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Unions

The Political Scene Podcast

How the Reality-TV Industry Mistreats Its Stars

Lawsuits and the labor movement come to reality TV, by way of the Netflix hit “Love Is Blind.”
Daily Comment

Biden Is the Most Pro-Labor President Since F.D.R. Will It Matter in November?

The President is winning over union leaders, but not necessarily rank-and-file voters.
Dispatch

How the Yale Unions Took Over New Haven

A decade ago, blue-collar campus workers won a majority on the city council. Would an alliance with grad students dilute their power?
Persons of Interest

How Jane McAlevey Transformed the Labor Movement

The renowned organizer and theorist has a terminal-cancer diagnosis. But she has long been fighting the clock.
Notes on Hollywood

Joy in Los Angeles as the Writers Reach a Tentative Deal

A strike captain reflects on the emotional highs and lows of five months on the picket lines.
Notes on Hollywood

Scenes from Hollywood’s Hot Labor Summer

A bartender, a background actor, a shrink, a hair stylist—a psychic inventory of a city in stasis.
Notes on Hollywood

“Orange Is the New Black” Signalled the Rot Inside the Streaming Economy

The innovative and daring show was a worldwide hit for Netflix, but some of the actors say that they were never fairly compensated.
Notes on Hollywood

Should Actors Be Paid for Auditions?

The streaming era has placed new burdens on actors to tape themselves, and an oft-forgotten clause in the SAG contract states that actors should be compensated for this work.
Daily Comment

The Starbucks Union Fight Comes to Congress

A hearing on illegal union-busting pitted Howard Schultz, the coffee company’s former C.E.O., against Bernie Sanders.
Satire from The Borowitz Report

Elon Musk to Seek Life on Mars and Keep It from Unionizing

The billionaire said that he would personally talk to the Martians and convince them that joining a union would be a mistake that they’ll regret.
Annals of Communications

What Happened to the Washington Post?

After a decade of growth, the paper is laying off staff and was reportedly on track to lose money last year. Its publisher and C.E.O. says it’s all part of a bold strategy.
U.S. Journal

UPS and the Package Wars

The company offers old-fashioned middle-class jobs and is enjoying record profits. So why is a strike looming?
2022 in Review

As Pro-Union Sentiment Reaches a Fifty-Year High, U.S. Law Remains Pro-Management

A contract forced on railroad workers, and anti-labor conduct by Starbucks and Amazon, showed the difficulty of organizing in 2022.
Annals of Communications

The Economics at the Heart of the Times Union Standoff

Thursday’s walkout was part of a bitter contract dispute over wages—but the impasse poses a larger question about how the growing company should invest in its future.
Our Columnists

What’s at Stake in the University of California Graduate-Worker Strike

The seventy per cent of Americans who support unions should understand that the future of organized labor won’t be in coal mines or steel mills but in places that might cut against the stereotypes.
The Political Scene

How Catherine Cortez Masto Won Nevada and Secured Democratic Control of the Senate

She positioned herself as a champion of working-class voters, courting organized labor and the Latino community.
Daily Comment

Inflation Is Obscuring Biden’s Pro-Labor Achievements

The most pro-union President since F.D.R. has struggled to explain his vision for American workers.
Dispatch

The Upstart Union Challenging Starbucks

Baristas nationwide are remarkably organized. Is the company’s C.E.O., Howard Schultz, using firings, store closures, and legal delays to thwart them?
The New Yorker Radio Hour

“Bob’s Burgers” Hits the Big Screen

The animator Loren Bouchard talks about his beleaguered family restaurant—on television and in theatres. Plus, Masha Gessen on the quiet in Kyiv, and Eric Cervini on “The Book of Queer.”
Profiles

Flight Attendants Fight Back

Sara Nelson, the head of the largest flight attendants’ union, leads her members through turbulent times and mounts a major organizing drive at Delta.