As the Writers’ Strike Enters Its Third Week, the Studios Aren’t Budging
The Writers Guild of America is now in week three of its nationwide strike. Two key sticking points in negotiations: residual payments and the use of artificial intelligence.
Search Result(s) for: “working class”
In Australia, Fitness Workers Are Organizing
Last year, instructors at over 150 Fitness First and Goodlife Health Clubs launched a union campaign to halt underpayment, wage cuts by stealth, and deteriorating work conditions. Within a few months, management caved to their demands.
A Mélenchon Government Would Shake the Foundations of Neoliberalism in Europe
Jean-Luc Mélenchon's left-wing coalition is neck and neck with Emmanuel Macron’s party in polls for today’s French parliamentary elections. The coalition’s victory would shake the neoliberal order in France and across the European Union.
Australia’s New Union for Retail and Fast-Food Workers Is Rebuilding Militancy
In its short existence, the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union has already achieved big wins. As conditions continue to decline for Australian workers, RAFFWU is a model of how to stand up to the bosses.
The Stock Market Boom Is a Boon for Billionaires
The SpaceX IPO made Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire — and exposed the hollowness of the claim that the stock market has been democratized. Nearly 90% of stocks are owned by the wealthiest 10%, and that skew is only getting more extreme.
Cartoons and Class Struggle
In 1941, Disney animators walked off work to demand that the New Deal be brought to the Magic Kingdom.
The World According to Bannon
Steve Bannon’s vision of civilizational crisis and violent renewal has deep roots in the American political tradition.
The Carbon Tax Is Doomed
The burden of market-based climate change solutions will fall on workers. We need strong state intervention.
Meet Argentina’s Free-Market Authoritarian President-Elect, Javier Milei
Argentina is reeling after self-styled anarcho-capitalist Javier Milei won its November 19 presidential election. Milei combines the worst elements of the global far right with the darkest episodes of Argentine national history.
A New Giant of Labor Emerges
Episode 1 of Organize the Unorganized: The Rise of the CIO explores key developments that led to the CIO’s founding: the split with the AFL, the broken promises of welfare capitalism, the National Industrial Recovery Act, and the mass strikes of 1934.
Ending the “Independent Contractor” Misclassification Sham
Misclassifying workers as independent contractors hurts workers and enriches bosses, and is central to the business strategy of companies like Uber and Lyft. California state legislators passed AB 5 this week to stop this exploitative model. It’s a victory that must be defended from Uber and Lyft’s fightback.
Judith Jarvis Thomson (1929–2020)
Judith Jarvis Thomson was one of the most important philosophers of the twentieth century. Her justly famous essay in defense of abortion rights is a model for how to combine philosophical rigor with political engagement in the real world.
All of Us Should Be Able to Live Like Peep Show’s Jeremy
The British sitcom Peep Show depicts the life of a 2000s unemployed guy who lives comfortably. Today, austerity has all but destroyed the possibility of such a slacker lifestyle — an option we all deserve.
Michael Brooks on Why the War on the Poor Must End
Two years ago, our late friend and comrade Michael Brooks wrote an unpublished piece about his family’s experience with food stamps and Trump’s assault on the SNAP program. We publish it today, the anniversary of Michael’s passing, as a tribute to his memory.
What Is the Left?
Solidarity is about what you do, not who you are.
Emmanuel Macron’s France Is a Broken Republic
Nabila Ramdani cuts through the self-congratulatory myths of French politics to deliver a damning picture of France under Macron. But she doesn’t give enough credit to the left-wing forces working to transform this broken system.
Vinson Cunningham’s Great Expectations Retells the Obama Era
Vinson Cunningham’s debut novel, Great Expectations, follows a staffer working for a magnetic young black senator making a bid for the US presidency. It’s a book about the emptiness of political symbols and the comforts and dangers of blind faith.
India’s Migrant Workers Are Paying the Price for Trump’s War
Migrant workers have been fleeing from India’s cities as the US war on Iran sends fuel prices soaring. The scenes today resemble the exodus of migrant workers to their home villages during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the crisis is just beginning.
How the Republican Party Slipped Its Leash
A strong labor movement demanded unified elites. Organized business in turn kept the GOP’s madness contained to ensure a favorable business climate. Today the Republican Party’s descent into chaos is a product of capitalist fragmentation.
The Invasion of Iraq Wasn’t a “Mistake.” It Was a Crime.
Today is the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. We should never forget and never forgive the architects of that evil war.