
Rob McIntyre is a United Workers Union delegate at the Toll Kmart warehouse in Truganina.
Canada Is in the Business of Death and Destruction Too
Canada is deeply implicated in the blood-soaked global arms trade. It won’t stop until we make it stop.
Palestine Is No Longer the Third Rail for Democrats
Today’s cease-fire is a victory and a relief for Palestinians. But with Palestinians still under siege, the struggle against ethnic cleansing and occupation isn’t over. For Democrats, “progressive except Palestine” still won’t cut it.
François Mitterrand Gave French Socialists Power at the Price of Their Soul
Forty years ago today, François Mitterrand became the first socialist president of France’s Fifth Republic. But after his early attempt at left-wing reforms was defeated, Mitterrand’s tenure helped turn the Parti Socialiste into a pillar of the political establishment.
Charles Koch Funded the Push to Lift the Eviction Ban — While Expanding His Real Estate Holdings
Billionaire Charles Koch has bankrolled the campaign to end eviction bans during the pandemic. At the same time, his company has been buying up real estate, giving him a strong financial incentive to kick tenants out.
Chipotle Is a Nightmare Employer
Chipotle says it is raising its starting wage to $11 an hour. It’s not enough for many workers who say the company’s business model relies on understaffing and overwork, leaving them stressed and with little choice but to cut corners on food safety.
Karl Marx Saw Signs of the Socialist Future in the Paris Commune
Today marks 150 years since the start of the Bloody Week, when the French army drowned the Paris Commune in blood. For Karl Marx, the Paris revolution was the greatest working-class uprising in his lifetime — and a model for what socialism might look like.
Colombia Is in Revolt Against Neoliberalism
More than five million Colombians — 10 percent of the country’s total population — have taken to the streets over the past two weeks to protest neoliberal policies, government corruption, police brutality, and the systematic murder of activists.
After Almost a Decade, Fight for $15 Has Made Progress — But It’s Not Enough
A national “Fight for $15 and a Union” action yesterday saw thousands of McDonald’s workers walk out of their jobs against low pay and disrespect on the job. The decade-long campaign has seen acts of heroism by low-wage workers — but it hasn’t yet been enough to win.
Novelist Cory Doctorow on the Problem With Intellectual Property
Patents were once seen as a temporary reward for inventors. Now, as novelist Cory Doctorow tells Jacobin, they’ve become supposedly inviolable “intellectual property” rights that simply enrich people like Bill Gates.
Joe Biden’s Drilling Moratorium Is Not a Moratorium
During his first week in office, Joe Biden signed an executive order pausing oil and gas leases on federal land. But a few months later, it’s clear the modest action will do little to rein in US carbon emissions.
AMLO Has a Project to Transform Mexico
Mexico is set to hold crucial midterm elections early next month. Though far from perfect, the governing MORENA party remains the Left’s best bet to transform the unequal, corruption-addled country that AMLO’s administration inherited three years ago.
Tony Blair Wants to Drag the Left Into His Own Political Grave
Tony Blair has a message for the center-left parties of Europe and the US: let business do whatever it likes and pander to the Right at all costs. Blair’s latest intervention is a glorified infomercial on behalf of the billionaires who support his globe-trotting vanity projects.
Canada Needs to Nationalize Its Transit System
The demise of Greyhound Canada underscores the market’s inability to meet the transit needs of Canadians. It’s past time for a national, publicly owned rail and bus service, operated in the public interest.
Richie Floyd: Socialist City Council Candidate in Florida, Brazilian Reality TV Star Lookalike
Richie Floyd is a teacher and Democratic Socialists of America member running for city council in St Petersburg, Florida. He also became famous this week in Brazil for his uncanny resemblance to a Brazilian reality TV star. We talked to him about both.
Israeli Airstrikes Killed My Pregnant Cousin and Her Daughter
Nour Alshaer is a Palestinian student living in the besieged Gaza Strip. She told Jacobin about the desperate conditions in Gaza and how Israeli airstrikes have killed several of her loved ones.
The Texas GOP Is Taking Money From the Unemployed and Giving It to Fossil Fuel Companies
In the last week and a half, Texas Republicans moved to block $8 billion worth of pandemic unemployment benefits for 1.3 million people — just days after voting to extend a corporate subsidy program that is enriching fossil fuel companies and has already cost the state $10 billion.
Israel Is Using Emergency Pandemic Measures to Surveil Palestinian Protesters
Israel is currently engaged in a brutal crackdown on Palestinian protesters — and it’s using surveillance measures refined during the COVID-19 pandemic to monitor, track, and harass those protesters.
Health Care Lobbyists Are Trying to Block the Public Option at the State Level
Joe Biden said on the campaign trail he would fight for a public option for health care. He hasn’t — leaving health insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies to work overtime to block states from passing their own public options.
Germany’s Greens Are Neoliberals With Bicycles
Germany’s Green Party is polling in first place for September’s federal election, spurring hopes of real action on the climate. But in the run-up to the vote, the party’s leaders have spared no effort in boasting of their “pro-business” credentials — and their record in regional government shows they’ll never challenge polluting corporations.