Making Expensive Cities Into Union Towns
California boasts some of the most expensive cities in the country. Union organizing can help workers afford to live in those cities.
19409 Articles by: Ryan Switzer
Ryan Switzer is a PhD candidate in sociology at Stockholm University. He researches right-wing politics in welfare states.
Trump’s Social Security Head Is Getting a Massive Tax Break
As Donald Trump works to undermine the Social Security Administration, his ultrarich Social Security commissioner, Frank Bisignano, was just approved for a giant tax break on a $484 million capital gains sale.
The AI and Copyright Issues Dividing Trump’s Court
The Trump coalition unites anti-corporate populists and libertarian futurists — two factions with irreconcilable views. The struggle over AI copyright underscores just how unstable that alliance has become.
Samsung’s Union Battle and the Crisis Facing Korean Labor
While the South Korean media has been focused on a snap presidential election, an important scandal has emerged involving the union that represents Samsung workers. It’s a cautionary tale about the difficulties facing organized labor in South Korea.
The Building Trades Want to Save the IRA
The Inflation Reduction Act has helped create good union jobs in the clean energy sector. Republicans want to derail this progress to pay for tax cuts for the rich. The building trades are starting to fight back, and environmentalists should join them.
The NJ Transit Strike Was a Long Time Coming
The New Jersey Transit engineers’ strike caught many commuters by surprise. But since 2019, the engineers have been working without a new contract while making less than their counterparts at Metro-North, Amtrak, and the Long Island Rail Road.
Karl Marx’s Legacy in the United States
For nearly two centuries, Karl Marx’s ideas have had a significant impact on US politics and intellectual life. In turn, Marx’s close study of the US informed the development of his ideas about capitalism and human freedom.
In Berlin, Nakba Day Took Place Under the Threat of Violence
Germany has clamped down on pro-Palestine protest more harshly than most other European states. Despite the threat of violent repression, protesters, many of whom were Jewish and Palestinian, gathered in Berlin to commemorate the Nakba.
UFCW Members Didn’t Get to Pick Their New President
When United Food and Commercial Workers president Marc Perrone announced his retirement May 13, the union’s leadership immediately appointed his successor. This makes four presidents in a row first selected by UFCW leadership rather than by convention.
The Clout Chasers and Hacks Behind the French Revolution
The hyperelitist world of prerevolutionary France fostered resentment among writers excluded from salons and high society. This bitterness proved a fertile breeding ground for revolution led by writers who targeted their anger at the old order.
Romania’s Election Front-Runner Sucks Up to Trump
Ultranationalist candidate George Simion has a big poll lead ahead of Sunday’s Romanian presidential election. He’s sought legitimacy from foreign leaders like Donald Trump and Giorgia Meloni, showing how the far right is increasingly the establishment.
For the Rulers of India and Pakistan, War Fever Is a Boon
The governments of India and Pakistan pulled back from the brink over Kashmir because neither can afford a full-scale war. Bellicose rhetoric and a climate of strident nationalism have helped both governments as they face problems on the domestic front.
Trump’s UK Ambassador Stands to Benefit From New Trade Deal
Last week, Donald Trump’s UK ambassador, Warren Stephens, helped negotiate a trade deal between the UK and the US. Stephens holds shares worth hundreds of millions of dollars in key sectors that stand to benefit from the agreement.
No, There Isn’t an Epidemic of Workless Medicaid Recipients
Trump administration officials including RFK Jr want to add work requirements to Medicaid, arguing that there is a major scourge of able-bodied recipients refusing to get jobs. Their case dramatically overstates how many people in this group are not working.
Donald Trump Is Still Punishing the People of Yemen
The Trump administration has called off a bombing campaign that failed to achieve its stated goal of destroying the Ansar Allah movement. But steps taken by Trump to restrict aid are continuing to aggravate the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen.
Poland, a Case Study in Class Dealignment
On Sunday, Poland votes in the first round of presidential elections. The contest is dominated by various right-wingers, while small progressive forces speak mainly to the highly educated, professionals, and the downwardly mobile middle classes.
Trump’s War on Palestine and Free Speech Hits a New Setback
With a judge’s ruling this week that Georgetown postdoctoral researcher Badar Khan Suri should be released from detention, Donald Trump and Marco Rubio’s McCarthyite campaign to squash protest against Israel’s genocide in Gaza suffered a defeat.
Hasan Piker’s Detention and the Attack on the 4th Amendment
Decades of precedent, from RICO to asset forfeiture to “good faith” exceptions, have normalized warrantless search and gutted the Fourth Amendment. Hasan Piker’s detainment is the latest proof that constitutional rights are now largely a legal fiction.
When Cities Partner With Predatory Financial Ghouls
When people fall behind on property taxes, this shouldn’t become an opportunity for private profiteering. But that’s precisely what happens in tax lien sales, where city governments collude with financial predators to extract wealth from struggling people.
How Yemen’s Houthis Brought Maritime Capitalism to a Halt
A month after Israel began its brutal war on Gaza, Yemen’s Houthis launched a blockade of shipping routes in the Red Sea. The US-led attempt to restore safe navigation was a disaster that has exposed deep fragilities in the global maritime trading system.