The Movement for Black Lives Issue Takeover

LaborViewpoint

Why Aren’t Workers at Unions Eligible for Public Service Loan Forgiveness?

While Biden has taken steps to provide student debt cancellation, union workers are excluded from a key relief program—while workers at anti-labor groups like the Heritage Foundation are covered.

Audrey Winn

LaborViewpoint

Independent Unions Are Great—And Proof of Labor's Broken Institutions

The inspiring wave of independent labor organizing also represents the failure of existing unions.

Hamilton Nolan

Labor

“It’s Not Over”: While Biden Touts Rail Deal, Workers Have Yet to Vote—And Many Remain Skeptical

A national rail strike could still be on the table if rank-and-file workers reject the tentative agreement announced by the White House this week.

Jeff Schuhrke

Viewpoint

Grading President Biden’s Economic Record

Rapid job growth and increased worker bargaining power are very good—there’s a whole lot more progressive policy that could be done.

Max B. Sawicky

Labor

In Minnesota, the Largest Private-Sector Nurses Strike in U.S. History

Protesting understaffing and low pay, Minnesota nurses hit the picket line in a “fight for our very profession.”

Sarah Lahm

LaborViewpoint

The Strike that Started the Red Wave

Ten years ago, Chicago teachers modeled what a militant fight for public education looks like by walking off the job. A decade later, the legacy of social justice unionism continues to animate the U.S. labor movement.

Jackson Potter

“Complicit in the Railroading of Democracy”: DNC Panel Blocks Vote on Dark Money Ban

"Democrats can't be the party of democracy in one breath and then let an astronomical sum of money from Republican megadonors and corporate interests flood Democratic primaries."

Jake Johnson

Labor

“Players Realize Now: They’re Workers”: Why Baseball Minor Leaguers Voted to Unionize

The surge in U.S. labor organizing now includes minor league baseball players, who are agitating for higher pay and better protections on and off the field.

Abe Asher

How to Fight Mass Incarceration and Win

Criminal justice reform advocates in Los Angeles have amassed some impressive victories—laying out a model for reducing incarceration and providing care.

Mark Engler and Paul Engler

LaborRural America

The Working-Class Loggers Who Saved an Old-Growth Forest

Often cast as villains in the Northwest’s environmental battles, timber workers have a connection to the forest that goes far beyond jobs.

Steven C. Beda

Can Feminism Survive Class Polarization?

In 1999, Barbara Ehrenreich reflected on how the widening of the wealth gap thwarted the original goals of the feminist movement.

Barbara Ehrenreich

Viewpoint

Republican State AGs Are Trying to Cut Workers’ Wages

While posturing as defenders of working people, over a dozen GOP Attorneys General are seeking to undo wage increases for workers on federal contracts.

Megan Uzzell and JoAnn Kintz

Labor

Heat Waves Are Literally Killing UPS Workers

Package deliverers and mail carriers aren’t just suffering from capitalist-induced climate change. They’re also often forced to work in vehicles without air conditioning.

Maximillian Alvarez

Labor

This Labor Day, Starbucks Workers Are Hosting Pro-Union “Sip-Ins” Across the U.S.

To commemorate Labor Day, Starbucks workers are planning actions at stores around the country—part of the growing campaign to organize the coffee chain.

Saurav Sarkar

Departments

Corporate Stooges in Blue Collar Clothing

Tensions between right-wing populists and free-marketers have been bubbling up since the 1970s. Will the populists of today exploit this to their political advantage?

In These Times Editors

“This Is What the Climate Crisis Looks Like”: Devastating Floods in Pakistan Endanger Millions

From displacement to destroyed homes and crops, extreme flooding is having a catastrophic impact on Pakistanis.

Julia Conley

Feature

Mikhail Gorbachev’s Late Career as a New Age Toastmaster

The former Soviet leader clung to a vision of globalization that let corporate power run amok.

G. Pascal Zachary

Labor

These Starbucks Workers Demanded Fair Pay, Then Were Accused of Kidnapping Their Boss

Workers at a unionized Starbucks store in South Carolina call the allegations “ridiculous” and are continuing to organize for justice on the job.

Saurav Sarkar