Unions
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Job Insecurity 101
At California College of the Arts in San Francisco and Oakland, adjunct faculty have been trying for two years to win their first union contract. They are part of the Service Employees International Union’s Faculty Forward movement, through which some 13,000…
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Can Unions Diversify Publishing?
The publishing industry is very white—79% as of 2016. One way to change that might be to unionize publishing workforces, argues J.C. Pan at The Nation. Pan cites the unionization of The New Press, where workers included an affirmative-action clause in…
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Gawker’s Problem with Women
Gawker has been failing its female employees. Gawker may pay its writers, but as Evans found out after staffers voted to unionize, Gawker doesn’t pay its writers equally: The union effort prompted my discovery of an egregious pay discrepancy, which…
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Rise Up, Writers!
In Pacific Standard, Colette Shade writes about journalism, health, and unions: One day, about three months in, two of my bosses took me into a small conference room. They told me that they were dissatisfied with my performance—in particular, some…
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The Saturday Rumpus Essay: O Martyr My Martyr!
In most communities, teachers are compensated so poorly and afforded so little respect that in many cases the primary compensation is martyrdom.
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Adjunct Faculty Plan Walk Out
Adjunct college faculty are at last taking a stand against abominable work conditions and low pay by planning a national walk out on February 25, 2015. Unlike their tenured counterparts, adjuncts lack protection from retributive firing should they follow through.…
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Drop Me Off the Cliff
On this particular night, I drink the brown stuff that burns my throat and tastes like the sweat of working men and women. I am full of sorrow for the people of Michigan, which had just been declared the 24th…
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Strand Bookstore Labor Battle
Manhattan’s Strand Bookstore is in the midst of a labor struggle. Employees have launched a blog, which contains their original press release: “Strand ownership mounts unprecedented attack on union.” MetroFocus reports on the current causes, as well as labor issues…
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The True Politics of Whole Foods
I usually shop for supplies at the corner bodega, rarely making it to an actual grocery store. But, when imagining a more responsible me, I picture myself with a steady girlfriend shopping at the local Whole Foods. Whole Foods seems…
