Uber’s missteps and high-profile scandals have piled up since 2013. Here’s a timeline.
labor
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
For Caregivers from the Philippines, the Israeli Dream Is Fragile
In colloquial Hebrew, the word filipinit — a woman from the Philippines — is no longer a simple demonym; Filipinas have dominated the eldercare sector in Israel for so long that it has become a generic term for “caregiver.” In the New York Times Magazine, Ruth Margalit explores the stories of precariously employed women and […]
Posted inEditor's Pick
Israel’s Invisible Filipino Work Force
Tens of thousands of Filipinos — mostly women — keep Israel’s caregiving sector afloat, while navigating homesickness, cultural tensions, and often-exploitative labor practices.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Below Deck: A Dickensian Horror Story
Lizzie Presser reports on the Dickensian treatment of Filipino workers aboard Carnival Cruise Line ships — where the routine involves 12 and 14-hour days, seven days a week for paltry pay and zero overtime — just to be able to provide better lives for families they rarely get to see.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Old Dirt: Making Something Out of Nothing
At Letters From Earth, Andrew Evans celebrates the wonders of farming and crafting clay pots — two occupations based on making something out of dirt with honest labor.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
The Chaotic Nature of Working at Victoria’s Secret
Shopping mall staples rely on “call-in” shifts, and the legality of this system, which may prevent part-time employees from finding other work and pursuing higher education, is in question.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Fair Hours Have Once Again Become a Basic Concern In Worker Organizing
Along with wages and conditions, hours used to be a basic concern in worker organizing. During the heyday of the struggle over hours, in the century before World War II, the demand was always for fewer of them. The “Lowell Mill Girls” agitated for a 10-hour day, and the Haymarket strikers wanted to get down […]
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
Why Certain Workers Are More Vulnerable to Wage Theft
The problem of wage theft is not confined to any one industry, ethnicity, size of business, or corporate structure, says Labor Commissioner Julie Su. Each year, California loses approximately $8 billion in tax revenues to wage theft, and Su’s office has investigated millions of dollars’ worth of violations committed by, among others, a hospital, assisted living […]
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Meals Behind Bars: A Reading List
Three of these pieces look at what mealtime is like on the inside, from an examination of chow hall food to stories of inmates’ ad-hoc cell-made meals to an in-depth look at a commissary food that’s both dietary supplement and currency for thousands of inmates. A fourth adds a different dimension, revealing how some of the foods on our own tables are the product of prison labor.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
Meals Behind Bars: A Reading List
Three of these pieces look at what mealtime is like on the inside, from an examination of chow hall food to stories of inmates’ ad-hoc cell-made meals to an in-depth look at a commissary food that’s both dietary supplement and currency for thousands of inmates. A fourth adds a different dimension, revealing how some of the foods on our own tables are the product of prison labor.