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Commemoration of the 2011 Wisconsin Uprising

Frank Emspak Portside
Wisconsin working people are at a cross roads. If we are to regain workplace rights we will have to show the employer how valuable we are. In the absence of that, even with effective political mobilization, the balance of forces will not change.

Barbara Dane’s Life of Defiance and Song

Jenn Pelly The New York Times
The 93-year-old musician, co-founder of the political label Paredon Records, looks back on a history of resistance. If you see your country “making horrible mistakes, you have to speak up,” she said. “You’re colluding with it if you don’t speak up.”

Stunning that Amazon’s Groundbreaking Union Vote is in Alabama

David Sher AL.com
With the formidable pressure on Amazon, the new Democratic control in Washington, D.C. , and the unique circumstances of the Covid-19 pandemic, the progressive current of Alabama's labor history may bode well for the union election at the tech giant.

Introducing ‘Food Grammar,’ the Unspoken Rules of Every Cuisine

Emily Monaco Atlas Obscura
Much like language, cuisine obeys grammatical rules that vary from country to country; a cuisine’s grammar can be reflected in the order in which a meal is served, and a grammar can dictate which foods can (or cannot) be paired.

John Sweeney Was Our Era’s Most Influential Labor Leader

Bill Fletcher Jr. and Fernando E. Gapasin Jacobin
John Sweeney
The late AFL-CIO leader John Sweeney was an admirable figure who had a vision for reinvigorated US labor unions. But he only tried to reform a union movement that needed a more fundamental refoundation.

Surveillance, Stress, and No Bathrooms: Life as an Amazon Driver

Jake Alimahomed-Wilson Labor Notes
The Amazonification of logistics has created a new group of highly exploited workers: delivery drivers. Amazon itself increasingly relies on an expanding network of subcontracted drivers and independent contractors to deliver packages.