workers

By Sonali Kolhatkar ( Otherwords.org) – The United Auto Workers (UAW), a union of nearly 150,000 workers at America’s “Big Three” automakers, are on strike. On the face of it, UAW’s demands sound audacious. They’re calling for a 46 percent pay raise and a four-day workweek, among other things. But in the broader context of […]

Climate Crisis

Labor Day: Is Biden’s Green Energy IRA the most Pro-Worker Legislation in Decades?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Inflation Reduction Act, President Biden’s signature piece of legislation that was passed with no Republican support, contains $369 billion for the green energy transition. Since much of this funding leverages corporate and individual investments, its impact will be in the trillions of dollars. Given the dire climate crisis we […]

Inequality

On Labor Day: Low-Wage Employers say they Have no Money for Raises, but spent $341 Billion on Stock Buybacks

Inequality.org

By Sarah Anderson ( Inequality.org ) – In response to strikes and union organizing drives, corporate leaders routinely insist that they simply lack the wherewithal to raise employee pay. And yet top executives seem to have little trouble finding resources for enriching themselves and wealthy shareholders. In 2021 and 2022, S&P 500 corporations spent record […]

China

Green Jobs take off in China after Beijing’s Carbon Neutrality Pledge

China Dialogue

Jiang Mengnan ( China Dialogue ) – Around the world, tech and finance companies have been laying staff off. In 2022, tech firms’ payrolls fell by 164,000 employees, with a further 166,000 jobs cut in the first quarter of 2023, according to tracking platform Layoffs.fyi. In China, youth unemployment is also rising, hitting 20% this […]

Climate Crisis

The Ugly Side of American Exceptionalism: Refusing to Play by the Rules

Rebecca Gordon

( Tomdispatch.com ) – In 1963, the summer I turned 11, my mother had a gig evaluating Peace Corps programs in Egypt and Ethiopia. My younger brother and I spent most of that summer in France. We were first in Paris with my mother before she left for North Africa, then with my father and […]

Displaced and Refugees

The French “Nahel” Protests spring from Systemic Racism, not Immigration or Islam

Mohamed Jegham

Sousse, Tunisia (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Since June 27, every news channel has been covering the recent protests in Paris. On the surface, these disturbances are the result of a police shooting of an unarmed 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk who was attempting to flee the police at a traffic stop. However, many news outlets […]

child labor

Caution: Children at Work: The Return of Child Labor shows the Decline of the Right is Bottomless

Tomdispatch

By Steve Fraser ( Tomdispatch.com ) – An aged Native-American chieftain was visiting New York City for the first time in 1906. He was curious about the city and the city was curious about him. A magazine reporter asked the chief what most surprised him in his travels around town. “Little children working,” the visitor replied. Child labor […]

Algeria

France’s Double Uprising: Will the Earth be Habitable; Will France be Habitable for People of Color?

Waging Nonviolence

By Nicolas Haeringer | – ( Waging Nonviolence) – On June 27, Nahel Merzouk, a 17-year-old French boy of North African descent was murdered by a white police officer in a Parisian suburb. Since then, anger has erupted almost everywhere in the country, especially in poor neighborhoods. Young people are taking to the streets to […]

Climate Crisis

Right-to-Charge Laws bring promise of EVs to Apts., Condos and Rentals

The Conversation

Eleftheria Kontou, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | – (The Conversation) – More than 3.6 million electric cars are driving around the U.S., but if you live in an apartment, finding an available charger isn’t always easy. Grocery stores and shopping centers might have a few, but charging takes time and the spaces may be […]