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On Neo-Liberalism, Populism, and the New “Dangerous Class"

Guy Standing OpenDemocracy
UberEats drivers protest outside Uber's downtown Toronto office. Noted British labor economist Guy Standing says the mainstream left, left populists and social democrats, should not be distracted by populism. Instead it should focus on new answers in an era defined by chronic insecurity and growing inequality.

Why 2020 Was the ‘Precarity Election’

Albena Azmanova and Marshall Auerback Economy For All
workers with dangerous machine gears Neither political party has truly addressed the issue of economic security, which is why the country remains a house divided against itself.

books

Serfs of Academe

Charles Petersen The New York Review of Books
The plight of academic adjuncts, those Ph.D's working full-time at low wages, no benefits and little job security, viewed not just as prototypical exploited gig workers and units of flexibility but also as an advanced contingent of union activists.

labor

Millennials, White-Collar Workers Bringing New Life to Unions

Katie Johnston Boston Globe
Workers across many industries are increasingly banding together and standing up against management as part-time and contract work grows, automation amps up, and wages barely budge, labor observers say. Silicon Valley tech workers have started a coalition to unite.

What Happened to Europe’s Left?

Jan Rovny The London School of Economics and Political Science Blog
Only a handful of European states are currently governed by left-wing governments, and several of the traditionally largest left-wing parties, such as the Socialist Party in France, have experienced substantial drops in support. Jan Rovny argues that while many commentators have linked the left’s decline to the late-2000s financial crisis, the weakening of Europe’s left reflects deep structural and technological changes that have reshaped European society, leaving left-wing parties out in the cold.

labor

Airbnb Finds a Union It Can Work With After Failed Efforts

Josh Eidelson Bloomberg
The United Auto Workers won a union contract covering nearly 150 cafeteria workers at four Airbnb facilities. It’s the latest development in a unionization trend among tech companies’ sub-contracted staff. Share Better, a group backed by Unite Here, the hotel industry, housing groups and elected officials, said Thursday that the new Airbnb effort doesn’t go far enough.

labor

Brazil: Workers’ Rights Under Threat From Government Reforms

Mathilde Dorcadie Equal Times
The ousting of President Dilma Rousseff has provided an opportunity for the proponents of neoliberalism and those who want to break union power. Most of Brazil's union centers fear that proposed government reforms will weaken unions and further the spread of subcontracting.

labor

It Is Rigged…and We Must Revolt

Guy Standing Working-Class Perspectives
The system is rigged — by an evolving form of capitalism that undermines genuine ‘free trade’. Rising inequality is fomenting anger and desperation. A revolt is coming, but its direction is uncertain. Some fall prey to neo-fascist appeals of Donald Trump or Marine Le Pen. They will not be stopped by scorn alone. We need a progressive alternative focused on building a new income distribution system for the citizenry, not for the oligarchy.

labor

The Amazonization of Everything

David Golumbia Jacobin
Amazon’s success lies in worker exploitation and intrusions into consumers’ private lives.
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