Adjuncts have unionized to try to negotiate a livable wage, but can their efforts defeat the college industrial complex?
minimum wage
Posted inBooks, Current Events, Story
The State of the Bookstore Union
The Strand, New York City’s largest independent bookstore, is owned by a millionaire — and the booksellers who work there are all broke.
Posted inFeatured, Nonfiction, Quotes
It’s a Small Paycheck After All
Disneyland’s painfully low wages make for an unmagical kingdom.
Posted inHighlight, Profiles & Interviews, Quotes
Let Them Eat Pancakes
Employer loyalty is nice, but people can’t actually their pay bills with it.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Behind a $13 Shirt, a $6-an-Hour Worker
An expose on sweatshops in Los Angeles that exploit mostly undocumented workers, paying them less than minimum wage to work in slave-like conditions, and the loop-holes protecting retailers that use these sweatshops for their house brands — including Forever 21, TJ Maxx and Marshall’s.
Posted inBooks, Nonfiction, Quotes
It’s Not Just About the Minimum Wage: Barbara Ehrenreich Revisits Her Book
So what is the solution to the poverty of so many of America’s working people? Ten years ago, when Nickel and Dimed first came out, I often responded with the standard liberal wish list — a higher minimum wage, universal health care, affordable housing, good schools, reliable public transportation, and all the other things we, […]
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
‘Must Be Hard to Live on That’: A Labor Day Reading List
Here, five stories from the labor movement, and from workers just looking for a better opportunity for themselves.
Posted inNonfiction, Reading List
‘Must Be Hard to Live on That’: A Labor Day Reading List
Here, five stories from the labor movement, and from workers just looking for a better opportunity for themselves.
Posted inNonfiction, Quotes
When a Successful Business Is One That Can Pay Employees a Decent Wage
At the New York Times, reporters Steven Greenhouse and Stephanie Strom look at businesses that pay their employees well over minimum wage, including In-N-Out burger, which starts employees off at $10.50 an hour, and Boloco, a burrito chain with 22 restaurants in New England: John Pepper, Boloco’s co-founder, said the strategy for his Boston-based company […]
Posted inUncategorized
Reading List: Stories From the Working Class
Emily Perper is a word-writing human for hire. She blogs about her favorite longreads at Diet Coker. I read a brilliant piece, “Zen and the Art of Cover Letter Writing,” that reminded me that I had not yet featured the stories of those suffering under the yoke of this abusive economy. These are stories about […]