Working Life

What’s a worker’s life worth? To you and me, it’s priceless. Capitalism, though, doesn’t see it that way—a worker’s life is a cost of doing business, a life easily disposable when it comes to making profits. And the corporate world has an accomplice in this immoral scam where workers are disposable: the Occupational Safety and […]

Read the full story

Most people, when they walk out the door to go to work, don’t think, “damn, I’m going to get killed today or seriously ill with a chronic disease”. Yes, if you work in a mine or on a construction site, you are more aware of the dangers. But, most people just assume work is a […]

Read the full story

Shut your damn mouth or be deported. That’s basically the upshot of what happened to Delmer Joel Ramirez Palma, who wanted to tell the truth about the collapse of the under-construction Hard Rock Hotel in New Orleans but, two days after he was hurt in the disaster, Joel found himself dragged off by ICE into […]

Read the full story

I offer a public service to progressives—and to those, like me, who are irritated by progressive leaders who don’t know how to talk about specifics when it comes to policy, and just spew out sloganeering, even when they get caught making mistakes. It’s embarrassing. So, today, Matt Gardner, a leading expert on tax policy, comes […]

Read the full story

I continue my on-going chats with solid progressive candidates all across the country. I chat with Abdul El-Sayed, who is vying in Michigan to be the first Muslim-American elected as governor in the history of the country. And from south-eastern Indiana, Dan Canon tells me why he jumped into a congressional race despite being, in […]

Read the full story

People die at work, and people revolt and organize. All in sharp focus the last few days, I looked at the toll at work of sick, injured and killed workers—and why we mark Workers Memorial Day every April 29th—as well as the May Day mobilization that makes us consider how to change the system. I […]

Read the full story

I pointed out a few days ago that there was zero — and I mean ZERO — mention after the explosion in West, Texas that the plant was not unionized. And it points to a deeper problem: when it comes to workers’ deaths, the media just doesn’t really care.

Read the full story

    You may recall that 13 workers died on February 7th in an explosion at a sugar refinery in Port Wentworth, Georgia. Today, The Wall Street Journal has a fine story looking at the disaster and the dangers from dust and the failure of federal and safety officials to do much about the risks. First, […]

Read the full story

  Like a lot of workers, construction workers aren’t seen by most people going to and from work, home or whatever else they happen to be doing–until a construction worker dies some horrible death. Their deaths are, I think, shrugged off as the inevitable cost of "progress" and "economic activity". But, these deaths do not […]

Read the full story

    This was interesting. Yesterday, the AFL-CIO and UFCW issued a joint press release about a victory in a long battle: the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will finally require–drumroll, please-employers to pay for safety-related materials like goggles, fire-resistant clothing, face shields, hard hats and other safety equipment. Only in America–or other societies where workers […]

Read the full story