Kim Kelly - In These Times

Kim Kelly is a freelance journalist and author based in Philadelphia, PA. She is a labor writer for In These Times, a labor columnist at Teen Vogue and Fast Company, and regularly contributes to many other publications. Her first book, FIGHT LIKE HELL: The Untold History of American Labor, is now available from One Signal/Simon & Schuster. Follow her on Twitter at @grimkim and subscribe to her newsletter, Salvo, here.

Kim's writing on labor, class, politics, and culture has appeared in The Nation, Rolling Stone, The New Republic, The Washington Post, The Baffler, Fast Company, and Esquire, among many others. Kelly has also worked as a video correspondent for More Perfect Union, The Real News Network, and Means TV. Previously, she was the heavy metal editor at Noisey, VICE’s music vertical, and was an original member of the VICE Union. A third-generation union member, she is a member of the Industrial Workers of the World’s Freelance Journalists Union as well as a member and three-term councilperson for the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE). Kim was born in the heart of the South Jersey Pine Barrens, and currently lives in Philadelphia with a hard-workin’ man, a couple of taxidermied bears, and way too many books.

Woman in sunglasses and Waffle House uniform holds a sign reading "We Demand Fair Pay We Can Build Lives On" with marchers behind her

Waffle House Workers, At the Front Lines of Disasters, Demand More

The 24-hour chain famously stays open come hell or high water (inspiring FEMA’s Waffle House Index), but pays workers as little as $3 an hour.

A shirtless man flexes on a chair, flanked by two shirtless men in black Covid masks

Unions Are Hot—Just Ask the Chippendales

We talked with the husband-and-husband team that helped lead a groundbreaking union drive.

"Sex work is work / My body is my business / #Decrim" reads a large red sign held by a marcher

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What Sex Workers Want from Kamala Harris

In an open letter, sex workers laid out how a Harris administration could rein in danger and criminalization.

A row of coal miners sit with lanterns on their helmets. The front one, in focus, looks worried.

Republicans Just Handed Down a Death Sentence to the Nation's Coal Miners

As black lung continues to kill coal miners, House Republicans moved to block enforcement of a life-saving safety rule.

Closeup of a hand spinning a roulette wheel, with hands moving betting tokens in the background.

Casino Workers Are Fighting for the Air They Breathe

“Why are our lives less important than every other employee in the state of New Jersey?”

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Lawsuit: Alabama Is Denying Prisoners Parole to Lease Their Labor to Meatpackers, McDonalds

No parole if you’re still profitable.

A young girl points a pink Polaroid at the camera as a man in a baseball cap looks on, laughing. They're in a living room cluttered with toys and photos.

The Nation’s Coal Miners Get a Rare Piece of Good News

MSHA’s new silica rule—recommended 50 years ago—could save thousands from black lung, although advocates worry about enforcement.

Washington Strippers Win Bill of Rights

Dancers in Washington state have been fighting for increased protections at the clubs they work. Last week, they won legislation known as the "Strippers' Bill of Rights."

The Next Target for Protests Against Israel: Ports

Hundreds of protesters took action at ports in Oakland and Tacoma to try and stop the Cape Orlando's progress. Meanwhile, dockworkers in Barcelona called for a cease-fire and announced they would not work on ships carrying weapons.

Hearing: Don’t Cut Corners with Miners’ Safety

In West Virginia, a push for stronger regulations to fight the new epidemic of black lung afflicting Central Appalachian miners.

Tyler Childers’ New "In Your Love" Video Marries the Joy of Queer Love With the Horrors of Black Lung

Childers' new music video for "In Your Love” is a striking portrait of queer resilience—and coal baron greed.

West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin

Coal-State Democrats Push Biden on Silica Rule: What’s the Hold-Up?

The lifesaving rule has been in limbo for 6 months. A recent In These Times investigation named silica as the main culprit in a new surge of black lung deaths.

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The Young Miners Dying of “An Old Man’s Disease”

Black lung is completely preventable. And it's on the rise again.

There Is Power in a Pantry

Meet the women who nourished the longest strike in Alabama’s history.

Abortion Rights Are Workers' Rights

The Supreme Court's striking down of reproductive freedom is an attack on workers everywhere. The labor movement should treat it that way—by taking urgent action.

“The Amazon Workers in Bessemer Would Already Have Their Union If We Had the PRO Act”

What the union loss at an Amazon warehouse in Alabama means for the future of organizing in the Biden era.

Kim Kelly and Shaun Richman

The Violent Story of American Whiteness

Three writers dive into the depths of white supremacy in America, from alt-right dating sites to the neo-Nazi movement to protect Confederate monuments.