Belabored

Subscribe to the Belabored RSS feed here. Support the podcast on Patreon. Subscribe and rate on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Tweet at @DissentMag with #Belabored to share your thoughts, or join the conversation on Facebook. Check out the full archive here. Belabored is produced by Casey Stone. Migration is almost always connected to work, and is usually the product of some combination of aspiration and desperation, ambition and escape. Saket Soni’s new book, The Great Escape, recounts the journey of a group of Indian migrant workers who came to the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, on the promise of jobs that would help rebuild the region. Instead, they were roped into a convoluted transnational labor trafficking enterprise. Written as a nonfiction thriller/memoir from the point of view of Soni, who organized the workers to hold their captors accountable, The Great Escape tells the story of how they collaborated with local activists to free themselves from bondage and advocate for their rights. But the narrative of escape intersects with the workers’ stories at multiple angles: not only did they have to escape physical captivity, they were also on a much longer quest to escape poverty and social pressures in their homeland; the hierarchies of race, citizenship and culture that ensnared them in the United States; the talons of immigration enforcement; and their own self doubt. Soni now heads Resilience Force, which aims to change the way the country responds to disasters by supporting the workers who help communities cope with the rebuilding, healthcare, and social needs that emerge after disaster. In other news, we look at Dollar General workers organizing in Louisiana, with NOLA Dollar General worker David Williams; an Amazon workers’ opera in St. Louis; the impact of the debt ceiling deal on older people and student debtors; and hardships facing aging workers. Thank you for listening to our 267th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. This season of Belabored is supported in part by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. News Gabrielle Fonrouge, Activist firms call on Dollar General, Dollar Tree to improve worker safety, wages, CNBC Michael Corkery, Dollar General Is Deemed a ‘Severe Violator’ by the Labor Dept., New York Times Sarah Fenske, New ‘Workers Opera’ Is About How Much Working for Amazon Sucks, Riverfront Times Alex Fees, St. Peters warehouse worker takes safety message to Amazon shareholders, KSDK 5 On Your Side Matt Bruenig, The Debt Ceiling Deal Is an “F You” to Poor People, Jacobin Kamaron McNair, ‘This bill does end the payment pause’: What the debt ceiling deal means for student loan borrowers, CNBC Monique Morrissey, Many older workers have difficult jobs that put them at risk: Working longer is not a viable solution to the retirement crisis, Economic Policy Institute Conversation Saket Soni, The Great Escape: A True Story of Forced Labor and Immigrant Dreams in America, Algonquin Books Farah Stockman, When $20,000 Gets You Exploited in America, New York Times Sarah and Michelle: Belabored Podcast #50: The Future of Work, with Saket Soni, Dissent  Resilience Force  The post Belabored: How Workers Escape, with Saket Soni appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

Subscribe to the Belabored RSS feed here. Support the podcast on Patreon. Subscribe and rate on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Tweet at @DissentMag with #Belabored to share your thoughts, or join the conversation on Facebook. Check out the full archive here. Belabored is produced by Casey Stone. The miners’ strike in the early 1980s was a turning point for British labor. The defeat of the powerful National Union of Mineworkers at the hands of Margaret Thatcher signaled open season on organized workers, and it was accomplished in part through the use of new and brutal police tactics. These days, the strike is back across Britain, with workers fighting for and in many cases winning inflation-busting wage hikes and improved conditions, driving out bad bosses, and demanding recognition for all that “essential” work during the pandemic. Today’s Conservative government is attempting to take a page from Thatcher’s book to crush the unions any way they can, including with new legislation designed to drastically curtail the right to strike. This week, we take a step back and consider the strike wave in the context of that history, with longtime organizer Joe Rollin with Unite the Union, and journalist, author, and filmmaker Morag Livingstone, co-author of Charged: How the Police try to Suppress Protest. We also hear about some new rights for workers thanks to the Minnesota state legislature, what the Rutgers unions won, the latest on the struggles of Starbucks workers with Evan Sunshine of Starbucks Workers United, and warehouse workers’ fight for safe conditions. Thank you for listening to our 266th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. This season of Belabored is supported in part by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. News Matt Dougherty, Cornell Students Organize to Kick Starbucks off Campus, Ithaca.com Irene Tung, Fighting for Safe Work: Injury Data Show Urgent Need for Intervention in NY State’s Warehouses, National Employment Law Project P. Kenneth Burns, ‘We have to continue to teach this university a lesson’: 3 Rutgers faculty unions vote to ratify contract, but say ‘unfinished business’ remains, WHYY Mary Ann Koruth, Here are the raises, new benefits included in Rutgers union contracts approved today, Northjersey.com Abdirahman Muse, Emma Greenman, and Erin Murphy, Minnesota Enacts Landmark Protections for Amazon Warehouse Workers, The Nation Max Nesterak, Minnesota lawmakers approve 9 major worker-friendly changes, Minnesota Reformer Matt Butler, Starbucks closing last two Ithaca locations, union fight brewing, The Ithaca Voice Conversation Unite the Union Charged: How the Police try to Suppress Protest Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign Protect the Right to Strike The post Belabored: Reviving the Strike in Britain, with Morag Livingstone and Joe Rollin appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

Subscribe to the Belabored RSS feed here. Support the podcast on Patreon. Subscribe and rate on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Tweet at @DissentMag with #Belabored to share your thoughts, or join the conversation on Facebook. Check out the full archive here. Belabored is produced by Casey Stone. Almost exactly thirty-one years ago, Los Angeles was burning as several days of civil unrest erupted in the wake of the acquittal of the police officers who had brutally beaten Rodney King. It was not just an impulsive uprising fueled by rage at police brutality but a reflection of many years, if not decades, of a simmering urban crisis in which social disinvestment, deindustrialization, and deep segregation turned the city into an economically and racially polarized landscape, with the police serving as chief enforcers of a brutal social hierarchy. In this episode, we talk about working-class Los Angeles before and after the civil unrest of 1992—and how the city’s labor movement reflects and grapples with the scars of historical injustice. The late Mike Davis examined the racial, cultural, and political divisions of Los Angeles in his seminal work on the city, City of Quartz. We revisit that text and the events of 1992 with Tobias Higbie, associate director of UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, and Kent Wong, director of the UCLA Labor Center, to discuss how the city’s structural inequities continue to shape its labor struggles in sectors from the classrooms to the docks.  In other news, we look at the Hollywood writers’ strike, teachers’ strikes across England with Vik Chechi-Ribeiro of NEU Manchester, African tech workers organizing, and South Asian Americans mobilizing against caste discrimination with Karthikeyan Shanmugam of the Ambedkar King Study Circle. Thank you for listening to our 265th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. This season of Belabored is supported in part by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. News John Koblin, Brooks Barnes, and Nicole Sperling, Hollywood, Both Frantic and Calm, Braces for Writers’ Strike, New York Times Daniel Arkin, Hollywood writers go on strike after contract negotiations fail, NBC  Sakshi Venkatraman, California is one step closer to banning caste-based discrimination, NBC  Richard Adams, Schools across England close as teachers vow to continue strikes, Guardian  Vik Chechi-Ribeiro, The NEU strike – Winning a rank-and-file led union, Notes From Below  Billy Perrigo, 150 African Workers for ChatGPT, TikTok and Facebook Vote to Unionize at Landmark Nairobi Meeting, Time   OpenAI Used Kenyan Workers on Less Than $2 Per Hour, Time Conversation Kent Wong, Director, UCLA Labor Center Tobias Higbie, Associate Director, UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment Mike Davis, Realities of the Rebellion, Against the Current  Cindi Katz, Neil Smith, and Mike Davis, L. A. Intifada: Interview with Mike Davis, Social Text Ruth Milkman, Immigrant Organizing and the New Labor Movement in Los Angeles, Critical Sociology Corina Knoll, Adeel Hassan, and Shawn Hubler, Los Angeles Schools and 30,000 Workers Reach Tentative Deal After Strike, New York Times  Sarah and Michelle, Belabored: L.A. Teachers Shut It Down, with Alex Caputo-Pearl, Dissent Sarah Jaffe, What Rydell High School Can Teach Us about the LA Teachers Strike, Nation Michelle Chen, Warehouse Workers of Los Angeles, Unite!, Nation City on the Edge, HERE Local 11 The post Belabored: Los Angeles, 1992, Revisited with Tobias Higbie and Kent Wong appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

Subscribe to the Belabored RSS feed here. Support the podcast on Patreon. Subscribe and rate on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Tweet at @DissentMag with #Belabored to share your thoughts, or join the conversation on Facebook. Check out the full archive here. Belabored is produced by Casey Stone. The wave of unionization continues apace across the United States and elsewhere in the world, but there’s often much less attention paid to the part of the process that comes after the winning of a union election: the bargaining of a contract. It can seem like the hard part is over when the votes are counted, but our guest this week reminds us that the hard part is just beginning. If that sounds daunting, well, Jane McAlevey is here to share her knowledge of how to make that hard part, if not easier, at least to help you succeed. McAlevey is a longtime organizer and organizing theorist,  the founder of the massively popular online trainings, Organizing for Power, supported by the Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, and the author and co-author of several books and many reports and articles on the art of worker organizing. Her newest book, with Abby Lawlor, is titled Rules to Win By: Power and Participation in Union Negotiations, and she joins us to talk about using big, open, democratic bargaining tactics to win major gains at the table and in the contract.  We also check in with Donna Murch of Rutgers AAUP-AFT on the multi-union, 9,000-worker strike at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and hear from Katie Wells on a new report on the conditions of Doordash drivers. And we hear about the firing of a union leader (and former Belabored guest) at Planned Parenthood North Central States, and the junior doctors and nurses’ strikes fighting to save the British National Health Service. Thank you for listening to our 264th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. This season of Belabored is supported in part by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. News Daniel Han, ‘Pissed off’: Rutgers unions mull resuming strike amid mounting frustration over finalizing contract, Politico Noah Lanard, Why Rutgers Faculty Are Striking for the First Time in 257 Years, Mother Jones Sarah, “Injury to All” at Rutgers University, Dissent Katie Wells and Isabella Stratta, The Instant Delivery Workplace in D.C., Beeck Center Michelle, Transcript: Courier Class War, with Antonio Solis, Dissent Anne Rumberger, Abortion Rights Are Workers’ Rights, Jacobin   Sarah and Michelle, Belabored: Game Workers Unite and Win, with Emma Kinema, Dissent Sarah and Michelle, Belabored: Reproductive Justice Is Labor Justice, Dissent Dan Zahedi, Junior Doctors Will Fight as Long as It Takes, Tribune George Walker, Nurses Tell of Disappointment With Latest NHS Pay Offer, Novara Aubrey Allegretti, Denis Campbell, Kiran Stacey, and Jamie Grierson, Nurses will strike again in England after voting to reject government pay deal, Guardian Conversation Jane McAlevey Organizing for Power Jane McAlevey, Getting to Contract: Negotiating and Winning Against the Odds, The Nation Sarah, After a Union Election Victory Comes the Hard Part, The Progressive The post Belabored: How to Bargain for Power, with Jane McAlevey appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

Subscribe to the Belabored RSS feed here. Support the podcast on Patreon. Subscribe and rate on iTunes, Stitcher, and Spotify. Tweet at @DissentMag with #Belabored to share your thoughts, or join the conversation on Facebook. Check out the full archive here. Belabored is produced by Casey Stone. When you hear the words “child labor,” your mind may go to the turn-of-the-century photographs taken by Jacob Riis and Lewis Hine of the grim lives of tiny laborers toiling in mines and urban sweatshops. Or you may think about the children in Africa or South Asia who dig for precious metals or harvest crops on plantations; their exploitation is the target of many international human-rights campaigns and condemnations from various Global North governments. But recent news reports have revealed that child labor is alive and well in the United States in 2023. Fueled in large part by the influx of migrants from Central America, many “unaccompanied minors,” or children living with relatives, have to work to support families back home. Meanwhile, some politicians are actively working to undermine existing child labor restrictions—as weak as they already are—under the pretext that giving businesses the flexibility to employ child workers for longer hours and with less oversight is actually beneficial for society.  Jack Hodgson, a visiting professor in history at the University of Roehampton, joins the podcast to discuss child labor throughout U.S. history and in the context of labor and civil rights struggles that continue to this day. In other news, we look at Brandon Johnson’s victory in the Chicago mayoral race and the legacy of the Chicago Teachers Union; a new union drive by New York University contract faculty with Hannah Gurman; the school service workers’ strike in Los Angeles; and why France is on fire over pension policies.  Thank you for listening to our 263rd episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org. Belabored’s tenth season is supported in part by the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. News Micah Uetricht, The Movement That Made Brandon Johnson Mayor of Chicago, The Nation Kari Lydersen, Brandon Johnson Won the Race for Chicago’s Mayor By Loving and Fighting for the City, In These Times Sara Wexler, Full-Time Contingent Faculty at New York University Are Trying to Unionize, Jacobin Angelique Chrisafis, Hundreds of thousands of people take to French streets amid fears of violence, Guardian Ellen Francis and Claire Parker, Why French workers are fighting to retire at 62, Washington Post  Jon Peltz, In Los Angeles, 60,000 Education Workers Just Went on Strike and Won Big, Jacobin   Megan Giovannetti and Jasmin Joseph, “If They Strike, We Won’t Cross the Picket Line”: LA Teachers And Service Workers Unite, In These Times Conversation Jack Hodgson, Child labor remains a problem in the United States, Washington Post Hannah Dreier, Alone and Exploited, Migrant Children Work Brutal Jobs Across the U.S., New York Times The post Belabored: Child Labor, Child Strikes, with Jack Hodgson appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] As we wind 2022 and our COVID-19 series to a close, our struggles around pandemic work are anything but over. We’re seeing upticks in unionization, strikes, and other forms of workplace resistance. We’re also seeing workers quitting so-called “essential” jobs at record rates, leaving their former coworkers in the unenviable position of picking up the slack while also battling to improve their conditions—and those of the people they care for. Teachers and nurses have been at the heart of all these struggles, on top of pre-pandemic labor shortages and constant admonitions to “do more with less,” so to wrap up our year and our in-depth COVID-19 reporting, we invited two rank-and-file leaders from those fields to join us for a live episode, recorded December 15 via Zoom. Elizabeth Lalasz is a registered nurse, union steward, and professional practice committee member with National Nurses United. She has worked three times on COVID-19 units over the course of the pandemic. Jia Lee has been a special education teacher for over twenty years in the New York City Department of Education and has served as a union chapter leader since 2005. She is a steering member of the Movement of Rank and File Educators (MORE), a caucus within the United Federation of Teachers, and a steering member of Black Lives Matter at Schools, NYC. Thank you for listening to our 262nd episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org Conversation Elizabeth Lalasz Jia Lee Sarah Jaffe and Michelle Chen, Belabored: Is it Safe to Go Back to School? Dissent Sarah Jaffe, What If Nurses Ran the Healthcare System? Dissent Sarah Jaffe, How the New York City School System Failed the Test of Covid-19, The Nation Michelle Chen, For Some Workers, Schools Never Closed, The Nation Sarah Jaffe, The Great Ungrieving, The New York Review of Books Michelle Chen, Educators March to Get NYPD out of NYC Schools, Dissent Sarah Jaffe, Schools Reopen — and Teachers Fight for Their Lives, Their Students, and the Future of Public Education, Rethinking Schools Michelle Chen, Teachers’ Aides Adjust to the COVID Classroom, Dissent Sarah Jaffe, How the Attack on Teachers Threatens the Future of Public Schools, Rethinking Schools Michelle Chen, Deregulated Under Trump, Nursing Homes Are Becoming COVID Morgues, Truthout Sarah Jaffe, First, Nurses Saved Our Lives—Now They’re Saving Our Health Care, The Nation Michelle Chen, The Bereavement of Elder Care, Dissent Sarah Jaffe and C.M. Lewis, Nurses Are Striking Across the Country Over Patient Safety, The Nation Thanks to the Ford Foundation of Social Justice for sponsoring this series. The post Belabored: Essential Workers in Crisis, with Elizabeth Lalasz and Jia Lee appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] You may not see many signs in everyday life that the pandemic is still ongoing these days; mask mandates have been removed, social gatherings have resumed, and employers are pushing workers to return to in-person work. But for several million people across the United States, the pandemic is still assaulting their bodies and minds—with chronic pain, respiratory problems, cognitive issues, fatigue, and other hard-to-treat symptoms. For more than two years, people living with “long COVID,” or “longhaulers,” have largely had to struggle on their own to access medical treatment, disability benefits, and workplace accommodations, and have often faced discrimination and disbelief when trying to advocate for their rights as patients and workers. While there is still much scientists do not understand about the illness, long COVID is profoundly changing the way people work, often intersecting with other forms of discrimination, income inequality, and systemic barriers to healthcare and leave time. We spoke with Rebecca L. Jacobs, Director of Community Support for the COVID-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project, and Kimberly Knackstedt, Co-Director of the Disability Economic Justice Collaborative at The Century Foundation, about long COVID as an issue of labor rights and disability justice, and how our systems of worker protection and disability support need to change. In other news, we look at a win for British Telecom workers, Congress blocking railroad workers from striking and denying them sick days, and New School and University of California academic workers and Twitter janitors on strike. To wrap up our in-depth series on the ongoing pandemic’s effect on workers, we’re going to be doing a special end-of-year live show on December 15, 7 p.m. (EST). We’ll be joined by two rank-and-file leaders in nursing and public school teaching: Elizabeth Lalasz and Jia Lee. Register here. Thank you for listening to our 261st episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org News Katy Stech Ferek and Esther Fung, Senate Votes 80-15 to Pass Bill Blocking Nationwide Railroad Strike, Wall Street Journal Ross Grooters and Jonah Furman, Railroad Engineer on the Imposed Contract: “It Really Fell Short of Railroad Workers’ Needs,” Jacobin Dani Anguiano, Closed labs, cancelled classes: inside the largest strike to hit US higher education, The Guardian Claudia Irizarry Aponte, The New School and Part-Time Faculty Go Into Mediation as Strike Enters Third Week, The City Miles Hamberg, The New School Staff Are Still Striking for a Fair Deal, The Progressive Ryan Mancini, Twitter lays off janitors on strike weeks before Christmas holiday, MassLive Sergio Quintana, Janitors Locked Out of Twitter Headquarters Without Warning, Join Picket Line, NBC Bay Area ‘Bank the money and our collective strength,’ BT Group members urged, as ballot begins on company’s ‘final’ pay offer, Communication Workers Union Mark Sweney, BT awards tens of thousands of staff £1,500 as strikes end, The Guardian Conversation Rebecca L. Jacobs, Director of Community Support for the COVID-19 Longhauler Advocacy Project Kimberly Knackstedt, Co-Director of the Disability Economic Justice Collaborative at the Century Foundation Kimberly Knackstedt, Why the COVID-19 Pandemic Isn’t Over, The Century Foundation Patient-Led Research Collaborative Ryan Prior, Rebecca Vallas, and Kimberly Knackstedt, The Long Haul: Q&A About Long COVID and the Future of Disability Policy, The Century Foundation Natalie Shure, We Might Have Long Covid All Wrong, The New Republic Thanks to the Ford Foundation of Social Justice for sponsoring this series. The post Belabored: When COVID Never Ends appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] This podcast is coming to you the week of Thanksgiving in the United States, and while many of you might be listening after a relaxing meal and day off work, for retail and grocery store workers, the holiday just means extra stress, crowded stores, long lines, and Black Friday sales. Continuing our series on the workers who have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic, we talk to a couple of the people who make holidays go smoothly: Cynthia Murray, a longtime Walmart worker and founder of United 4 Respect, and Lisa Harris, longtime Kroger worker and member of UFCW Local 400. They talk to us about the lack of respect given to so-called “essential” workers, the added stress of the holidays, and why workers need a seat at the table in determining sick policies. We also learn about a new union for service workers in the South and the latest on the possibility of a rail strike in the United States, the conditions of the workers who built the World Cup, and a big win for some of our recent guests, the Liverpool dockworkers. Thank you for listening to our 260th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org News Lena Geller, Service Workers in NC, Other Southern States Launch a Union, INDY Week Union of Southern Service Workers Hundreds of dock workers in Liverpool return to work after dispute ends following pay offer, ITV News Liverpool dockers celebrate major victory after Unite secures pay deal worth between 14.3% and 18.5%, Unite the Union  Astha Rajvanshi, Why U.K. Nurses Voted to Strike for the First Time Ever—and What That Means for Hospitals, TIME Holly Turner, I’ve been an NHS nurse for 15 years. Here’s why I’m going on strike, openDemocracy “If we complain, we are fired”: Discrimination and Exploitation of Migrant Construction Workers on FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Stadium Sites, Equidem Chris Isidore and Vanessa Yurkevich, America faces a possible rail strike in two weeks after largest union rejects labor deal, CNN Conversation Walmart 2021 Pandemic Workforce Advisory Council Proposal, United 4 Respect Siddharth Cavale and Richa Naidu, Walmart halves paid leave for COVID-positive workers, Reuters Albert Samaha, They Fed America During Lockdown. Nearly Two Years Later, Many Grocery Workers Can’t Make Ends Meet, BuzzFeed News  Sarah Jaffe, What Happened to Kroger’s “Hero Pay”? Dissent  Thanks to the Ford Foundation of Social Justice for sponsoring this series. The post Belabored: Pandemic Black Fridays are Twice as Tiring, with Cynthia Murray and Lisa Harris appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] While the pandemic brought turmoil and massive job losses to many sectors of the economy, some industries flourished during the many months of lockdowns, quarantines, and remote work and schooling. We came to rely on Zoom and Amazon as basic means of communication and consumption, and when it came to staying fed, many of us turned to food platforms like Grubhub, DoorDash, or Uber Eats. Food couriers became part of the essential workforce of the pandemic, toiling for long hours on the streets and often putting their own health at risk to serve the public. With many people seeking work after restaurants and other businesses shuttered, the ranks of delivery workers expanded massively, as did the health and safety risks endemic to their trade. Many began organizing to improve their pay and seek more protections at work. The transnational struggles of couriers sparked innovative ways of networking and mobilizing, as workers discovered they could use their phones not just to pick up gigs but also to connect with fellow couriers. To learn more about organizing food delivery labor during the pandemic, we spoke with Antonio Solis, a member of Los Deliveristas Unidos—an organization of app-based delivery workers in New York City—and with Ahmed Hafezi and John Kirk, Deliveroo couriers and organizers with the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain. Read a transcript of Michelle’s interview with Antonio Solis here. In other news, we look at allegations of worker abuse in the House of Bezos, the Gannett newsroom strikes, Chinese iPhone workers struggling under a COVID-19 lockdown, and labor ballot measures.  Thank you for listening to our 259th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org News David K. Li and Diana Dasrath, Housekeeper’s claims that Jeff Bezos made staff go ‘without rest or meal breaks’ are without merit, his lawyer says, NBC News Josh Eidelson, Lawyer Suing Twitter Over Layoffs Says Musk Trying to Comply, Bloomberg News Sam Hancock, Apple: Chinese workers flee Covid lockdown at iPhone factory, BBC News New York rally in solidarity with Foxconn workers; Apple’s new statement hides the truth, change.org  Aaron Morrison, Slavery, involuntary servitude rejected by 4 states’ voters, AP News Daniel Wiessner, Voters in Illinois, Tennessee approve dueling measures on union membership, Reuters Pittsburgh Union Progress Gannett Union Press Conversation Los Deliveristas Unidos Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain Michelle Chen, Los Deliveristas Unidos Demand Justice, Dissent Michelle Chen, Your Rent or Your Life, The Nation Sarah Jaffe and Michelle Chen, Belabored: Riding for Deliveroo, with Callum Cant, Dissent Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura, Food Delivery Apps Are Booming. Their Workers Are Often Struggling, New York Times The Transnational Courier Federation, Notes From Below Thanks to the Ford Foundation of Social Justice for sponsoring this series. The post Belabored: Courier Class War appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] This week begins our new series on workers and the pandemic. While politicians and many people would like to pretend that COVID-19 is over, for so many workers the damage done by the virus and the inadequate response continues to compound. For the rest of the year, we’ll be talking in depth with people who work in industries that have borne the brunt of the risk, the pain, and the grief of the pandemic in America. And we’ll be wrapping the series up with a virtual live event!   This week, we spoke with Kellie Benson, senior mental health coordinator at Allina Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis and a member of SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa. Healthcare workers are, of course, the first people we think of when we think of the impact of COVID-19, but the mental health pandemic that has come alongside the virus is less often discussed, and for mental healthcare workers, the two issues are deeply intertwined. Benson tells us about how her work has changed, and the ongoing struggle of mental health workers for fair pay, safe staffing, and support on the job.   In the news, we look at a general strike in Palestine and the victory of Oklahoma City Apple Store workers, a nationwide strike vote for British university workers and a union drive at Netflix.   Thank you for listening to our 258th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org News Netflix Music Supervisors File for Unionization Election at Labor Board, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Jazz Tangcay, Netflix Music Supervisors Seek Unionization Vote, Variety Noam Scheiber, Apple Store in Oklahoma City Becomes Second to Unionize, New York Times University staff vote for UK-wide strike action in historic ballot, University and College Union Sally Weale, UK university staff vote for strike action over pay, conditions and pensions, The Guardian Mariam Barghouti and Yumna Patel, What is happening in the West Bank right now: a full breakdown, Mondoweiss Palestinians strike in West Bank, Jerusalem over Israel killings, Al Jazeera Sarah and Michelle: Belabored: General Strike in Palestine, Dissent Conversation SEIU Healthcare Minnesota & Iowa Kiya Edwards, Mental health workers announce one-day walkout strike, KARE 11 Max Nesterak, Mental health workers launch 3-day strike at Allina hospitals in Twin Cities, Minnesota Reformer Thanks to the Ford Foundation of Social Justice for sponsoring this series. The post Belabored: Mental Health Workers’ Double Pandemic, with Kellie Benson appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] The ongoing strike wave in Britain has come with a wave of media coverage that ranges from mediocre to downright embarrassing. What happened to labor journalism, anyway? Sarah joined a panel of labor reporters at The World Transformed festival in Liverpool recently to discuss, and today we bring you that conversation, with Emiliano Mellino of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, Nicholas Jones, former BBC industrial and political correspondent, and Polly Smythe, Novara Media’s labor movement reporter. We look at how coverage has changed, what happened to the Fleet Street industrial reporters, the decline of media jobs writ large—in Britain, and across the world.  We also check in on the Philadelphia Museum of Art strike (after we recorded this episode, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Union reached a tentative agreement with the museum, and called off this weekend’s pickets while members consider and vote on the agreement). And we hear about a win for hotel workers in Scotland from Julie Nixon of Unite the Union, get an update from the Starbucks organizing campaign with Roastery union activist Key Lido, and look at the horrific conditions of labor in migrant detention centers. For Argh, we consider the role of unions in the Iranian women’s uprising, and working conditions in the world of professional wrestling. Thank you for listening to our 257th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org News Beverly Banks, Starbucks Entity, Union Settle NLRB Complaint At NYC Shop, Law360  Katy Scott, Cameron House accused of withholding tips from staff, BBC News Unite Hospitality on Twitter Daniel Wiessner, GEO Group says low immigrant detainee pay backed by ruling on Calif. prison ban, Reuters  Tascha Shahriari-Parsa, Today’s News & Commentary–Oct 6, OnLabor Peter Crimmins, After 17 days, the Philadelphia Art Museum director acknowledges striking workers, WHYY  Elaine Velie, Beleaguered Philadelphia Museum of Art Disables Social Media Comments, Hyperallergic Sarah Jaffe and Michelle Chen, Belabored: Shutting Down the Ports, with Steve Gerrard and Liverpool Dockworkers, Dissent Conversation The death of labour journalism, and how we bring it back, The World Transformed  Emiliano Mellino, The Week In Work, Substack Polly Smythe, Novara Media  Nicholas Jones, Emerging signs of more informed reporting of workers’ grievances and industrial disputes Argh, I wish I’d written that! Sarah: Alborz Ghandehari, Teachers and Other Unionists Are Joining Iran’s Gender Justice Uprising, In These Times and Bobby Ghosh, Oil and Gas Workers Add Fuel to Iranian Protesters’ Fire, Washington Post) Michelle: Tim Gill, In the WWE, Wrestlers Say Labor Abuses Are Everywhere, Jacobin The post Belabored: The Death and Life of Labor Journalism appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] Congressional staff have for decades been denied the right to unionize and collectively bargain, but that changed earlier this year with the enactment of key legislation enabling legislative staff to form unions. For months, the Congressional Workers Union has been campaigning to secure union rights for legislative aides and others on Capitol Hill, and have organized staffers of representatives Cori Bush, Chuy Garcia, Ro Khanna, Andy Levin, Ted Lieu, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Melanie Stansbury. The CWU has already negotiated for higher wage floors for congressional staffers and hopes to change the organizing landscape for government workers in Washington and beyond. On the heels of the first CWU election at the Levin’s office, we spoke to two congressional staffers and organizers, Janae Washington and Taylor Doggett, about the political and cultural ramifications of the union drive on the Hill. In other news, we look at the perils of hybrid work for women, a new farmworker bill for California, rideshare drivers under California’s controversial independent-contractor law, and the UK’s Labour Party conference. With recommended reading on working through Hurricane Ian and industrial policy without labor. Thank you for listening to our 256th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org News Rachel Hall, Hybrid working may hold back women’s careers, say managers, Guardian Eliza McCullough, Brian Dolber, Justin Scoggins, Edward-Michael Muña, and Sarah Treuhaft, Prop 22 Depresses Wages and Deepens Inequities for California Workers, National Equity Atlas  Sarah Jaffe and Michelle Chen, Belabored: Stopping the Spread of Prop 22, Dissent  Michelle Chen, A Blow for Labor Rights in California, Dissent Labour disputes, UK: July 2022 update and future work, Office for National Statistics Ruby Lott-Lavigna, Drivers’ anger as Labour hosts Deliveroo ‘PR event’ at annual conference, openDemocracy Jessica Garrison, Newsom signs UFW bill aimed at helping California farmworkers organize, Los Angeles Times  Solcyre Burga, California Farmworkers March 335 Miles for Labor Rights, Time Conversation Congressional Workers Union Li Zhou, The House will allow staffers to unionize. Here’s how it will work, Vox Argh, I wish I’d written that! Sarah: Paul Blest, Company Asked Employees to Bring Family, Pets to Office to Work Through Hurricane Ian, Vice  Michelle: Lee Harris, Industrial Policy Without Industrial Unions, American Prospect The post Belabored: The Union on the Hill, with Janae Washington and Taylor Doggett appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] Summer is over, but strike season is continuing in Great Britain, under not only a new prime minister but a new monarch. This week’s episode combines our ongoing coverage of British worker unrest with our intermittent series on logistics workers, as we discuss port strikes with Steve Gerrard, national coordinator for Unite the Union, and worker leaders from the port of Liverpool: John Lynch, Tommy Jennings, Ryan Healey, and Des Prescott. We discuss working through the COVID-19 pandemic, the combined port strikes at Felixstowe and Liverpool, the Tory plan to create “freeports” to lower labor standards in port areas, and the ongoing cost of living crisis.  We also hear from Hugh Sawyer of Railroad Workers United about the narrowly averted (for now) railroad workers’ strike, and Adam Rizzo of the Philadelphia Museum of Art workers, on today’s one-day strike. And we check in on the historic collective bargaining agreement signed by the U.S. women’s soccer team, and the 15,000 nurses on strike in Minnesota. For Argh, we consider the legal status of franchisees and independent contractors, and the people still working while their coworkers are quitting.  Thank you for listening to our 255th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org News Barry Svrluga, The USWNT won Tuesday night, then celebrated a much greater victory, Washington Post Workers at storied Philadelphia Museum of Art authorize a strike, AFSCME Taylor Dafoe, Union Workers at the Philadelphia Museum of Art Are Going on a One-Day ‘Warning’ Strike, Artnet News Josh Eidelson and Augusta Saraiva, Rail-Strike Deadline Carries Economic and Political Risks for Biden, Bloomberg Jim Tankersley, Railroad Unions and Companies Reach a Tentative Deal to Avoid a Strike, New York Times Chris Isidore and Adrienne Broaddus, Massive health care strike: 15,000 Minnesota nurses walk off the job, CNN Business  Conversation Fresh strike dates announced in Felixstowe dispute as workers reject imposed pay deal, Unite Liverpool docks braced for disruption after MDHC port operatives overwhelming strike vote, Unite Margherita Bruno, Liverpool port strike goes ahead as parties fail to reach agreement, Port Technology Workers at two big British ports to strike later this month, CNN Paul Seddon, Freeports: What are they and will they help the economy? BBC News  Dominic McGrath, Liz Truss promises ‘full-fat freeports’ with vow to cut red-tape for business, Independent  Argh, I wish I’d written that! Sarah: Brian Callaci and Sandeep Vaheesan, Uber Drivers and McDonald’s Franchise Owners Have a Common Enemy, Slate Michelle: Emily Stewart, Work sucks when you’re the only one left, Vox The post Belabored: Shutting Down the Ports, with Steve Gerrard and Liverpool Dockworkers appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] Sometimes the hardest jobs are the ones that require you to look like you’re always having a great time. For strippers, that can mean dancing and performing through annoying, uncomfortable, and sometimes outrageous circumstances. A group of strippers at Star Garden Topless Dive Bar in North Hollywood has decided to stand up for their rights at work and filed for a union election. Though they are not the first strippers to unionize, the Star Garden workers hope to break new ground in organizing their field nationwide as part of the Actors’ Equity Association. They’re also campaigning with Strippers United, which is pushing for fair, decent work for strippers of all backgrounds and shining a spotlight on systemic labor issues in an industry that is often overlooked. We speak with Velveeta, a Strippers United activist, organizer with Actors’ Equity, and dancer at the Star Garden, about the movement to turn strip clubs into union shops. In other news, we bring you updates on workers on strike at Britain’s largest port, Chipotle’s first union store in Michigan with Samantha Smith, a Google worker’s protest of the company’s contract with the Israeli military, and the Amazon workers worried about overheating in the wake of a coworker’s death. With recommended reading on journalists on strike and the dysfunction of the disability benefits system. Thank you for listening to our 254th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org News Polly Smythe, Port Workers in Felixstowe Are Striking at the Heart of the UK’s Supply Chains, Novara Media  Will Dunn, The government ignores the Felixstowe port strike at its peril, New Statesman  Beth Timmins, Royal Mail and BT strikes see 150,000 workers walk out, BBC News  Nico Grant, Google Employee Who Played Key Role in Protest of Contract With Israel Quits, New York Times  Ariel Koren, Google’s Complicity in Israeli Apartheid: How Google Weaponizes “Diversity” to Silence Palestinians and Palestinian Human Rights Supporters, Medium Nick Visser, Workers At Michigan Chipotle Vote To Unionize In Win For Fast Food Employees, HuffPost  Bettina Makalintal, Michigan Chipotle Location Becomes the Chain’s First to Unionize, Eater Michelle Chen, Chipotle Workers Protest “Black Lives Matter Hypocrisy,” Dissent  Mitchell Clark, Amazon is fixing the AC at a warehouse where a worker died on Prime Day, Verge Kate Briquelet and Josh Fiallo, Amazon Employee Who Died on Prime Day Was Hardworking Dad, Daily Beast Conversation Chris Isidore, Strippers at LA strip club want to join actors’ union, CNN   Strippers United  Argh, I wish I’d written that! Sarah: Conrad Landin, Let’s hope the strike by Reach journalists reshapes our media landscape for the better, Guardian  Michelle: Mark Betancourt, Inside the Kafkaesque Process for Determining Who Gets Federal Disability Benefits, Mother Jones The post Belabored: Strippers Seek Justice at Work, with Velveeta appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] Last week, workers at the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland walked off the job in a wildcat strike over pay. These subcontracted workers, as well as others at oil industry sites around Britain, are just the latest critical infrastructure workers to realize their power after two years of pandemic, when they were deemed essential—and watched industry profits spike—while they accepted pay freezes. This is all happening against a backdrop of swelling anger across Britain as prices, particularly energy prices, spike and are predicted to go even higher this winter. Unions are calling strikes and organizing protests with community groups to demand action. Ewan Gibbs, a historian of energy, industry, work, and protest, a lecturer in global inequalities at the University of Glasgow, and the author of Coal Country: The Meaning and Memory of Deindustrialization in Postwar Scotland, joins the podcast to talk about the strikes, the history of energy workers’ organizing, new organizing, and renationalizing energy. We also look at the launch of the Enough is Enough campaign, the return of rail strikes across Britain, the ongoing union drives at Starbucks with Starbucks union activists Ben South and Stephanie Heslop, a new bill in California that could move fast food workers toward sectoral bargaining, and wildcat strikes at Amazon. For Argh, we consider the rise of workplace productivity surveillance, and the labor of the crossword-puzzle industry. Thank you for listening to our 253rd episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org News Evie Breese, Amazon wildcat strikes enter second week as UK workers protest over pay, Big Issue Simon Childs & Polly Smythe, Hundreds of Amazon Workers Stage Wildcat Strike Over ‘Kick in the Teeth’ Pay Offer, Novara Media London bus drivers set to strike on same days as Underground and rail workers, ITV India Lawrence, Everything you need to know about the tube strike in August, TimeOut Megan Camponovo, Fast food workers demand FAST recovery act passage at state capitol, FOX40 Benjamin Sachs, California’s FAST Act: A Promising Move Toward Sectoral Regulation, OnLabor Danielle Wiener-Bronner, Starbucks asks labor board to halt mail-in union ballots, CNN Abraham Kenmore, Augusta Starbucks union organizer fired for ‘March on Boss’ prior to strike, Augusta Chronicle Jake Johnson, Store Walkout Over Firing of Starbucks Union Organizer Racks Up 20 Million Views on TikTok, Common Dreams Itzel Luna, Two more California Starbucks stores go on strike, joining Santa Cruz workers at the picket line, Los Angeles Times Conversation Ewan Gibbs, University of Glasgow @EwanGibbs on Twitter Coal Country: The Meaning and Memory of Deindustrialization in Postwar Scotland (Open Access) Simon Childs, Workers Stage Wildcat Strike at Major Oil Refinery, Novara Media Joanna Partridge, Workers block road at Ineos Grangemouth oil refinery in pay dispute, Guardian Andrew Fisher, What nationalising energy companies would cost – and how to do it, openDemocracy Enough is Enough campaign Argh, I wish I’d written that! Sarah: Jodi Kantor and Arya Sundaram, The Rise of the Worker Productivity Score, New York Times Michelle: Matt Hartman, Inside the Elite, Underpaid, and Weird World of Crossword Writers, The New Republic The post Belabored: Wildcat Oil Strikes and the Energy Crisis, with Ewan Gibbs appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] As climate change accelerates and temperatures reach into the triple digits, you might want to do all of your shopping online so that you don’t have to go outside. But somebody’s got to deliver those packages, and often it’s a UPS driver, chugging through the heat in that signature brown truck. You might be surprised to learn that those trucks are not air conditioned. UPS workers have taken to social media to post pictures of thermometers—sometimes reading well over 110 degrees Fahrenheit—from inside their vehicles. According to the Teamsters, who represent some 350,000 UPS workers nationwide, workers have been getting sick and hospitalized from heat-related illnesses at an alarming rate. We speak with Basil Darling, a UPS driver with Teamsters Local 804 in New York City, about the job’s safety risks and upcoming contract talks. In other news, we discuss the union drive at Trader Joe’s stores with worker-organizer Sarah Beth Ryther, a walkout by Reuters workers, strike plans among Kaiser Permanente’s mental health workers, and a strike at British Telecom with Dave Ward of the Communication Workers Union. With recommended reading on Black farmers seeking justice in Arkansas and misery in Amy’s Kitchen. Thank you for listening to our 252nd episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org News Noam Scheiber, Trader Joe’s Workers at a Massachusetts Store Form a Union, New York Times Jocelyn Wiener, Kaiser mental health workers signal open-ended strike in Northern California, CalMatters  Michael Race, Thousands of BT staff walk out in strike over pay, BBC Moya Lothian-McLean and Strike Map UK, Everything You Need to Know About Hot Strike Summer, Novara Media Josh Eidelson, Reuters US Journalists Plan to Strike For First Time In Decades, Bloomberg Conversation Adiel Kaplan, ‘Sending drivers out to die’: UPS workers demand heat safety amid record temps, NBC A Local 886 Teamster, A truck full of sensors, Tempest  Argh, I wish I’d written that! Sarah: Erik Baker, All in the Family: Amy’s Kitchen and America’s Shadow Workforce, The Drift  Michelle: Wesley Brown, Black Farmers in Arkansas Still Seek Justice a Century After the Elaine Massacre, Civil Eats The post Belabored: Delivery Workers Stuck in Searing Heat appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] There’s been a lot of talk about a “hot strike summer” in Britain, and that’s mainly because of the excitement around the rail workers’ strikes. In June, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) went on strike for three days over pay and proposed cuts to the train system. Though people around the country rallied to the cause of the strikers, the dispute remains unresolved and there are more strikes coming up, with other rail unions joining the RMT on the picket lines. I met up with Alex Gordon, the president of the RMT, to talk about the state of the unions, the prospects for a revival of class consciousness, the privatization and financialization of rail travel, the looming climate breakdown and transport workers’ role in fighting it, and so much more. We also talk to Laura Hancock of the Yoga Teachers Union-IWGB about their campaign against sexual harassment, and Matt Cole of Fairwork about the leaked Uber files. With updates on the Medieval Times union and what happens when “hot labor summer” means workers are laboring in temperatures over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. For Argh, we consider nurses’ battle against “moral injury” and the hell that is working in chain-owned pet hospitals.  Thank you for listening to our 251st episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org News Harry Davies, Simon Goodley, Felicity Lawrence, Paul Lewis and Lisa O’Carroll, Uber broke laws, duped police and secretly lobbied governments, leak reveals, The Guardian Kelle Howson, Callum Cant, Alessio Bertolini, Matthew Cole and Mark Graham, Protecting workers in the UK platform economy, Fairwork Julia Jacobs, The Knights of Medieval Times Will Carry Union Cards With Their Lances, The New York Times Medieval Times Performers United on Twitter Oxford yoga teachers call for stricter regulation, BBC Yoga Teachers Union-IWGB Polly Smythe, Britain’s Workplaces Are Not Ready for Extreme Heat, Novara Media Zia Weise and Karl Mathiesen, The frontline workers at risk in Europe’s heat wave, Politico Conversation National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) James Meadway, This could be the labour movement’s summer of glory, The New Statesman Alex Finnis, What dates are the train strikes next week? When RMT strikes are planned and how rail services are affected, i News Cat Hobbs, The government’s ‘Great British Railways’ is privatisation rebranded, openDemocracy Yves Smith, Matt Stoller: The Liquidation of Society versus the Global Labor Revival, Naked Capitalism Argh, I wish I’d written that! Sarah: Kari Lydersen, Nurses in the U.S. Are Suffering ‘Moral Injury”, In These Times Michelle: Jarod Facundo and Brian Osgood, “Welcome to Hell”, The American Prospect The post Belabored: Train Strikes Revive British Unions, with Alex Gordon appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] After the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court, the connection between abortion rights and labor rights is acutely clear—both are under attack by right-wing activists, who see abortions and unions as threats to the patriarchy. In response to the ruling, a number of states have rushed to pass legislation to shore up access to abortion care. But should we be having a more comprehensive discussion about the economic effects of abortion bans? We spoke with Asha Banerjee of the Economic Policy Institute about what the fall of Roe means for workers. In other news, we look at abuses against independent contractors in New York with Lina Moe of the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School, a parallel struggle to organize delivery workers in China with organizer Eric Chen, the state of labor rights and freedom of association around the world, and brewing labor unrest this summer across the UK. With recommended reading on the plight of delivery app workers in Britain and the struggle to unionize Planned Parenthood in Texas. Thank you for listening to our 250th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org News James Parrott and L.K. Moe, For one in 10 New York Workers: ‘Independent Contractor’ Means Underpaid and Unprotected, Center for New York City Affairs Emily Feng, He Tried To Organize Workers In China’s Gig Economy. Now He Faces 5 Years In Jail, NPR 2021 ITUC Global Rights Index: COVID-19 pandemic puts spotlight on workers’ rights, International Trade Union Confederation Archie Bland, What are the UK rail strikes about and how long will they go on?, The Guardian Peter Walker, UK summer of unrest? Strikes in the air from barristers to NHS, The Guardian Mark Sweney, BT staff vote for first national strike in 35 years, The Guardian Conversation Asha Banerjee, Abortion rights are economic rights: Overturning Roe v. Wade would be an economic catastrophe for millions of women, Economic Policy Institute Sheelah Kolhatkar, The Devastating Economic Impacts of an Abortion Ban, The New Yorker Argh, I wish I’d written that! Sarah: Eve Livingston, Food delivery drivers fired after ‘cut-price’ GPS app sent them on ‘impossible’ routes, The Observer Michelle: Amy Littlefield, The Struggle to Unionize Planned Parenthood in Texas, Lux The post Belabored: Reproductive Justice Is Labor Justice appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] The pandemic has drawn renewed attention to the issue of working time. The boundaries between home and work have blurred. The spread of the virus has made forced overtime more common as workers subbed in for their sick colleagues. But even before COVID-19, working time was a key issue for workers organizing in many sectors; not long ago, the demand for shorter working hours was a central focus of the labor movement. Controlling our time at work is not just a matter of getting paid fairly for time on the clock. In our globalized, technology- and automation-driven economy, work tends to consume more and more of our lives, exposing us to intensifying stress, draining our energy for other social needs and pursuits in life, and coming at the expense of our families, communities, and civic institutions. The pandemic has put those issues into even sharper relief, as we increasingly question whether the time we spend at work is worth what we’re being paid, worth the physical and psychological stress, and worth risking our lives. In a live episode of Belabored recorded at Labor Notes, we asked workers from several sectors about the fight to control their time and whether labor should renew its focus on “reclaiming our time” as a strategy. Our guests are: Donna Jo Marks, a member of the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union at Nabisco, helped get legislation passed in Oregon that restricts employers from imposing overtime on workers without five days notice. Carlos Perez, a teacher in Durham, North Carolina, organized for “Falcon Wednesdays”: days with lightened teaching and learning loads for teachers and students. Jessica Wender-Shubow is president of the Brookline Educators Union, a local of the Massachusetts Teachers Association. Brookline teachers went on strike recently over issues including class and prep time for teachers. Thank you for listening to our 249th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org Conversation Dan DiMaggio, Nabisco Workers Hope Strike Inspires Others: ‘There’s More of Us than There Are of Them’, Labor Notes Stephen Franklin, “We Are Emptying Out Their Shelves”: Nabisco Workers’ 5-Week Strike Won by Shutting Down Business as Usual, In These Times Mark A. Crabtree, Oregon Revises Overtime Laws for Bakers and Farmworkers, National Law Review Rebecca Schneid, With Wellness Wednesdays, Durham schools tune into student health, 9th Street Journal Meg Woolhouse, Brookline teachers’ strike ends after one day, GPH Michelle Chen, Amazon Expects Its Employees to Operate Like Fast-Moving Machines. This Amazon Picker Is Fighting Back., In These Times Spring Break’s Cleanup Crew, Slate The Fight for $15 Is Starting to Fight for Fair Schedules, The Nation Sarah Jaffe, The Four-Day Work Week—Not Just a Daydream, The Progressive The big idea: should we work less?, The Guardian The post Belabored: Working Time Struggles, Live from Labor Notes appeared first on Dissent Magazine.

[contentblock id=belabored-info-ck] Last week, workers at Raven Software, a division of major video game production company Activision Blizzard, voted to unionize, forming one of the first collective bargaining units in the games industry in the United States. The small group of quality assurance testers shocked the industry, but not our guest Emma Kinema, a former game worker turned senior campaign lead at the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees-Communications Workers of America (CODE-CWA). She joins us to talk Raven, Activision, and games and tech-industry organizing more broadly. We also hear from Grace, a member of the latest union drive at a Planned Parenthood affiliate under the looming repeal of Roe v. Wade, and about a settlement for Victoria’s Secret garment workers in Thailand from the Solidarity Center’s David Welsh. We look in on the latest conditions for gig workers around the country (spoiler alert: they’re bad) and Seattle’s attempt to improve them. And for Argh, we consider what longtime organizers could learn from unexpected victories at Amazon and Starbucks, and a report on employers holding workers’ past sex work against them. Catch up with Belabored at Labor Notes June 17-19! We’ll be hosting Belabored LIVE from the conference on Friday 6/17 at 5pm, and you can find us on several other panels throughout the weekend, talking China, labor radio, and essential workers. For more details check out the conference schedule here.  Thank you for listening to our 248th episode! If you like the show, you can support us on Patreon with a monthly contribution, at the level that best suits you. If you’re interested in advertising on the show, please email ads@dissentmagazine.org. And as always, if you have any questions, comments, or tips, email us at belabored@dissentmagazine.org News Anne D’Innocenzio, Thai garment workers win $8.3M in back pay after layoffs, ABC News Matt Nesterak, Planned Parenthood workers in five states announce intent to unionize, Minnesota Reformer National survey of gig workers paints a picture of poor working conditions, low pay, Economic Policy Institute Seattle’s PayUp Policy, Working Washington Sarah Grace Taylor, Seattle City Council passes ‘Pay Up’ bill, raising wages for certain gig workers, Seattle Times Conversation CODE-CWA Kari Paul, Activision Blizzard’s Raven Software workers vote to form industry’s first union, Guardian Kellen Browning, A Vote by Activision Workers Could Give Unions a Foothold in Gaming, New York Times Sarah Jaffe, Organizing Big Tech, Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung Sarah Jaffe, Tech’s new labor movement is harnessing lessons learned a century ago, Technology Review Argh, I wish I’d written that! Michelle: J. Edward Moreno, Prior Sex Work Haunts Employees Returning to Traditional Job, Bloomberg Law Sarah: Chris Brooks, How Amazon and Starbucks Workers Are Upending the Organizing Rules, In These Times The post Belabored: Game Workers Unite and Win, with Emma Kinema appeared first on Dissent Magazine.