Portside

Increased militancy after pandemic sacrifices and tighter labor market contributed to impressive contract deals in the last year.

The strike is part of a wave of recent labor actions in the nation’s second-largest metropolis, where high costs of living have made it difficult for many workers — from housekeepers to Hollywood writers — to stay afloat.

How can a supposed superpower that spends billions of dollars of borrowed money on its military remain clueless about the clear and present danger to its essential workforce from wildfires burning for weeks just north of our border.

Ninety-one percent of the graduate and professional student workers who participated in Monday's election voted to form a union.

At the height of the coronavirus pandemic, the American working class faced a paradox: workers were told they were “essential” and touted as “heroes,” yet they were often treated as sacrificial lambs.

So far, tech's labor activism has largely moved on the margins of the industry, with Amazon warehouse workers, Apple Store employees and video game QA testers leading organizing efforts, while engineers, product teams and other headquarters staff mostly shied away.

Music supervisors requested Netflix and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers voluntarily recognize their union earlier this year, which would have skipped the step of a formal election, but they declined.