British Universities Keep Squeezing Faculty and Students Tighter and Tighter
The UK’s neoliberal university system is pushing more and more faculty into precarious, low-paid positions while charging students ever more exorbitant fees.
14659 Articles by: Kendra Strauss
Kendra Strauss is director of the Labour Studies Program and associate professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Simon Fraser University.
Tenure-Track Faculty Are a Key Piece of the Academic Labor Puzzle
Unlike with other academic workers, unionization among tenure-track faculty is rare. But unions can make it easier for tenure-stream faculty to fight back against the corporatization of higher ed.
Restaurant Industry Execs Are Very Worried About Food Service Workers Unionizing
At the October 2022 summit of the National Restaurant Association’s legal wing, union-busting lawyers shared their latest strategies for shutting down workplace democracy. Recent food service union successes, it seems, have worried industry executives.
Does the GOP Want a Government Default So It Can Kill Social Security?
Given the programs’ popularity, the only way to break Social Security and Medicare is an economic shock. It’s possible that manufacturing such a shock is behind Republicans’ refusal to raise the debt ceiling.
A Right-Wing Think Tank Just Named AMLO “Tyrant of the Year.” It’s Absurd.
The Index on Censorship, a right-wing nonprofit led by a vicious Jeremy Corbyn opponent that receives funding from the US government, has named Mexican president AMLO its annual “Tyrant of the Year.” Come on.
“Ethical Consumption” Used to Mean Something More Than Feeling Smug About Your Purchases
Today “ethical consumerism” mostly refers to individuals feeling morally righteous about what they buy. But the consumers movement was once motivated by the broader, collective goal of democratic management of the economy.
Austerity Is to Blame for the UK’s Coming Recession
Much of the world is likely to have a recession this year, and Britain is expected to be especially hard hit. We can thank years of stagnant wages for workers — made worse by the Tories’ return to cruel austerity policies.
A. Philip Randolph Was Once “the Most Dangerous Negro in America”
The organizer of the March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech was also the leader of the first successful black labor union. For A. Philip Randolph, labor and civil rights were one and the same.
Organizing a Union? Yes, There’s an App for That.
We are rightly skeptical of apps because the tech industry has plundered the commons, but a new app for union organizing should be given the opportunity to demonstrate proof of concept. Anything that makes union organizing easier has the potential to do good.
Joe Biden’s New Relief Plan for Renters Is Incredibly Weak
Millions of renters are suffering immensely right now as they face down imminent evictions in a housing market that has seen rents skyrocket in recent years. Joe Biden’s recently announced renters relief plan won’t do much to aid them.
Amartya Sen’s Work Shows Us the Human Cost of Capitalist Development
Indian economist Amartya Sen has posed a devastating challenge to the dominant capitalist understanding of development. But Sen’s own analytical framework doesn’t go far enough in exposing the inherently exploitative logic of capitalism.
Eric Adams’s “Working People’s Agenda” Is Just an Austerity Budget for New York City
Eric Adams loves to style himself as a mayor for the working class. But with his new budget’s long list of cuts to education and health programs that millions depend on, he’s putting forward an austerity agenda that only a plutocrat could love.
In a Major Free-Speech Case, a Billionaire Funded the Judges Who Could Decide in His Favor
Billionaire Kelcy Warren has sued Beto O’Rourke for defamation over old campaign ads. Judges who could be presiding over the case have previously taken election funds from Warren, making a ruling for Warren — and against free speech — more likely.
Karl Marx’s Literary Style Was an Essential Part of His Genius
Karl Marx wasn’t merely a great thinker who was also a glorious prose stylist. His brilliance as a writer was inseparable from his greatness as a thinker.
Canada’s Response to Israel’s Far-Right Government Is Disgraceful, but It’s Nothing New
Ottawa’s refusal to ruffle feathers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government, the most far-right in Israel’s history, is par for the course. Canada remains a staunch ally of Israel’s apartheid state.
Ukraine’s Postwar Reconstruction Has Big Business Licking Its Lips
Ukraine is being sized up by neocolonial vultures from BlackRock to the EU for a carve-up after the war is over. On the menu is deregulation, privatization, and “tax efficiency” — measures that may have already begun.
A New Independent Union in Mexico Is Gearing Up for Its First Contract Fight
Last August, workers in an auto parts plant in Mexico voted to form an independent union. As their employer, VU Manufacturing, continues to try and bust the union, workers are fighting for a contract.
The Armenia-Azerbaijan Conflict Is a Product of the Soviet Union’s Collapse
The war in Ukraine has overshadowed the ongoing battle between Armenia and Azerbaijan. But both conflicts show the Soviet Union is still unraveling — with devastating, bloody consequences.
Justin Trudeau Loves Outsourcing Government Work to Neoliberal Cutthroats
Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has outsourced billions of dollars’ worth of contracts, including $100 million to McKinsey. Instead of shoveling money into the private sector, the Liberals could make the novel choice of investing in state capacity.
University of Chicago Graduate Workers Are Trying to Unionize
Following recent victories at Yale and Northwestern, graduate student workers at the University of Chicago are voting on whether to unionize at the end of the month. We spoke with workers there about the history of their effort and what they think is next.