This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Copyright P. Kerim Friedman.
Does the writer’s strike have you down? Miss The Daily Show? Here are some things you can do: Download Miro. Watch some classic Daily Show clips
The text of John Edward’s Hanover speech reprinted in full (via Crooked Timber): Remarks as Prepared for Delivery: “To Build One America, End the
Here is a quote from FOX News: Filmmaker Michael Moore’s brilliant and uplifting new documentary, “Sicko,” deals with the failings of the U.S.
Wikipedia lists some problems with the current method of calculating the unemployment rate in the US. These include the fact that 1.5% of the
The LA Times reports that one of the leading US Airlines is doing so well that “874 top executives will receive more than $150 million in stock
The Employee Free Choice Act passed the house vote, now it is going to the senate. If you are a US citizen, please go here to tell your senator that
Speaking of the Guardian … a piece in the Observer discuses how Walt Disney was a raving McCarthyite: Disney had a ferocious temper, especially
Speaking of the Guardian … a piece in the Observer discuses how Walt Disney was a raving McCarthyite: Disney had a ferocious temper, especially
To those 8 million American workers who were recently “promoted” to supervisor. Congratulations! {unions}
Having just complained about the Times habit of writing as if the poor didn’t exist, suddenly I find two articles that would make you think the
That organized crime controls New York and New Jersey’s waterfront is not news. Elia Kazan’s classic 1954 film On the Waterfront (filmed around
One of the most interesting debates to arise out of the recent national debate on immigration is whether or not immigration drives down the wages of
Last year I had an opportunity in New York to hear a report from Robert Weil, the author of Red Cat, White Cat, who had just come back from China
Union activists in NY have a giant inflatable rat they bring around to embarrass employers. Now the rat has its own flickr photo pool! (Via the WFP
Guest post by tf With all the talk of call centers in poorer countries, one sometimes forgets that they are a booming business in the rich world.
Guest post by tf Blackboard is an online system used by many universities, in the United States and elsewhere, to animate classroom discussions
I’m really at a loss for words. What the victims of Katrina need most right now are jobs to help them get back on their feet. The best bet would be
This Foreign Affairs article by George J. Gilboy focuses on trade between China and the U.S., but it has some good news for Taiwan. I remember
This Foreign Affairs article by George J. Gilboy focuses on trade between China and the U.S., but it has some good news for Taiwan. I remember
Seems that violent worker protests aren’t unique to China, and “Made in Taiwan” does not ensure that something is made under humane working
If, as Doonesbury suggests, the terrorists really are after us because they hate freedom, there may be no need to fear any longer. The NLRB has
I’ve been trying to keep up with the responses to last week’s big news about the AFL-CIO split. Kim Scipes’ roundup is by far the most thorough if
I’ve added it to my blogroll, but it really deserves its own post. Nathan Newman has joined the borg at TPMCafe and is blogging up a storm about
The opposite-of-indubitable Tom Friedman has been raving about Ireland lately. How rich it is, and now how its labor system should be admired for
I’ve long believed that the main purpose of outsourcing is not to save money by finding cheaper labor, but to save money by keeping labor costs down
From an article in Zmag: [Anthropologist] David Graeber, was fired from Yale University a few days ago. Of course, that wasn’t the official
More of New York City’s working poor are using food stamps: Even as welfare rolls have dropped, food stamp use has increased over the last few
Another victory for students fighting to improve workers’ rights! The second one this month. A groundbreaking agreement improving workers’ rights
This is a message for all those members of the American Anthropology Association out there: I admit it, I normally throw my AAA ballot in the
A recent compendium and analysis of U.S. labor market statistics, the State of Working America, has some interesting data that is relevant to the
Graduate student teachers at Yale and Columbia universities are on strike to demand the right to form a union (recently denied to private schools by
Mark Liberman, commenting on a story that the FAA is considering lifting the ban on in-flight cell phone use, points out that the problem is not
Matthew Harwood has an important article in the Washington Monthly about how failure to embrace Iraqi unions undermined post-invasion reconstruction
Richard Posner, federal judge, professor at the University of Chicago, father of the law and economics movement, and now a blogger as well, has
The hunger strike by students supporting a guaranteed living wage at Georgetown was a success. According to the DC labor web site (where I can no
I recently described working in a coal mine in China as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world. The most dangerous factory job in the United
Students at Georgetown are fighting to get a living wage for the lowest paid employees at the university. Sign a petition in support of the hunger
Facing the threat of unionization, Wal-Mart closed its Jonquiere, Quebec store rather than pay its employees living wages and benefits. The Canadian
Officially, more than 6,000 Chinese miners lose their lives each year in industrial accidents. The real figure is believed to be much higher,
The above is a picture taken by Lewis Hine for the National Child Labor Committee in 1909, titled “Photograph of Bibb Mill No. 1, Macon, GA.” The
India is a settler state, like Australia, the United States, South Africa, Israel, Canada, Taiwan, and many other states where the indigenous
I find myself hesitant to write this post because it touches on two issues that are often harped upon in the Western press when writing about India:
Drew Beck brings my attention to this Žižek essay (also here) on the book everyone has been talking about since even before election day: Thomas
The New York Times finally has a story on the locked out workers, here: Classic bread-and-butter issues were on the table, including wage
Philippe Bourgois has written a letter to the Anthropology community, asking them to boycott the Hilton Hotel in Atlanta where the AAA has moved its
S.F. HOTELS, STOP LOCKING OUT YOUR EMPLOYEES A number of international hotel chains, including the Hyatt, Hilton, and Holiday Inn groups, have
From the San Francisco Chronicle: San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom threatened Monday to join hotel workers on their picket lines today unless hotel
Being a member of the American Anthropological Association is usually fairly boring. Sure, there are your occasional controversies, such as when
Mark Schmitt recalls being asked the question: “Do any of you seriously believe that it is possible to have a real progressive movement in this
Two big changes in policy this week translate into a major assault by Bush on undocumented immigrants
Jacob Hacker has a sort of preview of his next book in The New Republic, and I think he is most clearly saying the big thing that needs to be said
Via Nathan Newman, an important article on the legal threat to use of card checks for union organizing and media coverage of the issue. What is Card
The first time Scott presented to me his argument that English teachers in East Asia should be thought of as economic migrants, I have to admit I
A few weeks ago I asked, in regards to US concerns about the offshoring of high-tech jobs, just how many American’s were doing these jobs to begin
Charlie Cook, quoted in Donkey Rising, has some important things to say about why we aren’t seeing the creation of new full time jobs in the US: In
I once had a summer job renovating apartments in New York city. Not having much experience at this kind of thing, my Jamaican co-workers always
Brett at Marstonalia writes, about the income charts I posted earlier: Median income isn’t relevant for everything, of course — it would be nice to
In a recent interview on Now, Doug Henwood discussed just how small the American middle class is, compared with other developed countries:
Barbara Ehrenreich has co-edited a new book: Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and Sex Workers in the New Economy. I haven’t read it yet, but she
In an excellent Op-Ed in the New York Times David Shipler (who had a Magazine article on the “working poor” in the Times a few weeks ago) writes:
Kevin Drum doesn’t understand why Gregg Easterbrook is confused by the fact that material progress doesn’t bring people greater happiness. I would
Looking back, however, what is even more surprising than slavery’s scope is how swiftly it died. By the end of the 19th century, slavery was, at
I’ve been following stories about outsourcing to India, and while this one from Wired magazine is one of the least insightful I’ve read, it did have
When I was studying Chinese the school had a policy that we had to speak Chinese all the time, even during our lunch breaks. A well intentioned
I often find it painfully tedious to read NY Times stories which try to individualize social problems, but this one, about one woman’s struggle
Even though just about every blog has already covered this, the story is so upsetting, I think it needs to be repeated as often as possible. The
Before embarking on the 240-mile journey from Sabarmati to Dandi, known as the “salt march”, Gandhi sent a letter to the Viceroy: If my letter
The New York Times must have turned over a new leaf this holiday season. In just the past few days there have been four excellent Op-Ed
I totally missed this brilliant post from Nathan Newman, written about three weeks ago. He discusses allegations of liberal censorship of
Please consider supporting grocery workers who are on strike–holding the line for health care. More than 80,000 supermarket workers are fighting to
Am I allowed to title today’s entry “McJobs”? Not according to McDonalds. What interests me about this story is that although McDonalds raises legal
Inequality is increasing, but those getting the short end of the stick — blue collar workers — are largely in favor of Bush. How can that be? First
has already helped push more than two dozen national supermarket chains into bankruptcy over the past decade. That list includes names like
In the latest in of his excellent series of articles on the gender wage gap, Barry over at Ampersand has made a strong case (as if it needed to be
Nathan Newman reports some good news: A federal district court in Texas ruled on Wednesday that Ken Lay and other Enron executives are liable to
So, you start a company to privatize education and take on the teachers unions. Your company fails miserably both in terms of the market and
In honor of the Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride, Nathan Newman had a good post on how fighting for Immigrant worker’s rights is good for U.S.
Calpundit asks: “is there any kind of rough consensus about what income it takes to reasonably label someone as “rich” or “poor” or “middle class”?
I was at a wedding this weekend and was telling some relatives how I live in Jackson Heights, Queens where I have language difficulties because I
The department of labor reports that worker productivity is up. But what does that mean? I can understand it when we are talking about industrial
Nathan Newman starts another series (this one on Unions) by explaining why older cocktail waitresses in Las Vegas are pro-Union: If you pay
Nathan Newman has a series of excellent posts on the minimum wage: Illinois Raises Minimum Wage Why Minimum Wage Beats EITC Popularity of Raising
Over at Nathan Newman: … a white criminal gets more job interviews than a black person with no record at all. It almost boggles the mind that there
I was reading Noy Thrupkaew’s discussion of recent Gay-themed TV shows in The American Prospect, when this caught my eye [my emphasis]: Indeed, the
A recent NY Times Editorial argued that developing nations were being hurt by the unfair trade practices of Europe and America: The same sad story
Bush is trying to kill overtime pay for millions of workers: The Bush administration is trying to push through new regulations — without public
With the vice president attending the funeral of one of America’s most famous civil rights opponents, I think it is worth while taking a look at the
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Copyright P. Kerim Friedman.