"I define the worker-to-worker model as one in which organizing is relatively lightly staffed, and therefore scalable, because “1) Workers have a decisive say on strategy, and 2) Workers begin organizing before receiving guidance from a parent union, and/or 3) Workers train and guide other workers in organizing methods.” Unfortunately, this cluster of attributes has been exceedingly rare from the 1950s onward, contrary to Fong’s suggestion that a staff-intensive approach was limited to the 1990s.

Even after the post-pandemic uptick, exceptionally few unions have anything resembling the rigorous worker-to-worker training and structures of the NewsGuild’s national Member Organizer Program, which trains up worker leaders in all the responsibilities that in other unions are typically carried out by staff. It would be a game changer for the labor movement if most unions began to organize like the Guild.

In order to help make that happen, my book sought to clarify the urgency of adopting a new model and to specify the practices unions could adopt, including big online organizing training programs; worker coaching of new drives; small nationwide “pods” of worker leaders to pass on encouragement and expertise; elaborate online systems for worker leaders to keep track of the organizing skills and the campaign benchmarks; and mass seeding of new drives through worker outreach, digital tools, and the distribution of materials to support self-organized drives."

"Finally, even though the idea of putting workers in the drivers’ seat is not new, I do think my case for doing so is unique. Rather than fall into a common labor-leftist trap of treating militancy as a silver bullet, or downplaying the importance of resources, experienced staff, and systematic organizing training, I argue that these need to be deployed in a way that’s scalable.

I remain unconvinced of her skepticism. Services now make up over 75 percent of the United States’ GDP, while manufacturing contributes about 10 percent. And the overwhelming majority of our workforce is also now employed in services. Don’t these economic shifts from a century ago oblige us to adjust our unionization (and electoral) strategies accordingly?"

https://jacobin.com/2025/04/blanc-response-worker-organizing-unions/

Executive Order 14026 was issued by former President Joe Biden in 2021. In addition to increasing the minimum wage rate for federal contractors, it set adjustments to account for inflation. The Department of Labor (DOL) estimated that some 327,300 workers saw their wages go up, with an average wage increase of over $5,000 a year. The 2025 rate was set to be $17.75 per hour.

A full overturning of the rule means that some federal contractors will return Obama-era wage of $13.30 an hour, but Trump could undo the minimum wage for these workers altogether, meaning that some contractors could make just $7.25 an hour in some states.

https://truthout.org/articles/trump-quietly-took-away-a-living-wage-from-thousands-of-federal-workers/

As Senior Editor Evan Ackerman notes in “Robots for Cows (and Their Humans)”, traditional dairy farming is very labor-intensive. Cows need to be milked at least twice per day to prevent discomfort. Conventional milking facilities are engineered for human efficiency, with systems like rotating carousels that bring the cows to the dairy workers.

The robotic systems that Netherlands-based Lely has been developing since the early 1990s are much more about doing things the bovine way. That includes letting the cows choose when to visit the milking robot, resulting in a happier herd and up to 10 percent more milk production.

Turns out that what’s good for the cows might be good for the humans, too. Another Lely bot deals with feeding, while yet another mops up the manure, the proximate cause of much of the slipping and sliding that can result in injuries. The robots tend to reset the cow–human relationship—it becomes less adversarial because the humans aren’t always there bossing the cows around.

https://spectrum.ieee.org/dairy-robots

Last month, an Oklahoma City news station reported that a federal team of law enforcement officers had battered down the door of a Latino woman and her three daughters. The family was subjected to a terrifying raid, in which agents held them at gunpoint, forced them to stand in the rain, then rifled through their home.

The agents were looking for undocumented immigrants. Everyone in the home was a U.S. citizen. The man they were looking for had moved out months earlier.

If it had all stopped there, that would have been bad enough. This was a violent, volatile raid over an alleged immigration violation — an extraordinarily disproportionate use of force. After learning of their mistake, however, the agents weren’t apologetic or contrite. Instead, they confiscated the family’s computers, cellphones, and an undisclosed amount of cash.

The agents didn’t identify themselves or which agency they were with, and they left no contact information so the women could file a complaint or, at the very least, retrieve their property.

https://theintercept.com/2025/05/02/trump-police-executive-order/