Heightened Labor Unrest In America: A Closer Look | |
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Let the workers organize. Let the toilers assemble. Let their crystallized voice proclaim their injustices and demand their privileges. Let all thoughtful citizens sustain them, for the future of Labor is the future of America.
~ John L Lewis
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By Marion Olang, WE In The World
America has always posed as the dream destination for workers worldwide. They may not have dreamed of forsaking their countries for the “land of opportunities.” Still, they must have harbored a secret admiration and an indignant hunger for the American labor market at some point. However, In recent years, the U.S. has experienced a surge in labor unrest characterized by growing tensions between employees and employers, protests, strikes, and demands for better wages and working conditions. The unrest may have altered how we all view the American labor market.
|  | The pandemic has taken unjust proportions of the blame courtesy of the systemic disruptions that accompanied and succeeded COVID-19. There sure was a kink in the regular operation of systems. Still, the pandemic did no more than exacerbate existing inequalities, call to attention new challenges, and bring to light new realities and options of the remote work environment. Who then takes the blame? Persistent economic inequality and stagnant wages that starkly contrast the country’s economic growth are at the forefront of the most probable forces fueling this unrest; Labor organizing, social movements, and the political climate and policy have an equal share in expediting the tension. While this heightened unrest in America’s labor market presents challenges and risks, it also harbors an opportunity for positive change that change makers can leverage. |  | This digest highlights some possibilities of positive change while also imploring changemakers to shift focus in that direction, to see beyond what’s in plain sight. To dig into the root causes of inequalities and craft sustainable solutions. WE believe a WIN is possible when communities RISE together and WE are here to show you how. | |
Employment in the United States has been shaped by a range of historical contexts and events, including the labor movement, the Great Depression, globalization, technological advancements, the Great Recession, and, more recently, COVID-19. Decades of discrimination in the workforce have created vast disparities in job opportunities, quality, and compensation, resulting in uneven impacts on worker health. Addressing these disparities requires comprehensive efforts, including policies promoting equal opportunity, inclusive workplaces, anti-discrimination measures, educational equity, and targeted support for marginalized communities. | |
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How Inequality Was Redefined As “Poverty”—Letting Capitalism Off the Hook
In the 1960s, policy shifted from calling for the redistribution of wealth to enforcing an ideology of personal responsibility.
The discovery of poverty as a national problem in the late 1950s and early ’60s redefined economic inequality from a description of relative material circumstances to a cultural issue deriving from the inadequacies of individuals or groups...The other view, which won out, insisted that poverty was a residual problem in the United States, distinct from the issue of unemployment. Recasting economic inequality as “poverty” reflected and extended postwar liberalism’s separation of inequality from capitalist political economy.
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Must-Listen Conversations For You! | |
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Child Labor, Child Strikes
Recent news reports have revealed that child labor is alive and well in the United States in 2023. Jack Hodgson, a visiting professor in history at the University of Roehampton, joins the Belabored podcast to discuss child labor throughout U.S. history and in the context of labor and civil rights struggles that continue to this day.
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When Race Holds You Back In The Workplace
Imagine landing a great job after a long time trying. Over time you prove your worth but every year are passed over for promotion.
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Why Are Key Workers Undervalued?
The vital role played by key workers was one of the most important lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis also exposed the poor working conditions they often face – including low pay, long hours, insecurity, and poor occupational safety and health. A new ILO report, World Employment and Social Outlook 2023: The value of essential work, describes the need for change as “one of the most important policy lessons” of the crisis.
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After A Century, States Are Loosening Child Labor Laws. Where’s The Outrage?
You might think child labor is a thing of the past. Think again.
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After more than a century of progress, you might think child labor is a thing of the past, something we condemn other countries for but that we don’t need to worry about here. Tragically, that shadow army of workers is still with us, and many of those workers are children. These underage exploited are often immigrants and, as Upton Sinclair found, are working in meatpacking. | |
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More Americans Taking Second Jobs, Part-Time Work As Inflation Continues To Rage
By Will Kessler, September 08, 2023
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Real wages declined due partly to high inflation, with the Consumer Price Index reaching a high of 9.1% in June 2022, slowly receding to 3.0% in June, and then ticking back up in July to 3.2%, far from the Federal Reserve’s 2% target.
“Increasing part-time workers can indicate several economic trends, but at present it’s likely a sign that consumers are under duress,” Peter Earle, an economist at the American Institute for Economic Research, told the DCNF.
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Help Workers by Breaking Down Barriers to Labor Mobility—Both Domestic and International
By Ilya Somin | 9.4.2023
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Many proposals to help workers have a zero-sum quality. They involve attempts to forcibly redistribute wealth from employers, investors, consumers, or some combination of all three. Breaking down domestic barriers to labor mobility would create enormous benefits for society as a whole, as well as the migrants themselves. Economists estimate that eliminating legal barriers to migration throughout the world would roughly double world GDP—in other words, making the world twice as productive as it is now.
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Transgender History Month: California Becomes the First State to Honor Trans History
The resolution cited California’s long history has an epicenter of trans activism.
By James Factora, September 8, 2023
| California's State Assembly voted in favor of House Resolution 57 on Wednesday, establishing that August will be recognized as Transgender History Month starting in 2024 — and making it the first state to honor trans history with such a designation. | |
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Pattern Of Discriminatory, Unlawful Policing In Minneapolis Made George Floyd Murder 'Possible,' DOJ Finds
A DOJ investigation says systemic problems continued despite reform efforts.
ByAlexander Mallin, June 16, 2023, 6:27 PM
| Investigators found the MPD used unjustified deadly force in encounters with suspects, engaged in unreasonable use of force in encounters with young suspects and at times failed to give proper medical aid to people they had taken into custody. | |
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Women In Systems Thinking
A series elevating the voices of women systems thinkers to explore how systems thinkers can work together to make the world a better place.
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Emotional Labor And The Myth Of "Women's Work"
By Regina F. Lark
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This toolkit identifies individuals and organizations that are best-positioned to make a change, and key considerations for implementing living-wage policies. | |
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Leonard-Litz LGBTQ Foundation: LGBTQ+ Community Grants (New Hampshire)
Type: Foundation
Due Date: Rolling
Match Required: No Cost Share
Overview: The purpose of this program is to help LGBTQ+ people fulfill their potential by funding nonprofit organizations that advance the interests and well-being of the LGBTQ+ community through advocacy and with programs and services that meet the needs of LGBTQ+ people. Funding will be provided for life-affirming services that address one or more of the following focus areas:
- Health and wellness
- Crisis intervention
- Racial justice
- Advocacy and community engagement
- Social assistance and programming
Huntington National Bank: Charitable Grant Program (Wisconsin)
Type: Foundation
Due Date: Rolling
Match Required: No Cost Share
Overview: The purpose of this program is to contribute to the development of healthy, vibrant communities. Funding will support projects that improve self-sufficiency and quality of life, as well as advance social and economic equality, in communities served by the funding agency.
Support will be provided for projects in the following focus areas:
- Community revitalization and stabilization
- Community services
- Affordable housing
- Economic and community development
- Racial/social equity
National Indian Health Board
Type: Foundation
Due Date: September 29th, 2023
Match Required: No Cost Share
Overview: The National Indian Health Board (NIHB) is now accepting applications for a funding opportunity for emergency mitigation planning. NIHB is offering funding for federally recognized American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes and Tribal organizations to conduct local work related to Tribal climate resiliency.
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