Heroes in our midst and historical commemoration. Some highlights from the week…
This past Wednesday marked the official commemoration of the Triangle Factory Fire by the Workmen’s Circle. The fire took place in March 1911 and was the deadliest industrial disaster in the history of NYC, causing the deaths of 146 garment workers.
Wikileaks released a chapter from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations. The Teamsters, like the rest of the labor movement, aren’t into it.
Missouri police will restrict the use of tear gas after a settlement that determined police need to warn protesters and give them time to disperse before using it (via Time).
Swarthmore students launched what’s being called the first indefinite occupation for fossil fuel divestment (via Waging Nonviolence)
As Seattle’s $15 minimum wage heads into effect, some question as to whether university and airport workers will be left behind. (via Next City)
Another March week gone by and it’s looking more like Feburary out in snowy New York City. Here at Murphy, martial arts met the workplace in a striking feature from our Arts & Culture section. And around the world of labor…
Speaking of the UAE, NYU Professor Andrew Ross found himself unexpectedly banned from the country as he went to board an Etihad Airline flight this week, following his criticism of the exploitation of migrant construction workers (via NYTimes).
NYCHA residents and advocates went to Albany to demand that Gov. Cuomo allocate $1.2bill/year toward public housing vs the currently-allocated $25mill (via CityLimits).
Two SEIU locals have thrown their support behind Chuy Garcia in his battle against Rahm Emmanuel to become Chicago Mayor (via Chicago Sun-Times).
Look how much the middle-class has shrunk! Wyoming and Alaska aren’t looking too bad right about now (via PEW).
The United Steelworkers and Royal Dutch Shell inch closer and closer to striking a deal, making a return to work by the end of March look increasingly possible. Meanwhile, locals continue to demonstrate.
Protests in Frankfurt, Germany against Eurozone’s “Laboratory for Austerity” (via Democracy Now).
One step closer to Right-to-Work in Wisconsin, ACA comes before the Supreme Court once more, the Feds release a report on policing in Ferguson, and more…
The Justice Department conducted two investigations—one looking into the shooting of Michael Brown, and another into the Ferguson Police Department. The first ruled that there was no prosecutable case against Darren Wilson. The second, that “Ferguson’s law enforcement practices are shaped by the City’s focus on revenue rather than by public safety needs.” More from Ta-Nehisi Coates at the Atlantic
The de Blasio administration has reached a project labor agreement with the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, covering $3.5 billion of work and repairs at the New York City Housing Authority over the next three years
Unions as lazy and overpaid? Over at the LA Times, Michael Hiltzik begs to differ
Happy freezing Friday! Here’s a bit of what’s been happening in the worlds of labor, the city, and beyond:
3,800 members of the United Steelworkers went on strike at 9 plants. Now in its 6th day, the strike has shut down 10% of US refining capacity and making for the union’s largest strike since 1980. At stake are workplace and community safety. In particular, the union is demanding shorter work hours and more employees.
NYC Mayor Bill Di Blasio’s State of the City address promised citywide ferry service, new housing construction, and a concerted effort to battle gentrification. How? The devil will, no doubt, be in the details.
Happy Friday! Each week, we come across interesting articles and stories around labor, community, and struggles for equity and justice in our changing world. Here’s a sampling of what we’ve found and liked on the world wide web in recent days:
Over at Al Jazeera, Sarah Jaffe writes about the growing cooperative movement in New York City and beyond. (Can worker cooperatives alleviate income inequality?) Roots the present moment in the larger history of cooperative. Lots of exciting work brewing for the future.
On Shareable, Nathan Schneider has been writing about how the so-called sharing economy might be disrupted by projects that are actually user-owned. Last month, he wrote a great piece called Owning is the New Sharing about projects that are trying to combine the ease of peer-to-peer sharing platforms with ownership structures that are decentralized and autonomous. This week, he interviewed founders of La’Zooz: The Decentralized, Crypto-Alternative to Uber.
At the Washington Post today, Lydia DePillis describes organizing efforts at Politico — which, if successful, would be the first organizing campaign to successfully get off the ground at a major new media company.(Why Internet journalists don’t organize)
Last week, the battle for fair wages and labor standards for fast food workers took on a new dimension, as a group of McDonald’s workers in Virgina filed suit against the company for alleged racial and sexual harassment in its stores. At stake is whether McDonald’s could be held jointly liable for the actions of its franchise operators, per the NLRB decision from this past June. Read more at Gawker.
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