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Graduate Class: Trade Unions and Social Movement Approaches to Climate Change and Ecological Degradation

The Labor Studies Program invites all CUNY and non‐CUNY graduate-level students to enroll in our special topics graduate class:

LABOR & ENVIRONMENT: Trade Unions and Social Movement Approaches to Climate Change and Ecological Degradation

Facilitated by Sean Sweeney

Thursdays, Aug. 27th to Dec. 17th, 2015 @ 6:15-8:45pm

The emergence of alarming scientific data on climate change, pollution and ecological degradation has triggered a rising wave of activism and organizing around environmental issues. A growing number of unions in the US and internationally are participating in the struggle to protect the environment – but many unions still view environmental protection as a threat to existing jobs in key sectors. The scientific reality has also forced labor and other social movements to debate and propose solutions to what amounts to a civilizational crisis.

This course will look at how the ecological crisis is expressing itself in the form of climate change and warming temperatures; growing water scarcity, toxic forms of agriculture, and other major challenges. It will look at how unions and movements are responding to the challenges at the level of organizing and policy. A key component of the course will involve looking at ‘big picture’ theoretical questions, including notions of ‘planetary limits’ and the capacity of the capitalist political economy to deliver a truly sustainable society in the coming decades. The course will also examine how social movements are asserting a new narrative based on democracy, transparency and sufficiency.

NOTE: This graduate course is open to all non-degree/non-matriculated students who already hold a Bachelor’s Degree. Current CUNY graduate students should register for the course via E-Permit @ CUNY Portal and pay tuition to their home college. Once a permit is approved and processed the course will appear on the tuition bill and your course schedule will be generated by the home college. For more information about registration and tuition and fees, please contact Irene.Garcia-Mathes@cuny.edu / 212-642-2050

Photo: “People’s Climate March 2014 NYC” via South Bend Voice

Home, Labor Studies, Murphy News

Special Topics Graduate Class: Worker Cooperatives

The Labor Studies Program invites all CUNY and non‐CUNY
graduate-level students to enroll in our special topics
graduate class:

WORKER COOPERATIVES

Facilitated by Immanuel Ness & Christopher Michael

Tuesdays, Sep. 1st to Dec. 22nd, 2015 from 6:15 to 8:45pm

Worker cooperatives have become a compelling alternative to traditional labor‐management forms of labor relations in the 21st century and with the rise of the Global Financial Crisis. The class examines worker control and cooperatives in comparative historical and geographic perspective. We will examine the historical experiences of worker cooperatives throughout the world, their successes, and challenges, and we will also focus on the growing world of worker owned cooperatives in New York City, examining the practical, economic and political aspects of their work. The class will make use of readings, film, and guest speakers with practical expertise in worker control and cooperatives.

NOTE: This graduate course is open to all non‐degree/non‐matriculated students who already hold a Bachelor’s Degree. Current CUNY graduate students should register for the course via E‐Permit @ CUNY Portal and pay tuition to their home college. Once a permit is approved and processed the course will appear on the tuition bill and your course schedule will be generated by the home college. For more information about registration and tuition and fees, please contact Irene.Garcia‐Mathes@cuny.edu / 212‐642‐2050

Photo: Sergey Galyonkin CC-BY-SA

Home, Labor Studies

News Roundup 6/12/15

Unions. What can we say — we love ‘em. And if recent news is any indication, the future’s looking (mostly) bright. Some developments from the past couple weeks…

  • The Trans-Pacific Partnership was significantly set back in Congress as the House of Representative voted down fast-track authority (via Washington Post). Russell Berman over at the Atlantic credits none other than the American labor movement.
  • Gawker Media became the first digital media company to be unionized (via CBS News)
  • Contingent faculty members at Barnard have moved to organize (via Columbia Spectator)
  • About 1,300 low-wage workers gathered in Detroit to celebrate minimum-wage hikes (via Al Jazeera)
  • On Wednesday, the NYC City Council passed the Fair Chance Act, blocking private companies with 4+ employees from discriminating against applicants based on arrest or criminal record (via Colorlines)
  • Internal training materials from Walmart reveal an unfortunately not-so-shocking anti-union bias. Steven Greenhouse describes in detail over at The Atlantic. (“How Walmart Persuades Its Workers Not to Unionize”)

Photo by Mike Mozart via flickr (CC-BY).

Home, Labor Studies

The Future of Labor Organizing: There’s an App for That?

In a new report on virtual labor organizing by Mark Zuckerman, Richard D. Kahlenberg, and Moshe Z. Marvit,  the authors suggest that the labor movement could grow through use of online organizing tools, and the NLRB would support such innovations. The report has implications for popular organizing models unions use now, which often involve developing or bringing in teams of organizers for face-to-face conversations. Could online tools augment that work? Replace it?

From the report, Virtual Labor Organizing: Could Technology Help Reduce Income Inequality?:

In an era of persistent income inequality, virtual organizing may provide an opportunity to lift the lifetime earnings of hardworking Americans.

The creation of [a] platform, in and of itself, could give employees surprising new leverage at work, once the company understands that dissatisfied employees have an easier, less-obstructed way to join a union.

If virtual organizing took hold, it also could transform the way in which the nation’s top labor unions deploy their organizing capabilities. Rather than just engaging in resource-intensive retail organizing, they could become wholesalers of union formation, investing in large-scale promotion of an online resource, backed by call-centers and a significant network architecture standing behind this powerful new tool.

The American worker certainly needs help to reclaim the benefits of the legal right to organize. Wages and salaries—once over 50 percent of GDP have now slid to 42.6 percent, the lowest since 1929. This disastrous decline in prosperity needs to be disrupted. Recent economic, political, and legal trends—as well as the surging use of technology—may provide workers a way forward through virtual labor organizing.

The full report is available here.

What do you think? How could a new virtual platform change the face of labor organizing?

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Uberization and Its Discontents: The On-Demand Economy and the Future of Full-time Work

By Eric Levitz

Even at dinner, Rich Armstead stays on Task. An hour ago, the 32-year-old comedian finished assembling an IKEA bed for a woman in Brooklyn Heights. When he’s done with his cheeseburger, he’ll follow the waitress back into the kitchen of this Chelsea pub, and fix the sink’s leaking drainpipe.

“It’s a hustle, for sure,” he says, scanning his smartphone for future gigs.

Armstead is one of over 30,000 workers who sell their labor via TaskRabbit, an online marketplace where consumers can find a “Tasker” for any small job, from waiting in line to wedding photography. The platform is itself just one of a growing number of all-purpose service apps, including Handy, Fiverr, and Needto, which together make up only one sector of the ever-expanding “on-demand economy.” Continue reading Uberization and Its Discontents: The On-Demand Economy and the Future of Full-time Work →